Another time Jesus went into the synagogue, and a man with a shriveled hand was there. Some of them were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they watched him closely to see if he would heal him on the Sabbath. Jesus said to the man with the shriveled hand, “Stand up in front of everyone.” Then Jesus asked them, “Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?” But they remained silent. He looked around at them in anger and, deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts, said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was completely restored. Then the Pharisees went out and began to plot with the Herodians how they might kill Jesus.
This story must be quite significant as it is also told in Luke 6:6-11 and Matthew 12:9-13. This took place on a Sabbath day. Some Christians view Sunday as something similar to the Jewish Sabbath and follow strict rules like not doing any work and definitely no shopping or even eating in a restaurant (for that would encourage others to work on Sunday). The word Sabbath first appears in Exodus 16:23 when God performed the miracles of sending manna and quails to feed the Israelites while they were travelling through the desert. God provided food for his people daily except the seventh day of each week. So the Israelites were to collect their food daily, enough for the need for that day. But on the sixth day they were to collect twice the amount knowing that there won't be any on the seventh day. If they collect more than they need on days one to five, the food will rot but the food collected on day six will last through day seven. Now that itself is a miracle!
Sabbath was designed to give God's people a chance to rest from their labour, and to dedicate a day each week to celebrate God's goodness and provision. However, the Pharisees and the Teachers of the Law in Jesus' days followed strictly the "letters of the law" while forgetting the "spirit of the law".
Coming back to this story, what was happening there if I were a Pharisee? I had been following the news of this unknown, untrained, unsophisticated carpenter from a small village in Galilee. I was convinced that he was a fake and a trouble maker. He had been challenging my religious establishment which provided the structure and order for this scattered and repressed people under the Roman rule. He had become quite popular and was turning people away from our synagogue. I was looking for a way to get rid of him. Here was an opportunity. He had been doing a lot of healing. Would he do it on a Sabbath and break the religious law? If he did, it would be good enough of an excuse to kill him. My friends from the Herodian party would be more than happy to help.
I was watching him standing next to this insignificant disabled man. He turned around and looked straight at me. It seemed like he was directing this question right at me: "Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?". Deep down I knew what the answer was but I just couldn't stand him. I kept quiet. Jesus looked away, with the look of anger and a deep distress. He didn't actually do anything. He just told the man to stretch out his hand. And this man's hand immediately turned to normal! He must have done something. He must have broken the law. That was it. I just left the place to look for my friends to make a plot to kill him.
How is it that I can be so blind? Jesus' rhetorical question plays out in my head. God's intention is for me to find rest in him, whatever the circumstance I find myself in. The "Law of the Sabbath" is surely to do good and to save life instead of to do evil and to kill. Do I not already have preconceived notion of what is good in my own eyes and who deserves my healing? Or am I be willing to listen to him daily (not just one day a week) and learn from him:
He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you?To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. (Micah 6:8)
Just a couple of interesting observations:
I think a shrivelled hand is likely either an unusable hand with wasted muscles like a myopathy or a hand with contracture secondary to denervation of the flexor muscles. In any case, a sudden restoration of the hand is truly a miracle.
Thinking about the extreme application of the Sabbath law, I was an intern in a Jewish hospital during my residency training. On Saturday, this hospital's elevators stopped on every floor so the elevator users (patients or staff) will not need to push the button which constituted "work"!! Boy, did I walk the stairs a lot because I was in a hurry to save lives!
This story must be quite significant as it is also told in Luke 6:6-11 and Matthew 12:9-13. This took place on a Sabbath day. Some Christians view Sunday as something similar to the Jewish Sabbath and follow strict rules like not doing any work and definitely no shopping or even eating in a restaurant (for that would encourage others to work on Sunday). The word Sabbath first appears in Exodus 16:23 when God performed the miracles of sending manna and quails to feed the Israelites while they were travelling through the desert. God provided food for his people daily except the seventh day of each week. So the Israelites were to collect their food daily, enough for the need for that day. But on the sixth day they were to collect twice the amount knowing that there won't be any on the seventh day. If they collect more than they need on days one to five, the food will rot but the food collected on day six will last through day seven. Now that itself is a miracle!
Sabbath was designed to give God's people a chance to rest from their labour, and to dedicate a day each week to celebrate God's goodness and provision. However, the Pharisees and the Teachers of the Law in Jesus' days followed strictly the "letters of the law" while forgetting the "spirit of the law".
Coming back to this story, what was happening there if I were a Pharisee? I had been following the news of this unknown, untrained, unsophisticated carpenter from a small village in Galilee. I was convinced that he was a fake and a trouble maker. He had been challenging my religious establishment which provided the structure and order for this scattered and repressed people under the Roman rule. He had become quite popular and was turning people away from our synagogue. I was looking for a way to get rid of him. Here was an opportunity. He had been doing a lot of healing. Would he do it on a Sabbath and break the religious law? If he did, it would be good enough of an excuse to kill him. My friends from the Herodian party would be more than happy to help.
I was watching him standing next to this insignificant disabled man. He turned around and looked straight at me. It seemed like he was directing this question right at me: "Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?". Deep down I knew what the answer was but I just couldn't stand him. I kept quiet. Jesus looked away, with the look of anger and a deep distress. He didn't actually do anything. He just told the man to stretch out his hand. And this man's hand immediately turned to normal! He must have done something. He must have broken the law. That was it. I just left the place to look for my friends to make a plot to kill him.
How is it that I can be so blind? Jesus' rhetorical question plays out in my head. God's intention is for me to find rest in him, whatever the circumstance I find myself in. The "Law of the Sabbath" is surely to do good and to save life instead of to do evil and to kill. Do I not already have preconceived notion of what is good in my own eyes and who deserves my healing? Or am I be willing to listen to him daily (not just one day a week) and learn from him:
He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you?To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. (Micah 6:8)
Just a couple of interesting observations:
I think a shrivelled hand is likely either an unusable hand with wasted muscles like a myopathy or a hand with contracture secondary to denervation of the flexor muscles. In any case, a sudden restoration of the hand is truly a miracle.
Thinking about the extreme application of the Sabbath law, I was an intern in a Jewish hospital during my residency training. On Saturday, this hospital's elevators stopped on every floor so the elevator users (patients or staff) will not need to push the button which constituted "work"!! Boy, did I walk the stairs a lot because I was in a hurry to save lives!
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