Podcast Summary: Jesus the Healer w/ Nancy Dufresne Audio Podcast

Episode 110 | The Bowed Over Woman
Date: December 2, 2022
Host: Nancy Dufresne, Dufresne Ministries

Episode Overview

In this episode, Nancy Dufresne unpacks the story of the woman bowed over for 18 years as recorded in Luke 13. Through a verse-by-verse teaching, Nancy emphasizes the importance of biblical knowledge, covenant rights in Christ, the necessity of being under anointed teaching, and the believer’s right and responsibility to both receive and minister healing. The episode challenges wrong thinking about healing, particularly religious obstacles, and stresses the compassionate nature and covenant obligation of God to heal.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Importance of Teaching and Knowledge

• Teaching as Central to Jesus' Ministry

  • Jesus primarily taught in synagogues. Teaching is foundational for believers to receive healing and miracles (03:10).
  • “Believers need teaching more than anything. They need the Word taught to them. Why? Because through the teaching of the Word, people can receive their healing and the miracle that they need.” (Nancy, 03:30)

• The Danger of Ignorance

  • Referencing Hosea 4:6, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.” The enemy’s strategy is to keep people ignorant of their rights and authority in Christ (04:15).
  • “Ignorance gives a place to the devil, but knowledge closes the door to the devil. Amen.” (Nancy, 05:30)
  • Accurate teaching is the cure for ignorance, doubt, unbelief, fear, sickness, and even poverty (05:50).

The Story of the Bowed Woman: Spiritual and Natural Causes of Sickness

• Nature of Her Affliction

  • The woman had a spirit of infirmity for 18 years, which kept her physically bowed over and unable to look up (08:10).
  • Nancy clarifies that this was not from God but a demonic attachment to her body, not her spirit (09:00).

• Christians and Spiritual Attack

  • Christians cannot have a demon in their spirit, as the Holy Spirit dwells there.
  • However, spirits can influence the mind or attach to the body if believers listen to wrong voices or open the door through neglect (13:25).
  • “If we gave place to the devil, we can take back the place we gave. Amen.” (Nancy, 14:50)
  • Not all sickness is because of a spirit of infirmity; sometimes it results from natural causes, but the devil is always indirectly behind sickness (17:10).

The Power of Covenant: Receiving and Ministering Healing

• Covenant Rights

  • The woman was a “daughter of Abraham”—she had a covenant, yet lived bound out of ignorance or lack of skill (10:30).
  • “She ought not be used to what she's had for so long. If it's wrong, don't get used to it.” (Nancy, 10:20)

• Role of the Church and Believers

  • Churches should be places where people receive healing, not just teachings—pastors should seek answers from God’s Word if people are not being healed (12:15).
  • Importance of physically coming to the place where the anointing is (church), as the woman did despite inconvenience (12:45).

• Ministering Healing

  • Jesus didn’t perform an elaborate exorcism; He spoke: “Woman, thou art loosed from thine infirmity.” (Luke 13:12, discussed at 20:00)
  • Nancy stresses, “Your covenant looses you.” (Nancy, 21:00)
  • Believers can and should declare their freedom based on covenant, even before they see change in their bodies (22:20).

  “To receive healing or to minister healing, you have to say things before things change in your body. You have to say it before, because once you say it, then it's got to fall in line.” (Nancy, 22:50)

Wrong Religious Thinking—Obstacles to Healing

• The Indignant Synagogue Ruler

  • The religious leader rebuked Jesus for healing on the Sabbath, prioritizing religious rules over compassion (23:55).
  • “How wrong thinking. How far you have gone into wrong thinking. To think that someone's healing, someone's deliverance is a negative. No compassion for someone who had suffered for 18 years.” (Nancy, 24:30)
  • Jesus confronted this thinking: healing is a holy work, entirely fitting even on the Sabbath (25:45).

• Valuing People over Tradition

  • Jesus exposes the hypocrisy: the ruler would care for animals on the Sabbath but objected to a woman being healed (26:10–27:00).
  • “You think more of an animal than you do of this woman who's been suffering for 18 years.” (Nancy, 27:15)

The Believer’s Holy Obligation

• Obligation to Receive and Minister Healing

  • Jesus said the woman ‘ought’ to be loosed—a word expressing obligation (28:00).
  • “We have an obligation to learn how to minister to the sick... We have a holy obligation to bring freedom to others who are bound.” (Nancy, 28:30)
  • All believers are to lay hands on the sick (Mark 16:18) (28:55).

• Restoring Right Thinking

  • Jesus publicly corrected the wrong thinking of religious leaders, putting truth and compassion back in the spotlight (29:40).
  • “With one instruction, [Jesus] drove out wrong thinking and put right thinking in its place.” (Nancy, 29:58)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the role of teaching:

  “Teaching is the cure for ignorance. Run ignorance out. Amen.” (Nancy, 04:55)

• On healing and covenant:

  “Your covenant looses you. Remember that. Every Christian has a right to say, I'm loosed, because I have a covenant.” (Nancy, 21:00)

• On right thinking about healing:

  “Healing is a holy work because it was provided by a holy savior.” (Nancy, 26:00)

• On compassion and hypocrisy:

  “You're kinder to an animal on the Sabbath than you are to a woman who is a daughter of Abraham.” (Nancy, 26:20)

• On the responsibility of believers:

  “We have an obligation to learn how to minister to the sick... and we do this by learning the Word and becoming skillful with the Word.” (Nancy, 28:30)

Key Timestamps for Major Segments

• [03:10]—Why Jesus Taught in Synagogues; Necessity of Teaching
• [08:10]—Description of the Bowed Woman’s Affliction
• [13:25]—Can Christians be Oppressed by Evil Spirits?
• [17:10]—Spiritual versus Natural Roots of Sickness
• [20:00]—Jesus Declares the Woman Loosed; Role of Speaking Covenant Rights
• [23:55]—The Ruler’s Complaint; Religious Objections to Healing on the Sabbath
• [25:45]—Healing as a Holy Work; Jesus Corrects Religious Mindsets
• [28:00]—A Believer’s Holy Obligation to Receive and Minister Healing
• [29:40]—Jesus Restores Right Thinking Regarding Healing

Conclusion

Nancy Dufresne strongly underscores that healing belongs to every believer by covenant right, not because of what we’ve done, but because of what Christ has done. She insists on the importance of both learning and teaching the Word accurately, maintaining a right heart posture, and actively resisting both spiritual ignorance and religious obstacles. The call is to recognize, receive, and minister healing—and to keep the focus on compassion, truth, and the finished work of Jesus.

Episode Takeaway:
“You don’t have to wait for a man of God to say it. You can say it. He said, ‘Woman, thou art loosed.’ You have a right to say, ‘I’m loosed because I have a covenant.’” (Nancy, 21:20)