Jesus was angry over people's lack of sympathy for the man with the withered hand.

Wednesday, 1/21/15

Jerusalem in Our Lord’s time was ruled by its Jewish religious leaders, and they had the authority to sentence a man to death for his pretending to be equal to God, or for is failing to keep holy the Sabbath.

The small print those leaders added to the Ten Commandments made it a capital crime to practice healing on the Sabbath. With that in mind, it is quite possible that the man with the withered hand was a plant whom the Pharisees brought to the synagogue that Sabbath, knowing that with his kind heart Jesus would cure him.

Seeing how the Pharisees had no concern for the sadness in the man’s heart, Jesus became angry with them and with anyone lacking sympathy for the handicapped.

Let me tell you about a boy with a withered hand. Calvin couldn’t play any of our games, so, looking for friends; he learned a string of Country-Western songs, hoping we would like them. But back then, we all turned up our noses over what we called Hillbilly music. Anyway, with his hand like a flipper, nobody liked looking at him.

This brings up the whole matter of ways for you and me to deal with people who are too fat or too dumb, or very smelly. They are beloved children of God, and he wants us to be kind to them.

We could look for each one’s best feature, showing our admiration for it, or we could just extend a hand, asking, can I be your friend?