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Reading through the Gospels 49

Mark 3:1-6; Matthew 12:9-14; Luke 6:6-11;

Mark 3:1-6; Matthew 12:9-14; Luke 6:6-11; JESUS HEALS A MAN'S HAND ON THE SABBATH

Jesus went again to the synagogue and there was a man with a withered hand.  Again, the Pharisees were trying to catch Jesus in doing something wrong, in this case, working (i.e. healing) on the Sabbath. Jesus must have known their thoughts for he asked the man to come to Him (and in Luke 6:8 it says "He knew their thoughts"!) and Jesus asked, "Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to kill?" (Matthew 12:11,12 "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.")

 

The Pharisees were silent, unable to give an answer and Jesus looked at them with anger!  Yikes! I do not like the thought of Jesus ever looking at me with anger. Jesus saw the hardness of heart too! He knows our thoughts and our hearts.

 

A sign of a hard heart based on this example would be like the Pharisees hearts which cared more about their own agenda to entrap Jesus in breaking the law than they cared about the suffering man. May my heart never be so hard due to being legalistic or focused on a plan or a conviction that my eyes are not open to seeing someone suffering.  Sometimes my convictions are petty and following them only serves to make me blind to seeing other matters.

 

The Pharisees were focused on the negative and Jesus was focused on the positive. This is a good example of looking at the glass half full rather than half empty. If you try to find the negative in something, you can; if you try to find the positive, you can.

 

Jesus once again only used words. He told the man to stretch out his hand and the man obeyed and was healed. In Luke we read that it was the man's right hand, so if he were right-handed, it would have been his most needed hand.

 

It would seem the Pharisees did not like being embarrassed in public, so they went to the Herodians to plot how to destroy Jesus. They were furious that Jesus read their minds and exposed their hatred for Him. The Pharisees could not admit that His power was from God because then they would have to give up all authority to Him.

Copyright Cheryl Rutledge-Brennecke
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