08/05/2020 STRETCH AND EXTEND
Luke 6:10 On another Sabbath he went into the synagogue and was teaching, and a man was there whose right hand was shriveled. The Pharisee and the teachers of the law were looking for a reason to accuse JESUS, so they watched HIM closely to see if HE would heal on the Sabbath. But JESUS knew what they were thinking and said to the man with the shriveled hand, “Get up and stand in front of everyone.” So he got up and stood there. Then JESUS said to them, “I ask you, which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or destroy it?” HE looked around at them all, then said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He did so, and his hand was completely restored.
[New International Bible Translation]
Summary
In the Old Testament, there are a number of verses where GOD has commanded someone to stretch. In Exodus 7:19 GOD instructed Moses to tell Aaron: “Take your staff and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt…and they will turn to blood.” In Exodus 8:5, the LORD told Moses to tell Aaron to “Stretch out your hand with your staff over the streams and channels and ponds, and make frogs come upon the land of Egypt.” In Exodus 14:15, the LORD tells Moses to “Quit praying” and “get the people moving”---“Raise your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea to divide the water so that the Israelites can go through the sea on dry ground.”
In each of these situations, something miraculous occurred when Moses and Aaron obeyed GOD’s command to stretch.
In Luke 6:10 we have another situation where GOD wanted someone to stretch. The Pharisee and the teachers of the law were known for their rigidness and “set in their ways” attitudes and ways. GOD often referred to such people as “stiff-necked” “heart hardened” people. See, Exodus 32:9; Acts 7:51. They were so fixated on “what they wanted to do,” “themselves” or “their own ideas” that it often caused them to simply ignore, fail to even notice or see, or be concerned about the suffering of others. Even, when JESUS asked the one “who needed a hand” to stand up in front of everyone---so that no one could fail to miss seeing the man or fail to see the man’s situation or his humanity, no one made a move to help the man. Not a single person extended himself to think about the man’s situation. Even when the MASTER PREACHER/TEACHER reminded those around HIM of the WORD of GOD the need to do good, to save life, to not participate in the destruction of life, no one helped or had any compassion for the man. Their focus was on something entirely different.
They were too narrow-minded. They were too short-sighted. Their hearts were too hardened to care about the man or JESUS. Instead of extending themselves to JESUS and the man, they missed out. Only the man, who the religious leaders ignored, stretched out and was healed.