6 On another Sabbath Jesus went into a synagogue and taught. A man was there whose right hand was paralyzed. 7 Some teachers of the Law and some Pharisees wanted a reason to accuse Jesus of doing wrong, so they watched him closely to see if he would heal on the Sabbath. 8 But Jesus knew their thoughts and said to the man, “Stand up and come here to the front.” The man got up and stood there. 9 Then Jesus said to them, “I ask you: What does our Law allow us to do on the Sabbath? To help or to harm? To save someone’s life or destroy it?” 10 He looked around at them all; then he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He did so, and his hand became well again.
11 They were filled with rage and began to discuss among themselves what they could do to Jesus.
Read Luke 6:6-11 in context and/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!
Whenever I read the gospels and look for examples of how Jesus treated people, and also for examples of how people treated Jesus, I am amazed to really only find love coming from Jesus, but I don’t find many examples of love going towards Jesus. It would seem that from about the time Jesus started helping and healing people, the Jewish religious system at the time was more interested in finding fault with what He was doing than on supporting His ministry.
But it probably wasn’t Jesus who drew out their legalism. The religious system was most likely legalistic, and Jesus was the popular celebrity in their minds who seemed to disregard the centuries of progression to the Law that the religious leaders had added. These religious leaders wanted to become as sinless as possible – or at the very least, demand a life that didn’t even approach sin from those around them.
On one occasion, when Jesus came into a synagogue, we see an interesting situation unfold. “On another Sabbath Jesus went into a synagogue and taught. A man was there whose right hand was paralyzed. Some teachers of the Law and some Pharisees wanted a reason to accuse Jesus of doing wrong, so they watched him closely to see if he would heal on the Sabbath.” (v. 6-7)
Everything we know so far in this event makes me believe that it was a setup. I imagine this event happened because the religious leaders invited the disabled man to the synagogue that day, perhaps by promising him that Jesus would be there to heal him. But while the man came in hopeful, the religious leaders came in looking for fault.
This is where this event gets interesting: “But Jesus knew their thoughts …” (v. 8a)
Was this a result of the Holy Spirit giving Jesus wisdom, or was that unnecessary because Jesus was simply that aware of humanity’s personality quirks. Perhaps Jesus had learned in His growing up years how to read a room of people, and this room was clearly sending Him the message of “hostile” and perhaps “insincere”.
Instead of trying to sneak around the issue, Jesus challenged the religious leaders and those present. Jesus then “said to the man, ‘Stand up and come here to the front.’ The man got up and stood there. Then Jesus said to them, ‘I ask you: What does our Law allow us to do on the Sabbath? To help or to harm? To save someone’s life or destroy it?’ He looked around at them all; then he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He did so, and his hand became well again.” (v. 8b-10)
Jesus healed the man without even touching him – which would be about the furthest thing away from work in their legalistic eyes, but these leaders had already determined that any healing was already wrong. Since Jesus healed, He then crossed the line that they had set up.
But the big thing I see in this event is within Jesus’ character: Jesus chose to visit the synagogue, likely knowing what would happen before even arriving. Jesus knew the trap that the religious leaders set while He was there, but that didn’t stop Him from helping. Jesus helped the man because that is what God would do in that event. Jesus showed us that God cares more for hurting people than He does about the rules or laws. While the laws are important, Jesus demonstrated that love for hurting people is more important!
This thought was inspired by studying the Walking With Jesus “Reflective Bible Study” package. To discover insights like this in your own study time, click here and give Reflective Bible Study a try today!
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