Luke then carries us to another sabbath (whether forward or backward in time we cannot say).  As was His custom, Christ was in the synagogue, and He was teaching.  In the congregation that day was a man whose right hand was withered and useless.  He must have stood out in the crowd, because the scribes and Pharisees were keenly aware of Him, and watching carefully to see whether Jesus would heal him.  It shows us much about the state of the hearts of these men, that instead of hopefully anticipating that an afflicted Israelite might be healed, they were instead lying in wait and looking for an opportunity to accuse Jesus.

The thought of their heart was, of course, no surprise to Christ, Who knows all men, and needs not that any should testify of man.  He was utterly unafraid of their hatred and opposition, nor what they thought of Him.  The claims of mercy meant more to Him than the rage of His implacable enemies.  He called to the man with the withered hand to stand.  Then, turning His attention to the scribes and Pharisees, He demanded of them whether it was lawful on the sabbath day to do evil or good; to save life, or to destroy. 

It was an excellently formed question, and one which they could not possibly answer without embarrassing themselves.  The sabbath was meant to be a benefit to mankind, not a burden upon which no good of any kind could be done.  Christ looked upon them with eyes which must have pierced to the very heart, and then said to the man, “Stretch forth thine hand.”  The word of power restored strength to that which was formerly withered and useless, making it as good and strong as the other. 

Such a miracle ought to have caused great rejoicing among those present, who should have been delighted to see such divine favor bestowed upon a fellow Israelite.  Perhaps there were those there who did rejoice.  But our Lord’s enemies were so wretchedly hard in heart that it only increased their rage.  Already they disliked Jesus and were plotting ways to stop Him.  Now, they were so filled with madness that they began to plot among themselves what they might do to dispose of Him.  Such is the hardness of the human heart, that when it has formed an implacable hatred against that which is good, no amount of virtue or kindness will dissuade them from it.  Indeed, the more good our Lord did, the more hatred did it stir up amongst His bitter enemies.