That You May Know - Pt 15

He went on from there and entered their synagogue. And a man was there with a withered hand. And they asked him, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”— so that they might accuse him. He said to them, “Which one of you who has a sheep, if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not take hold of it and lift it out? Of how much more value is a man than a sheep! So it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.” Then he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And the man stretched it out, and it was restored, healthy like the other. But the Pharisees went out and conspired against him, how to destroy him. (Matthew 12:10-13 ESV).

Jesus has just healed the man at the pool of Bethesda on the Sabbath. Now as He and his disciples pass through a field, they pick some grain on the Sabbath. Picking the grain was not only allowed, it was encouraged as the harvesters left some for travelers as a benevolent gesture of hospitality and compassion. However, this did not go well with the Pharisees. The reason was it was considered a serious violation of the Sabbath Laws. As you may remember, the Sabbath had become a tyranny with hundreds of rules and regulations which laid out in detail what a man might or might not do. The original Ten Commandments of God had been delineated into 613 laws; 248 positive (thou shalt’s) and 365 negative (thou shalt not’s). Jesus was very clear in his discrimination between the spiritual principles of rest and the worship and service of God for which the day was dedicated, and the useless junk of endless hair-splitting distinctions and prohibitions of the Rabbis. We should not the word used her and translated “withered.” It is exerammenen. It is a reference to the passive verb seems to indicate that the man was born with this handicap, but that it was later caused by some accident or injury. According to some extra-canonical source it appears the man was a stone mason, and he asks Jesus to heal him that he could resume working. This certainly lends credibility that this man’s hand could have been the result of an injury. Luke is the only writer to point out it was the man’s right hand. In the Jewish mind, the right hand was a symbol of power and strength. It was used for greetings and to bestow blessing. The right hand was the “clean hand” meaning a good Jew always ate with his right hand. The left hand was used for bodily functions. With apologies to all you who may be left-handed, the left hand was considered the “unclean hand.” Since this man's right hand was withered, he was handicapped physically and psychologically. Jesus felt compassion for the man with the withered hand. But he was angered by the heartlessness and lack of compassion exhibited by the scribes and Pharisees. Jesus’ love for us goes beyond law and regulation. It extends to our hearts, minds, and souls.