The Man with the Withered Hand
Series: Gospel of the Kingdom
Speaker: Lead Pastor Dustin Aguilar
Scriptures: Matt 12:9-14
Power Evangelism
People get excited about power evangelism (which includes the supernatural like healing, prophecy, deliverance, etc.). It can be an incredible way to share the love of God, but the healing/miracle is not the point.
In Jesus’ ministry we see a lot of stories of miraculous healings, but it is often not the “main course” or main part of the story. So it is with today’s story…
Matt 12:9-10
The Pharisees were trying to trap Jesus on the Sabbath. (“Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”)
Jesus responds to their question about whether or not it is lawful to heal on the Sabbath with another question: “Which one of you who has a sheep, if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not take hold of it and lift it out?”
Jesus knew their opinion on this would be yes—it’s ok to rescue the sheep. But why did Jesus use SHEEP?
Jesus is making a point: they value the sheep of their flock more than the people they are shepherds of.
Jesus asks another question: “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good…?”
reveals the Pharisees don’t understand the heart of God.
Jesus gets ANGRY and grieved by their hardness of heart.
He asks a simple question to the “shepherds” of Israel about the people of Israel, and they are silent.
Many people have a hard time with “Angry Jesus” - but this was holy anger
The Pharisees were mere concerned about following the law than following the heart of God
Jesus gives the man (a “sheep”) an impossible command - stretch out your hand. And then heals him.
Why DID Jesus heal on the Sabbath?
1. Jesus heals the man because he cared for him.
2. Jesus healed on the Sabbath to demonstrate he is Lord of the Sabbath
3. Jesus will not share the throne with any other god — it was actually a mercy for him to come into the synagogue and come against the Pharisees’ idol of authority sitting in their hearts
Mark 3:6
The Pharisees went out and immediately help counsel with the Herodians against Jesus.
The Herodians were a political party, not a religious party.
The Pharisees knew the Herodians were not great, but they were fed up with Jesus.
They conspired with wicked people to do something wicked.
How Do We Overcome Darkness?
There is still darkness on the earth. There are real spiritual battles going on for the believer and unbeliever. (Eph 6)
We do struggle against the darkness on the earth, but the answer is the LIGHT! We do not need to become “experts” in darkness.
You don’t have to figure everything out if you think an attack is going on, just turn to the light — turn to Jesus.
And if someone is cursing you, bless them…do not curse them back. Do not conspire with evil. Submit to the light.
The answer to darkness is not becoming an expert in darkness; the answer to darkness is the light.