Luke 6:6-11

The Man With The Withered Hand (6:6-11).

This final incident in this cycle of stories contrasts the rigidity of the Pharisees with the compassion of Jesus. The one were concerned with the minutiae of the Law, the Other with the heart of God. In it He again reveals that He is Lord of the Sabbath.

But it also reveals a deeper message, and that is that He has come to restore what is withered. The word used for ‘withered' (Greek ‘xeros' - Hebrew equivalent ‘yabash') is the same as that used in LXX of the ‘dry' bones in Ezekiel 37:2; Ezekiel 37:4. There the Spirit of the Lord would blow on them to give them life. God's question was, will these dry bones live, and the answer was that they would in response to the proclamation of the word (‘prophesy') when the Spirit came upon them. The same word is also used of the eunuch who says, ‘I am a dry tree' (Isaiah 56:3), and in Ezekiel 17:24 God says, ‘I the Lord make the dry tree to flourish'. It is regularly used in the Old Testament of ‘dry trees' (compare also Luke 23:31).

Thus in view of the context of the previous incidents which have all contained Old Testament motifs we are justified in seeing this man's withered hand which will be made whole as a picture of the dry (withered) trees which will flourish and become fruitful (compare Luke 3:8; Luke 6:43; Luke 13:6) and the dry (withered) bones of Israel which will be given life through the Spirit by the word of the prophet. As Jesus says here, ‘Is it lawful on the Sabbath day to do good (be like a fruitful tree which is no longer withered but produces fruit) or to do harm (be as a withered tree which produces no fruit), to save life (to make a restored bone that is no longer withered) or to kill (to make like a dry bone that is withered). It thus finalises this section with a picture of Jesus as at work in the restoration of what is dried out and withered (He prophesies to the dried arm and it lives), and leads on into the picture of the establishing of the new Israel. In contrast are the Pharisees who prove indeed to be dry trees.

Also in this narrative the Pharisees are seen as out to trap Jesus. Their opposition to Him has been growing and it has now reached a climax. There is a man there with a withered hand and they are deliberately watching to see what Jesus will do on the Sabbath day. By this they are laid bare. Here is a man in real need, and they know what Jesus will do. He will have compassion on the man and will heal him. Their very watching Him is a testimony to His goodness, and to the fact that they realise that He is good. And once He has revealed His goodness they will jump on Him and accuse Him of breaking God's Law. And yet they claim to serve the One Who declared, ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself'. Consider what this tells us about them and their religion. But Jesus confuted them, not by diminishing the Sabbath, but by exalting it as of great benefit to mankind.

The incident may be analysed as follows:

a On another sabbath, He entered into the synagogue and taught, and there was a man there, and his right hand was withered (Luke 6:6).

b The scribes and the Pharisees watched him, whether he would heal on the sabbath, so that they might find how to accuse him (Luke 6:7).

c He knew their thoughts, and he said to the man who had his hand withered, “Rise up, and stand forth among us.” And he arose and stood forth (Luke 6:8).

d Jesus said to them, “I ask you, Is it lawful on the sabbath to do good, or to do harm? To save a life, or to destroy it?” (Luke 6:9).

c He looked round about on them all, and said to him, “Stretch forth your hand” (Luke 6:10 a)

b And he did so, and his hand was restored (Luke 6:10 b).

a They were filled with mad fury, and discussed together one with another what they might do to Jesus (Luke 6:11).

Note that in ‘a' we see the man whose arm is withered, and in the parallel we see the men whose minds are withered. In ‘b' Jesus is watched to see if He will heal on the Sabbath and in the parallel the healing takes place. In ‘c' Jesus tells the man to stand forth, and in the parallel He tells him to put forth his hand. Central in ‘d' comes the crunch question as to what is lawful to do when faced with a choice of doing good or harm, saving life or destroying it.