The Miracles of Jesus Part 10: A Withered Hand Healed on the Sabbath
Matthew 12:9-14, Mark 3:1-6, Luke 6:6-11, Matthew 23:23-24. Jesus heals on the Sabbath, teaching a lesson to the hard-hearted Pharisees and Scribes. They don’t listen.
“Departing from there, He went into their synagogue. And a man was there whose hand was withered. And they questioned Jesus, asking, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”—so that they might accuse Him. And He said to them, “What man is there among you who has a sheep, and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will he not take hold of it and lift it out? How much more valuable then is a man than a sheep! So then, it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.” Then He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand!” He stretched it out, and it was restored to normal, like the other. But the Pharisees went out and conspired against Him, as to how they might destroy Him.”
Matthew 12:9-14 NASB1995
“He entered again into a synagogue; and a man was there whose hand was withered. They were watching Him to see if He would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse Him. He *said to the man with the withered hand, “Get up and come forward!” And He *said to them, “Is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the Sabbath, to save a life or to kill?” But they kept silent. After looking around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored. The Pharisees went out and immediately began conspiring with the Herodians against Him, as to how they might destroy Him.”
Mark 3:1-6 NASB1995
“On another Sabbath He entered the synagogue and was teaching; and there was a man there whose right hand was withered. The scribes and the Pharisees were watching Him closely to see if He healed on the Sabbath, so that they might find reason to accuse Him. But He knew what they were thinking, and He said to the man with the withered hand, “Get up and come forward!” And he got up and came forward. And Jesus said to them, “I ask you, is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the Sabbath, to save a life or to destroy it?” After looking around at them all, He said to him, “Stretch out your hand!” And he did so; and his hand was restored. But they themselves were filled with rage, and discussed together what they might do to Jesus.”
Luke 6:6-11 NASB1995
The next miracle of Jesus, documented in Matthew, Mark, and Luke, reveals an increasingly hostile reception to Him by the Pharisees and Scribes. This healing miracle that takes place inside a synagogue on a Sabbath, follows on the heels of another Sabbath controversy in the same three Gospels.
In that first controversy, His disciples were picking heads of grains of wheat in a field on the Sabbath because they were hungry. This violated the convoluted set of rules that had developed over the centuries in rabbinical law (far beyond the laws in the OT) for what was considered acceptable behavior or actions on the Sabbath. The rules became so complex that the Sabbath was anything BUT a day of rest because followers were constantly worrying that they had broken one of the rules. It’s like our current regulatory climate in this country, which is such an entangled mess of local, state and federal laws (some of them contradictory to each other) that you may be violating the law and not even know it!
So on the Sabbath of the miracle, Jesus enters synagogue (and teaches, according to Luke) and the Pharisees and Scribes, who should be worshipping God, are there watching Him like vultures to see if they can catch Him doing something against the rules or saying something “blasphemous”. They don’t want to learn from Him; they want to get rid of Him. In fact, the Greek word for watching, paratereo, has a meaning to observe carefully or watch insidiously. It seems like a perfect set-up, having the man there with a withered hand, baiting the Lion of Judah. They know He can perform miracles, but they are now dead set in their opposition to seeing Him declared as the Messiah.
The Pharisees and Scribes don’t care one whit about this man’s suffering. In the Matthew version, they ask Him if it is lawful to heal on the Sabbath. He answers the question by asking them if they would rescue a sheep that had fallen into a pit and confirms that it IS lawful to do good on the Sabbath. In Mark and Luke, Jesus asks them the question if it is lawful to do good or to do harm on the Sabbath or to save a life. They don’t answer Him and, interestingly, in the Mark version (likely taken from Peter’s first-hand observations), Jesus is righteously angry at them and grieved by their hardness of heart. Anger and grief directed at injustice and unrighteousness like our Lord’s anger is good, but we fallen humans tend to lash out in anger like the Pharisees did in reaction to this event.
So Jesus steps forward directly onto the toes of the self-righteous, approaches the man and says something quite astonishing: “Stretch out your hand!” How is this possible? The man had a withered, useless right hand (Luke, the physician, mentions which hand was affected). The muscles were atrophied and he was unable to use that hand, so how could he stretch it out? Well, of course the healing is instantaneous and the man exhibits great faith in Jesus by complying; his dormant muscles obey! He also overcomes his reluctance at letting others see his imperfections. The healing could have waited until sundown or Jesus could have found the man the next day in private; after all, he had likely been living with the non-fatal condition for a long time. But Jesus always has a teaching moment in everything that He did during His earthly ministry (and still does today for believers).
What is the reaction from the room full of scowling rule-bound “religious” men? Are they joyful that the man is healed? Do they surround Jesus and ask for more lessons and insight? NO! They immediately set out to conspire against Jesus! In the Luke version, they are full of rage! For them, it is worse that a man was healed of a crippling affliction on the Sabbath than it was for them to plot his murder! Later in the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus lets them have it with both barrels about their evil hypocrisy (this is one of eight “woe” statements to them in Matthew 23):
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cummin, and have neglected the weightier provisions of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others. You blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!”
Matthew 23:23-24 NASB1995
I found some great commentary in a sermon by Steven Cole on how Jesus steps on our toes in so many ways. Please go to the link to read the entire sermon. Jesus exposes the selfishness and rage of the Pharisees; at the root of all human anger is a refusal to accept the sovereignty of God. Their petty rules were exposed and their malice apparent in seeking to trap Jesus (He knew, of course, that they were planning this and He walked head-on into their deceit to bring us a spiritual lesson).
I also wanted to include some thoughts on the Mark 3 version from the authors in Precept Austin. This comprehensive archive of many commentaries and sermons from mostly non-denominational sources is a treasure trove of information. The point of my devotionals is to explore things in-depth and learn and grow in faith, focusing on Jesus. Where some things I write might be perceived as criticism, it is more often just the difference between legitimate paths to God and how those things are documented and done. I certainly claim no unique or “better” perspective than anyone else, but I do agree with these thoughts:
THOUGHT - You can mark it down that the Pharisees illustrate a basic spiritual principle that the more religious you are and the prouder you are about your religion and your so-called "spirituality," the more resistant you are to the Gospel of grace. In fact like the Pharisees you hate grace because you hate the Giver of grace Jesus Christ! You may not say that, but you are either for Him or against Him! There is no middle ground with Jesus! So the Pharisees are prototypes of all religious Christ haters down through the ages. You are not a "Pharisee" are you? Remember that the Pharisees said "no" to the more flagrant, obvious, external sins and boasted in their "self-denial" but they were deceived by their pride and full of dead men's bones so to speak (Mt 23:27). Keeping rules deceives one into thinking they are "holy" by keeping those rules! Religion (without relationship to Jesus) can deceive a person into thinking they are okay with God, when in truth they are dead to God! Are you a Pharisee?
So what can we learn from this miracle?
Healing of the withered hand on the Sabbath: Jesus can instantaneously heal a chronic condition, restoring a hand to full function. The man he heals exhibits great faith in His ability to heal and obeys Him. Jesus also challenges the assumptions and rules that have taken the place of faith and wisdom in the hearts of the Pharisees and Scribes. His anger is righteous; their rage is murderous.
My next devotional examines how Jesus raised a widow’s son from the dead while in the village of Nain. This miracle is documented only in Luke 7.
Heaven on Wheels Daily Prayer:
Dear Lord - Thank you for your miraculous powers of healing. I thank you even more for your wisdom, power and ability to confront the hypocrisy seen in the Pharisees and Scribes, who distorted the commands of God into vast sets of rules that no one could follow and showed their indifference to suffering through those rules. I pray that I am not prideful and selfish and that I submit to the sovereignty of God. Amen.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Sermons by Steven Cole on Bible.org (through Precept Austin) are copyrighted 1998 and are linked here. Permissions are not granted by Bible.org for excerpts.
The Miracle List:
Water to wine: Jesus can overcome time, He creates beauty and abundance, and He shares in our joy.
Healing of the official’s son: Jesus can overcome space (distance), He does not need to see the person He heals, He has infinite power, but He also wants us to believe without signs and wonders.
Casting out of the evil spirit in the synagogue: The authority of Jesus is recognized by the demons and He triumphs over evil and silences it.
Healing of Peter’s Mother-in-Law: Jesus does not need crowds to demonstrate His power and He has compassion about the needs of one person, even if those needs seem smaller and only worthy of a couple of verses of scripture.
Healing and casting out demons of many in Capernaum (at Peter’s house): Jesus has compassion on all who come to Him and has no conditions that He places on giving them His mercy. He can heal instantly with a light touch and again demonstrates authority over demons and silences them.
Miraculous catch of fish on the Sea of Galilee: Jesus demonstrates His powers over His creation, He once again brings abundance, and He teaches humble fishermen that their task of bringing souls to Him is the most important thing they can do. They must follow Him.
Cleansing of the Leper: Jesus is willing to heal us, is compassionate towards those who suffer and can instantly cure a dreadful and feared disease. We must have faith when circumstances seem hopeless.
Healing of the Centurion’s Servant: Jesus came so that anyone who believes on His name is saved, Jew or Gentile. One of the most humble and devout persons that He encounters during His ministry is a Roman Centurion who cares and loves a servant who is sick or paralyzed. Jesus has instant authority over this illness, again eliminating space (distance) as a barrier to healing; He also marvels at this man’s faith.
Healing of the paralytic passed through the roof: Jesus demonstrates His ultimate authority as the Son of God to forgive sins and to heal a condition that seems irreversible. He can sense and read the hearts and thoughts of others. He turns a major disruption into a lesson on forgiveness. The friends of the paralytic show tremendous faith in how they solve this problem.
Healing of the withered hand on the Sabbath: Jesus can instantaneously heal a chronic condition, restoring a hand to full function. The man he heals exhibits great faith in His ability to heal and obeys Him. Jesus also challenges the assumptions and rules that have taken the place of faith and wisdom in the hearts of the Pharisees and Scribes. His anger is righteous; their rage is murderous.