Discussion Questions

The speaker opens by asking, “If every person in the world were physically crooked, would you know that you were out of shape?” How does that metaphor challenge the way Christians calibrate “normal” in a culture where spiritual/emotional crookedness may be widespread—and what does it imply about our need for something truly “straight” to judge by? JumpstartAnother way to ask: If everyone around you is “crooked,” how do you know what “straight” looks like? What does this say about how Christians decide what is normal in a culture where many people may be spiritually or emotionally off?

The teacher emphasizes that the woman had “a spirit of infirmity” and later says she “didn’t need more doctors… more drugs… more devotions… she needed deliverance.” What does this passage (as he’s reading it) reveal about God’s willingness to confront Satan’s bondage directly, and how does that sit with modern Christian instincts to default to purely medical, purely counseling, or purely “just pray more” explanations? JumpstartAnother way to ask: What does this story show about God’s willingness to directly break Satan’s control over someone? How does that fit (or clash) with our habit of explaining everything as only medical, only counseling, or only “pray more”?

The speaker distinguishes between a “spiritual problem” and a “spirit problem,” and then adds a third category: emotional issues—summarized as “repent, renounce, resolve.” Where do you see the danger of misdiagnosing people’s bondage (including your own), and what would faithful, non-simplistic discernment look like in an early Christian community that took both demons and holiness seriously? JumpstartAnother way to ask: What happens when we wrongly label someone’s problem as spiritual, demonic, or emotional—including our own? What would wise, careful discernment look like in a church that takes both demons and holy living seriously?

The woman’s eighteen-year condition is held up as encouragement: “she was in a place where God could help her,” likely as a regular synagogue attender. What assumptions about perseverance, gathered worship, and staying “in the place” of God’s help are embedded in this—and how does it confront modern individualistic Christianity that treats church participation as optional when life is hard? JumpstartAnother way to ask: What does it suggest that she kept showing up at the synagogue for 18 years where God could help her? How does that challenge the idea that church is optional when life gets hard?

The teacher notes Jesus “saw her,” contrasting it with his own tendency to “invisibilize” unusual people in Walmart. What does Jesus’ attention to a socially marginalized, physically conspicuous woman reveal about God’s character, and what specific habits would have to change in the way we move through public spaces and church gatherings if we took “he saw her” seriously? JumpstartAnother way to ask: What does it show about God that Jesus truly noticed a woman everyone could see but might ignore? If we took “he saw her” seriously, what would need to change in how we treat people in public and at church?

Jesus does not go to the woman; he “called her to him” and made her visible. The speaker suggests Jesus was (1) dignifying her personhood, (2) drawing out her response, and (3) reintroducing her into social/religious life. Which of those possibilities most challenges how your church treats people with obvious weakness (disability, trauma, social awkwardness, shameful past), and what would it cost to change? JumpstartAnother way to ask: Why might Jesus have called her forward instead of going to her—was it to honor her, invite her response, or bring her back into the community? Which reason most challenges how your church treats people with obvious weakness, and what would changing that cost?

The sermon makes much of Jesus’ “gift of touch,” then warns about “touches that take” versus “touches that give,” even applying it to parents who “drain” children emotionally. How does this push against common Christian blind spots about affection, boundaries, and emotional dependency—and what concrete markers would help a group discern when “care” subtly becomes “taking”? JumpstartAnother way to ask: How does the idea of “touches that give” versus “touches that take” challenge how Christians think about affection, boundaries, and needing others emotionally? What clear signs could help a group tell when “caring” has turned into using or draining someone?

The synagogue ruler’s indignation is interpreted partly through honor-shame cultural dynamics, including indirect rebuke (he addresses the crowd, not Jesus). How might early Christians—living in honor-shame settings—have heard this clash differently than modern Western Christians shaped by guilt/innocence categories, and what does that change about how we read “Hypocrites… each one of you”? JumpstartAnother way to ask: How might people in an honor-shame culture have understood the synagogue leader’s indirect rebuke differently than many Western Christians do? How does that change the way we hear Jesus saying, “Hypocrites… each one of you”?

Jesus argues from their Sabbath practice of loosing oxen/donkeys to “So ought not this woman… whom Satan has bound… be loosed… on the Sabbath?” What does this reveal about God’s priorities in law-keeping—especially regarding mercy, deliverance, and human worth—and where might modern Christians be defending “right principles” while effectively postponing someone’s freedom? JumpstartAnother way to ask: What does Jesus’ Sabbath argument teach about God’s priorities—rules versus mercy and setting people free? Where might Christians today defend “right principles” but still delay someone’s freedom or help?

The speaker describes the outcome as a public honor reversal: opponents “put to shame,” the crowd rejoicing, and Jesus calling her “a daughter of Abraham” in front of everyone. What uncomfortable implications does this have for how God publicly reorders status in religious communities, and where might God be threatening the “honor” of respectable leaders today in order to raise up the lowly? JumpstartAnother way to ask: What does this public reversal—leaders shamed, the crowd celebrating, and her called a “daughter of Abraham”—say about how God reshuffles status in religious groups? Where might God be lowering “respectable” leaders today to lift up people who are usually overlooked?