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.)