Matthew 12:13

Otherwise; The man who had the withered hand denotes the human race in its barrenness of good works dried up by the hand which was stretched out to the fruit; (Gen. 3:6.) this was healed by the stretching out of the innocent hand on the Cross. And well is this withered hand said to have been in the Synagogue, for where the gift of knowledge is greater, there is the greater danger of an irrecoverable infliction. The withered hand when it is to be healed is first bid to be stretched out, because the weakness of a barren mind is healed by no means better than by liberality of almsgiving. A man's right hand is affected when he is remiss in giving alms, his left whole when he is attentive to his own interests. But when the Lord comes, the right hand is restored whole as the left, because what he had got together greedily, that he distributes freely.

Many, even now, have withered hands, that is, they are merciless and tightfisted. But when the word of the Gospel resounds within them, they stretch out their hands in giving. They do this even though the Pharisees, that is, the proud demons who are cut …

If we suppose here is a transposition of the 7th and 8th verses, then the 8th verse is a proof of the 6th. It is lawful to do good on the Sabbath day - To save a beast, much more a man.

This, as other cures Christ wrought, had a spiritual significancy. (1.) By nature our hands are withered, we are utterly unable of ourselves to doing any thing that is good. (2.) It is Christ only, by the power of his grace, that cures us; he heals the withered hand by putting life into the dead soul, works in us both to will and to do.

Then saith he to the man,....

Stretch forth thine hand - The bare command of God is a sufficient reason of obedience. This man might have reasoned thus: “Lord, my hand is withered; how then can I stretch it out? Make it whole first, and afterwards I will do as thou commandest.” This may appear reasonable, but in his case it would have been foolishness. At the command of the Lord he made the effort, and in making it the cure was effected! Faith disregards apparent impossibilities, where there is a command and promise of God.

The one great subject which stands out prominently in this passage of Scripture is the Sabbath day. It is a subject on which strange opinions prevailed among the Jews in our Lord’s time. The Pharisees had added to the teaching of Scripture about it, and overlaid the true character of the day with the traditions of men. It is a subject on which diverse opinions have often been held in the churches of Christ, and wide differences exist among men at the present time. Let us see what we may learn about it from our Lord’s teaching in these verses.

And he stretched it forth--the power to obey going forth with the word of command. and it was restored whole, like as the other--The poor man, having faith in this wonderful Healer--which no doubt the whole scene would singularly help to strengthen--disregarded the proud and venomous Pharisees, and thus gloriously put them to shame.

NOTE well the expression. Jesus "went into their synagogue and, behold, there was a man which had his hand withered." A mark is set, as it were, in the margin, as if it were a notable fact. That word, "behold" is a sort of note of exclamation to draw attention to it. "Behold, there was a man which had his hand withered." In many congregations, if there should step in one of the great and mighty of the land, people would say, "Behold, there was a duke, an earl, or a bishop there."

The one great subject which stands out prominently in this passage of Scripture is the Sabbath day. It is a subject on which strange opinions prevailed among the Jews in our Lord’s time. The Pharisees had added to the teaching of Scripture about it, and overlaid the true character of the day with the traditions of men. It is a subject on which diverse opinions have often been held in the churches of Christ, and wide differences exist among men at the present time. Let us see what we may learn about it from our Lord’s teaching in these verses. Let us learn in the first place, from this passage that our Lord Jesus Christ does not do away with the observance of a weekly Sabbath day, he neither does so here nor elsewhere in the four Gospels. We often find his opinion expressed about Jewish errors on the subject of the Sabbath; but we do not find a word to teach us that his disciples were not to keep a Sabbath at all. It is of much importance to observe this. The mistakes that have arisen from a superficial consideration of our Lord’s sayings on the Sabbath question are neither few nor small; thousands have rushed to the hasty conclusion that Christians have nothing to do with the fourth commandment, and that it is no more binding on us than the Mosaic law about sacrifices. There is nothing in the New Testament to justify any such conclusion. The plain truth is that our Lord did not abolish the law of the weekly Sabbath: he only freed it from incorrect interpretations, and purified it from man made additions. He did not tear out of the decalogue the fourth commandment: he only stripped off the miserable traditions with which the Pharisees had incrusted the day, and by which they had made it not a blessing but a burden. He left the fourth commandment where he found it, a part of the eternal law of God, of which no jot or tittle , was ever to pass away.

NOTE well the expression. Jesus "went into their synagogue and, behold, there was a man which had his hand withered." A mark is set, as it were, in the margin, as if it were a notable fact. That word, "behold" is a sort of note of exclamation to draw attention to it. "Behold, there was a man which had his hand withered." In many congregations, if there should step in one of the great and mighty of the land, people would say, "Behold, there was a duke, an earl, or a bishop there." And although there were, occasionally, some great ones in our Savior's congregation, I find no notes of admiration about their presence, no, "beholds," inserted by the Evangelists as if to call attention to their appearance. No doubt if there were, in a congregation, some person of known intelligence and great learning who had earned a high degree, there are persons who would say, "Did you know that Professor Science or Doctor Classic was present at the service?" There would be a, "behold," put to that in the memories of many! There were persons well learned, according to the learning of the day, who came to listen to Christ, but there are no "beholds," about their having been present. Yet in the synagogue there was a poor man whose hand had been withered and we are called upon to note the fact! It was his right hand which was withered, the worse of the two for him, for he could scarcely follow his handicraft or earn his bread. His best hand was useless! His breadwinner failed him. I have no doubt he was a very humble, obscure, insignificant individual. He was probably in great poverty because he could not work as his fellow craftsmen could. And he was probably not a man of any rank, or learning, or special intelligence. His being in the assembly was, in itself, nothing very remarkable. I suppose he had been accustomed to go to the synagogue as others of his townsmen did.