The man with the withered hand

Continuing with Fouard's Life of Christ:

III: The man with the withered hand

Luke vi. 6-11; Mark iii. 1-6; Matt. xii. 9-21.

It was on the journey from Jerusalem into Galilee that the incident of the plucking of the wheat occurred.  The Evangelists do not tell whereabouts on the journey Jesus tarried; but on one of the Sabbaths following they make mention of His being in the synagogue of a little town.  Now there was a man present whose right hand had all shrunken away.  According to the "Gospel of the Nazarenes," it was a poor Mason, who had been hurt in some accident.

The man with the withered hand. J-J Tissot.

I beseech you, he said to Jesus, restore me to health, so that I need no longer beg my bread in shame and sorrow.

His prayer was overheard by the Pharisees, who were sharply watching these deeds of the Christ, "that they might have cause to accuse Him." They whispered among themselves these words, which came to the ears of the Master:

"Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath day?"

Jesus did not keep them long in uncertainty.  "Arise," He said to the cripple, "and stand there in the midst."

Then turning to the Pharisees, seated, as was their wont, in the Seats of Honour,

"I ask you," he said, "Is it allowed upon the Sabbath to do good or evil, to save or to destroy a soul?"

Such questioning as this disconcerted them; they had only come to listen to His discourse in order to surprise Him in some error; confused at being anticipated in this way, they held their peace.

The divine Master attempted to draw them out of their silence by recalling their own teachings on the subject.  "What man is there among you," He pursued, "who owns only one sheep, if it fall into a pit on a Sabbath day, will he not take hold on to it and draw it out?  But how much more is a man worth than a sheep!  Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath day."

His reasoning admitted of no reply; this the Pharisees saw clearly enough, and they closed their lips the tighter.  The Lord waited for their response; as His glance passed from one face to another He saw reflected there nothing but dumb rage, obstinate dislike, and bitter spite.  At the sight His heart swelled with deep indignation; he seemed to all the bystanders that in another moment He would surely overwhelm these hypocrites; but almost immediately He recovered His habitual tone of compassion, and, grieving for their blindness, He merely said to cripple,

"Stretch out your hand."

The man obeyed.  At the word of the Saviour life revived in the withered limb, and at once it was become whole like the other.

Thus, not content at having discomfited His enemies in argument before the whole synagogue, the Lord would also manifest His power before their eyes; without handling, even without touching, the cripple, without performing any external act, one single word had been sufficient to effect this prodigy.  Would they dare to say that one word, one single word spoken in kindness, was a violation of their Sabbath?

That they were so powerless against Him was a maddening thought for them; they went away from the place, beside themselves with rage, and took counsel together "as to what they might do to Jesus."

But nowhere else were the evil plottings destined to encounter so many obstacles as in Galilee; for the people of this Province, upon whom the Saviour had lavished every good gift, drawn two Him by His gracious doctrine, and much less imbued with the Pharisaical superstitions than were the Jews of Jerusalem, would not have permitted any assault upon their Prophet.  More than this, the Sanhedrin had only a limited authority in this land, for here it could not stir without the sanction of Herod.

It was necessary, then, in the first place, to come to an understanding with the ministers and partisans of that prince.  Hitherto the Pharisees of Jerusalem had displayed the most insulting scorn for for these courtiers, alluding to them as "Herodians," and "the Apostates," taunting them with having borne the Roman yoke quite willingly, and with imitating the manners of Gentiles, as well as the impiety of the Sadducees.  But with their hatred of the Christ they now brushed aside every one of their scruples, and the emissaries of the Sanhedrin only considered how they might lure their former enemies into these schemes of vengeance.

The Saviour seeing so formidable a storm brewing over Him, sought the other side of the lake, which is close by the territory of Philip, in order to evade His pursuers if they should become too relentless in their attacks.  The safeguards having been taken, He did not cease to receive kindly those who followed Him into this retreat, and to heal the sick; but He did not do so without caution, warning them not to make it known.  So He waited, before taking up His ministry again openly, until Herod’s changeable nature should be diverted to some other more absorbing subject.

The obscure existence which for prudence sake Jesus lead during this threatening period astonished and shocked the first converts among the Jews.  Doubtless they recoiled from the idea that the Messiah should be forced to hide Himself and to work in the darkness; for we find Saint Matthew reminding them that these humiliations had been long since set down in the oracles of Isaiah:

"Behold My Servant, whom I have chosen, My Beloved, in whom My Soul has been well pleased!  I will send Spirit to rest upon Him, and He shall publish My judgments unto the Nations.  He shall not be contentious, He shall not cry aloud, and no man shall hear His voice in the open streets; the bruised reed He shall not break, and the smoking flax He shall not quench until he triumphs in the strife."

Totus tuus ego sum 

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:
Ad Jesum per Mariam