† 29. Healing the Withered Hand

The cruelty of the Pharisees is on full display, as they have no regard for a poor man and plot to kill the Savior.

Due to his deformity, the man with a withered hand has been prevented from entering the temple all his life. He still loves God and attends worship services. The Pharisees, however, do not consider his presence at worship services an opportunity to offer him encouragement—or even to show him some charity—but rather an opportunity to entrap Jesus.

The Pharisees feel a rivalry with Jesus, jealous of His teaching and His reception among the people.

Matthew 12

9 He went on from there and entered their synagogue.
10 And a man was there with a withered hand. And they asked him, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”—so that they might accuse him.
11 He said to them, “Which one of you who has a sheep, if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not take hold of it and lift it out?
12 Of how much more value is a man than a sheep! So it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.”
13 Then he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And the man stretched it out, and it was restored, healthy like the other.
14 But the Pharisees went out and conspired against him, how to destroy him.

a man was there with a withered hand

The Pharisees have no concern for his wellbeing; this man is but a pawn in their game.

1 John 4:20
If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen.

One plausible reason for their callousness is their core belief that people born with physical maladies deserve it.

John 9:2–3
And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him….”
John 9:32–34
[The formerly blind man said,] “…Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a man born blind. If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.” [The Jews] answered him, “You were born in utter sin, and would you teach us?” And they cast him out.

Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?

This question follows closely the earlier discussion of it being lawful to eat on the Sabbath (Matthew 12:1–2). Matthew makes explicit that this question is not honest, but rather they asked "…so that they might accuse Him." (They hadn't asked whether it was lawful to eat on the Sabbath, either, before accusing the disciples of sin.)

sheep, if it falls into a pit

Sometimes natural affection is lacking.

The mention of a sheep fallen into a pit is reminiscent of Joseph being cast into a pit through the cruelty of his brothers.

Genesis 37:19–20
They said to one another, “Here comes this dreamer. Come now, let us kill him and throw him into one of the pits. Then we will say that a fierce animal has devoured him, and we will see what will become of his dreams.”
Genesis 42:21
Then they said to one another, “In truth we are guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the distress of his soul, when he begged us and we did not listen….”

Jesus, the Lamb of God, will also be sent to the pit through cruel rejection by His brothers.

take hold of it and lift it out

The Law plainly says animals get rest from the Sabbath. Exodus 23:12 Six days you shall do your work, but on the seventh day you shall rest; that your ox and your donkey may have rest, and the son of your servant woman, and the alien, may be refreshed.

While Jesus's illustration of a fallen sheep does appeal to our sense of pity, there is more to His teaching. He is not teaching that we may break the Law under certain circumstances (as if it were against the Law to help an animal).

Rescuing animals in distress was a provision of the Law earlier in the same chapter—before the mention of the Sabbath.

Exodus 23:4–5
If you meet your enemy’s ox or his donkey going astray, you shall bring it back to him. If you see the donkey of one who hates you lying down under its burden, you shall refrain from leaving him with it; you shall rescue it with him.

A word sent through Paul would later echo the teaching of the Lord here.

1 Corinthians 9:9–10
It is written in the Law of Moses, “You shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain.” Is it for oxen that God is concerned? Does he not certainly speak for our sake…?

All this shows us how to use the Law lawfully. The Lord does, in fact, care about animal welfare. But the larger point of these provisions of the Law is clear: we should show mercy with our fellow servants!

it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath

This positive formulation shows what sound interpretation looks like. It also shows how absurd the Pharisees' teaching is.

Doing good is not work, and the law of the Sabbath is not intended to keep us from doing good. In fact, the Sabbath, a day of worship, is an excellent day for doing good.

conspired against him, how to destroy him

Although Jesus had earlier warned the disciples about persecution, this is the first mention of a plot to kill Him. The comparison to Joseph still applies.

This is also a good opportunity to consider the words these religious leaders used alongside their actions. Their words make it sound as though they are concerned with accuracy in interpretation of the Law. But it is evident—whether they are forbidding the poor to eat, forbidding the healing of a disabled man, or forbidding the Lord to live—that they have completely missed the point of the Law.

Mark 3

1 Again he entered the synagogue, and a man was there with a withered hand.
2 And they watched Jesus, to see whether he would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse him.
3 And he said to the man with the withered hand, “Come here.”
4 And he said to them, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to kill?” But they were silent.
5 And he looked around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, and said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was restored.
6 The Pharisees went out and immediately held counsel with the Herodians against him, how to destroy him.

they watched Jesus…he looked around at them

The account of Mark highlights the conflict between Jesus and the rulers. They think they are in control and wait in the shadows to ambush Him. Jesus openly scrutinizes them all one by one. As Psalm 19:6 says, "there is nothing hidden from its heat."

Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to kill?

Mark's formulation of Jesus's teaching is more compact than Matthew's, but it confirms our understanding of Matthew. The Lord makes obvious both the intent of the Law and the extent of the Pharisees' error.

with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart

Only Mark captures this detail.

The same idea is captured at the end of Jonah, where Jonah is clearly angry about God's mercy, and the Lord's word to him also sounds like He is grieved at Jonah's hardness of heart.

Jonah 4:10–11
“You pity the plant…; should not I pity Nineveh…, in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also much cattle?”

held counsel with the Herodians

Matthew mentions the Pharisees conspired to destroy Him; Mark tells us with whom they conspired. While the Herodians worked under Roman authority and were not Jews, they were generally friendlier to Judea than Rome was. (Contrast Herod's regular calling for John the baptist with the mock trial Jesus received from Pilate.)

Mark provides a first glimpse of what the leaders of Judea will ultimately do: leverage secular governing authority to take Jesus's life.

Luke 6

6 On another Sabbath, he entered the synagogue and was teaching, and a man was there whose right hand was withered.
7 And the scribes and the Pharisees watched him, to see whether he would heal on the Sabbath, so that they might find a reason to accuse him.
8 But he knew their thoughts, and he said to the man with the withered hand, “Come and stand here.” And he rose and stood there.
9 And Jesus said to them, “I ask you, is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to destroy it?”
10 And after looking around at them all he said to him, “Stretch out your hand.” And he did so, and his hand was restored.
11 But they were filled with fury and discussed with one another what they might do to Jesus.

he knew their thoughts

Only Luke provides this detail. The effect of it is to reveal Jesus took the actions He did very intentionally before the assembled people.

they were filled with fury

Mark told us Jesus was angry with them; now Luke reveals they, too, are angry. Thus Mark makes clear that rivalry is driving the Pharisees.

Although Matthew and Mark did not mention the Pharisees' anger, they did relate the Pharisees' plan to kill Jesus. Even Pilate, "…knew that it was out of envy that they had delivered Him up" (Matthew 27:18).

The word here translated "fury" (ἄνοια) is somewhat unusual in Scripture. In the New Testament, it only appears here and in 2 Timothy. However, the reading in 2 Timothy makes good sense here, too; there it describes the anger (or folly) of the magicians of Egypt who opposed Moses. Thus Pharisees have become Pharaoh's magicians, opposing God's chosen Messenger.

2 Timothy 3:8–9
Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these men also oppose the truth, men corrupted in mind and disqualified regarding the faith. But they will not get very far, for their folly will be plain to all, as was that of those two men.

§ 8. Jesus' Ministry in Galilee Continued