THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE WITHERED HAND

I was reading Mark 3:1-6 where the liberal Herodians and the conservative religious “God Squad” devise a plot to trap Jesus with ultimate hopes to kill him. This alliance was like putting Jennifer Aniston and Angelina Jolie together or Ulysses Grant and Robert E. Lee together. The only thing that could bring the religious leaders and the Herodians together was a ferocious hatred of Jesus.

The setting is the synagogue on a Sabbath. Rabbi Jesus is teaching, and the diabolical leaders are salivating because they have planted a guy with a withered hand in the front row. When Jesus heals him, the packed house will yell, “Gotcha!” The whole ordeal angers and deeply distresses Jesus. It’s hard for Jesus to stomach so-called men of God who don’t give a rip about hurting people. Jesus does not let these shenanigans keep him from one huge grace-giving act.

Incredibly, Jesus asks the man with the withered hand to stand up in front of everyone and stretch out his hand. Huh? The guy was probably super self-conscious and was living with shame. Why make the man’s weakness so public? This was the worst day of the man’s life until it wasn’t. The hinge of the story is the man’s exposed weakness, which, when healed, becomes the epic account we are still talking about.

Can you see yourself in the story? Don’t think of yourself as Jesus. You and I are the guy with the withered hand! We have weaknesses, brokenness, junk, secrets, shame, and vulnerabilities. The choice is to keep things HIDDEN or bring them to Jesus to be HEALED. We must say, “I Can’t. He Can. I Surrender.”

We are not meant to live in our own power. In fact, God has rigged the universe. It only runs on Him. If we keep all our shame, failure, and weakness to ourselves, we cannot be healed. Stretch out your hand. You were made to be known, to be loved, and to be touched by Jesus. He says, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.” (2 Cor. 12:9-10)

Enter into the Fellowship of the Withered Hand.

Chaplain Michael Sprague