Matthew 12: 9-14 withered hand on Sabbath
Again Jesus
breaks the rules and works on the Sabbath – this time it is not simply gleaning
some fields for wheat to eat but heals a man’s hand! Sabbath, the 7th day of the week
is the day of rest. This is when God
took a rest during creation and it is very important to the Hebrew faith. One does nothing, no work, on the
Sabbath. The religious leaders are
pointing this out to Jesus and again Jesus breaks the rule.
This time
however, Jesus throws back at them an interesting thought: if a farmer had an
animal which fell into a pit would they not get them? And further rebukes that a human’s life is
worth more. Jesus does not seem himself
as breaking a rule.
Jesus is
elevating us to think different and for the religious leaders to think
different. They clearly do not like this
new way of thinking and at the end of this passage we are left knowing that the
plot to kill Jesus has begun.
Sometimes on
our faith journey we are met with new things and new ideas. Many of these seem counter to what we have
been taught or believe and so we act like the religious leaders here – plotting
to get rid of the new. Yet God came not
as a meek or mild-manner person but instead as Jesus. God has used people over and over throughout
the Bible to show us that the rebels are often the ones following the
Divine. Think about when you have judge
someone’s decisions, especially if it was quick or rash.
