Wednesday, 1/22/13
For me this Gospel
story of the man born with a withered hand always brings up the memory of a boy
named Calvin who lived on the next street to me when we were nine or ten. His birth had left Calvin with
something like a flipper instead of a right hand. Not up to the ball games that
occupied us, Calvin gave himself over to country music. Back before country-western
became a big thing, hillbilly music didn’t get any respect, and we all
snickered at Calvin’s twangy singing.
Even as
unsophisticated kids we had some sympathy for the life Calvin had before him.
So, if we knew about this Gospel we would have been in sympathy with Our Lord’s
pain at the sight of the man wit a withered hand.
In all likelihood
the man was a plant. The Pharisees, being aware of Our Lord’s kind heart,
pushed the man before Jesus to get him to break the rule against curing on the
Sabbath.
This was one time
when Jesus became really angry. What brought it about was people who let their fixed notions blind
them to the truth that was staring them in the face. The man with the withered
hand had a heavenly father who could not have wanted anything more than the
man’s happiness.
The story should
make us stand back from the conflicts we are engrossed in, asking God to let us
see the truth that is staring at us.
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