Again he entered the synagogue, and a man was there who had a withered hand. They watched him to see whether he would cure him on the sabbath, so that they might accuse him. And he said to the man who had the withered hand, “Come forward.” Then he said to them, “Is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the sabbath, to save life or to kill?” But they were silent. He looked around at them with anger; he was grieved at their hardness of heart and said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was restored. The Pharisees went out and immediately conspired with the Herodians against him, how to destroy him.
So far, actions that could incriminate Jesus have either been inconclusive or carried out in private. He has healed Simon’s mother-in-law – but in her home, away from the crowds. He has cast out demons on the sabbath – but a command or teaching on the sabbath was deemed perfectly lawful. He has healed the sick, but there was certainly no law against that as such. When the disciples pluck and eat grain on the sabbath, Jesus sanctions the action, but only in a close-quarters conversation with a small number of Pharisees.
Here, though, the atmosphere is different. It’s the sabbath, and in the synagogue is a man with a withered hand. Jesus is being watched, closely, and the suggestion seems to be that a trap is being laid. At best the Pharisees are trying to catch him out, to ‘accuse him’; at worst they are using the disabled man as a kind of lure or test, an instrument for their own deception.
What is striking is that Jesus walks boldly into the trap. He speaks with authority: ‘come forward’. This is more literally rendered ‘come into the middle’, such that Jesus wishes to invite the man into the most visible place in the synagogue, allowing for as many witnesses as possible. He then addresses the Pharisees directly, claiming – rightly – that healing the man, as an act of rescue, is indeed lawful on the sabbath.
The Pharisees can only respond with silence – a sure sign that they cannot entertain even a dialogue, and that their hearts are indeed hard, ‘like stone’.
The public nature of this episode culminates in the healing, where the man’s hand, in the very motion of being stretched out or revealed from under his garments, is miraculously healed. For the Pharisees, this healing is the sanction they have been looking for to plot against and destroy Jesus. The public evidence – flimsy as it is – has been secured. Now they can get on with the important work of condemning him.
The Pharisees accomplish their task successfully. But we should note where the victory remains. Jesus meets the accusations and strategies of his opponents head-on. He is never foolhardy, but carries a manner full of truth, authority and righteousness. It is appropriate, then, that this episode should trigger events leading to Jesus’ death, because it is only with Jesus’ face set towards Calvary that the eventual and ultimate victory can be secured.