Anchor My Faith

Stretch Out the Hand

Scripture: Matthew 12:11-12, 15; Mark 3:5-7; Luke 6:11

We ended the previous lesson with Jesus asking the scribes and the Pharisees if it was “lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to destroy it?” Jesus then gives them an example to think about: ^{“Mt 12:11} [Jesus] 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? ¹² Of how much more value is a man than a sheep! So it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.”’ These scribes and Pharisees do not stand a chance against Jesus. Every one of them knows they would work to save the sheep. So if they would do that then why should they condemn Jesus for healing this man? Do you see that this is not about what is right or wrong, but an attempt to restore their honor by shaming Jesus by getting him to do what they think is wrong?

^{“Mk 3:5} [Jesus] looked around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, and said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was restored.” These scribes and the Pharisees don’t intimidate Jesus as he intentionally heals this man with the withered hand and does it without violating Old Testament law. When Jesus asked them if it was “lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to destroy it?” their response should have been “to do good.” They couldn’t respond correctly because of the hardness of their hearts and because it would violate their extrabiblical, mostly Pharisaic tradition. Their tradition excludes the necessity of loving God and loving your neighbor and doing good for them especially if they were a sinner.

As the scribes and the Pharisees attempted to trap Jesus, he further shames them and ^{Mk 3:6} “The Pharisees went out, ^{Lk 6:11} filled with fury ​and discussed with one another what they might do to Jesus, ^{Mk 3:6} and they held counsel with the Herodians against him, as to how to destroy him.” Jesus is doing no wrong and never will, but the scribes and the Pharisees will continue in their sin. They are not righteous, they do not understand, and they do not seek the true God. They have turned aside from God’s call on their lives and together have become worthless and do not good. There is no fear of God before their eyes and they are on course to shed blood (drawn from Romans 3:10 – 18). They confer with another group, unlike them, as how they might destroy Jesus, a common enemy. The Herodians are “supporters and associates of Herod Antipas of Galilee and the Herodian family dynasty;” ESV footnotes, Mark 3:6.

^{“Mt 12:15} Jesus, aware of this, withdrew from there ^{Mk 3:7} with his disciples to the sea, and a great crowd follow him.” Jesus knew it was time to move on to another location and so he goes with his disciples to an area near the Sea of Galilee; the location we will cover in the next lesson. It is important to notice that Jesus is becoming more popular through his teaching, demonstrations, and interaction with the scribes and the Pharisees and as he becomes more popular, his honor grows in proportion with the shame suffered by the scribes and the Pharisees and thus their hatred for him.

Prayer

Father, sin has such power over our lives as we see with these scribes and Pharisees in their opposition to Jesus. How sin hardens one’s heart and blinds our eyes. God and the goodness of his grace can be arrayed before us and we refuse to believe and accept. These scribes and Pharisees are sinners in need of God’s grace, just like us, but their desire is to destroy that which could keep them from their destruction.