At this point in Jesus’ ministry he is beginning to become well known in the area, and that means he is beginning to gain the attention of the religious authorities. They see him as a threat and so in this story set out to trap him.
Jesus, though, cannot be tripped or trapped. He knows the hearts of everyone involved, and is specifically ready to go address the misuse and abuse of scripture especially around the nature of the sabbath.
This story of Jesus’ healing is very different than the most of them. They typically are very personal situations, but this one is very public and almost political.
One way it is different is that unlike most other people Jesus had healed is that the man with the withered hand never actually asks for healing. He does not appear to be in desperate straits the way most do in these stories. But this story gives no indication that this man, who tradition holds was a stonemason, actually needed healing in the way most people healed by Jesus did.
Instead, it appears that this man was simply going to synagogue like an the others, possibly there specifically to see and learn from Jesus. When he arrives, though, he and his disability are being used by Jesus’ enemies to further their own ends.
But Jesus ends up flipping things around – he calls the man to stand forth, this man who had not asked for any of this, who was just there for synagogue. And the man obeys, despite what was very likely deep discomfort. He stretches out his withered hand, even though it was likely embarrassing and a source of shame in that culture.
And when he obeys, he receives a gift unlocked for, while Jesus challenges the preconceptions, the authority and abusive nature of those who had tried to trap.
So when we come to sit at the feet of Jesus, can we also do so without any expectation? Can we go simply to be taught and live in His presence, whether at church or throughout our daily life? If we do, we may find healing we did not expect or even realize we needed.
— Sermon Notes, Alison Robison, Renew Church Lynnwood, WA, August 11, 2024