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There was a man there who had a withered hand.
They watched Jesus closely
to see if he would cure him on the sabbath
so that they might accuse him.
They were already on the watch for an excuse to condemn Jesus. Although it was the sabbath they were beginning a plot to destroy life, that of Jesus specifically, rather than save it. When Jesus did what they suspected he would do and cured the man they only went further down the path which they had intended from the beginning, as "[t]he Pharisees went out and immediately took counsel with the Herodians against him to put him to death".
Jesus said to the man, "Stretch out your hand."
He stretched it out and his hand was restored.
Jesus, by contrast, was always about the business of doing good and saving life. Even his enemies recognized this about him, realizing that he wouldn't be able to resist the sight of the man with the withered hand. No doubt he saw something of all humanity in this man. Adam had stretched out a wicked hand to seize that which was not rightfully his and ever since the power of humanity to achieve the end for which it was intended was withered. In some way it was a fitting punishment for the abuse of the divine gift. But that did not mean it did not grieve God's heart to leave us in such a state. Even if it was a necessary corrective for a time he always had plans to fully restore us. Jesus could not help but have sympathy for the way crippled individual.
"Come up here before us."
Then he said to the Pharisees,
"Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath rather than to do evil,
to save life rather than to destroy it?"
In performing the healing in the sight of everyone Jesus was again about the business of salvation, not only for the crippled man, but for the Pharisees and the Herodians as well. Somewhere in their hearts they realized that the man with a withered hand was worthy of compassion, because they sensed they could use precisely that to trap Jesus. But they themselves hardened their hearts in order to avoid that response in themselves, preferring instead to use the man as a means to their desired end. Jesus was calling them out, asking them to recognize how they were working evil on the sabbath, hoping that they might recognize their own hardness of heart and repent. He need not have been so public in performing the healing in the sight of all and speaking about it to them. He knew that to do so risked provoking them further, as in fact it did. But he was genuinely angry at the injustice on display, and put that anger to the good use of motivating his work of saving the man, and of courageously hoping to even convict those who opposed him and convert them.
David answered him:
"You come against me with sword and spear and scimitar,
but I come against you in the name of the LORD of hosts,
the God of the armies of Israel that you have insulted.
It often takes courage to fulfill the will of God in our lives. But like David we are meant to find this courage in the Lord rather than in ourselves. Then we will not shrink from the battlefield of our lives. Because our lives are indeed a battle. Paul reminds us that, "we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places" (see Ephesians 6:12).
Our spiritual warfare does not require any less courage for being spiritual. We are tempted to deprioritize it, to opt out, and attend to other seemingly more pressing obligations. But if we learn from the courageous example of David we will learn that no matter how great our opponents appear, the Lord is greater. Jesus himself will reveal the motivations of heart that are precious to him, and inspire us to manifest the courage necessary to pursue them, even using righteous anger when necessary, just as he did.
Blessed be the LORD, my rock,
who trains my hands for battle, my fingers for war.
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