Man with Shriveled Hand Is Healed on Sabbath

Passages: Matthew 12:9-14; Mark 3:1-6; Luke 6:6-11. Jesus healed this man on the Sabbath. Everyone saw the healing with their own eyes. The Pharisees were angry at him, however.

Israelites kept the Sabbath back then, and on that sacred day the Pharisees did not allow healing when a life was not at stake. A man with a withered hand was not about to die, but Jesus healed him anyway. He defied their traditions.

The translations are mine, but if you would like to see many other translations, please go to biblegateway.com. I include the Greek text to bring out the nuances, but readers may scroll past it, if they wish.

Let’s begin.

Jesus Heals Man with Shriveled Hand
Matthew 12:9-14	Mark 3:1-6	Luke 6:6-11
⁹ Then he moved on from there and entered their synagogue. ¹⁰ And look! A man having a withered! And they inquired of him, saying, “Is it really lawful to heal on the Sabbath?” They asked so that they could accuse him. ¹¹ But he said to them, “Which one of you is there who shall have one sheep and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath will not take hold of it and lift it out? ¹² How much more valuable therefore is a person than a sheep! And so it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.” ¹³ Then he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And he stretched it out, and it was restored, healthy like the other. ¹⁴ But the Pharisees left and took counsel against him, in order to destroy him.	¹ He again went into a synagogue, and a man was there who had a withered hand. ² They were watching him, whether he would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse him. ³ And he said to the man having the withered hand, “Stand up in the middle.” ⁴ And he said to them, “Is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath or to do harm, to save a life or to kill it?” But they were silent. ⁵ And looking around at them with anger, and grieving at the obstinacy of their heart, he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored. ⁶ The Pharisees left and soon conspired with the Herodians against him, so that they might destroy him.	⁶ And so it happened on another Sabbath that he went into the synagogue and taught. And a man was there, and his right hand was withered. ⁷ The teachers of the law and Pharisees were watching him maliciously, whether he would heal on the Sabbath, in order to discover some way to accuse him. ⁸ But he knew their reasonings. He said to the man having a withered hand, “Get up and stand here in the middle!” ⁹ Then Jesus said to them, “I ask you: is it lawful to do good or to do bad, to save a life or destroy it, on the Sabbath?” ¹⁰ He looked around at them and said to him, “Stretch out your hand!” He did so, and his hand was restored. ¹¹ They were filled with fury and began to speak among themselves what they might do to Jesus.
⁹ Καὶ μεταβὰς ἐκεῖθεν ἦλθεν εἰς τὴν συναγωγὴν αὐτῶν· ¹⁰ καὶ ἰδοὺ ἄνθρωπος χεῖρα ἔχων ξηράν. καὶ ἐπηρώτησαν αὐτὸν λέγοντες· εἰ ἔξεστιν τοῖς σάββασιν θεραπεῦσαι; ἵνα κατηγορήσωσιν αὐτοῦ. ¹¹ ὁ δὲ εἶπεν αὐτοῖς· τίς ἔσται ἐξ ὑμῶν ἄνθρωπος ὃς ἕξει πρόβατον ἓν καὶ ἐὰν ἐμπέσῃ τοῦτο τοῖς σάββασιν εἰς βόθυνον, οὐχὶ κρατήσει αὐτὸ καὶ ἐγερεῖ; ¹² πόσῳ οὖν διαφέρει ἄνθρωπος προβάτου. ὥστε ἔξεστιν τοῖς σάββασιν καλῶς ποιεῖν. ¹³ τότε λέγει τῷ ἀνθρώπῳ· ἔκτεινόν σου τὴν χεῖρα. καὶ ἐξέτεινεν καὶ ἀπεκατεστάθη ὑγιὴς ὡς ἡ ἄλλη. ¹⁴ Ἐξελθόντες δὲ οἱ Φαρισαῖοι συμβούλιον ἔλαβον κατ’ αὐτοῦ ὅπως αὐτὸν ἀπολέσωσιν.	¹ Καὶ εἰσῆλθεν πάλιν εἰς τὴν συναγωγήν. καὶ ἦν ἐκεῖ ἄνθρωπος ἐξηραμμένην ἔχων τὴν χεῖρα. ² καὶ παρετήρουν αὐτὸν εἰ τοῖς σάββασιν θεραπεύσει αὐτόν, ἵνα κατηγορήσωσιν αὐτοῦ. ³ καὶ λέγει τῷ ἀνθρώπῳ τῷ τὴν ξηρὰν χεῖρα ἔχοντι· ἔγειρε εἰς τὸ μέσον. ⁴ καὶ λέγει αὐτοῖς· ἔξεστιν τοῖς σάββασιν ἀγαθὸν ποιῆσαι ἢ κακοποιῆσαι, ψυχὴν σῶσαι ἢ ἀποκτεῖναι; οἱ δὲ ἐσιώπων. ⁵ καὶ περιβλεψάμενος αὐτοὺς μετ’ ὀργῆς, συλλυπούμενος ἐπὶ τῇ πωρώσει τῆς καρδίας αὐτῶν λέγει τῷ ἀνθρώπῳ· ἔκτεινον τὴν χεῖρα. καὶ ἐξέτεινεν καὶ ἀπεκατεστάθη ἡ χεὶρ αὐτοῦ. ⁶ Καὶ ἐξελθόντες οἱ Φαρισαῖοι εὐθὺς μετὰ τῶν Ἡρῳδιανῶν συμβούλιον ἐδίδουν κατ’ αὐτοῦ ὅπως αὐτὸν ἀπολέσωσιν.	⁶ Ἐγένετο δὲ ἐν ἑτέρῳ σαββάτῳ εἰσελθεῖν αὐτὸν εἰς τὴν συναγωγὴν καὶ διδάσκειν. καὶ ἦν ἄνθρωπος ἐκεῖ καὶ ἡ χεὶρ αὐτοῦ ἡ δεξιὰ ἦν ξηρά. ⁷ παρετηροῦντο δὲ αὐτὸν οἱ γραμματεῖς καὶ οἱ Φαρισαῖοι εἰ ἐν τῷ σαββάτῳ θεραπεύει, ἵνα εὕρωσιν κατηγορεῖν αὐτοῦ. ⁸ αὐτὸς δὲ ᾔδει τοὺς διαλογισμοὺς αὐτῶν, εἶπεν δὲ τῷ ἀνδρὶ τῷ ξηρὰν ἔχοντι τὴν χεῖρα· ἔγειρε καὶ στῆθι εἰς τὸ μέσον· καὶ ἀναστὰς ἔστη. ⁹ εἶπεν δὲ ὁ Ἰησοῦς πρὸς αὐτούς· ἐπερωτῶ ὑμᾶς εἰ ἔξεστιν τῷ σαββάτῳ ἀγαθοποιῆσαι ἢ κακοποιῆσαι, ψυχὴν σῶσαι ἢ ἀπολέσαι; ¹⁰ καὶ περιβλεψάμενος πάντας αὐτοὺς εἶπεν αὐτῷ· ἔκτεινον τὴν χεῖρά σου. ὁ δὲ ἐποίησεν καὶ ἀπεκατεστάθη ἡ χεὶρ αὐτοῦ. ¹¹ αὐτοὶ δὲ ἐπλήσθησαν ἀνοίας καὶ διελάλουν πρὸς ἀλλήλους τί ἂν ποιήσαιεν τῷ Ἰησοῦ.

Comments:

As to the Sabbath, religious teachers endlessly debated how one must keep it. In effect, these strict teachers of the law said it was better that people should virtually do nothing on the Sabbath. It is better to be safe than sorry, to be severe and austere than risk too much questionable behavior before a holy God. In Num. 15:32-36, a Sabbath breaker was stoned to death. But they built up too many prohibition, like not healing on the Sabbath.

Jesus said it is better to save a life, even if the life is not about to die. Healing and restoration is saving the man’s life because he can return to society and work for a living.

In all three versions, “restored” is the verb apokathistēmi (pronounced ah-poh-kah-thees-tay-mee), and the apo– prefix has the connotation here to reciprocate. The stem histēmi means to “put, place, set bring, put forward, establish, confirm, cause to stand” (and so on). Then the preposition kata– (down) is added, as if to lay it down and establish it. All together the verb apokathistēmi means “restore, reestablish … cure, be cured … bring back, restore.” It is a great word choice on their part. The man’s hand was returned and reestablished and restored back to normal. Never accept as normal what is clearly abnormal. Pray! Pray continually for restoration.

In Matthew’s version, “healthy” could also be translated “sound” “physically well” or “free” from your affliction (Mark 5:34). It can be translated as “undamaged” (BDAG). His hand was made perfectly undamaged and sound and healthy.

In Mark’s and Luke’s versions, “heal” is the verb is therapeuō (pronounced thair-ah-pew-oh, our word therapy is related to it), and it means to “make whole, restore, heal, cure, care for.” Here the healing is instant.

Let’s finish this pericope (pronounced puh-RIH-koh-pea) or section or unit of Scripture with a cultural observation and then apply it.

As I noted in other chapters, first-century Israel was an honor-and-shame society. Verbal and active confrontations happened often. By active is meant actions. Here the confrontation is both verbal and acted out. Jesus won the actual confrontation, and this victory opened the door to his verbal victory with religious leaders who were binding people up with traditions. They needed to be loosed from them. Jesus shamed the leaders to silence. It may seem strange to us that Jesus would confront human opponents, because we are not used to doing this in our own lives, and we have heard that Jesus was meek and silent.

Jesus, in fact, showed anger at these religious leaders. This was righteous anger (see more about this, in the next section).

More relevantly, for many years now there has been a teaching going around the Body of Christ that says when Christians are challenged, they are supposed to slink away or not reply. This teaching may come from the time of Jesus’s trial when it is said he was as silent as a sheep (Acts 8:32). No. He spoke up then, as well (Matt. 26:64; Mark 14:32; Luke 23:71; John 18:19-23; 32-38; 19:11). Therefore, “silence” means submission to the will of God without resisting or fighting back physically. But here he replied to the religious leaders and defeated them and their inadequate theology. Get into a discussion and debate with your challengers. Stand toe to toe with them. In short, fight like Jesus! With anointed words!

Of course, caution is needed. The original context is a life-and-death struggle between the kingdom of God and religious traditions. Get the original context, first, before you fight someone in a verbal sparring match. This was a clash of worldviews. Don’t pick fights or be rude to your spouse or baristas or clerks in the service industry. Discuss things with him or her. But here Jesus was justified in replying sharply to these oppressive religious leaders.

When Jesus Used Harsh Language

Application for Ministry Today:

We can learn many things from how Jesus ministered to the sick. Let me number the points for clarity and order, in this section.

1.. Let’s look at a word study. “fury”: it is the noun anoia (pronounced ah-noi-ah), and the prefix a– is the negation, and the noi– stem is connected to mind. They were in a mindless emotion, in a rage and fury. It could also be translated in some contexts as foolish, which makes sense, given the prefix and stem. But not here. Their reaction was a mindless rage. They lived in an honor-and-shame society, and Jesus shamed them in public, which they so richly deserved. (Please note that in this context shame does not mean a psychological state that comes from abuse.) It means your opponents lost the public tussle, and they deserved it, because they had attacked you.

Why should this word study be included here? It is a warning that many Bible teachers will attack those who minister in the gifts of healings. These teachers believe that their doctrine is so pure that they can sit on their perch and criticize everyone else. They are cessationists (those who believe that most or all of the gifts in 1 Cor. 12:7-11 and Rom. 13:6-8) have ceased), and of course their interpretation is way off. Just ignore these teachers. Keep praying for the sick..

2.. Jesus set the man in the middle of the synagogue. This is bold and fearless. I believe he got a signal from the Father that he was about to heal this man, to prove a larger point–to take down religious traditions that had built up over the centuries.

3.. And so the Father through his Son, anointed by the Spirit, performed all miracles during his Son’s ministry. The Son obeyed and followed his Father. We too should develop life in the Spirit so we can ear from the Father through the Spirit. We will never heal as Jesus did, because he is the Anointed One, but the Spirit can distribute the gifts of healings as he determines (1 Cor. 12:11).

4.. In Mark’s version, Jesus was both angry and grieved. This is not human anger that aims to harm one’s opponents. No. He was about to do good. His emotion was righteous indignation at evil in their hearts. This anger was appropriate in this situation. He was also grieved at the stubbornness stuck in their hearts. So he felt compassion at the deep need in their heart, but he was angry at their external expression of their stubbornness. They expressed their obstinacy by becoming legalists and harsh and too restrictive.

Jesus was not an android who felt no human emotion. He was the God-man, and even God expresses anger. If we feel grief and anger at a religious leader’s obstinacy, let’s express it as he did. By healing the person, by the gifts of healings, distributed as the Spirit determines.

5.. As I write in all the healing posts:

Let it be noted that Jesus never went in for “decree and declare.” (Name one time he used such verbiage during his prayer for the sick. Nor did the disciples use those formulaic words in Acts).

Instead, God the Father through his Son who was anointed by the Spirit performed miracles of healing. Jesus clarified that he does only what he sees his Father doing (John 5:19). He lives because of the Father (John 6:57). He speaks only what the Father taught him (John 8:28). He does what he sees the Father do (John 10:37). What Jesus says is just what the Father told him to say (John 12:49-50, 57). Perhaps the most important verse about miracles: “Many good works I have shown you from My Father” (John 10:32). (In John’s Gospel, “good works” = miracles, at a minimum.)

And so the Father through his Son who was anointed by the Spirit, performed all miracles during his Son’s ministry (Acts 10:38). The Son obeyed and followed his Father and also did the healings by the Spirit. The Trinity was working together.

6..We too should develop life in the Spirit (Gal. 5), so we can hear from the Father through the Spirit, in Jesus’s name and authority granted to us. We will never heal as Jesus did, because he is the Anointed One without limits (John 3:34). But after the cross and the Son’s ascension, the Spirit can distribute the gifts of healings (plural) as he determines (1 Cor. 12:11), not as we “name and claim” or “decree and declare.” Let the Spirit work, and you listen and obey, and then rebuke a disease (not the person) or pray for healing.

4. Gifts of the Spirit: Gifts of Healings

Kenneth Copeland Gets a Pacemaker

Is ‘Decreeing’ Biblical for Christians?

What Is Biblical Confession?

Here are the chapters with fuller commentaries:

Matthew 12

Mark 3

Luke 6

Scroll down to find the right verses.