Then Jesus said to them,
"I ask you, is it lawful to do good on the sabbath
rather than to do evil,
to save life rather than to destroy it?"
Jesus called out the scribes and Pharisees who were themselves doing work that was less noble than that of Jesus on the sabbath. The work of Jesus was always good rather than evil, saving life rather than destroying it. He did not come to condemn the world but rather that the world might be saved through him (see John 3:17). But the opponents of Jesus sought do evil, to destroy Jesus, who was himself goodness in person. They showed their character as children of the devil, a liar, and a murderer from the first (see John 8:44). They did not rest from this persecution of Jesus even on the sabbath. By contrast, Jesus came that all might have life, and have it in abundance (see John 10:10). There was no better day than the sabbath for this gift of life and abundance to overflow from Jesus to those in need. Those deprived of the fullness of life would finally be able to enter into the rest of God by coming into contact with Jesus himself. It was not a deviation from strict sabbath protocols. It was a restoration of what the sabbath was meant to be.
Looking around at them all, he then said to him,
"Stretch out your hand."
He did so and his hand was restored.
When Israel was split into northern and southern kingdoms the king of the north, Jeroboam, told the people to forget Jerusalem, pointing toward the altar of a rival sanctuary he had arbitrarily established. But in so doing his hand withered and remained in that state until a prophet of God prayed that he would be healed (see First Kings 13:4-6). He experienced what the psalmist meant when he wrote, "If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand wither!" (see Psalm 137:5). When Jesus healed the hand of the man in the synagogue, it was not implied that the man had done anything wrong. But his healing was still a prophetic sign that the restoration of Israel was beginning.¹
But they became enraged
and discussed together what they might do to Jesus.
The opponents of Jesus weren't interested in seeing Israel restored. They didn't care about the afflictions of those around them. Neither did they care about the true purpose of the sabbath. They were so focused on their own work, which for them had become synonymous with destroying the ministry and even the life of Jesus himself, that they could think of nothing else.
It was actually an even deeper restoration that Jesus was inaugurating than only that of the tribes of Israel. It went back further, affecting all humanity, including us. As the Bede the Venerable said, "The man represents the human race, withered by the unfruitfulness of good works, because of the hand in our first parent stretched forth to take the apple, which was healed by the innocent hand stretched forth on the cross". Just as we have been complicit in the sin of Adam so now let us receive the healing Jesus desires to give. Our right hand loses its skill, its ability to achieve for us a fulfilled human life, whenever we sin. But Jesus is always ready and waiting to restore our life once more.
1) Gadenz, Pablo T.. The Gospel of Luke (Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture): (A Catholic Bible Commentary on the New Testament by Trusted Catholic Biblical Scholars - CCSS) (p. 124). Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.
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