For a few days now, I have gone back to read and reread an account in the Gospel of Luke. Come with me …
On a particular Sabbath day, Jesus was found teaching in the synagogue, and present was a man whose right hand was withered.
The scribes and Pharisees kept close watch on Jesus to see for an accusation to lodge against Him. Jesus, being one step ahead of them and completely aware of their thoughts, asks the man to come forward.
Jesus addresses, not the man, but the scribes and Pharisees with this question:
“I ask you whether it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath or to do harm, to save a life or to destroy it?” (Luke 6:9, NASB)
Receiving no response, He then addresses the man, “Stretch out your hand!” The man does and the hand is fully restored.
Luke then gives us this bit of information:
“But they themselves were filled with senseless rage, and began discussing together what they might do to Jesus.” (verse 11, NASB)
The scribes and Pharisees were filled with such rage – at what? A healing? Or is it their lack of control over Jesus?
Scripture describes it as “senseless rage”. Exactly.Â
Senseless = nonsensical, nonsense, stupid, foolish, meaningless.
Their rage made no sense; it had no logic upon which to base their response.
They were filled with rage because they couldn’t put Jesus in a box. Not in a tomb either. And neither can we.
We cannot control how the Lord responds, what He does, or won’t do. But we can submit to Him, learn from Him, and obey Him.Â
The man with the withered hand was given a simple command, “Get up and come forward!” He did so in obedience and received his healing.
“Get up and come forward!”
When we humbly obey,
we too, can have our withered souls restored.
A farmer, and rancher, J.D. Winiger brings much wisdom from the lessons he observes each day. It’s been a most challenging season of drought this summer, and then came some rains. J.D. writes, “What I realized was how God was restoring my soul as much as He was the land.” You can read all he is learning from this time of drought in his post, The God Who Restores, HERE.
Come, sit a spell. Bring your coffee, your posts, and your thoughts. If you link up, kindly visit those who have drawn up a seat around you.
Photo by Patrick Schneider on Unsplash
Today I am joining …
Jesus offers perfect freedom through the irony of life as a slave. How wonderful that he modeled this in his own servanthood!
Obedience to Him brings His healing Presence into our spirit, soul, and body – bringing complete restoration.
Thank you Ms. Joanne. Always enjoy your insights and wisdom ma’am. Thank you for sharing with us, and for the kind mention. What a wonderful blessing.
Nicely done! I love the comment that we cannot put God into a box. He will do what He wants and He doesn’t need my approval. As Jesus said to Peter when they talked about Peters death and John’s fate “ Jesus answered, “If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You must follow me.” John 21:22.
All He asks is that we follow and obey.
God bless you!
Amen. I pray I will humbly obey. 🙂
Senseless rage. While that was directed at Jesus, it provides a good description of so much we see. Lord, help me to bow to You and not senselessly rage at the wrong.
How easy it is to want to control Jesus ourselves, maybe not outwardly, but sometimes through our expectations. If I just pray enough … well, look at all I’ve done for God … but I want to be better at accepting His will as His best for me.
Love this article and this: “ They were filled with rage because they couldn’t put Jesus in a box. Not in a tomb either. And neither can we.” True and powerful. Crazy that something good would cause such a stir. We should guard against this in present day culture!
Joanne, I love the reminder that simple obedience yields the best results! So often I want to control outcomes, dictating to Jesus how things should go!
I’ve always loved the fact that Jesus told the man to do exactly what he could not do–stretch out his hand. But when he obeyed–he could. That’s both a rebuke and an encouragement to me. Often I feel like I can’t do something God wants me to–and I can’t, in myself. But when He wants us to obey, He provides the enablement.
Barbara, I love and appreciate what you have shared. So very true – when He calls us to obey, He will also provide the ability to do so.
It seems I’ve been pondering obedience everywhere I look this week! May I obey His commands as quickly as the man with a withered hand did!
I so agree, Jerralea. We are not given any indication the man thought twice about what he was asked to do. No complaining, just quick obedience, which brought his healing. May we be quick to obey knowing when Jesus asks us to do something, it is for our good and benefit. Blessings, friend!
This is such a timely message. This verse comes to call in my head a lot. Thank you, for sharing JD’s article.
Thank you Joanne, a thought provoking post.
Blessings, Jennifer
Joanne,
I don’t know if you watch The Chosen or not,, but I love the scene in which Jesus invites the man with the withered hand to come forward to be healed. The man responds with two very common themes throughout the Bible — humility and obedience. Oh that we would respond to Jesus the way this man did (despite what the Pharisees think).
Blessings,
Bev xx
Bev, I have not seen any of The Chosen but now you have me curious 🙂 May we respond to Jesus with humility and obedience, no matter what those around us may think. His blessings be upon you, friend!
May we learn to rejoice when God brings healings and gives gifts to others, even when we think they are “undeserved.” God’s grace is a miracle for each of us!
That rage was their response shows where the religious leaders’ hearts really were, doesn’t it? It seems like there’s a lot of anger flying around today, and maybe this post helps us know how to survive it all … by obeying what Jesus is calling us to do. Hugs, Joanne.