The Galilean Ministry at Various Cities (4.14-9.50), 6.6-11

Here we come upon another of Jesus’ miracles performed on a Sabbath. This may be a week after he proved himself the Lord of the Sabbath, or it could be several weeks later, Luke doesn’t specify. What is notable is that this is one of seven miracles Jesus performs on the Sabbath. Seven, the number of days in the week and, interestingly, the day of the Sabbath (the day God rested). The number denotes perfection and completeness in Scripture. While you may never hear this passage preached in church, it was important to Luke and in the revelation of Jesus as Messiah.

Five of the miracles are recorded in Luke: Healing a demon possessed man (4.33-37), Healing Simon Peter’s mother-in-law (and others, 4.38-41), Healing the Man with the Withered Hand (this passage, 6.6-11), Healing an Infirm Woman (13.10-17) and Healing a Man with Dropsy (Luke 14.1-6). The other two are found in John’s gospel: Healing a Lame Man (John 5.1-13), and Healing a Man Born Blind (John 9.1-7).

In this passage we find Jesus teaching again in a synagogue somewhere in the Galilean region. Present on this occasion is a man with a withered right hand (I imagine he was a south paw). Jesus again demonstrates his divinity by knowing what the Pharisees were thinking. In their hearts they were hoping Jesus would heal the man so they could accuse him of breaking the Sabbath, something they tried to do in the last passage, but their conviction failed in light of Jesus’ Scriptural justification. While the Bible itself does not condemn healing anyone or helping a neighbor on the Sabbath, other Jewish traditions (later recorded in the Mishna circa 200 AD) does. Knowing their thoughts, he deliberately provoked a conflict:

“I ask you,” Jesus said, “is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath or to do evil? To save a life or to destroy it?”

Jesus’ question revealed the hypocrisy of the religious leaders. While Jesus sought to do good by saving a life, they were present to do evil by taking a life.

Jesus then commanded the man to stretch out his hand, and when the man did so it was completely restored. Luke tells us this enraged the Pharisees, but there are more important observations one can make of this. Of course Jesus healed the man, but notice what the man did. First, he was obedient to Jesus’ request to stand next to him, not knowing what was to come. Second, when Jesus asked him to stretch out his hand, he did so. Again, this could be a sign of obedience but it is also a sign of faith. Jesus healed a lot of people, but there were a great many more that he did not. Healing had a two-fold purpose, the first was to identify Jesus as the Messiah, the second was to inspire faith.

This is important. Jesus never used miracles to create faith in people (though it may have grown faith that people already possessed) nor did Jesus use miracles to prove his own divinity. I’ve met many atheists who demand that God perform some miracle to prove himself to them. It never occurs to them to wonder why the God who created all that is should stoop to obey their whim. If a person is unwilling to take God at his word, to see the evidence around them, to believe all who have come before and testify to God’s nature, then they will never know God. They will instead believe their own mischaracterization of God, which is the depth of folly and foolishness.

Finally, we should notice that Jesus never backs down from a challenge. Knowing what the Pharisees came to do, he deliberately stood firm against their intentions. He did so by creating a controlled conflict that won the day. This is not to say that we should deliberately provoke arguments with others, being the kind of Christian so many in our culture accuse of by beating them over the head with the Bible. But neither should we be willing to let others misrepresent God or spend eternity in hell because we weren’t bold enough to confront error.