He Noticed!

 

Matthew 12. Verses 1-14 tell a very interesting story about a discussion between Jesus and some Pharisees regarding the Sabbath.

It would appear that Jesus’ disciples were hungry, and were breaking off some heads of grain and eating them, when the Pharisees began criticizing their actions. “Look, Your disciples are breaking the law by harvesting the grain on the Sabbath”, they told Jesus in verse 2.

Jesus explains to them that David did that same thing when he and his men were hungry. He follows up in that rebuttal by saying this famous line, “If you knew the meaning of this scripture, ‘I want you to show mercy, not offer sacrifices’ (vs 7), which is a direct quote from Hosea 6:6.

But then Jesus follows up with something even greater than this.

Take a look at verse 9-10. It says this, “Then Jesus went over to their synagogue, where He noticed a man with a deformed hand. The Pharisees asked Jesus, ‘Does the law permit a person to work by healing on the Sabbath? (They were hoping he would say yes, so they could bring charges against Him.)”

And of course, if you know the rest of the story, He tells them yes, and then goes over to the man with the withered hand and says, “Hold out your hand.” (vs 13).

Jesus proceeds to heal the hand to complete and total restoration.

And of course in and of itself it’s a beautiful story.

Another miracle.

A work only Jesus could do.

But there’s something I want you to see if you didn’t already in the text.

Verse 10. “… he noticed a man with a deformed hand.”

Jesus NOTICED it.

This tells us something.

The man wasn’t complaining to Jesus.

The man wasn’t asking for healing.

The man might not have even remembered the deformity.

And nowhere in the text does it tell us that He requested a miracle.

But instead it says this - Jesus NOTICED it.

It wasn’t a huge deal.

It was a deformity.

It likely caused him zero pain.

And it would have been considered a minor affliction opposed to other ailments suffered by humankind.

But it was a deformity.

And it mattered to Jesus.

And isn’t it just like our Messiah to see what even we might’ve overlooked?

Or accepted?

He was noticed by Jesus.

His deficiency was well noted and recognized.

He was acknowledged.

Jesus sees details.

He perceives the seemingly insignificant.

It’s like I told a friend yesterday - He is always MOVED with compassion for His people. He is not only ABLE… He is WILLING.

And this is great news!

Sometimes He’s healing what you don’t even recognize as broken.

And that’s the awesome truth about the awesome God we serve!!!

He’s here.

He sees.

He knows.

He notices.

And He is healing… even that which you didn’t know needed healing!