STRETCH OUT YOUR HAND

Mark 3:1 - 6 NKJV

Mark 3:1 And He entered the synagogue again, and a man was there who had a withered hand. 2 So they watched Him closely, whether He would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse Him. 3 And He said to the man who had the withered hand, “Step forward.” 4 Then He said to them, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?” But they kept silent. 5 And when He had looked around at them with anger, being grieved by the hardness of their hearts, He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored as whole as the other. 6 Then the Pharisees went out and immediately plotted with the Herodians against Him, how they might destroy Him. 

Today, we continue looking at one of the miracles of Jesus. When I think of a miracle, I think of a supernatural event that could not have happened unless there was divine power or intervention at work. Jesus, the Son of God, intervened and through divine power changed not only the physical condition of a person but also their lives. Today we are going to look at a passage that involves Jesus healing a man from a hindrance or a restraint. It was of course much more than just removing a restraint, but a miracle by the Master Healer. A miracle that would cause those that hated Jesus to hate him even more. And all because a man obeyed Jesus on the Sabbath day by stretching out his hand.

STRETCH OUT YOUR HAND

I. THE SITUATION (verses 1-2)

The setting and situation of this particular miracle of Jesus is not a complicated one. Jesus was in the synagogue on the Sabbath. Makes sense for Jesus to be in the synagogue on the Sabbath. Actually, it makes sense for us as well doesn’t it; where else should someone who believes in God be on God’s Day other than in God’s House? There were people there in the synagogue that were watching Him and looking for a way to accuse Him. These critics were always listening as He preached and taught and had even seen some of His miracles. The Gospel of Luke (6:7) describes these people as waiting for Jesus to heal on the Sabbath so that they could accuse Him. Jesus was always doing things and saying things that the Pharisees and Sadducees thought were inappropriate. These people knew that Jesus was known for doing good and healing. It was just a matter of time before Jesus would trip up and heal this man!

If you had been in attendance on this day of worship, you would have seen (Mark 3:1) that a man with a shriveled hand was in the synagogue. Luke (6:6) tells us that it was his right hand. The word that is used here to describe the man’s hand is one that tells us that his hand was rigid, withered, paralyzed and was unable to be used. Given that most of us are right-handed, I hope you can imagine what an absolute hindrance this must have been for this man. He had no use of this hand. In addition, most people only have two hands… so it creates quite a handicap if one hand cannot be used.

So, the situation involves three different players:

(1) Jesus (the healer) (2) The man with the shriveled hand (the bystander and bait) (3) Pharisees (the critics)

THE SITUATION (verses 1-2)

II. THE HEALER HEALING A HINDERANCE (verses 3-6)

Jesus is in the midst of this tense situation and does three very important things.

First, Jesus has the man with the withered hand, stand in the middle of all the people. Why did Jesus do this? Was He trying to embarrass this man who already probably had some embarrassing feelings or issues? What was the purpose of calling this man into the midst of all of them? I think Jesus wanted everyone to get a good look at this man so that there would be no questions about the legitimacy of what He was about to do. This man really did have a handicap, and it was not faked in any way.

Second, Jesus questions the critical Pharisees that are sitting there. Jesus asks (verse 4), “Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?” I can imagine a long pause after this question was given because the next verse tells us (Mark 3:5), “He looked around at them in anger and, deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts…” They didn’t even answer Him. The reason was because the Pharisees were utterly sinful in what they were trying to do. They could not say that it was lawful to do evil or kill because the law forbids these things at all times. In addition, it sounds utterly brainless to say that doing good and saving lives are ever against the law. In fact, the Apostle Paul would later write to the Galatians and tells them (5:22-23), “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.” God never forbids us from doing the good and loving thing.

ILLUSTRATION… What is okay to do on the Sabbath?

According to www.crazylaws.com, old laws that are still on the books…

In one state, it is against the law to play dominoes on Sunday.

In one town it is illegal to walk your cow down Main Street after 1pm on Sunday.

And in several states, car dealers cannot sell cars on Sunday.

We may think that the Pharisees had some laws that they added to God’s law, but we have some added laws in our time too.

What is acceptable to do on Sundays? [ask the congregation]

Go out to eat? Working? Work on the car?

Mow the yard? Watching sports? Do a hobby?

Doing laundry and cleaning? Playing sports? Go to church?

I hope you see that Jesus did not break any type of law or intend to break any type of law while in the synagogue on this Sabbath Day. It is always good to do the loving thing. It is always good to do the godly thing… and that leads us to the third thing that Jesus did in this tense situation.

(Third), Jesus heals the outstretched hand of this man in the presence of everyone watching. I do not think the Pharisees were all that surprised. This was exactly what they were waiting for! The man’s hand was completely restored. The man’s hand was fully functional as if there had been nothing wrong with him at all! This was a miracle that was done right before their eyes… and the Pharisees were furious. In fact, verse 6 tells us, “Then the Pharisees went out and began to plot with the Herodians how they might kill Jesus.” Jesus did what was good and right and noble and saving on the Sabbath and He did not care about His critics.

So, what are we supposed to learn from this text?

THE HEALER HEALING A HINDERANCE (verses 3-6)

III. THE LESSONS

(1) There will be those around us (or us) who are withered and witheredness can be restored if we cooperate with Jesus. I hope that you know that our God is in the business of restoration.

* God restored to Job all that he had and blessed him double for his trouble. (Job 42:10)

* Psalm 23 (verses 1-3) declares, “The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside still waters, he restores my soul.”

* Jesus restored Peter after he denied Him three times (John 21:15-17).

* 1 Peter 5:6-10 says, Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, 7 casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you. 8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. 9 Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world.10 But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you. 

(2) We need to stretch out our hand. Or whatever part of you is withered today. I do not know if you feel that part of you might be a little withered today: Maybe it is your heart. Maybe your heart is stiff and hard and unusable by God. Maybe you have attitudes, or unforgiveness or grief in your life that paralyzes you. Maybe you have a relationship that you have become numb to, and it has stopped your life in its tracks. I hope that you see in this text that if we are willing to stick it out there, that God will change us and restore us to what we should be. He can do that and He does do it for countless faithful people who allow God to work in their lives.

(3) We sin when we fail to do good or allow bad things to happen. James 4:17 tells us even more plainly, “Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.” I think of this lesson because I tried playing out this passage if it had gone some other way… if Jesus did not heal the man but avoided doing good because of His critics. Jesus tells us (Matthew 12:11-12, Mark 3:4) and Paul tells us (Galatians 5:22-23) that we must not stand around or sit on our hands or keep our mouths shut while evil goes on around us or good is failing to get done. We must act! We must speak up! For you see, Jesus shows us by His example and His life and His conduct, that we must commit ourselves to doing good no matter what others might say or do around us. I want to encourage you to speak up and correct the wrong things around you. I want to encourage you to act on things when you know them to be noble, true, and right. Jesus would.

Sometimes all we want to do is pray about a situation. But we need to seek God and found out is there any other action that he wants us to take. Maybe instead of just praying for the sick, God may want you to visit the sick. There may be a healing ministry in you! There may be a nursing home ministry in you! There may be a prison ministry in you! But we may never know if we don’t stretch ourselves out in the presence of God!