Matthew 12:9-16

The Man With The Withered Hand (12:9-16).

Having described the rejection of Himself and John by the general people, the rejection of His Messianic signs by the local towns, and the hostility of the Pharisees, the story of the man with the withered hand fits in aptly. It is a reminder of the condition of Israel. They too are like a man with a withered hand.

Once again the idea of ‘it is not lawful' enters in. The yoke of the Law is once more stressed, and the One Who eases that yoke (Matthew 11:30) is described. And once again He is at loggerheads with the Pharisees, who are this time so infuriated that they go away in order to plot how they can get rid of Him. In a sense they are the unhealed withered hand of Israel. But central to the account is that Jesus has come to lift men out of the pit and restore them (compare Matthew 9:12). And He will do it for the man with the withered hand, and indeed for all whose lives are withered.

Analysis.

a And he departed from there and went into their synagogue (Matthew 12:9).

b And behold, a man having a withered hand. And they asked him, saying, “Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath day?” so that they might accuse him' (Matthew 12:10).

c And he said to them, “What man will there be of you, who will have one sheep, and if this fall into a pit on the sabbath day, will not lay hold on it, and lift it out?” (Matthew 12:11).

d “How much then is a man of more value than a sheep!” (Matthew 12:12 a).

c “For which reason it is lawful to do good on the sabbath day” (Matthew 12:12 b).

b Then he says to the man, “Stretch forth your hand.” And he stretched it forth, and it was restored whole, as the other (Matthew 12:13).

a But the Pharisees went out, and took counsel against him, how they might destroy him (Matthew 12:14).

Note how in ‘a' Jesus went into the synagogue in order to heal, and in the parallel the Pharisees went out of the synagogue in order to destroy. In ‘b' they asked, ‘is it lawful to heal', and in the parallel Jesus healed. In ‘c' He provides His illustration of why it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath, and in the parallel He states that it is so. Centrally in ‘d' is the declaration of man's value to God.