Give that Man a Hand! Pt. 1 of 2

The Faith Factor


I have to admit at first I was not really excited about this story. I mean really, what’s the big deal. Jesus was teaching on the Sabbath, dude with withered hand was placed in front of Him, Jesus heals the dude, and the religious folk got mad. This seems to be a reoccurring theme. I’m sure the guy with the healed hand thought it was a big deal but for me, at first, I thought maybe this story could have been passed over. After studying it a bit I’m glad the writers nor the H.Sp. agreed with me. There is some good stuff here. Let’s get digging.

This story is found in 3 of the Gospels: Matt 12:9-14, Mark 3:1-6, Lk 6:6-11. For this entry we’re going with the good Dr. Luke.

Luke 6:6 On another Sabbath he went into the synagogue and was teaching, and a man was there whose right hand was shriveled. 7 The Pharisees and the teachers of the law were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they watched him closely to see if he would heal on the Sabbath. 8 But Jesus knew what they were thinking and said to the man with the shriveled hand, "Get up and stand in front of everyone." So he got up and stood there.
9 Then Jesus said to them, "I ask you, which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy it?"
10 He looked around at them all, and then said to the man, "Stretch out your hand." He did so, and his hand was completely restored. 11 But they were furious and began to discuss with one another what they might do to Jesus.


After reading over this story several times what stands out to me is the action of faith taken. Not the action taken by Jesus but by this guy with the withered hand. Dr. Luke made sure we knew which hand was withered; it was the right hand. This is significant because most people in this world are right handed and it’s likely this guy had lost his livelihood because of the lack of use of that hand. But here he is standing in the middle of a showdown. Will Jesus heal or not heal on the Sabbath? I have a question for you to think about: who on this Sabbath day did more work, Jesus or the man with the withered hand? The only thing that Jesus did was to command this guy to stretch out his hand. It was the guy that had to follow the command. Jesus didn't walk over and yank the guy’s hand into shape. Luke records that Jesus only said “Stretch out your hand” and the guy did all the work. Here’s the faith factor of this story: the man simply did what Jesus said to do. James 2:20 says that faith without works is dead. What if he did not do what Jesus said? What if he didn’t stretch out his hand? What if the guy yelled at Jesus and said “Are you crazy? My hand is withered!” I guess he would have left that synagogue with the same bum hand that he came in with. What Jesus said to do was something that this man could not do before this Sabbath. We don’t know how long his hand had been withered; none of the 3 gospels tells us how long he had been in this condition. All that we know is that he showed up at the synagogue with a wrecked hand, and when he left he had a fully functional right hand; and it’s not because Jesus grabbed his hand and yanked it into shape but because he followed through on what Jesus simply said to do. Is that why some of us are still waiting on our healing--because we’re waiting on Jesus to come yank and shape our withered hands – or whatever part of our body is in need of healing?

In another healing in the gospels we see Jesus making mud for blind eyes* but here is a medical revelation, there is no vital healing power in mud. As-a-matter-of-fact, mud only blocks your vision, it doesn’t help.

If you are waiting on your healing then it may be time to start acting on what you could not previously do. Sometime I want to preach in a service and at the end have all those who need healing to come up and praise and dance and pretend like their in Heaven, for in Heaven there will be no sickness or pain. Ah forget that, don’t wait for the service - If you need healing and you believe 1st Peter 2:24, then do this: turn on some worship music (good worship music ~ not stuff that blames God for sickness or pain) and pretend like you are worshipping before the thrown – I mean literally before the thrown. In heaven we won’t need wheelchairs, crutches, or even band-aids. Just go after it and see your healing come through. After all Jesus said to pray for God’s will to be done here on earth as it is being done right now in heaven. Now don't go crazy with your dancing and get hurt; let your actions fit with your level of faith. In other words, if all you can do is tap your foot, then tap your foot praising God for your complete healing (and etc., etc.). So with all that, it’s time to stretch something. Have fun worshiping!

We’ll leave it right there for now.

Stay blessed y’all, it’s your choice.
jimmy



*John 9:6 Having said this, he spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man's eyes.