The miracles of Jesus - Classical Christian Literature by Athleo.net

240 THE WITHERED HAND
question, " Is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath
day or to do evil, to save life or to kill " And when
they held their peace He said to the man with the
withered hand, " Stretch out thine hand," and he
stretched it out and it was restored whole as the
other. By this miracle Christ taught that not only
what was necessary but what was merciful may be
done on the Sabbath. In short, that the Sabbath
was made for man, and man was not made to observe
the Sabbath.
We, as disciples of Christ, are therefore called
liberty, but we must not use it
unto
as an occasion for the
flesh, but by love serve one another. We are not to
spend the day in self-indulgence and pleasure, nor in
doing the kind of work of which the week is already
too full, but we are to use it thankfully and freely for
the inspiration of ourselves and the blessing of others,
and must wisely and bravely defend the integrity and
sanctity of the day against all
that would destroy it.
II.
The Suggestiveuess of the Miracle.
The kindness of our Lord on this occasion was an
example for us, and the Church is following it more
nobly now than ever.
There was no kind of pain or
sorrow that Jesus would not willingly relieve
;
cases
which no one else could cure He healed. People
who had never had a kindly word, lepers and out-