RBWords

     What happens when principle clashes with need, or law seems to be frustrated by fact?  On one level we are confronted by the man with a withered hand!  Those who were crippled or disabled suffered from more than the inconvenience of the disability.  They were prohibited from certain religious duties!  His need for "wholeness" is clear.  On another level we are confronted with the sacredness of the sabbath - a sacredness that our own culture seems to have lost to a great degree!  The Pharisees took a very strict position about "work" on the sabbath.  Healing was "work."  Jesus confronts them with their "hardness of heart" which puts them in the position that by plotting to kill him, they are doing evil on the sabbath while trying to prevent him from doing good!  

     The drama of this encounter involves not just the particular situation of healing, but also the growing tension between Jesus and his opponents. What is really at stake here?  Is it the sacredness of the sabbath?  Or is it the extremism of the Pharisees in defending that sacredness?  Or is it a question of power?  Whose law is being defended or broken here?  The irony of it is that Jesus is "Lord of the sabbath!"  The Pharisees can see only a violation of the law.  But they are guilty of evil thoughts against Jesus!  Eventually, this opposition will erupt in violence, the inevitable result of extremism of all kinds.  There is much to ponder in this one encounter!  AMEN