What does this say to you?
Wow…I was just changed by a truth that leaped out of this story and into my life. Luke 6:6-11 says,
On another Sabbath he went into the synagogue and was teaching, and a man was there whose right hand was shriveled. The Pharisees and the teachers of the law were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they watched him closely to see if he would heal on the Sabbath. But Jesus knew what they were thinking and said to the man with the shriveled hand, “Get up and stand in front of everyone.” So he got up and stood there.
Then Jesus said to them, “I ask you, which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy it?”
He looked around at them all, and then said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He did so, and his hand was completely restored. But they were furious and began to discuss with one another what they might do to Jesus.
There are the three main characters; Jesus, the man with the hand, and the Pharisees. Here is what I observe:
The man with the hand…was a man who wanted to work (extra biblical writings mention that he was previously a stone mason and he came to Jesus wanting to be healed so he could go back to work), he wanted to be healed for a purpose.
Jesus…knew he was being judged by the legalistic Pharisees…and he chose to highlight their legalism, not by confronting them with words (this time), but by helping the man change his life.
The Pharisees…were looking for a reason to accuse (usually when we look for it, we can find it). They are legalists and thus anti-Jesus because they loved their rules and regulations more than they loved God.
How does this story change you?
What do I see here?
First, Jesus did the right and compassionate thing despite who was watching. Or perhaps you could say to spite those who were watching. He knew they wouldn’t approve.
The thing about the Pharisees is that they missed a chance to struggle with it. Looking for a reason to accuse, they completely missed the opportunity be changed by struggling with why Jesus might do something like heal on the Sabbath. Their minds and hearts were not open to be changed by Jesus. That is highlighted by their reaction.
Finally, the one I think about most when I look at this account is the man with the shriveled hand. When Jesus said “Get up” and “Stretch out your hand,” he did. What would have happened if he had not stretched out his hand? I have to think he would have left the synagogue the same way he entered it that day, and in the days to come he would have wondered, “Would He really have healed me if I had stretched out my hand?”
How many times have any of us been prompted to do something, and have thought, “That’s ridiculous” or “What good would that do?” Days or weeks or years later we still wonder what might have been different. We can ask and receive forgiveness, but that day is still gone.
I had one of these moments this week. I had been praying for a few weeks about how to proceed with no direction, but the last time I prayed, when I got up, what came to mind was that this one of those times that if I did nothing, I was going be living with that for a while. And so I got up and I stretched out my hand…..
(Something is happening, but I am still waiting to see exactly what God does with it.)