It also happened on another Sabbath that he entered into the synagogue and taught. There was a man there, and his right hand was withered. The scribes and the Pharisees watched him, to see whether he would heal on the Sabbath, that they might find an accusation against him. But he knew their thoughts; and he said to the man who had the withered hand, “Rise up, and stand in the middle.” He arose and stood. Then Jesus said to them, “I will ask you something: Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good, or to do harm? To save a life, or to kill?” He looked around at them all, and said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He did, and his hand was restored as sound as the other.
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Luke 6:6-10 sits inside this longer paragraph.
It also happened on another Sabbath that he entered into the synagogue and taught. There was a man there, and his right hand was withered. The scribes and the Pharisees watched him, to see whether he would heal on the Sabbath, that they might find an accusation against him. But he knew their thoughts; and he said to the man who had the withered hand, “Rise up, and stand in the middle.” He arose and stood. Then Jesus said to them, “I will ask you something: Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good, or to do harm? To save a life, or to kill?” He looked around at them all, and said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He did, and his hand was restored as sound as the other. But they were filled with rage, and talked with one another about what they might do to Jesus.
Parallel Translations
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It also happened on another Sabbath that he entered into the synagogue and taught. There was a man there, and his right hand was withered.
The scribes and the Pharisees watched him, to see whether he would heal on the Sabbath, that they might find an accusation against him.
But he knew their thoughts; and he said to the man who had the withered hand, “Rise up, and stand in the middle.” He arose and stood.
Then Jesus said to them, “I will ask you something: Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good, or to do harm? To save a life, or to kill?”
He looked around at them all, and said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He did, and his hand was restored as sound as the other.
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And it fortuned in a nother saboth also that he entred in to the sinagoge and taught. And ther was a man whose right honde was dryed vp.
And the Scribes and Pharises watched him to se whether he wolde heale on the Saboth daye that they myght fynde an accusacion agaynst him.
But he knewe their thoughtes and sayde to the man which had the wyddred honde: Ryse vp and stonde forthe in the myddes. And he arose and stepped forthe.
Then sayde Iesus vnto them: I will axe you a question: Whether is it laufull on the saboth dayes to do good or to do evill? to save lyfe or for to destroye it?
And he behelde them all in compasse and sayd vnto the man: Stretche forth thy honde. And he dyd so and his honde was restored and made as whoole as the other.
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It came to passe also on another Sabbath, that hee entred into the Synagogue, and taught, and there was a man, whose right hand was dryed vp.
And the Scribes and Pharises watched him, whether he would heale on the Sabbath day, that they might finde an accusation against him.
But he knew their thoughts, and sayd to the man which had the withered hand, Arise, and stand vp in the middes. And hee arose, and stoode vp.
Then sayd Iesus vnto them, I will aske you a question, Whether is it lawfull on the Sabbath dayes to doe good, or to doe euill? to saue life, or to destroy?
And he behelde them all in compasse, and sayd vnto the man, Stretch forth thine hand. And he did so, and his hand was restored againe, as whole as the other.
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Cross-references (52)
- Mark 3:1-6 (v6) He entered again into the synagogue, and there was a man there who had his hand withered. They watched him, whether he would heal him on…
- Mark 3:4 (v9) He said to them, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath day to do good, or to do harm? To save a life, or to kill?” But they were silent.
- Luke 20:20 (v7) They watched him and sent out spies, who pretended to be righteous, that they might trap him in something he said, so as to deliver him up…
- Luke 14:3 (vv6, 9) Jesus, answering, spoke to the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”
- Exodus 4:6-7 (v10) Yahweh said furthermore to him, “Now put your hand inside your cloak.” He put his hand inside his cloak, and when he took it out, behold,…
Show all 50 cross-references
- Matthew 12:9-14 (v6) He departed from there, and went into their synagogue. And behold there was a man with a withered hand. They asked him, “Is it lawful to…
- Matthew 12:12-13 (v9) Of how much more value then is a man than a sheep! Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath day.” Then he told the man, “Stretch…
- Mark 3:5 (v10) When he had looked around at them with anger, being grieved at the hardening of their hearts, he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.”…
- 1 Kings 13:6 (v10) The king answered the man of God, “Now intercede for the favor of Yahweh your God, and pray for me, that my hand may be restored me again.”…
- Psalms 37:32-33 (v7) The wicked watch the righteous, and seek to kill him. Yahweh will not leave him in his hand, nor condemn him when he is judged.
- Psalms 38:12 (v7) They also who seek after my life lay snares. Those who seek my hurt speak mischievous things, and meditate deceits all day long.
- Isaiah 42:4 (v8) He will not fail nor be discouraged, until he has set justice in the earth, and the islands wait for his law.”
- Matthew 4:23 (v6) Jesus went about in all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the Good News of the Kingdom, and healing every disease and every…
- Matthew 9:4 (v8) Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, “Why do you think evil in your hearts?
- Mark 3:2 (v7) They watched him, whether he would heal him on the Sabbath day, that they might accuse him.
- Luke 4:31 (v6) He came down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee. He was teaching them on the Sabbath day,
- Luke 5:22 (v8) But Jesus, perceiving their thoughts, answered them, “Why are you reasoning so in your hearts?
- Luke 11:53-54 (v7) As he said these things to them, the scribes and the Pharisees began to be terribly angry, and to draw many things out of him; lying in…
- Luke 13:14 (v7) The ruler of the synagogue, being indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, said to the multitude, “There are six days in which…
- John 5:3 (v6) In these lay a great multitude of those who were sick, blind, lame, or paralyzed, waiting for the moving of the water;
- John 5:8 (v10) Jesus said to him, “Arise, take up your mat, and walk.”
- John 7:19-23 (v9) Didn’t Moses give you the law, and yet none of you keeps the law? Why do you seek to kill me?” The multitude answered, “You have a demon!…
- Revelation 2:23 (v8) I will kill her children with Death, and all the assemblies will know that I am he who searches the minds and hearts. I will give to each…
- John 9:16 (vv6–7) Some therefore of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, because he doesn’t keep the Sabbath.” Others said, “How can a man who is a…
- 1 Kings 13:4 (v6) When the king heard the saying of the man of God, which he cried against the altar in Bethel, Jeroboam put out his hand from the altar,…
- 1 Chronicles 28:9 (v8) You, Solomon my son, know the God of your father, and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind; for Yahweh searches all…
- 1 Chronicles 29:17 (v8) I know also, my God, that you try the heart, and have pleasure in uprightness. As for me, in the uprightness of my heart I have willingly…
- Job 42:2 (v8) “I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be restrained.
- Psalms 44:21 (v8) won’t God search this out? For he knows the secrets of the heart.
- Psalms 107:20 (v10) He sends his word, and heals them, and delivers them from their graves.
- Isaiah 29:21 (v7) who cause a person to be indicted by a word, and lay a snare for the arbiter in the gate, and who deprive the innocent of justice with…
- Jeremiah 20:10 (v7) For I have heard the defaming of many, “Terror on every side! Denounce, and we will denounce him!” say all my familiar friends, those who…
- Matthew 26:59-60 (v7) Now the chief priests, the elders, and the whole council sought false testimony against Jesus, that they might put him to death; and they…
- Luke 4:16 (v6) He came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. He entered, as was his custom, into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to…
- Luke 6:1 (v6) Now on the second Sabbath after the first, he was going through the grain fields. His disciples plucked the heads of grain and ate, rubbing…
- Luke 13:10 (v6) He was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath day.
- Luke 13:13-14 (v6) He laid his hands on her, and immediately she stood up straight and glorified God. The ruler of the synagogue, being indignant because…
- Luke 14:1-6 (v7) When he went into the house of one of the rulers of the Pharisees on a Sabbath to eat bread, they were watching him. Behold, a certain man…
- John 2:25 (v8) and because he didn’t need for anyone to testify concerning man; for he himself knew what was in man.
- John 5:10-16 (v7) So the Jews said to him who was cured, “It is the Sabbath. It is not lawful for you to carry the mat.” He answered them, “He who made me…
- John 9:4 (v8) I must work the works of him who sent me while it is day. The night is coming, when no one can work.
- John 9:26-29 (v7) They said to him again, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?” He answered them, “I told you already, and you didn’t listen.…
- John 21:17 (v8) He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you have affection for me?” Peter was grieved because he asked him the third time,…
- Acts 20:24 (v8) But these things don’t count; nor do I hold my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I…
- Acts 26:26 (v8) For the king knows of these things, to whom also I speak freely. For I am persuaded that none of these things is hidden from him, for this…
- Philippians 1:28 (v8) and in nothing frightened by the adversaries, which is for them a proof of destruction, but to you of salvation, and that from God.
- 1 Peter 4:1 (v8) Therefore, since Christ suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same mind; for he who has suffered in the flesh has…
- Zechariah 11:17 (v6) Woe to the worthless shepherd who leaves the flock! The sword will be on his arm, and on his right eye. His arm will be completely…
- Luke 9:56 (v9) For the Son of Man didn’t come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them.” They went to another village.
- Hebrews 4:13 (v8) There is no creature that is hidden from his sight, but all things are naked and laid open before the eyes of him to whom we must give an…
50 distinct cross-references across this passage (52 total citations).
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (21 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv6, 9 Charity is the rule of all ceremonies.
Charity is the rule of all ceremonies.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On v6 6 And it came to pass also on another…
6 And it came to pass also on another sabbath, that he entered into the synagogue and taught: and there was a man whose right hand was withered.
Ver. 6. And it came to pass] {See Trapp on "Mat 12:9"} {See Trapp on "Mat 12:10"} {See Trapp on "Mat 12:11"}
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On v6 See Poole on "Mat 12:10", and following verses to…
See Poole on "Mat 12:10", and following verses to Mat 12:13, See Poole on "Mar 3:1", and following verses to Mar 3:5. In both which places we met with the same history, and with some more circumstances. Mark tells us that the subject of their deliberation, what they might do to Jesus, was, how they might destroy him; this the evangelist maketh the effect of their madness, ανοιας, and he very properly so calls it. For men to answer arguments and reason with violence, is for them to act like mad men, not like reasonable creatures; yet, to show the degeneracy of human nature, we shall observe there is nothing hath been more ordinary, when men have been conquered by reasoning, and have nothing reasonably to oppose, than to fly to violence, and with swords to cut knots which they cannot untie. Nor can there be a greater evidence of silly and brutish souls, and a baffled cause.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
William Burkitt 1703 · Public Domain On v6 Observe here, 1. The miraculous cure which our Saviour…
Observe here, 1. The miraculous cure which our Saviour wrought upon the man which had the withered hand.
And 2. The effect which this miracle had upon the wicked Pharisees. In the former note, the place where our Saviour wrought this miracle, in the synagogue: the time when, on the sabbath day; the manner how, by speaking of a word; the persons before whom, namely, the envious and malicious Pharisees. These men were always slandering Christ’s doctrine, and cavilling at his miracles, yet does our holy Lord go on with his work before their faces without discouragement.
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Learn thence, that the unjust censures and malicious cavils of wicked men against us, for well-doing, must not discourage us from doing our duty, either towards God or towards our neighbor. Although the Pharisees watched our Saviour wherever he went, and when they could find no occasion of quarrel, would invent and make one, yet such was our Lord’s courage and resolution, that he bids the man that had the withered hand stand forth; to show that he was resolved to heal him, notwithstanding their malicious purpose to accuse him for it as a breaker of the sabbath. Opposition met with in doing our duty, must not discourage us from doing good, if we follow the example of our blessed Redeemer.
Observe, 2. The influence and effect which this miracle had upon the wicked Pharisees; they were filled with madness, and took counsel to kill him. Instead of being convinced by this miracle, they conspire against him for it. The enemies of Christ and his holy religion, when arguments fail fall to violence. It is a certain sign of a weak cause that must be supported by passion: which is all tongue, and no ear.
William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv6–10 And the Scribes and Pharisees watched him,.... See Gill…
And the Scribes and Pharisees watched him,.... See Gill on Mar 3:2.
whether he would heal on the sabbath day: there being such an object before him:
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that they might find an accusation against him; as they had before against his disciples.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv6, 9 Matt. xii, 9; Mark iii, 1.
Matt. xii, 9; Mark iii, 1.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv6, 7, 9, 10 Verse 6. Whose right hand was withered.] See Clarke…
Verse 6. Whose right hand was withered.] See Clarke on Mt 12:10, &c. The critic who says that ξηραν χειρα signifies a luxated arm, and that the stretching it out restored the bone to its proper place, without the intervention of a miracle, deserves no serious refutation. See Clarke on Lu 6:10.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On v6 Luk 6:6-11. And on another sabbath he entered into…
Luk 6:6-11. And on another sabbath he entered into the synagogue — The service of which he and his disciples seem to have generally attended: and there was a man whose right hand was withered — Of the miracle here recorded, see notes on Mat 12:9-13; and Mar 3:1-5; where all the circumstances of it are noticed.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On v8 But he knew there thoughts - He knew their…
But he knew there thoughts - He knew their thoughts - their dark, malicious designs - by the question, which they proposed to him, whether it was lawful to heal on the Sabbath-days (Matthew). In “reply” to their question, Jesus asked them whether they would not release a “sheep” on the Sabbath-day if it was fallen into a pit, and also asked “them” whether it was better to do good than to do evil on that day, implying that to “omit” to do “good” was, in fact, doing “evil.”
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv7, 9 WITHERED HAND HEALED. (Luk 6:6-11)
WITHERED HAND HEALED. (Luk 6:6-11)
watched whether, &c.--In Matthew (Mat 12:9) this is put as an ensnaring question of theirs to our Lord, who accordingly speaks to the state of their hearts (Luk 6:9), just as if they had spoken it out.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On v6 § 34. THE HEALING OF THE WITHERED HAND, Luk_6:6-11.
§ 34. THE HEALING OF THE WITHERED HAND, Luk_6:6-11.
Mat_12:9-21; Mar_3:1-12.
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See notes on the parallel section in Matthew.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv6–10 6-11. The Healing of the Man with the Withered…
6-11. The Healing of the Man with the Withered Hand.
6. into the synagogue] Mat_12:9-14; Mar_3:1-6. None of the Evangelists enable us to decide on the time or place when the healing occurred.
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there was a man whose right hand was withered] Obviously he had come in the hope of being healed; and even this the Pharisees regarded as reprehensible, Luk_13:14. The Gospel of the Ebionites adds that he was a stonemason, maimed by an accident, and that he implored Jesus to heal him, that he might not have to beg his bread (Jerome on Mat_12:10).
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv6, 7, 8, 10 (6) It came to pass also on another sabbath.—See…
(6) It came to pass also on another sabbath.—See Notes on Mat_12:9-14; Mar_3:1-6.
Whose right hand was withered.—St. Luke alone specifies which hand it was that was affected.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv6–10 And it came to pass also on another sabbath,…
And it came to pass also on another sabbath, that he entered into the synagogue and taught: and there was a man whose right hand was withered. This was the second part of his sabbath teaching. The first had taken place in the open country, in one of the cornfields near the Lake of Gennesaret. The second was given in a synagogue possibly in the city of Capernaum. St. Luke inserts this scene, which may have taken place several weeks after the one above related, because it completes in a way the teaching of the Lord on this important point of the ceremonial law.
HOMILIES BY W. CLARKSON Vers. 6-11. Sin disabling, Christ restoring.
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Being in the right place, our Lord found an opportunity of doing that for which he came, and much more besides. The doing of duty often leads to the finding of privilege and the exercise of power for good. We learn
I THAT SIN DISABLES US. This man came into the synagogue with a withered hand. That which was the natural instrument of power his right hand was powerless. Gradually its strength had been disappearing until it had completely gone; and that with which God meant him to do his work, to greet his fellows, to make his mark in the world around him, had become an inefficient and useless member. The disease from which he was suffering, whatever it may have been, had by slow degrees wasted and worn away its vital power, and it could do nothing of all that it was created to do. Just such is the action of sin. It is a disabling spiritual disease. Its effect is to reduce and finally to remove those spiritual powers with which our Creator endowed us, and in the exercise of which our true life is found. Our human power, as we came forth from God, was that of worship, of contemplation, of recognizing and rejoicing in the truth, of delighting in God, of obedience to his commandments, of acquiescence in his will, of living in our sphere the life he lives in his, of reflecting his own likeness in our character and our deeds. But sin has been taking this away from us; away from our race, away from the individual who allows it to reign over his soul. More and more it disables us from taking the part we were intended to take, and doing the work we were intended to do. It is the great and sad disabling force in the spiritual sphere.
II THAT CHRIST COMES TO RESTORE US. He comes to say to us, "Stretch forth thy hand; " resume thy power; have again and use. again those precious spiritual faculties which, under tile grievous injury of sin, have lain dormant within thee. And even as he wrought a cure in this afflicted man which was radical and thorough, making the life-blood to course through all his veins and nourish every nerve and muscle which had shrunk and withered, so does he heal our hearts by a process which is not superficial, which does not merely affect the extremities, but which goes to and proceeds from the heart. He shows us our true selves whence we came; what we were created to be; how far we have fallen from our right heritage and condition; what is our unworthiness and guilt; what we may yet become. And he reveals himself to us the Divine Mediator, Saviour, Lord, through whom we have access to God, in whom we are restored to God"s favour, unto whom we dedicate, joyfully and unreservedly, all the faculties of our nature. In Christ Jesus we enter on a new life; all the springs of our soul are touched and renewed; we regain our lost possession; we stretch forth the right hand of our spiritual power; we do our work in his world.
III THAT CHRIST DEMANDS OF US AN IMMEDIATE, PRACTICAL RESPONSE. That he may heal us, he summons us to act. He said, "Stretch forth thy hand!" and in the act of obedience the cure was wrought. To us he says, "Come unto me!" "Abide in me!" and as we endeavour to comply we begin to be restored.
IV THAT PRACTICAL KINDNESS IS A PRINCIPAL MANIFESTATION OF RENEWED POWER. The great Restorer was at the same time the great Teacher. By the whole incident, and especially by his healing act, our Lord was making known to us for all time that, whatever may be the worth of religious observances and they have their own great value they are distinctly second in his sight to those acts of human pity and beneficence by which we lift a load from a brother"s heart, and brighten the rest of his life on earth. C.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On vv6–7 And there was a man whose right hand was…
Luk_6:6-11
And there was a man whose right hand was withered
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The ability of Christ to heal the withered energies of the human soul
The miracle is a picture of sublime moral instruction.
I. THE BEST ENERGIES OF THE SOUL ARE IN A WITHERED CONDITION.
1. Mans intellectual nature withered, and cannot attain to the inner meaning of Divine truth.
2. Mans moral nature withered, and cannot attain to the rich blessings of the gospel.
3. Mans compassionate sympathy withered, and not deeply sensitive to the woe occasioned by moral evil.
4. Hence, seeing that the best energies of man are withered, he cannot render to God the service due to Him.
II. THE WITHERED ENERGIES OF THE HUMAN SOUL ARE CAPABLE OF EFFECTIVE RESTORATION BY CHRIST.
1. We see from this narrative that Christ beholds the withered energies of the human soul with tender compassion.
2. That there is an intimate connection between the word of Christ and the restoration of the withered energies of the soul.
3. That the restoration of the withered energies of the soul is immediate, visible, and complete.
4. That the restoring of the withered energies of the soul can only be accomplished by Christ.
III. THERE ARE MANY INDIVIDUALS WHO HAVE BUT LITTLE SYMPATHY WITH CHRIST IN HIS WORK OF SOUL-RESTORATION.
1. The Pharisees were cunning in their watching of Christ.
2. They were refuted in their contempt of Christ.
3. They were regarded by Christ with mingled feelings of pity and anger.
IV. WHY DID THESE PHARISEES OPPOSE THE BENEFICENT ACT OF CHRIST?
1. Because He did not fall in with their views as to the manner and time of the cure.
2. Because they were too proud in spirit to rejoice at the cure thus wrought.
3. Because they saw not the full meaning and blessing of the cure. (J. S.Exell, M. A.)
The construction of the hand
Tyndal writes of his ascent of the Weisshorn:--There is scarcely a position possible to a human being which at one time or another during the day I was not forced to assume. The fingers, wrist, and forearm were my main reliance, and as a mechanical instrument the human hand appeared to me this day a miracle of constructive art … I opened my note-book to make a few observations, but soon relinquished the attempt. There was something incongruous, if not profane, in allowing the scientific faculty to interfere where silent worship seemed the reasonable service. (Hours of Exercise in the Alps.)
Language of the hand
With the hand we demand, we promise, we call, dismiss, threaten, entreat, supplicate, deny, refuse, interrogate, admire, reckon, confess, repent; express fear, express shame, express doubt; we instruct, command, unite, encourage, swear, testify, accuse, condemn, acquit, insult, despise, defy, disdain, flatter, applaud, bless, abuse, ridicule, reconcile, recommend, exalt, regale, gladden, complain, afflict, discomfort, discourage, astonish; exclaim, indicate silence and what not I with a variety and multiplication that keep pace with the words spoken by the tongue.
Promptitude of faith
If the man in our text had been a scholar, his thought most likely would have risen up in instant protest against Christs command. Had he been a physicist, had he in particular been an anatomist, he could hardly have been healed. He would have thought too much. He would instantly have fallen into reasoning upon the utter anatomical and physiological impossibility of a withered hand stretching itself out; and such thinking would have been ruinous. It is here that religion and science break fellowship. Science thinks everything out. Thought is from its very nature surgical; it cuts in pieces. It is analytic, and unjoints and unhinges. Suppose that you are in the presence of a speaker that powerfully affects you. You realize his hand upon you and his mastery over you. This wakes up your inquisitiveness, and puts you upon asking the secret of his power, its elements. Thought begins at once to show how surgical it is; and before the speakers address is completed you have his oratorical talent accurately and elegantly dissected; such a percentage due to figure, such a percentage to manner, to matter, and the rest. And yet the process of analyzing his power has, so far as relates to you, destroyed his power, and you go home with the pocketed ingredients of his power when you might have gone home with an inspiration. You thought too much and too nicely. And it is remarkable how Christ in His intercourse with His disciples laboured to keep their thoughts quiet. He never provoked argument. He indulges in no definition-making. Hews and wherefores He regularly discouraged. Nicodemus wanted the matter of the rebirth stated analytically. Christ declined. One of the disciples wanted a statement of the methods of the Spirits operation. Christ declined. One trouble with our thinking powers is that they work at such a level as to create more problems than they solve. They are like a fly caught in a web, whose very struggles and buzzing only draw the tangled skein about it the more imprisoningly. All that saved the man in our story was that he did not stop to think. He pro-seeded as though there were no difficulties; and forthwith for him there were none. The unconverted men in our congregation can see just where this presses. All Christs commands to you are in the present tense, which means that the command is issued without any allowance of time for comprehending the mysteries of salvation, or for acquiring power to become a saved man. It is simply levelled to the range of the instant; not because thought is not advantageous in some circumstances, but because it is not in point here. The paralytic, with never so much thinking, would never have seen his way clear to do as he was told. Giving ourselves to Christ is not a matter of understanding what we are doing, but a matter of doing; something as when you tell your boy to raise his hand; he does not know how he raises his hand, and you know no more about it than he as regards the physiological intricacies of the act. And if he were to decline raising it until he understood the matter, you would tell him to do it first and understand at his leisure; your command was aimed at his will, and his resort to the intricacies of physiology only a side issue raised to divert your attention from his insubordination. Gods commands stand out of all relation to human power to grasp the problems, moral or theological, associated with obedience to those commands. Gods commands are like the pole-star, which with swift intuition finds out the magnetic-needle as easily by night-light as by daylight, and beats upon it with relentless compulsion equally in the darkness and the sunshine. They are not a question of can, but a question of will; and with the will once trembling obediently on the verge of action, all needed resource of power is at its instant service. This is another lesson of our text. In the case of the paralytic, Gods power came in just after the mans will to stretch forth his hand, and just before the stretching act. As he had the will to do, God furnished him the power to do with, and that made out the miracle. It was pretty much the same thing done divinely as is done humanly when a child goes tottering and clambering up a staircase that is too steep for it, and the parent takes hold of the childs hand liftingly. The child has the will to go up, and the parent puts some of his own strength at the service of that will; and in this way weakness does impossibilities by virtue of superior strength temporarily loaned. This is the incident of the paralytic turned into terms and relations of familiar experience. It is of the utmost necessity that we should feel that this case of the paralytic stands in Scripture to represent the continuous action of God, the continuous miracle of God, if you please, in so lending Himself to us as to match our power to the measure of our holy intents, and so making us able to do that which there is in us a righteous will to do; precisely as in our story Christ evened up the paralytics power exactly to the level of his willingness. This ought not to disturb us as implying a familiar and presumptuous dependence upon the Divine resources and bounty. It is only doing in the spiritual realm what every man does in a greater or less measure in the physical one. The forces that we call natural, that we use in every foot-tread, in the transportation of every pound of merchandise by wind or by steam, in the carrying of every shuttle and revolution of every spindle, these forces are as truly grounded in God as are the influences that emanate from the Holy Ghost, and that work in us holier purposes and affections of heart. It is from Him that cometh down every good and perfect gift. We are His beneficiaries in everything. It is as much making use of God to unfurl our sail in the draft of the west wind as it is to spread out our unfilled capacities of emotion and action in the draft of a spiritual Pentecost. It is a part of God that He yields Himself in all this rich diversity of ways to piece out mans infirmity. There is no way in which we can so well serve Him as by letting Him serve us in our pursuit of holy ends. Religious ideas get their only value from their fitness to serve as conduits for the conveyance of Divine supply. We have all our city under-]aid with water-mains, but we prize them only because there is water in the reservoir that works down through those mains and presses up into our dwellings. Ideas do not strengthen us any more than the water-pipe refreshes or gas-pipe illuminates. And faith is not conceiving of God as an idea, but it is laying hold upon Him as a power and utilizing Him to the ends of holy living and Christian achieving, in just the same strenuous and practical way in which we lay hold on wind-pressure and steam-power, and let them even our resources up to the level of our secular ambition. If now the Church would link all its energies, all its devout desires as confidingly to the spiritual influences of God as the world links its ambitions to His cosmic energies of earth, sea, and air, hardly are there any results possible to be named that might not be achieved for the glory of God and the saving of men before the dawn of the approaching new century. And then one other lesson that follows on directly from this is the position of enlarged accountability and responsibility in which we are set. It is a common thing for us say that we are responsible for our use of the talents we have; that present power is the measure of accountability. It appears from what we have seen in our story and from the general drift of Scripture in fact, that our responsibility lies all the way around beyond the outer edge of our power and talent. The man in our text was responsible not only for his use of what was in him, but for what, as a result of his faith, he was able to have divinely added to him. All the way through Scripture God was continually commanding men to do more than they in themselves had the means to do, exactly as in our verse. One object of the miracle was to show that by faith we acquire a property in power that to our unfaith lies at an utter remove from us. We need some of the old-time audacity--some Pauline and Petrine presumption, which was audacious, not because it was uncalculating, but just because it was so grandly and discerningly calculating, and calculated not only on its own intrinsic force, but on a magnificent increment of working energy from on high. (G. H.Parkhurst, D. D.)
The withered hand
I. Discuss THAT SPIRITUAL POWERLESSNESS, OF WHICH THE WITHERED HAND IS A JUST AND APPROPRIATE SYMBOL, EXPLAINING WHAT IT IS AND WHEREIN IT CONSISTS.
II. I SHALL POINT OUT BRIEFLY WHAT CHRIST REQUIRES TO BE DONE, IN ORDER TO ITS REMOVAL.
1. There was a man in the synagogue whose right hand was withered. Here then are three distinct points to be noticed in our comment.
(1) The organ was a hand. The hand, as you know, is the organ of touch. The sense of touch, then, brings us into closer connection with matter than any other sense. If I only saw an object, however steadily it might abide before my eyes, I might imagine it was an unreal vision. Again, if I hear a sound, I experience indeed a sensation; but it is not a sensation which irresistibly forces upon me the conclusion that matter exists. So it is with taste, considered in itself and abstractedly from touch, with which, how ever it is almost always combined. A flavour is a sensation which, if we did not touch the object that excited it, would not irresistibly force upon us the conviction that such an object existed. But touch--the actual handling of any object--does, as I think you will grant, force upon the mind such a conviction. But there are also realities of eternity, permanent and abiding, which will be felt and acknowledged to be realities, when Time and the mortal body have passed away. These realities are the truths of which revelation assures us--the truths, for example (I select a few as specimens out of a great mass) that an all-seeing Eye is about our path and about our bed, and spieth out all our ways--that God is a God who hears and answers prayer--that we must all stand before the judgment-seat of Christ, and receive the things done in the body. Can you be said to grasp, to touch them, to live under the influential conviction of their reality? Weigh now in your mind what must infallibly be the effect upon our character of the doctrine of future judgment and the peril of unrenewed men, if we possessed such an impression of its reality as might fitly be compared to the impressions of things material derived from the sense of touch. His hand was withered. While he had all the other senses complete, he had lost the power of feeling, so far as the chief organ of feeling was concerned. And such is the case with us with regard to the things of the
Spirit and the realities of eternity. We can (as it were) see them, hear them, contemplate, gaze upon, attend, give heed to them, but we cannot (by nature) touch them. I feel that herein I am powerless, and I am sure that you must feel the same. My understanding follows along with their evidence, even unto the clearest mental conviction, but an abiding energizing persuasion of their deep reality, this I have not, and, what is more, I am incompetent of myself to produce it; my hand is withered. And until the Lord speaks the word of power, it must remain withered.
(2) Our second remark on the case of this poor man was, that not both his hands were withered, but the better and more serviceable of the two. He could handle and feel to a certain extent, but it was only with his left hand. By what has already been said, it will have appeared that the spiritual faculty, corresponding to the bodily faculty of touch, is faith. Faith it is which realizes things eternal. And from the study of it we learn that this principle of faith does operate and energize, to a certain extent, even in those who are unrenewed in the spirit of their minds. And such most assuredly is the case. So far as his mere temporal interests are concerned, unrenewed man is no stranger to the occasional workings--nay, no stranger to the continuous life, of faith. Let us cast our eyes around us, and this will become sufficiently and incontrovertibly evident. Here is a man laying up for his family, or for himself in old age, subjecting himself to much self-denial, imposing upon himself many restrictions--with the view of meeting and providing against the future but foreseen emergency of his own death, or the natural decay of his faculties. And all such provision testifies to the existence of faith, testifies to the existence and operations of a faculty, which realizes things unseen, and what is this but faith? Alas! that when faith approaches the realities of eternity, the solid truths of revelation, and endeavours to realize them, it finds its powers shattered as to their highest and noblest exercise l The mans right hand is withered; he knows, indeed, still, what the sensation of touch is, for he can touch bubbles and toys and trifles, but anything weighty, anything of real substance and worth, he is incompetent to handle. He exercises just enough of the faculty to be aware how powerful it would be, if brought to bear on Divine verities, and to desire that it might be so brought to bear. But this is all. He can do no more, until God visit him in power. When our range of eyesight is for the first time enlarged by the telescope, it is no wonder if we run away hastily with the impression that we have gained a now sense. Such, however, is not the case; it is as the renewal of a withered hand, an old sense made competent to gather things.
(3) A third point to be noticed in this mans state is the mode in which the organ was affected. The man originally had the use of the organ--it was the design of nature that he should use it--but disease had thwarted this design. The organ, however, remained still, though it hung powerless by the mans side. It was not cut off--not abolished. Brethren, in so far as man has no power of realizing things eternal, and the Divine verities of which Revelation assures him, he is an imperfect, a fallen being. This lamentable defect is a deviation, a deflection from the original image in which he was created. You know how influentially conversant mans body is with matter, with outward nature. I cannot stir, I cannot lift up my eyes, I cannot walk abroad without a continual influx of impressions from matter. Suppose, now, that my spirit were equally susceptible of impressions from the realities of eternity, that in its every motion it was swayed and influenced by these realities, that it received impulses from the invisible at every turn, this surely would be little less than complete renewal of my nature. It would be the recovery of me from my acquired infirmity, the restoration to health and vigour of the withered limb. And, oh 1 brethren, in every soul of man there exists a capability of such a restoration. No one is disqualified for recovery. In all there is the organ; if life can but be infused into it from above, all will be well.
II. But I hasten on to point out briefly WHAT CHRIST REQUIRES US TO DO, IN ORDER TO THE REMOVAL OF THIS INFIRMITY. We have said that He alone is competent to this removal--that man is utterly helpless and powerless in the work of his restoration. Brethren, God demands exertion and energy on our parts before He will consent to put forth that healing power, which alone can recover us from our souls infirmity. He bids us act as recovered men, ere yet we be recovered, and only in our sincerely striving so to act, will He visit and bless us. And if there be one holy exercise rather than another to which I must give myself, it is that of prayer. The Lord only can restore me. Shall I not apply to Him for restoration? (Dean Goulburn.)
Christ knew their thoughts
A paper was recently read before the German Asiatic Society of Japan on the magic mirror of Japan. It really possesses no magical quality, but, owing to the peculiarity of its structure, the reflection of the sun from the mirror OH the wall or ceiling reveals the figures or letters written on the back of the mirror. Thus the deepest secrets, the hidden thoughts, the hidden purposes of the heart are brought out by the light God turns upon us, and will turn upon us. What is written out of sight in our spirits shall be written by a sunbeam on the wall.
Not to save life is to destroy
See yonder poor wretches whose ship has gone down at sea, they have constructed a poor tottering raft, and have been swimming on it for days; their supply of bread and water is exhausted, and they are famishing, they have bound a handkerchief to a pole and hoisted it, and a vessel is within sight. The captain of the ship takes his telescope, looks at the object, and knows that it is a shipwrecked crew. Oh! says he to his men, we are in a hurry with our cargo, we cannot stop to look after an unknown object; it may be somebody perishing, and it may not be, but however, it is not our business, and he keeps on his course. His neglect has murdered those who died on the raft. (C. H.Spurgeon.)
Saving a limb
To save a limb is a great thing. A poor young man was in a hospital who had crushed his arm at his work. The doctor said there was no help for it; his arm must be cut off or he must die. But the young man could not bear the thought of losing his arm, and said he would rather die first. But the lady at the head of the hospital did all she could to heal the young mans arm. She dressed it carefully, she watched night and day, and did whatever she could to keep up the young mans strength. And at last the arm was saved. The young man became quite well, and used to call that arm her arm, because she had been the means of saving it. It is a great thing to save a limb, but to save a soul is far greater. (G. T. Coster.)
Christ heals without causing suffering
My sister got her arm put out of joint. The neighbours of the country place came in, and they tried to put that arm in its place, and they laid hold and pulled mightily; they pulled until she was in anguish, but the bone did not go back to its place. After a while the surgeon came, and with one touch everything was adjusted. So we go out for Christian work, and for the lack of a sympathetic nature, or the lack of this gentleness of Christ, we make the wounds of the world worse, when some kind and gentle spirit comes along after us, and by one touch heals the torn ligaments, and the disturbing bones are rejoined. (Dr. Talmage.)
The power of faith in the Saviours word
A Sunday-school teacher, when teaching his class on one occasion, left his seat and went round among his scholars with his watch in his hand. Holding it out to the first child, he said, I give you that watch. The boy stared at it and stood still. The teacher then went to the next and repeated--I give you that watch. The boy blushed, but that was all. One by one the teacher repeated the words and the action to each. Some stared, some blushed, some smiled incredulously, but none took the watch. But when he came nearly to the bottom of the class a small boy put out his hand and took the watch which the teacher handed to him. As the latter returned to his seat, the little fellow said gently, Then, if you please, sir, the watch is mine? Yes, it is yours. The elder boys were fairly roused by this time. Do you mean to say, sir, that he may keep the watch? Certainly; I gave it to any boy who would have it. Oh, if I had known that, exclaimed one of them, I would have taken it. Did I not tell you I gave it to you? Oh, yes; but I did not believe you were in earnest. So much the worse for you; he believed me, and he has the watch. Saving faith is as simple as this. It just takes God at His word and trusts Him. (Theodore Monod.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain On v6 6–11. It came to pass on another sabbath. For…
6–11. It came to pass on another sabbath. For notes on the healing of the withered hand on the Sabbath, see Matt. 12:1–15 and Mark 3:1–5.
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.
William B. Godbey 1900 · Public Domain On v6 Mat 12:9-14; Mar 3:1-6; and Luk 6:6-11. Our Lord…
THE WITHERED HAND
Mat 12:9-14; Mar 3:1-6; and Luk 6:6-11. Our Lord and His disciples have again reached Galilee, their native land. Luke notifies us that this incident transpired on the Sabbath following the preceding, and that it was the right hand which was utterly paralyzed and withered away. Mark: “And he came again into the synagogue, and there was a man with a withered hand. And they were watching Him if He will heal him on the Sabbath-day, in order that they may accuse Him. And He says to the man having the withered hand, Rise up in the midst. And He says to them, Is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath-day or to do evil, to save life or to kill? And they were silent. And looking round on them with anger, being grieved on account of the hardness of their heart, He says to the man, Reach forth thy hand, and he reached it forth, and his hand was made whole as the other. And the Pharisees, going out, immediately took counsel, along with the Herodians, against Him, in order that they may kill Him.” Doubt less you are surprised over the extreme fanaticism of the Jews on the Sabbath question. You must remember that the penalty for Sabbath-breaking under the law of Moses was death. Sabbath is a Hebrew word, which means rest; i.e., that perfect rest which the sanctified soul finds in Jesus. Now you know that God’s method with sin is destruction. You can not have this blessed Sabbatic soul-rest until you crucify the man of sin. Then it is impossible for you to keep it unless you deal death to every disturber; i.e., keep the Sword of the Spirit unsheathed and lifted high, ready to strike the death-blow and cut off every snake-head that pokes out. Therefore the symbolic dispensation punished the Sabbath-breaker with death, confirming to us this grand and glorious truth of entire sanctification by sin’s annihilation, received and perpetuated. The fact is, even at that early day in His ministry, the leading preachers and official laymen had determined to kill Him, and were only seeking an opportunity. They thought that if they could condemn Him for Sabbath-breaking, they could secure the edict of the Sanhedrin, which was death by stoning. You see in this, the Pharisees and Herodians unite against Him, taking mutual counsel for His death. Do you not know the Pharisees were the orthodox denomination of the Jewish Church and leaders in the opposition to Roman rule, which they had then endured thirty years, while the Herodians were a political party in favor of the Roman Government.
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Hence, you see, they were bitter enemies, either to other. Yet we here find them uniting their forces against Jesus, and taking mutual counsel to kill Him. How wonderfully history repeats itself! Holiness is the abstract of which Jesus is the concrete. Opposition to holiness is nothing more nor less than opposition to Jesus. How frequently do we find the wurring sects laying down the cudgel of controversy, and all mutually uniting against holiness!
During our Savior’s response to them on this occasion, Mark says, “Looking round upon them with anger, being grieved on account of the hardness of their hearts.” Here he uses the same word, orge, which Paul used (Eph 5:26), “Be ye angry and sin not.” Now how can we be angry and sin not? Why! in the same sense in which Jesus “looked round on them with anger,” as Mark and Paul both use the same word-the former applying it to Jesus, and the latter to the saints of all ages. We can be angry and sin not precisely as Jesus did on that occasion. Fortunately, we have an inspired definition of our Lord’s anger on that occasion, “Being grieved on account of the hardness of their heart.” Hence, we see, the anger of Jesus consisted in holy grief. Therefore this is the only sense in which we can be angry and sin not. The more holy we are, and the more like Jesus, the more we realize holy indignation against all sin, in every conceivable form and phase. Hence “anger,” in the sense of holy grief, is characteristic of every true Christian. In this sense, “God is angry with the wicked every day.” Lord, make us all like Thyself!
William B. Godbey, Commentary on the New Testament (1896–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. W. McGarvey 1914 · Public Domain On v6 J. W. McGarvey's The Fourfold Gospel [XXXIX. Healing a…
J. W. McGarvey's The Fourfold Gospel [XXXIX. Healing a Withered Hand].
XXXIX. JESUS DEFENDS HEALING A WITHERED HAND ON THE SABBATH. (Probably Galilee.) aMATT. XII. 9-14; bMARK III. 1-6; cLUKE VI. 6-11.
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a9 And he departed thence. [The word here points to a journey as in Mat_11:1, Mat_15:29, which are the only places where Matthew uses this expression. Greswell may be right in thinking that it indicates the return back to Galilee from the Passover, since a cognate expression used by John expresses such a journey from Galilee to Judæa. See Joh_7:3], c6 And it came to pass on another sabbath [another sabbath than that on which the disciples plucked the grain], that he entered bagain aand went into their cthe synagogue and taught [The use of the pronoun "their" indicates that the synagogue in question was under the control of the same Pharisee who had caviled about plucking grain on the Sabbath. Where the synagogue was is not known. Some argue that from the presence of Herodians it was at Sepphoris, which was then capital of Herod Antipas. But Herodians were likely to be found everywhere.]: a10 and behold, bthere was a man who had a having a bhis hand withered. cand his right hand was withered. [The hand had dried up from insufficient absorption of nutriment, until its power was gone, and there was no remedy known by which it could be restored.] b2 And they cthe scribes and the Pharisees watched him, bwhether he would heal him on the sabbath day; cthat they might find how to accuse him. [They sought to accuse him before the local judges or officers of the synagogue; i. e., before a body of which they themselves were members. Jesus gave them abundant opportunity for such accusation, for we have seven recorded [214] instances of cures on the sabbath day; viz.: Mar_1:21, Mar_1:29, Joh_5:9, Joh_9:14, Luk_13:14, Luk_14:2, and this case.] aAnd they asked him, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath day? [They were afraid that Jesus might not notice the man, so they spoke about him. But, taught by their experience in the grainfield, they changed their bold assertion, "It is not lawful," and approached the subject with a guarded question, hoping to get an answer that could be used as a ground for accusation.] c8 But he knew their thoughts [omnisciently]; and he said to { bsaith unto the man that had his hand withered, cRise up, and stand forth in the midst. And he arose and stood forth. [Jesus thus placed the man openly before all the people, as though he stood on trial as to his right to be healed on the sabbath day.] a11 And he said unto them, What man shall there be of you, that shall have one sheep, and if it fall into a pit on the sabbath day, will he not lay hold on it, and lift it out? 12 How much then is a man of more value than a sheep! [A man who had but one sheep would set a high value upon it. But the most valuable sheep is not to be weighed in the balance against a man. The fact that Jesus used this illustration shows clearly that such an action was allowed at that time, though the rabbins forbade it afterward.] Wherefore it is lawful to do good on the sabbath day. c9 And Jesus aid bsaith unto them, cI ask you, Is it lawful on the sabbath bday to do good, or to do harm? to save life, or to kill? cdestroy it? [The rules of the Pharisees made the Sabbath question wholly a matter of doing or of not doing. But Jesus made it a question of doing good, and his question implies that a failure to do good, when one is able, is harmful and sinful. "The ability," says Cotton Mather, "to do good imposes an obligation to do it." To refrain from healing in such an instance would have been to abstain from using a power given him for that very purpose. The Jews held it lawful to defend themselves on the Sabbath, and considered themselves justified in killing their enemies if they [215] attacked on that day (I Macc. ii. 41; Josephus Ant. XII. vi. 2]. bBut they held their peace. [afraid to say that Jesus was wrong and stubbornly unwilling to admit that he was right.] 5 And when he had looked round about on them call, bwith anger, being grieved at the hardening of their heart [The anger of Jesus was not a spiteful, revengeful passion, but a just indignation ( Eph_4:26). God may love the sinner, but he is angry at sin. Anger is not sin, but it is apt to run into it: hence it is a dangerous passion. Righteous anger rises from the love of God and man, but that which rises from self-love is sinful], he saith { csaid a13 Then cunto him, bthe man, Stretch forth thy hand. cAnd he did so: ahe stretched it forth; and it bhis hand was restored. awhole, as the other. [As Jesus here healed without any word or action of healing, merely ordering the man to stretch forth his hand, the Pharisees could find no legal ground for accusation. God can not be tried by man, because his ways are hidden from the senses of man save as he chooses to reveal them.] c11 But they were filled with madness; and communed one with another what they might do to Jesus. b6 And the Pharisees went out, and straightway with the Herodians took counsel against him, how they might destroy him. [Here the three Synoptists first tell of the counsel to put Jesus to death, and we should note that, like John, they described the anger of the Jewish rulers as arising because of this Sabbath question. Their real motive was envious hatred, but their pretext was a zeal for the law. That it was not genuine zeal for the law is shown by the fact that they consulted with the Herodians or the adherents of Herod Antipas, as they also did afterwards ( Mat_22:16, Mar_12:13). They needed the secular power of the Herodians to secure the death of Jesus. Its efficiency for such ends had just been shown in the imprisonment of John the Baptist. But the Herodians were no friends of the Jewish law; in fact, they were real perverters of that law which Jesus merely correctly interpreted. This party and its predecessors had [216] flatteringly tried to make a Messiah of Herod the Great, and had been friends of Rome and patrons of Gentile influence. They favored the erection of temples for idolatrous ends, and pagan theaters and games, and Gentile customs generally. Unlike Jesus, the Pharisees grew angry and sinned, for it was against their conscience to consort with the Herodians.]
[FFG 214-217]
J. W. McGarvey (with Philip Y. Pendleton), Commentaries on the New Testament (The Fourfold Gospel, 1914; Acts; and the epistles) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On v6 The man with the withered hand:
The man with the withered hand:
v. 6. And it came to pass also on another Sabbath that He entered into the synagogue and taught; and there was a man whose right hand was withered.
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v. 7. And the scribes and Pharisees watched Him. whether He would heal on the Sabbath-day, that they might find an accusation against Him.
v. 8. But He knew their thoughts, and said to the man which had the withered hand, Rise up and stand forth in the midst. And he arose and stood forth.
v. 9. Then said Jesus unto them, I will ask you one thing: Is it lawful on the Sabbath-days to do good, or to do evil? to save life, or to destroy it?
v. 10. And looking round about upon them all, He said unto the man, Stretch forth thy hand. And he did so; and his hand was restored whole as the other.
v. 11. And they were filled with madness, and communed one with another what they might do to Jesus.
v. 12. And it came to pass in those days that He went out into a mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God.
On the other Sabbath, the one following that on which the Lord had given the Pharisees the first lesson concerning the real meaning of the Sabbath, Jesus was again in the synagogue, teaching, as was His custom. He was preaching when the incident which is here related occurred. There was a man in the synagogue, probably brought there purposely by the Pharisees, whose right hand was withered, as the result of disease or accident. Now the scribes and Pharisees kept watching in a sly, furtive manner what Jesus would do when the condition of this man would be brought to His attention. If the Lord would heal the man, they thought they would be able to make out a case against Him from their law. But Jesus knew the hypocritical reasoning of their hearts and took up their challenge. He had the sick man stand forth in the center of the room, in order that all those present might see him and the miracle which He proposed to do to him. Jesus now directed a question to His enemies, to show them that He read the thoughts of their hearts, for He was filled with the emotions of anger and pity. He asked them pointblank whether it was the right and proper thing, whether it should be considered an obligation resting upon all those present to do good or to do evil on the Sabbath, to save life or to destroy it. To leave any sick and crippled person in his misery for even one minute longer than is necessary is a transgression of the Fifth Commandment; this fact they should know. There was no answer forthcoming, however, the Pharisees being convinced in their hearts, but still too stubborn to bear witness to the truth. Jesus therefore once more looked around upon the circle of faces, hoping to find some indication of yielding; but there was none. And so He performed the miracle before their eyes. At His command the sick man stretched forth his hand, and it was restored to full health and strength at once. The Pharisees were again foiled, and this fact filled them with insane fury against the Lord. Their senseless anger was directed at Jesus, especially because the miracle would tend to make Him popular with the people, since they had not been able to answer His question. From this time forth they were continually active in considering ways and means to remove Him. They frankly sought His life, Mar 3:6. So far can hypocrisy bring a person that fights against the knowledge of truth that he will excuse the most conspicuous lack of love and mercy, and will conceive a deadly hatred against any one that suggests the proper observance of the summary of the Law. But Jesus gave them no opportunity at this time to carry out their murderous designs. It was in those days, as Luke remarks, that He again withdrew to a mountain. There, in the solitude and silence, He found the right conditions under which He could, without disturbance or distraction, pour out His heart in prayer to His heavenly Father. He spent the entire night in prayer, not a minute too much under the circumstances when He was preparing to extend His ministry. Note: Regular, intimate, importunate prayer to God is the best way of obtaining strength, above all before an important step in life.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv6, 9 Connecting Statement:
Connecting Statement:
The scribes and Pharisees watch as Jesus heals a man on the Sabbath.
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General Information:
It is now another Sabbath day and Jesus is in the synagogue.
It happened
This phrase is used here to mark the beginning of a new event in the story. (See: Introduction of a New Event)
A man was there
This introduces a new character in the story. (See: Introduction of New and Old Participants)
hand was withered
The man's hand was damaged in such a way that he could not stretch it. It was probably bent into almost a fist, making it look smaller and wrinkled.
were watching him closely
"were watching Jesus carefully"
so that they might find
"because they wanted to find"
in the middle of everyone
"in front of everyone." Jesus wanted the man to stand where everyone there could see him.
translationWords
Sabbath
synagogue
scribe
Pharisee
cure
accuse
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv6, 8, 9 6:6-7 watched Jesus closely: Jesus now had a reputation…
6:6-7 watched Jesus closely: Jesus now had a reputation for placing human needs above the Sabbath commands, so the religious leaders hoped to catch him working on the Sabbath. • If he healed the man’s hand: The rabbis of Jesus’ day debated whether offering medical help was justified on the Sabbath; it was generally allowed only in extreme emergencies. The deformed hand was clearly not an emergency.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.