Reach Out Your Hand

Reach Out Your Hand

Matthew 12:9-13 9And going on from there, He went into their synagogue.  10And behold, a man was there with one withered hand. And they said to Him, Is it lawful or allowable to cure people on the Sabbath days?–that they might accuse Him.  11But He said to them, What man is there among you, if he has only one sheep and it falls into a pit or ditch on the Sabbath, will not take hold of it and lift it out?   12How much better and of more value is a man than a sheep! So it is lawful and allowable to do good on the Sabbath days.   13Then He said to the man, Reach out your hand. And the man reached it out and it was restored, as sound as the other one.
One of the greatest things about Jesus is that He is never concerned with what things look like in the natural. He sees things from a supernatural level and operates accordingly. Think of this man, standing in the temple with a withered hand. Have you ever seen anyone with a withered hand? I have. All twisted and bent, unable to move it or straighten it out. Jesus walks up to the man and says “reach out your hand.” Stop right there. How could Jesus ask this man to do something he was physically incapable of doing? Notice He didn’t say, “Stretch out your hand, I’m going to heal it.” Or “Be made whole and give me your hand.” No! He simply said “reach out your hand.” He didn’t care about the physical impossibility. He wasn’t concerned that the man had no feeling in his hand and couldn’t even move it, let alone reach out to Him. He knew that the healing power in Him would be able to work with the man’s faith and if that man would just obey he would be made whole. 

The man also had a responsibility. He had to give Jesus what He had. Can you imagine the thoughts that must have been running around in his head? “What does He mean, stretch out my hand?” “Doesn’t He know I’m crippled and my hand won’t move?”  However, his belief that Jesus was able to heal him overrode anything he might have been thinking. With faith that Jesus was a miracle worker, the man stretched out his hand and was completely restored! There is such a valuable lesson to be learned here. Sometimes we just have to give Him what we have. No matter how little or insignificant or impossible it may be, when we reach out to Jesus, He will bring us to a place of restoration and healing. Maybe you have a wounded heart, bruised and battered by negative words spoken to you and negative actions taken against you over the years. Reach out to Him and trust that He can heal you and you will be made whole. Maybe you have a broken relationship. Give it to Him and purpose that you are going to do things His way and watch restoration come.  Maybe you are in need of a physical healing. Move what you couldn’t move before, believing that healing power is in your body working a healing and a cure. Remember that Jesus isn’t concerned with what it looks like, so we shouldn’t be either. The man with the withered hand had nothing to lose and everything to gain and so do we. Reach out and be restored by His healing power.