Luke 6: 6 On another Sabbath day, a man with a deformed right hand was in the synagogue while Jesus was teaching. 7 The teachers of religious law and the Pharisees watched Jesus closely. If he healed the man’s hand, they planned to accuse him of working on the Sabbath. 8 But Jesus knew their thoughts. He said to the man with the deformed hand, “Come and stand in front of everyone.” So the man came forward. 9 Then Jesus said to his critics, “I have a question for you. Does the law permit good deeds on the Sabbath, or is it a day for doing evil? Is this a day to save life or to destroy it?”10 He looked around at them one by one and then said to the man, “Hold out your hand.” So the man held out his hand, and it was restored! 11 At this, the enemies of Jesus were wild with rage and began to discuss what to do with him.
As I wrote in my last blog, Jesus is Lord of All. In the verses above Jesus sees a man with a deformed hand in the synagogue and notices Him as He taught. The Pharisees saw the man also and then watched the healer to see if He would heal on the Sabbath. If Jesus healed the man they were going to pounce. Another point of reference here is found in verse 8. Jesus knew their thoughts. And Jesus also knows our thoughts. Did the Pharisees stop the healer from healing the man's hand? NO. Jesus went another way by having the man stand in front of everyone and THEN HE HEALED HIM. Who is going to intimidate the Son of God? No one. When Jesus sees a need He responds. Just like He responds to our needs when we need Him the most. Jesus will respond even when the religious crowds doubt He will. Jesus is Lord of All or not Lord at All, and you know the answer to that question. Their stronghold on their religious practices was causing the Pharisees to miss the miracle because of their hardened hearts. Once again Jesus is not only looking at the crowds but also the individuals, as we see in verse 10, He looked around at them one by one and then said to the man. Jesus saw the "individual hearts of each accuser and the individual need of the man with the deformed hand and He chose to heal the man and ignore the Pharisees.
Jesus knew the result of this healing the man on the Sabbath and He did it anyway! Why? Because He is Lord of All! Jesus is all about The Lord's Work because He is the Lord! When you have a need, take it to the Lord. When your heart is hurting, take it to the Lord. When our enemy satan is after you, say the name of Jesus and he will fight that battle for you. Why? Because He loves you and He knows your needs and He heats your hearts cry. Why follow a bunch of religious beliefs when you can have a one-on-one with the Son of God and know He not only hears but responds? I can boldly say "That's My Savior!"
When we do the Lord's work we are representing His love, His power, and His grace and people are watching to see if we really believe it or not. JUST BELIEVE!
The Pilgrimage Continues,
David Warren