Mat 12:12 | KingComments | STEP | After his journey through the fields, the Lord enters their synagogue and another story on the Sabbath follows. The previous one concerns His Person and the authority He has over the Sabbath. This is about His work, the work of mercy, for which the Sabbath is particularly suitable. He shows that the Sabbath is a day of blessing. In their synagogue is a man with a withered hand. The poor man can’t pick any ears of corn and rub them in his hands because of his withered hand. He cannot make use the blessing of the Sabbath. The man does not ask to be healed, but the Lord knows his unspoken question. The Pharisees are also present in the synagogue. They are keen observers. They see someone with a handicap and they see Someone Who they know as the Merciful One. In their malicious perceptiveness they rightly assume that the Lord wants to heal the man. In their foolish consideration they believe that this is an excellent opportunity to ask Him a trick question. The Lord lets them ask their question. It gives Him the opportunity to demonstrate His glory and their hypocrisy. In this way they themselves fall into the trap they have set for Him. They ask Him whether it is lawful to do good and bless on the Sabbath. What a question! The question alone makes it clear how narrow and legalistic they think. This is made even clearer by the example the Lord presents them. It shows that they do not suffer from their conscience on the Sabbath when it is to their own advantage. Then they will make an exception. Healing on the Sabbath, however, does not occur in their thinking and in their rules. They have no rules for it, that is why it is not allowed. The Lord exposes the folly of legalistic thinking. His conclusion must have been razor-sharp to their ears. Then He turns to the man. He himself has to do something. He must stretch out his hand toward the Lord and take the blessing. He does what the Lord says, and the blessing flows into him. Neither the clear word of the Lord nor His act of healing bring the Pharisees to repentance. On the contrary. The proof of grace makes them go out. They can no longer remain in the presence of so much grace and truth. When they are outside, outside of the atmosphere where grace is displayed, they start plotting plans of murder. Those who consciously withdraw from the presence of Christ will increasingly reveal themselves as adversaries. What the Pharisees have just heard and seen, they have experienced as a defeat. It is. But instead of accepting it, they feel all the more threatened that they will lose their status among the people. And they absolutely don’t want to lose that. In order to preserve themselves, they seek ways to get rid of God revealed in goodness! Can hatred go beyond the desire to limit the hand of God, that is stretched out in goodness to men, to a statute and to kill the Son of God for doing good? When the Lord has healed the withered hand, they deliberate about how they can destroy Him. He seeks life, they seek death.

‏ Matthew 12:12

Healing a Withered Hand

After his journey through the fields, the Lord enters their synagogue and another story on the Sabbath follows. The previous one concerns His Person and the authority He has over the Sabbath. This is about His work, the work of mercy, for which the Sabbath is particularly suitable. He shows that the Sabbath is a day of blessing.

In their synagogue is a man with a withered hand. The poor man can’t pick any ears of corn and rub them in his hands because of his withered hand. He cannot make use the blessing of the Sabbath. The man does not ask to be healed, but the Lord knows his unspoken question.

The Pharisees are also present in the synagogue. They are keen observers. They see someone with a handicap and they see Someone Who they know as the Merciful One. In their malicious perceptiveness they rightly assume that the Lord wants to heal the man. In their foolish consideration they believe that this is an excellent opportunity to ask Him a trick question. The Lord lets them ask their question. It gives Him the opportunity to demonstrate His glory and their hypocrisy. In this way they themselves fall into the trap they have set for Him.

They ask Him whether it is lawful to do good and bless on the Sabbath. What a question! The question alone makes it clear how narrow and legalistic they think. This is made even clearer by the example the Lord presents them. It shows that they do not suffer from their conscience on the Sabbath when it is to their own advantage. Then they will make an exception. Healing on the Sabbath, however, does not occur in their thinking and in their rules. They have no rules for it, that is why it is not allowed.

The Lord exposes the folly of legalistic thinking. His conclusion must have been razor-sharp to their ears. Then He turns to the man. He himself has to do something. He must stretch out his hand toward the Lord and take the blessing. He does what the Lord says, and the blessing flows into him. Neither the clear word of the Lord nor His act of healing bring the Pharisees to repentance. On the contrary. The proof of grace makes them go out. They can no longer remain in the presence of so much grace and truth.

When they are outside, outside of the atmosphere where grace is displayed, they start plotting plans of murder. Those who consciously withdraw from the presence of Christ will increasingly reveal themselves as adversaries. What the Pharisees have just heard and seen, they have experienced as a defeat. It is. But instead of accepting it, they feel all the more threatened that they will lose their status among the people. And they absolutely don’t want to lose that. In order to preserve themselves, they seek ways to get rid of God revealed in goodness!

Can hatred go beyond the desire to limit the hand of God, that is stretched out in goodness to men, to a statute and to kill the Son of God for doing good? When the Lord has healed the withered hand, they deliberate about how they can destroy Him. He seeks life, they seek death.