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Jesus Heals on the Sabbath 3  Another time Jesus went into the synagogue, and a man with a shriveled hand was there.  2 Some of them were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they watched him closely to see if he would heal him on the Sabbath.  3 Jesus said to the man with the shriveled hand, “Stand up in front of everyone.” 4 Then Jesus asked them, “Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?”  But they remained silent. 5 He looked around at them in anger and, deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts, said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.”  He stretched it out, and his hand was completely restored.  6 Then the Pharisees went out and began to plot with the Herodians how they might kill Jesus.

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New International Version (NIV)Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

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The Pharisees taught that a person could only be healed on the Sabbath if she or he were dying. The man with the shriveled hand did not fall into that category, so the Pharisees watched to see if Jesus would break their rules and heal him. Jesus knew they sought to trap him. He could have avoided trouble by healing him the next day or by doing it somewhere less public. However, he called the man into the middle of the synagogue, where everyone would see, and addressed the Pharisees’ plot head on. His question silenced them, for they would either have to accept he was right to heal and go against their teaching or admit that their view on Sabbath-keeping prevented people from doing good on that holy day. By stopping good deeds from happening, the Pharisees could be seen to be aligning themselves with evil.2

His bold healing and public humiliation of the Pharisees enraged them so much that they joined forces with their enemies the Herodians to plot Jesus’ death. As a religious group they did not have the power to execute him. They hoped the Herodians, political allies of Herod Antipas, ruler of Galilee, could persuade Herod to execute Jesus, just as he would later execute John the Baptist.

Jesus showed real bravery in healing the man and confronting the Pharisees. How did he have such courage? He was not exempt from the fear of death, as his agony in the Garden of Gethsemane shows.3 Gethsemane also reveals that wrestling in prayer gave him the strength to face the cross. No doubt his regular times of prayer throughout his ministry helped him deal with opposition. This encourages us that, if we lack the boldness to do what God wants, we can find it through prayer.

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