On a certain sabbath Jesus went into the synagogue and taught, and there was a man there whose right hand was withered. The scribes and the Pharisees watched him closely to see if he would cure on the Sabbath so that they might discover a reason to accuse him. But he realized their intentions and said to the man with the withered hand, “Come up and stand before us.” And he rose and stood there. 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?” Looking around at them all, he then said to him, “Stretch out your hand.” He did so and his hand was restored. But they became enraged and discussed together what they might do to Jesus.
+ + + + + + +
Reflection:
What is the Sabbath day? It is a sacred day for the Jews, it’s their day for the Lord. We can compare the Sabbath day to our observance of Sunday our own day of rest and day for the Lord also.
The question that arose from the minds of the scribes and Pharisees was this: Would Jesus cure on a Sabbath day? Which was prohibited by their Jewish religion? When Jesus cured the hand of the man with a withered hand it did not mean that He was disrespecting the Sabbath day.
Jesus simply saw an opportunity to show His infinite compassion and love for the sick man. Thus Jesus healed the man with a withered hand even if it was prohibited by their religion. Jesus is showing us that if we want our faith to be effective we have to humbly show compassion and love too!
Jesus attracts people for the simple reason that He is always ever ready to show His compassion and love to anyone who seeks it. His love and compassion does not choose what time or day. He would always be there for so long as there’s someone in need of His help. – Marino J. Dasmarinas
No comments:
Post a Comment