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9 Now when He had departed from there, He went into their synagogue. 10 And behold, there was a man who had a withered hand. And they asked Him, saying, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”—that they might accuse Him. 11 Then He said to them, “What man is there among you who has one sheep, and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not lay hold of it and lift it out? 12 Of how much more value then is a man than a sheep? Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.” 13 Then He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And he stretched it out, and it was restored as whole as the other. 14 Then the Pharisees went out and plotted against Him, how they might destroy Him. ~ Matthew 12:9-14
Today, we continue our study of Matthew 12 where the Lord Jesus has experienced push back not only from the religious leaders of Israel but also the common folk. In context, the Lord Jesus had upset the religious folks when He declared Himself as greater than the Sabbath rest. The people didn't realize that as God the Lord Jesus was the author and the fulfillment of all that the sabbath taught in the Old Testament. These people should have recognized Him as the Lamb of God who came to deal a death blow to sin. It was their inaccurate understanding of their sinfulness that blinded them from recognizing their need for a Savior and the Lord Jesus was that Savior. This is why Matthew wrote His gospel, to reveal the Lord Jesus Christ as the Messiah, the Savior. Matthew consistently revealed how the Scriptures point to the Messiah. This is why the Lord Jesus performed signs and wonders.
In v.9-10 of today's passage we read, "9 Now when He had departed from there, He went into their synagogue. 10 And behold, there was a man who had a withered hand. And they asked Him, saying, 'Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?'—that they might accuse Him."
The Lord Jesus didn’t run away when the religious leaders accused both He and His disciples of wrongdoing. He cared so much He went right into their synagogue just to give them another opportunity to respond positively to the truth. Once He entered the synagogue, there was a man there who had a paralyzed hand. The word "withered" means dried up. When any part of the human body is drained of its fluids, it becomes "dried up." It becomes shriveled. Often God uses our weaknesses to help others. Our story with God was intended to become a part of others story with Him. This man's hand illustrated how the heart can be hardened against God. Once hard-heartedness sets in we toil hard in various ways so that we can find fault with God and others. In doing so, we protect ourselves which is in the long run our greatest enemy.
The religious leaders asked, "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?" The man with the withered hand didn’t mean anything to these religious leaders until he became useful to them in their attempt to trap the Lord Jesus. So, the religious leaders asked, "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?" They knew the Lord Jesus could heal, yet their blindness was seen through their question. They believed the Lord Jesus was empowered by Satan to heal. They asked this question so they might be able to find some kind of fault in the Lord Jesus.
In v.11-12 of today's passage we read, "11 Then He said to them, 'What man is there among you who has one sheep, and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not lay hold of it and lift it out? 12 Of how much more value then is a man than a sheep? Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.'"
The Lord Jesus responded to the ridiculous question of the religious leaders with a miracle for the man with the withered hand. Anyone would have rescued just one of their sheep because that was the job of the shepherd and sheep are not more important than people. To the religious leaders of Israel this man didn't mean anything. But to the Lord Jesus, he was one of the many reasons He came to this earth in the first place. For years this man's hand was the source of much anguish but that day everything changed. Sometimes, the Lord must isolate us before He will elevate us. According to Mark and Luke, the Lord Jesus brought this guy up in the front of the entire synagogue. It was a very dramatic scene. And then He asked a very important question of the religious leaders who were now out to get Him. If the religious leaders had affirmed that it wasn't lawful to do good on the Sabbath, they would have been shown to be the heartless frauds they were. It was then that the Lord Jesus did great good to this man.
In v.13 of today's passage we read, "Then He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And he stretched it out, and it was restored as whole as the other."
At that point a chilling silence prevailed. In Luke 6:11 we read, "The Lord read their thoughts and they were filled with fury." In Mark 3:5 we are told, "Jesus was grieved at their hard hearts." The Lord Jesus was compassionate while the religious folk didn’t care if the man was healed. It was at that point that the Lord Jesus healed the man. This was a good thing because to know to do good and to have the ability to do good and to not do good is to do evil. Sadly, it was the religious folk who did evil that day. Clearly their hard-heartedness withered away their ability to reason correctly.
In v.14 of today's passage we read, "Then the Pharisees went out and plotted against Him, how they might destroy Him."
From this point on the religious leaders of Israel devised a plan to kill the Lord Jesus because they were unwilling to let Him be their God. Sadly, they saw the miraculous and they missed its significance. When this man was healed, it underscored the fact that the Lord Jesus was the Messiah! These Pharisees didn’t deny the miracle. In fact, it was the reality of the miracle that led them to do what they did. It was their stubborn hearts that caused them to use that man with the withered hand. They, yet again, failed in their attempt to derail the Lord Jesus. All of this just highlights the fact that it was their rejection of the truth that hardened their hearts.
When we seek the truth we will be to some degree defined by the God of the Bible who is merciful, kind, and good. The more we respond positively to God's definitions of things, the more we will live in concert with what is right. The Lord Jesus came to this earth as a man so that we might enter into a personal relationship with the God of truth. This is how we experience and grow in His mercy, kindness, and goodness. That day the Lord Jesus healed the man with the withered hand so that something much greater could be experienced, and that something greater was the kind heart of God which leads us to abandon the self life in pursuit of life that has life.
