Jesus enters a synagogue (presumably in Capernaum – cf. 2:1) on the Sabbath. In the synagogue we see two very different groups – we find a man with a withered right hand (Luke 6:6) & we find a group of Pharisees. The man has a physical handicap that only affects one hand; the Pharisees have a spiritual handicap that infects their whole body. These religious leaders were watching Jesus to see if he would heal so that they would have a reason to accuse him. They set Jesus up. Would he “work” & heal this man on the Sabbath or would he let this man continue to live with his deformed hand?
Jesus’ reputation & influence grows as he teaches with authority, engages the lost & outcast & heals the sick & broken. The Pharisees feel their grip over the people being loosened and rather than submit to this man they are going to go down swinging. They see Jesus as a law-breaker & a usurper of their power over the people.
Jesus, knowing the intentions of their hearts (Luke 6:8) asks a rhetorical question that cuts through the impurity & wickedness of the Pharisees hearts. “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or kill?” These religious leaders, who seem to have an answer for everything, stood silent…unable or unwilling to respond. The hardness of their hearts preventing their mouths from speaking. Jesus “looked around at them with anger, grieved at the hardness of heart.” And with that simple statement we find the only explicit reference to Jesus’ anger recorded in the gospels.
Unwillingness from those entrusted to lead the Jewish people to God to help a fellow man – based on a misguided understanding of the Law & a wicked heart angered the Son of God. But his response was not anger alone…his anger was mixed with grief over the state of their hearts. His desire was that they would really come to know & understand the God they claimed to worship. They were lost & on a path leading to eternal self destruction and that grieved the heart of God who desires that all men be saved (Luke 19:10, 1 Timothy 2:1-4). Being angry I get. Being angry makes sense here. Being grieved over the state of their heart reveals to me that I still have a long way to go in my becoming like Jesus.
And so, in his anger & in his grief Jesus utters four words to the man with the deformity – “stretch out your hand.” And so without lifting a finger, without breaking a sweat, without doing anything that could be construed as work – Jesus heals this man. His actions condemn the Pharisees as the heart of God is make clear – “Not to do good, when it is in the power of our hand to do it, is to do evil; not to save life, when we can, is to kill” (Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary). The man, who everyone could see was broken, walks away healed. The Pharisees, who everyone thought were righteous walk away condemned.
