Luke 6:6-11

  Luke 6:6-11 Man With Withered Hand Blog

In this blog we will be walking through Luke 6:6-11 together. Using different commentaries and guides I was given the opportunity to preach this message and would like to share it with you now. 

We just ended Thanksgiving. Do you and your family have any Thanksgiving traditions? 

We will be in the Gospel of Luke chapter 6 verse 6 if you would like to turn there with me. We are going to  read about Jesus healing a man with a withered hand on Sabbath in Luke 6:6-11

 On another Sabbath, he entered the synagogue and was teaching, and a man was there whose right hand was withered. 7 And the scribes and the Pharisees watched him, to see whether he would heal on the Sabbath, so that they might find a reason to accuse him. 8 But he knew their thoughts, and he said to the man with the withered hand, “Come and stand here.” And he rose and stood there. 9 And Jesus said to them, “I ask you, is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to destroy it?” 10 And after looking around at them all he said to him, “Stretch out your hand.” And he did so, and his hand was restored. 11 But they were filled with fury and discussed with one another what they might do to Jesus. 

In some churches they stand for the reading of God’s Word. That is a tradition that I have been a part of at churches and is still practiced today. I was thinking of traditions when preparing for this message. Like waving actual palm branches on Palm Sunday.  How about the tradition of the tambourine?? Or the tradition of Communion and Water Baptism.  How about taking your hat off when we pray out of respect for God. The tradition of coming up front during worship and kneeling at the altar or the altar area. 

Perhaps you aren’t familiar with church traditions, but I’m sure you have family traditions. I love a good family tradition. 

One of our family traditions growing up was on christmas eve we would open siblings gifts to each other and all other gifts would have to wait.  Speaking of Christmas eve. 

 The tradition of having a candlelight service for Christmas Eve. For as long as I can remember my family would go to candle light services. The three churches I have been on staff all practice this tradition. However you might not be familiar, Morgan grew up in a church that did not do candlelight on Christmas Eve. She didn’t know that was a tradition until moving to texas. If you are familiar you might have thought.  Why do we even do that? Or is it just something we have always done as tradition and no one knows why? I have heard that the candle light represents the star of Bethlehem that guided the Magi to Jesus. I have heard that it is to symbolize Jesus as the Light of the World. As we dive into our text  we are going to see how the Pharisees were very focused on some traditions.  

Luke said in verse 6a that on another Sabbath, Jesus entered the synagogue and was teaching. Even though opposition to Jesus was growing, he was still a very popular teacher.

Luke then said that a man was there whose right hand was withered (6:6b). Matthew and Mark also mention this incident in their Gospels (see Matthew 12:9-14; Mark 3:1-6), but, interestingly, Luke alone – with a physician’s precision – is the only one who mentioned that it was the man’s right hand that was withered

The religious leaders were now no longer merely opposed to Jesus but were actively seeking ways to find fault with him. Luke said that the scribes and the Pharisees watched him, to see whether he would heal on the Sabbath, so that they might find a reason to accuse him (6:7).

What fault were the religious leaders trying to find in Jesus? The religious leaders had heard that Jesus healed people on the Sabbath, and they wanted to see if he would do it again. You see, they believed that healing was a form of working and was therefore a violation.

According to the religious leaders, the Sabbath was not a day for routine medical care. Unless the person was in danger of dying, medical care would have to wait until the next day. 

Clearly, the man whose right hand was withered was “not in peril of his life, but still, the withered hand was a great handicap in his life

 Historical Background: Shabbat is the Hebrew word, where we get our english word Sabbath. Shabbat means “to rest” Shabbat begins sundown on Friday and lasts until sundown on Saturday. It is a time to reflect on God's goodness, enjoy God’s goodness, and celebrate God’s goodness. God modeled this for us from the very beginning when He rested and reflected on the 7th day of creation In Genesis 1. That is one reason we come to church. We put our busy lives on pause to gather together, worship God, Study His Word, and reflect. 

Historically Sabbath is still on saturday but the early church started celebrating on Sunday due to Jesus’ resurrection. Three days after Good Friday. So on Sunday we reflect, enjoy, and celebrate. We have carried on that tradition from the book of Acts. 

Think of it as God, creating a pause for our work week with what the Bible calls a Sabbath. The Sabbath is a time of rest and it’s intended to benefit us both physically and spiritually. We need to rest physically – to be off and recharge our batteries, so to speak. But even more than that, we need rest for our souls that can only be found in a relationship with Jesus. 

Our passage is about perceived violations of the Sabbath Law that Jesus and his disciples committed. … Unfortunately, over the years, what God intended as something beneficial to people, the Sabbath, has over time for some been reduced to a list of rules and regulations that have become burdensome, or for others, something that is just completely ignored altogether.”

In fact a book called the Mishna has been created, originally an oral tradition, now a  24 chapter book of the dos and don’t of the Sabbath. These religious leaders  put a lot of thought into the Mishna.

Here are a few quick examples, You can’t carry a load on the Sabbath, a load is defined as anything that weighs more than 1 dried fig.

 No picking, threshing, fishing,  working, none of the ings. 

You are not allowed to drag something like a chair through the dirt, that is considered plowing. You can drop 1 seed but not 2, two or more seeds is considered sowing. 

For all my hunters, if you leave your door open and a deer gets in your house, you are not allowed to close the door and trap it, that would be considered hunting.

Now the Pharisees and religious leaders can be looked at in a negative light but let’s think about their history for a second. They know what happened to their ancestors when they turned away from God’s law. Their cities were conquered, their people made slaves and held in captivity. They were so fearful of the righteous hand of God that they focused on being right instead of doing the right thing. They fought against change. They didn’t care that God Himself entered their church. When He did they watched Him to make sure he wasn’t going to break any of their laws or traditions. Their traditions and rules got in the way of their worship.

May God have mercy upon us all if we ever come to the point that our laws and traditions are more important than the presence of God. 

 In fact the Pharisees would use phrases like, “That’s just not how we do it here. That’s the way we have always done it.” The Pharisee’s heart was in the wrong place. They were more focused on being right, than doing the right thing. It’s not about the temperature, stage design, lights or song. We gather together for God and His people. The church is not this building, we are the church, the people are the church no matter where we gather.  Matthew 18:20 For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.” The church was created for the people not people for the church. 

 In the previous text, in verses 1-5, Luke wrote about another Sabbath day controversy. Jesus’ disciples were accused of breaking the Fourth Commandment by working on the Sabbath when they plucked and ate some heads of grain. The disciples did not in fact violate the Fourth Commandment of God’s Law, although they did violate the manmade regulations of the Pharisees. Jesus explained to the Pharisees that they misinterpreted God’s Law, and then declared that he is lord of the Sabbath (Luke 6:5).

By declaring that he is lord of the Sabbath, Jesus affirmed the abiding continuation of the Fourth Commandment. God said in Exodus 20:8-11:

“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. 11 For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

Historically, the Sabbath was a day of delight for the people of God. It was the highlight of the week when God’s people could rest from their regular labor and worship their God.

In bringing the clash between Jesus and the religious leaders to heightened tension, Luke said that Jesus knew their thoughts, and he said to the man with the withered hand, “Come and stand here.” And he rose and stood there (6:8).

All eyes in the synagogue were now on Jesus. What was he going to do?

The Question (6:9) Notice the question.

And Jesus said to the religious leaders, “I ask you, is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to destroy it?” (6:9).

What a question! As you read the Gospels, pay attention to the questions that Jesus asked. His questions were powerful and penetrating.

God had given the Sabbath to be a holy day of delight for his people. It was a day to rest from ordinary work and to worship God. However, in their fear of violating God’s Law the religious leaders had set up so many manmade rules and regulations regarding the Sabbath that it had become a massive burden to the people of God. It was so bad that they would not even lift a finger to help a person in need.

Jesus wanted the religious leaders to see that by refusing to do good on the Sabbath, they were actually causing harm. Not only was it not wrong to help the man with a withered right hand, but it was wrong not to help him. Jesus wanted the religious leaders see that their view of the Sabbath was not only incorrect, but that it was immoral. It is never a wrong day, to do the right thing.  In this case, because the man’s withered right hand was a serious impediment to a joyful and useful life, failing to act was morally equivalent to destroying someone’s life. Therefore, instead of keeping God’s Law, these religious leaders were actually breaking it. Furthermore, their attitude was loveless, merciless, and cruel.

Let us not make the mistake of thinking that God is pleased with us because we have a list of rules that make us good enough for God, while actually missing the things that are most important to God. The religious leaders had their manmade list of regulations that they thought pleased God, but they missed the importance of doing works of necessity and mercy on the Sabbath. To put it simply: God wants us to have a heart for people in need.

The Healing (6:10)

Third, observe the healing.

Not one of the religious leaders answered Jesus’ question. The answer to Jesus’ question was self-evident. Clearly, it was appropriate to do a work of mercy on the Sabbath.

After looking around at them all Jesus said to the man with the withered right hand, “Stretch out your hand.” And he did so, and his hand was restored (6:10).

Picture the scene in the synagogue. All eyes were on Jesus. The man with the withered right hand stood in front of everyone. His hand was dangling uselessly at his side. His joy was gone as he was not able to do anything with his right hand.

Then Jesus told him, “Stretch out your hand.” Didn’t give Jesus his left hand. Amazingly, he was able to do the very thing that a moment before he was unable to do: stretch out his hand! The man acted in faith, and when he did, he experienced the healing power of God.

By healing the man with a withered right hand Jesus demonstrated once again that he is God in human form.

But, in addition, by healing the man with a withered right hand on a Sabbath Jesus demonstrated one of the true purposes of the Sabbath, which is to do works of mercy.

In the previous narrative, in Luke 6:1-5, Jesus told a story about David to show that there are certain things we may do on the Sabbath. These are called works of necessity.

And in this current narrative, in Luke 6:6-11, Jesus healed a man to show that there are certain things we must do on the Sabbath. These are called works of mercy.

The Reaction (6:11)

Finally, notice the reaction.

Luke said that the religious leaders were filled with fury and discussed with one another what they might do to Jesus (6:11). Interestingly, “both Matthew and Mark explicitly say that they wanted to kill Jesus, so their discussion was about what they could do to kill him” (see Matthew 12:14; Mark 3:6).

The Greek word for fury (anoias) refers to “rage.” “Ironically,” says one commentator, “in their hatred the Pharisees were really the ones who were breaking the Sabbath, because they were committing murder in their hearts.”

What made the religious leaders so furious that they wanted to kill Jesus? Why should they care if Jesus healed someone? Why should they care if Jesus even healed someone on the Sabbath? After all, if doing so were really a violation of God’s Law, then God would punish Jesus for that violation.

The reason the religious leaders were so furious with Jesus was because he gave the correct interpretation of God’s Law, which was contrary to their own interpretation. But, more importantly, the religious leaders were so furious with Jesus because he exposed their lack of love for people in need. The religious leaders said that they loved God and people, but they had become so obsessed with their own rules about how to please God that they misinterpreted what God had said was important about loving him and people – especially people in need. The incident of Jesus healing a man with a withered hand on a Sabbath forces us to examine our own response to Jesus.

Let us not respond to Jesus as the religious leaders did. Let us not look for ways to avoid getting involved with people in need. Let us not say, as some do, that people who are addicted to drugs or alcohol, struggle with sexual sin, end up in prison, and many other things, are getting what they deserve, and therefore we are off the hook as far as getting involved personally is concerned.

Jesus demonstrated compassion to the man with a withered hand. He was merciful to the man with a withered hand and healed him on the Sabbath. Now he calls us to have a heart of compassion, and as lord of the Sabbath, he has given us the Lord’s Day to do works of mercy.

He came that day to meet the needs of those that were there.Our God is a need meeting God. But how will people in need meet our God if we don’t get out and serve? Get out and introduce them to God?

Sunday is now the Christian Sabbath. It is a holy day of rest and worship, “but it is not just a day to take things easy.” It is a day for  people, for investing in people, growing Christ-centered friendships, and helping people  in need..

Let us spend Sunday – the Lord’s Day – resting from our ordinary labors. Let us worship God on the Lord’s Day. And, in addition, let us also do works of necessity and mercy on the Lord’s Day. Let’s be about God and people. 

The Sabbath is a gift from God. Let’s celebrate the Lord of the Sabbath! Let’s be about people. 

Thank you for reading!