Withered But Not a Waste

Luke 6:6-11 tells a story of Jesus healing a man with a withered hand. 

I love this story for so many reasons.
One is that it was on the Sabbath Day.
While the Pharisees long believed no work could be done on a Sabbath Day, especially healing, Jesus steps onto the scene to rewrite the narrative.
In fact we see Jesus healing on all sorts of days, but the Sabbath’s themselves tend to be what Charles Spurgeon calls, “high days of grace.”
There are 6 special cases recorded in scripture that attest to this.  And one is this story - the story of the withered hand.

The organ withered here is hand.
A hand. 
The organ of touch. 
The one that brings us into a deeper and closer connection than any other organ we possess.
We can see with our eyes and hear with our ears… but there’s something more experiential about feeling.  It’s the proof that the matter actually exists.
This man’s hand was withered.  While he had all other faculties complete, he had lost his ability to deeply connect through the manner of touch.

And no coincidence… the hand that was withered was his right hand.  Notably the one that was likely the better and more serviceable between the two.  To a certain extent he was able to “feel”, but it was only with his weaker, and most likely his less perceptive one.

Another special note here is that the way in which the hand was affected.  Scripture tells us that it was “withered.”  It wasn’t “cut off” or “missing altogether”, rather it was still part of the man’s original design… however it remained lifeless.  Disease had ill-affected this once useful bodily organ and now it remained powerless beside him.

In what I believe to be a miraculous discovery about this story is that the nothing in our text tells us that this man was a renewed man, or even that he sought healing from the Healer.

Verse 6 explains simply that there was, “a man with a deformed right hand” who was present in the synagogue while Jesus was teaching.  And yet we see Jesus do something that not only displayed His great power, but also challenged the religious mindset of the Pharisees who’s belief in strict law superseded their relational connection to the One sent by the Father to redeem.

Jesus then invites the man with the withered hand to, “Come and stand in front of everyone” (verse 8).  Verse 10 tells us that, “He (Jesus) looked around at them (Pharisees) one by one then said to the man, ‘Hold our your hand.’”  So the man held out his hand and it was restored!

Jesus had a very unique reputation for placing human needs above Sabbath commands.  And He had a special ability to see human limitations and generate healing even when the recipient wasn't even fully aware of the need for restoration!
Jesus calls on the man to stand in front of everyone.  He didn’t shy away from controversy if it meant soul-revival.

And this wasn’t an emergency by any means.  This was a man with a withered hand.  A man with a fairly ordinary disfunction, and yet Jesus used it as a means of demonstrating His power and authority - even in those small, unrequested circumstances.

I would bet that this withered hand served as a constant reminder to the man of lack.  Inability.  Inadequacy.  I would bet it proved to be inconvenient and certainly was restrictive.
And Jesus, in His kindness, sees the need and offers a solution.

Ahh… the same way He sees our need and offers a solution.

Many of us, too, are lugging around with us a disability we are far too aware of.
A shameful burden.
A disgraceful hardship.

But hope is to be discovered for us too!
This story is proof that no one is disqualified for recovery.
Not even those who refuse to ask for help.
Not even those who belief their time for good works and serviceable duties have passed.

The hand was only withered… it was not wasted.
It was only withered because it had yet to receive its power from on high for the tasks it was originally purposed for.

God is the God of healing and restoration.  He is a miracle-working God who sees what is broken and stands ready, willing, and able to redeem, repair, reestablish, and revive!

Though the hand be withered - it is not a waste!