“He left that place and entered their synagogue; a man was there with a withered hand, and they asked him, ‘Is it lawful to cure on the sabbath?’ so that they might accuse him.  He said to them, ‘Suppose one of you has only one sheep and it falls into a pit on the sabbath; will you not lay hold of it and lift it out?  How much more valuable is a human being than a sheep! So, it is lawful to do good on the sabbath.’ Then he said to the man, ‘Stretch out your hand.’ He stretched it out, and it was restored, as sound as the other” (Matthew 12:9-13, NRSV).

            I love the opening line of this Bible passage: “[Jesus] left that place and entered THEIR synagogue” (Matthew 12:9, NRSV). We’re not talking THE synagogue or even God’s synagogue.  We’re talking their synagogue. From Matthew’s point of view, the ownership of who gets in and who doesn’t get into to their synagogue is up to the members of that synagogue.

And one of the people who just happened to be at the synagogue was a man with a withered hand, whom I guarantee you was not a member. The reason he wasn’t a member was because of that hand—that withered, deformed, ugly-to-look-at hand. What’s more, is that the phrase “withered hand” was also a euphemism for a heart that is spiritually deformed. So, whether the problem for this man was his hand or his heart, any deformity or infirmity was to the Jews a sign of God’s displeasure with that person.  So, if God was mad at a withered-hand man, then God would certainly not want such a man to be part of His community of believers. That is unless such a deformity could serve the purposes of that believing community.

            You see, the man with the withered hand was present on that Sabbath day so that the synagogue members might accuse Jesus of teaching false doctrine about the Sabbath.  In other words, the poor guy was a pawn in their little game of “Gotcha.” The trick question was, “Is it lawful to cure on the Sabbath?” Specifically, would you, Jesus, heal this withered-hand man and subsequently break God’s command?

            Now, you need to know how important the Pharisees considered the Sabbath to be. There’s a story that when the Roman General, Pompey, attacked Jerusalem many Jews refused to pick up their weapons on the Sabbath for fear of breaking God’s Law. For the Pharisees, the only time a person could be healed was if that person’s life was in imminent danger.  Of course, a withered hand is not a perilous matter. So, for Jesus to heal this guy on the Sabbath would just be plain wrong, at least in the mind of the Pharisees. On the other hand, were Jesus not to heal the guy with the withered hand in that moment, Jesus would come across to his followers as cold-hearted.

            Jesus was stuck or so everyone thought. Jesus actually has ingenious ways of turning the tables on those who like to play “Gotcha.” Jesus told a simple parable. What if you had one sheep and it fell into a hole on the Sabbath? Would you not rescue it? Well, one sheep for a rich Pharisee probably didn’t amount to much. But, for the impoverished farming families who were listening in on this conversation, the loss of one ewe would be a financial disaster. One female sheep can be bred to birth lots of sheep. And lots of sheep can be used to produce wool for clothing; even milk and cheese enough to feed a hungry family.  So, any smart Jew would rescue his one, lone sheep.

            Therefore, if it’s a good thing to rescue one little sheep from danger, would God not say that there is even greater good in healing a man whose hand or heart is withered? That the healing of a human being is of greater value to God than a sheep?

And by the way, can you hear the connection that Jesus is making? Jesus is connecting the creation of human beings on the sixth day with the observation of the Sabbath on the seventh day. When Jesus asks if its lawful to do good on the Sabbath, he is referring to the moment of creation when God looked at all the things He had created, including  people said, “It is good.”

            It is a good thing to heal people. God considers it a good thing for people to be healed because it is a bad thing for people to have withered hands and withered hearts. It is God’s overwhelming desire to heal because God is good. Jesus said, “I have come that they may have life.”

            Can you imagine what that withered-hand man was thinking when Jesus asked, “Give me your hand?” The very hand that had been the source of so many years of pain. The hand that was the cause of so much public humiliation. Would you take such a risk and reveal the very thing that has plagued you for so long?

            “Give me your hand,” Jesus asks.  It’s really a request of trust, isn’t it? Trust me with the things that hurt you. Trust me with the things that bring you shame. Trust me to heal you. Just give me your hand.