Remember Jesus has healed the lame man on the Sabbath, and
then His disciples plucked corn on the Sabbath.
The Sabbath was the Pharisees most cherished institution, and they were
offended that someone wouldn’t follow their rules. As Jesus leaves the area, and heads back to
At the end of the last lesson, we saw Jesus say that He was Lord of the Sabbath. Here He gives another lesson to these religious nut cases.
Luke 6:6-11
6 On another
Sabbath He entered the synagogue and was teaching; and there was a man
there whose right hand was withered.
Withered is the Greek word XSEROS, and it means literally dried up. His hand has no life in it, it is deformed and unusable, and he can’t even move it.
7 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.
The Greek translated watching closely is the word PARATEREO. It means to watch closely, to lie in wait for someone, kind of like an ambush! That’s what religious people will do – lie in wait to catch people in a sin. They wanted to cause Him distress – they were jealous! Think how futile their actions are! They are trying to trap the perfect God-Man in a sin!
8 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.
This man with the deformed hand took a step of faith. He listened to the Lord’s commands, and he obeyed because He BELIEVED! What a lesson for us: we should obey the Lord’s commands because we believe, or “walk by faith and not by sight.”
9 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?"
Notice the religious crowd has no answer. It was lawful to do good on the Sabbath. If your animal fell into a pit, you were allowed to save its life and lower food and water down to it, or help it if it were injured. (Of course, you had to wait until the next day to lift it up out of the pit – that was considered carrying a burden!) And of course it was not lawful to do harm on the Sabbath. So they were shamed into silence, they had no answer for Him.
10 After
looking around at them all, He said to him, "Stretch out your hand!"
He wasn’t just looking around. Look at how Mark describes this same event:
Mark 3:5
5 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.
Their hard hearts (the Greek word can also mean obstinacy) were impervious to the truth. Their arrogance had made their hearts hard, and they could not let the truth in. How do you approach Bible study? Do you have an open heart, ready to receive the truth and be changed by it? Or are you so caught up in your good deeds, and following the rules like these Pharisees, that you become arrogant and keep the truth out?
Don’t be that arrogant legalistic kind of person that the
Lord gives this look to!
When Jesus told this man to stretch out his hand, this was a
command that the man was unable to fulfill.
How did he accomplish it? By
faith in Jesus Christ to provide the necessary ability! How do you accomplish everything the Lord
directs you to do? By faith in Jesus Christ to provide the
ability to perform it.
Back in Luke 6
10 After
looking around at them all, He said to him, "Stretch out your hand!"
And he did so; and his hand was restored.
11 But
they themselves were filled with rage, and discussed together what they might
do to Jesus.
Notice these Pharisees are not happy for the man who has his hand restored. They are not amazed at the power behind the miracle. They have not listened to a word He said about the Sabbath. They are simply mad! What a miserable life! Don’t be so legalistic and judgmental that you miss the power of God around you.
One other interesting thing to note. Regardless of the planning and scheming that was going on around Jesus, He continues right on with His ministry. Regardless of what other people say about you or how they treat you, the Lord wants you to press on with the work that He has given you to do!