Mat 12:13, 15:31, Mar 3:5, 5:34, Luk 5:31, 6:10, 7:10, 15:27 | Barnes | STEP | Verse 13. And he said, Stretch forth thine hand . This was a remarkable commandment. The man might have said that he had no strength; that it was a thing which he could not do. Yet, being commanded , it was his duty to obey. He did so, and was healed. So the sinner; it is his duty to obey whatever God commands. He will give strength to those who attempt to do his will. It is not right to plead, when God commands us to do a thing, that we have no strength. God will give us strength, if there is a disposition to obey. At the same time, however, this passage should not be applied to the sinner, as if it proved that he has no more strength or ability than the man who had the withered hand. It proves no such thing. It has no reference to any such case. And it should not be used as if it proved any such thing. It may be used to prove that man should instantly obey the commands of God, without pausing to examine the question about his ability, and especially without saying that he can do nothing . What would the Saviour have said to this man, if he had objected that he could not stretch out his hand? It was restored whole , Christ had before claimed Divine authority and power, . He now showed that he possessed it. By his own power he healed him; thus evincing, by a miracle, that his claim of being Lord of the Sabbath was well founded. These two cases determine what may be done on the Sabbath. The one was a case of necessity ; the other of mercy . The example of the Saviour, and his explanations, show that these are a part of the proper duties of that holy day. Beyond an honest and conscientious discharge of these two duties, men may not devote the Sabbath to any secular purpose. If they do, they do it at their peril. They go beyond what his authority authorizes them to do. They do what he claimed the special right of doing, as being Lord of the Sabbath. They usurp his place; and act and legislate where God only has a right to act and legislate. Men may as well trample down any other law of the Bible, as that respecting the Sabbath.

Matthew 12:13

Verse 13. And he said, Stretch forth thine hand. This was a remarkable commandment. The man might have said that he had no strength; that it was a thing which he could not do. Yet, being commanded, it was his duty to obey. He did so, and was healed. So the sinner; it is his duty to obey whatever God commands. He will give strength to those who attempt to do his will. It is not right to plead, when God commands us to do a thing, that we have no strength. God will give us strength, if there is a disposition to obey. At the same time, however, this passage should not be applied to the sinner, as if it proved that he has no more strength or ability than the man who had the withered hand. It proves no such thing. It has no reference to any such case. And it should not be used as if it proved any such thing. It may be used to prove that man should instantly obey the commands of God, without pausing to examine the question about his ability, and especially without saying that he can do nothing. What would the Saviour have said to this man, if he had objected that he could not stretch out his hand?

It was restored whole, Christ had before claimed Divine authority and power, Mt 13:6-9. He now showed that he possessed it. By his own power he healed him; thus evincing, by a miracle, that his claim of being Lord of the Sabbath was well founded.

These two cases determine what may be done on the Sabbath. The one was a case of necessity; the other of mercy. The example of the Saviour, and his explanations, show that these are a part of the proper duties of that holy day. Beyond an honest and conscientious discharge of these two duties, men may not devote the Sabbath to any secular purpose. If they do, they do it at their peril. They go beyond what his authority authorizes them to do. They do what he claimed the special right of doing, as being Lord of the Sabbath. They usurp his place; and act and legislate where God only has a right to act and legislate. Men may as well trample down any other law of the Bible, as that respecting the Sabbath.

Matthew 15:31

Verse 31. Mt 15:29

Mark 3:5

Verse 5. With anger. With a severe and stern countenance; with indignation at their hypocrisy and hardness of heart. This was not, however, a spiteful or revengeful passion; it was caused by excessive grief at their state. It was not sudden and tumultuous hatred of the men whose hearts were so hard; it was hatred of the sin which they exhibited, joined with the extreme grief that neither his teaching, nor the law of God, nor any means which could be used, overcame their confirmed wickedness. Such anger is not unlawful, Eph 4:26. And, in this instance, our Lord has taught us that anger is never lawful, except when it is tempered with grief or compassion for those who have offended.

Hardness of their hearts. The heart--figuratively the seat of feeling, or affection is said to be tender when it is easily affected by the sufferings of others; by our own sin and danger; by the love and commands of God;--when we are easily made to feel on the great subjects pertaining to our interest, Eze 11:19,20. It is hard, when nothing moves it; when a man is alike insensible to the sufferings of others, the dangers of his own condition, and the commands, the love, and the threatenings of God. It is most tender in youth, or when we have committed fewest crimes. It is made hard by indulgence in sin; by long resisting the offers of life; or by opposing any great and affecting appeals which God may make to us by his Spirit or Providence, by affliction, or by a revival of religion. Hence it is that the most favourable period for securing an interest in Christ, or for becoming a Christian, is in youth; the first, the tenderest, and the best days of life. Nay, in the days of childhood--in the Sabbath-school--God may be found, and the soul prepared to die.

(1) "hardness" or, "blindness"

Mark 5:34

Verse 34. Daughter. A word of kindness, tending to inspire confidence, and to dissipate her fears.

Be whole. That is, continue to be whole; for she was already cured.

Of thy plague. Thy disease; literally, thy scourge. So a word from Jesus heals the moral malady of the sinner.

(m) "faith hath made" Mk 10:52, Acts 14:9 (n) "go in peace" 1Sam 1:17, 20:42, 2Kgs 5:19

Luke 5:31

Verse 31. No entry from BARNES for this verse.

(w) "physician" Jer 8:22

Luke 6:10

Verse 10. No entry from BARNES for this verse.