Bible Study Luke 6:6-11

[clark thompson]

Luke 6:6-11 King James Version (KJV)
6 And it came to pass also on another Sabbath, that he entered into the synagogue and taught: and there was a man whose right hand was withered.
7 And the scribes and Pharisees watched him, whether he would heal on the sabbath day; that they might find an accusation against him.
8 But he knew their thoughts, and said to the man which had the withered hand, Rise up, and stand forth in the midst. And he arose and stood forth.
9 Then said Jesus unto them, I will ask you one thing; Is it lawful on the sabbath days to do good, or to do evil? to save life, or to destroy it?
10 And looking round about upon them all, he said unto the man, Stretch forth thy hand. And he did so: and his hand was restored whole as the other.
11 And they were filled with madness; and communed one with another what they might do to Jesus.

Luke 6:6-11 Revised Standard Version (RSV)
The Man with a Withered Hand

6 On another sabbath, when he entered the synagogue and taught, a man was there whose right hand was withered.7 And the scribes and the Pharisees watched him, to see whether he would heal on the sabbath, so that they might find an accusation against him. 8 But he knew their thoughts, and he said to the man who had the withered hand, “Come and stand here.” And he rose and stood there. 9 And Jesus said to them, “I ask you, is it lawful on the sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to destroy it?” 10 And he looked around on them all, and said to him, “Stretch out your hand.” And he did so, and his hand was restored. 11 But they were filled with fury and discussed with one another what they might do to Jesus.

Revised Standard Version (RSV) Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright © 1946, 1952, and 1971 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

These are my thoughts, please share yours.

6 The Sabbath was just a day they met and went thru scriptures they were not really anything else that could be done. The man’s hand was not able to be used Jesus at this point had done greater miracles then healing a hand, Jesus was in church at the time of church so we as Christians are to go to church as He set the example.

7 They watch Him to see if He would heal they know they can not catch Him in some fleshly sin but just breaking their traditions. Healing itself was not seen even by them as bad their laws were so messed up that doing something good like healing this man could not be done on the Sabbath, we should not let our traditions keep us from doing good.

8 Even though Jesus knew they were watching and had a problem with what He was about to do He would do what was right anyway, when the world stands against us we still should do right.

9 Doing good was the purpose of the Sabbath to take time out of work to give glory to God; they missed that with their traditions.

10 So Jesus healed on the Sabbath, this not Him working but being used to do God’s work this was the purpose of it, it was not like they were fishing to make income of the day of rest but He was serving the Lord which is the purpose of a day of worship, God designed the Sabbath as a day of worship and a day of rest from work, never designed as a day of rest from working for the Lord.

11 They were angered because He did something other then keep their traditions, do we not at times keep angry with God because He we does things different then think He should, we are to trust Him in His way instead.

 

[AirDancer]

These verses always spoke to me of the fact there will be challenging moments in my life, where peer/societal pressure will be saying to do one thing, yet my heart/love for our Lord will tell me to do something else - something that is in step with our Lord's Word.

 

[smaller]

There is always a spiritual principle in play wherever Jesus walked, talked and did the things He did.

Aside from other interesting matters shown about the Sabbath (life or destruction), the condition of the man, his right hand (spiritually significant), how it is this seeming coincidence happened, of a man in this condition with a withered right hand just happened to be there, etc, there is most importantly, this:

Mark 4:
15 And these are they by the way side, where the word is sown; but when they have heard, Satan cometh immediately, and taketh away the word that was sown in their hearts.

And this reality is shown here:

Luke 6:
11 And they were filled with madness; and communed one with another what they might do to Jesus.

The "sowing" of the Law in Israel made them not only external captives to Roman occupation, (this was an external showing of the collective internal condition of the people of Israel.) They, the religious leaders were actually filled with madness and death, more precisely, indwelling sin and evil present, which is of the devil. Romans 7:17-21, 1 John 3:8.

Few understand or see this principle, but it is exceptionally REAL, anywhere the Word is sown, even to this day.

If any reader ever wonders why Jesus confronted and spewed out His Vengeance toward the religious leaders, wonder no more. He was directly attacking their internal captor, always, in those types of confrontations, revealing, exposing, and condemning:

John 8:
44 Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

And sadly, even for myself, I read all of the above for a long time, and never made the connection of why these religious people were so vile, until I saw my own sin in the flesh, predominantly in internal lusts/attacks/blindness to Word understandings, LIKEWISE connected to the reality of Mark 4:15.

Not everything that went on in the scriptures is apparent on the surface. Jesus did deal with the evil impetus in people's hearts, not only in the Gospels, but also in the O.T. And even at the end of Jesus Words to the churches in Rev. 2-3, He was still resisting the works of the devil in the churches.

Believers see it or they don't. And if not, then this is a spiritual principle that is in play:

Matthew 13:14
And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive:

This prophecy is from Isaiah 6 (among many other citings in the O.T.) And it is a dire prophecy.

10 Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed.
11 Then said I, Lord, how long? And he answered, Until the cities be wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land be utterly desolate,
12 And the Lord have removed men far away, and there be a great forsaking in the midst of the land.

In the midst is another often deployed term in the scriptures, and it speaks to an internal matter of the heart, the presence of indwelling sin, evil, where people sit, blinded by the god of this world. Acts 26:10, 2 Cor. 4:4, Eph. 2:2.

Revelation 3:17
Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:

To see, in Jesus' Eyes, is to come to Him, wretched, miserable, poor, blind and naked. Just as the POOR MAN with the WITHERED RIGHT HAND came to Him in the temple. Where did Jesus call that man from? This person came, when called out:

8 But he knew their thoughts, and said to the man which had the withered hand, Rise up, and stand forth in the midst. And he arose and stood forth.

Jesus didn't cast out devils from religious people. He hardened that wicked one in their heart, just as He still does today. Filled with madness and death. Examine your thoughts. Jesus knows them before they are thought because He knows what is "in man."

 

[Sinthesis]

Two other versions of this episode:

Mar 3:1 ¶ And he entered again into the synagogue; and there was a man there which had a withered hand.
Mar 3:2 - And they watched him, whether he would heal him on the sabbath day; that they might accuse him.
Mar 3:3 - And he saith unto the man which had the withered hand, Stand forth.
Mar 3:4 - And he saith unto them, Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath days, or to do evil? to save life, or to kill? But they held their peace.
Mar 3:5 - And when he had looked round about on them with anger, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts, he saith unto the man, Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it out: and his hand was restored whole as the other.
Mar 3:6 - And the Pharisees went forth, and straightway took counsel with the Herodians against him, how they might destroy him.

Mat 12:9 ¶ And when he was departed thence, he went into their synagogue:
Mat 12:10 - And, behold, there was a man which had his hand withered. And they asked him, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath days? that they might accuse him.
Mat 12:11 - And he said unto them, What man shall there be among you, that shall have one sheep, and if it fall into a pit on the sabbath day, will he not lay hold on it, and lift it out?
Mat 12:12 - How much then is a man better than a sheep? Wherefore it is lawful to do well on the sabbath days.
Mat 12:13 - Then saith he to the man, Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it forth; and it was restored whole, like as the other.
Mat 12:14 - Then the Pharisees went out, and held a council against him, how they might destroy him.​

It is interesting that Luke specifies that it was the right hand that was healed. In biblical symbolism, the right side does the work of God and the left side does otherwise. Here Jesus presents His audience a living parable whereby a 'man of the synagogue' symbolically can't do the work of God because of a withered right hand. Through a simple question about the law, Jesus exposes the justification for the countinuation of this infirmity as uninspired legalism. In effect Jesus tells the synagogue's scribes and Pharisees that they can't do God's work because of their hypocritical legal malpractice. Further, to be healed so that one can do the will of God, one need only listen to Jesus and follow His instructions. Naturally this lesson challenged the prevailing Jewish authorities of the time.