Object Lessons of Jesus – Disabled Man

Object Lessons of Jesus – Disabled Man. 

“Jesus went into the synagogue again and noticed a man with a deformed hand. Since it was the Sabbath, Jesus’ enemies watched Him closely. If He healed the man’s hand, they planned to accuse Him of working on the Sabbath. Jesus said to the man with the deformed hand, ‘Come and stand in front of everyone.’ Then he turned to his critics and asked, ‘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?’ But they wouldn’t answer Him. He looked around at them angrily and was deeply saddened by their hard hearts. Then He said to the man, ‘Hold out your hand.’ So the man held out his hand, and it was restored! At once the Pharisees went away and met with the supporters of Herod to plot how to kill Jesus.” (Mark 3:1-6).

HUMAN OBJECT: A disabled man with a paralyzed hand.

LESSON: Jesus thought the time was right to teach the Pharisees a lesson about the Sabbath. He had just finished trying to explain to them an important principle: “The Sabbath was made for mankind, and not mankind for the sabbath. The Sabbath was actually made to serve us; we weren’t made to serve the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.”  (Mark 2:28). And now was the time to put that principle into practice. He decided to use a disabled man as the living object that would teach the lesson to the religious leaders. Jesus wanted to teach the lesson in such a way that would help someone in need as well as instruct the skeptics something important about the Sabbath. According to Jewish tradition, one could not practice medicine on the Sabbath unless it was a matter of life and death. Otherwise, the doctor’s help would be considered work, which was forbidden on the Sabbath. In the synagogue, Jesus saw a disabled man living with a paralyzed hand. The hand was useless, and kept the man from making a living and supporting his family. So He brought the man to the front of the crowd where everyone could see Him. And now, Jesus thought, let the lesson begin. Jesus anticipated what the leaders were thinking, and asked them, Is it okay to do a good deed on the Sabbath, or would you prefer that I do something evil? Should I be helping people or leaving them helpless? Jesus then taught them that the answers to these questions are, Yes, it is okay to do good on the Sabbath, and yes, Jesus is right to perform a healing on the Sabbath. In other words, Jesus said, Make no mistake, I am in charge of the Sabbath, not you. Jesus healed the man right there in the middle of the synagogue, and Jesus became quite angry for the leaders’ hard-heartedness. Jesus hoped that they learned their lesson, but as it turned out, they didn’t. They left the synagogue seething with anger against Jesus, and they began plotting as to how they could kill Him.