"Stretch out your hand." He did so and his hand was restored. (Luke 6:10)

This time, Jesus took the initiative to cure the man who had a withered hand. It was simply a direct challenge to the scribes and the Pharisees who have been watching Jesus closely. They hoped to make use of the opportunity and accuse Jesus for curing on Sabbath.

First, Jesus said to them, “I ask you, is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to destroy it?”

Jesus also added, “Which one of you who has a sheep that falls into a pit on the Sabbath will not take hold of it and lift it out? How much more valuable a person is than a sheep. So it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.” (Matthew 12:11-12)

Jesus is the master of Sabbath. The spirit of Sabbath is “living in love and peace”.

However with the closed hearts and souls, the scribes and Pharisees had come to a helpless stage. No wonder “they became enraged and discussed together what they might do to Jesus.”

Those who have lost their rationality were identified by Jesus as, “ones who sees but chose not to see, hear but chose not to hear”.

It is fearful when a person’s heart has turned hard like a stone.

Pray for Lord Jesus’ mercy on our sins of being stubbornness.