A Verse
Matthew 12:9-14
He went on from there and entered their synagogue. 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. 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? Of how much more value is a man than a sheep! So it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.” Then he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And the man stretched it out, and it was restored, healthy like the other. But the Pharisees went out and conspired against him, how to destroy him.
A Comment
Today’s passage appears in the context of Jesus’ dispute with the Pharisees over the Sabbath command. You can get a fuller idea of the context by reading the preceding verses in Matthew 12:1-8, but for today’s devotional, I want to take a look at the man with the withered hand.
From a narrative perspective, the man with the withered hand is not really the point of the story. The main point of the story is the lordship of Christ over the Sabbath, His authority to interpret and apply God’s law accurately, and the response of the Pharisees to Jesus. The man with the withered hand plays a role in the story, but he’s not really the point. With that said, however, I cannot help but think about this unnamed man. Here’s what we know:
First, the man with the withered hand was at the synagogue on the Sabbath. We have no indication from this passage that the man showed up at the synagogue expecting to find Jesus there on that Sabbath so that he could be healed. In fact, given the language of verse 10, where we see the Pharisees question Jesus, asking, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”, it is entirely possible that the Pharisees requested that the man be there so that they “might accuse” Jesus of healing on the Sabbath. Of course, the man with the withered hand might have just been at the synagogue out of habit as a faithful Jew, and the Pharisees tried to take advantage of the situation to catch Jesus.
In terms of the question in the passage, healing on the Sabbath, at least given what we know about the Pharisees, would have been permissible in situations of life-or-death, but not in cases where the man could have been healed on another day of the week; such healing would not have been permitted. For the man with the withered hand, while his situation was challenging, it did not rise to the level of “life-or-death” according to the traditional interpretation of the Sabbath by the Pharisees. It was likely that his hand had been withered, literally “dried,” for some time.
Jesus responded to the Pharisees’ question with a question of his own, regarding how they would handle a situation involving one of their sheep on the Sabbath. Jesus’ question aims to expose the hypocrisy of these particular Pharisees who had specific rules for everyone else but found loopholes to help them navigate their rigorous interpretations and application of the Mosaic law. From here, Jesus employs an argument known as a “lesser-to-greater” argument to show that the inclination of the Pharisees to save their own sheep but allow this man with the withered hand to continue to suffer is wrong. In other words, men are more important than sheep, therefore, it is “lawful to do good on the Sabbath.”
Now that we have a context, we come back to the man with the withered hand. The Pharisees are basically using him. He likely didn’t come seeking Jesus, and probably dealt with some shame in his local synagogue. After exposing the error of the Pharisees in his midst, Jesus turns to the man with the withered hand and issues a command: Stretch out your hand.
That’s quite a command for a man with a withered hand to hear, don’t you think? How can a man with a withered hand respond to Jesus’ command to “stretch your hand?” Is that not the very problem that the man had in the first place? He is incapable of stretching out his hand. His hand is withered. It is paralyzed. He does not possess the ability to do what Jesus has just commanded him to do. What kind of man commands someone to do what they cannot do?
While the man is incapable of obeying Jesus’ command on his own, nonetheless, he believes in Jesus enough to attempt to obey Him, and as he does, the withered hand is restored. The man with the withered hand becomes the man with a formerly withered hand on account of the power of Jesus. The command of Jesus supplies what is required of the man. And, as a result, the man is healed.
In many ways, this story of the healing of the man with the withered hand parallels the Christian’s new birth in Christ. We are commanded to repent of our sins and believe in the gospel of Jesus Christ. Yet, as we are told in Scripture, we are, by nature and by choice, dead in trespasses and sins (Ephesians 2:1-10). Dead men cannot choose to repent and believe unless the One who is calling them gives them, by His own sovereign power and prerogative, the ability to repent and believe.
Our own healing is not the result of our combined effort with Jesus. Much like the man with the formerly withered hand, we need Jesus to give us the power to do what He commands us to do. Only Jesus gives life to the dead. Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your heart. Stretch out your hand to the Lord, who alone gives life.
A Prayer
Would you pray with me?
A Blessing
Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace, comfort your hearts and establish them in every good work and word. (2 Thessalonians 2:16-17)
WHMI Update
From now until 8/22/2025, new gifts to our budget at WHMI are doubled due to a generous matching gift. To learn more about WHMI, click the image below to take you to our website. Any support would be greatly appreciated!
Prayer Needs
For those who have followed my work at WHMI, I assumed a new role at the beginning of this year, in addition to my previous responsibilities as Director of Partnership and Curriculum. I am now also the Director of Europe. So far this year, I have traveled for work in Latvia, France, Romania, and Slovenia (2x). Later this month, I will travel to the UK for meetings with a church planting network, and then, in September, I will likely return to Belarus.
As you have a chance, please pray not only for the broader work of WHMI but also for my work in Europe. While Europe may seem like a region of the world that does not need theological education, as a whole, Europe is one of the least-reached areas of the world due to rapid secularization. Many evangelical churches in Europe struggle to find a pastor, and as a result, many godly young men are forgoing pastoral ministry in favor of other vocations. WHMI aims to provide such men with the theological training that they need to serve the churches in Europe well.
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