Luke 6:6-11 6And it happened on another Sabbath when he entered the synagogue and was teaching. And a man was there and his right hand was withered. 7And the scribes and the Pharisees were watching him closely, whether he would heal on the Sabbath, so that they might find a reason to accuse him. 8But he knew their thoughts, and he said to the man having with the withered hand, “Come and stand in the middle.” And after rising he stood there. 9And Jesus said to them, “I ask you, is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy it?” 10And after looking around at all of them he said to him, “Stretch out your hand.” And he did, and his hand was restored. 11But they were filled with fury and discussed with one another what they might do to Jesus.
The problems with the Pharisees and scribes continued to mount with another controversy about what Jesus did on the Sabbath. Jesus’ weekly habit was to worship in a synagogue. If what he did in Nazareth is any indicator, he would read a passage of Scripture and teach about how the kingdom was the fulfillment of God’s plan of salvation. His message met the needs of people’s longings and planted the seed of hope in their hearts. The town where this episode took place is not mentioned. The issue centers on the day being the Sabbath. Luke points out that it was the man’s right hand that was withered, the most important for most people. A withered hand could have been caused by many things: neurological, brain damage such as from a stroke, or injury to the hand.
The Jews were looking for an opportunity to trap Jesus and were watching him closely. Word had gotten out about what his disciples did on the Sabbath and Jesus’ attitude about it. He was borderline breaking the Sabbath. By accusing him of breaking the Sabbath, the Pharisees and scribes could accuse Jesus before the people and discredit him. A person could even be stoned to death for breaking the Sabbath. The legalists were looking for minute legality by which to trap Jesus.
Jesus must have been in the front of the synagogue when he called the man to himself. Jesus wanted the gathered crowd to witness the miracle and learn an important lesson about the Sabbath. His question in verse 9 is never answered by anyone in the synagogue, possibly because the answer was obvious. Of course, it is always better to do good on any day of the week, especially the Sabbath. If a person needs help, not providing help is actually evil. Jesus was doing good by helping this man. The miracle could not be explained in any other way but through the power of Jesus. It was obvious to all that a miracle had taken place. Jesus demonstrated in a visible way that he was Lord of the Sabbath (verse 5).
The scribes and Pharisees were blinded to the good the situation. All they saw was that Jesus had broken their interpretation of what could and could not be done on the Sabbath. Their narrow interpretation of the law of the Sabbath limited doing anything to help others if it could in any way be considered “work.” What bothered them was the idea of “doing” good. They were letting their pre-conceived ideas about piety and holiness cloud their vision to the power of mercy and grace. The Sabbath is important, but like all other laws, it falls under the greater law of loving those in need.
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