Healing and Restoration

I read from the Gospel of Mark today in my early morning devotions.

Mark 3:1-6 NIV
[1] Another time he went into the synagogue, and a man with a shriveled hand was there. [2] Some of them were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they watched him closely to see if he would heal him on the Sabbath. [3] Jesus said to the man with the shriveled hand, "Stand up in front of everyone." [4] Then Jesus asked them, "Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?" But they remained silent. [5] He looked around at them in anger and, deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts, said to the man, "Stretch out your hand." He stretched it out, and his hand was completely restored. [6] Then the Pharisees went out and began to plot with the Herodians how they might kill Jesus.

This man had a hand that was deformed. It was withered and twisted. The Gospel of Luke tells us that it was his right hand. It probably hang uselessly at his side. Perhaps it was an embarrassment to him and he kept it hidden in the folds of his garment. It may even have kept him from working in gainful employment. Tradition says that this man had been a mason or brick layer. He onced earned his living with his hands. Now he begs for bread. That hand kept him from writing, playing, and doing many things he desired. The shriveled hand was a blemish in his life. It had a crippling effect on him. There are many today in the same state physically, paralyzed and deformed. He is also symbolical of many today who are paralyzed by anger, bitterness, unforgiveness, and sin.

Can you imagine the scene? Jesus calls out to the cripple man who sits among many others. He commands the man: "Stand up in front of everyone." I can imagine the look of bewilderment and surprise on that man's face. I can sense his fear as he struggled within himself to face the reality of his need before friends and strangers that surrounded him. He had to make a decision: Was Jesus going going to do something for him or not?

Faith in Jesus Christ is the first step in the process of restoration and healing. "Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." (Hebrews 11:1) "Without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him." (Hebrews 11:6)

The next thing Jesus said to the man was "stretch out your hand." What a shocking thing to say to man with a parlyzed and deformed hand. There is no way that hand could be stretched out. The hand had not been used for years. He had become accustomed to hiding his condition for far too long. He had learned to navigate through life with his deformity. Now he was being told to reveal and acknowledge his crippling condition.

The second step in our process of restoration and healing is found in obedience. The longer this man gazed into the face of the Son of God, the more compassion and kindness he felt. He realized that Jesus would never ask anything from him that would not be beneficial for him. With his good hand, he grasped his shriveled hand and began to pull it from the folds of his garment where it had been hidden. As he lifted his hand higher and higher, he became aware of a strange sensation. His fingers began to straighten. He could hear and feel his bones cracking and his muscles and tendons stretching. He dropped his good hand and looked at his once withered hand. He was healed. His crippled hand had been restored to perfect condition.

What crisis do you face? Stand up! Stretch out your hand! Be saved, Be restored, Be healed, all in the name of Jesus Christ!