Jesus entered the synagogue again. There was a man there whose hand was withered.
Jesus entered the synagogue again. There was a man there whose hand was withered.
This verse leads us again into the synagogue, a place where the Jews gathered to hear and learn the law of God, and where a person ought to open his heart before the Lord. Yet it is precisely in that place that the true human need is revealed. The man whose hand was withered is also identified as an image of fallen humanity. The hand is usually the means by which a person works, serves, and earns a living. When it is withered, a person becomes restricted, unable, and in a sense crippled in his natural calling. In the same way, sin, in a spiritual sense, withers a person’s inner abilities, so that he can no longer serve God as he was created to do from the beginning. Mark speaks briefly here, but within that brevity there is great depth. Christ enters where there is both formal worship and real need. And as often happens in the Gospel, human sorrow becomes the place where the Lord’s mercy and authority are to be revealed.