Call Him Prince Of Peace Series

But then they get another opportunity, there is a man with a withered hand. Most people would see this as a problem, and the fact that Jesus could heal him as a blessing, it’s all good. Except for the Pharisee’s they see it as a chance to hurt people. You know I almost feel sorry for them as a whole. I don’t think they got into the ministry to be mean petty little people, but over the years that’s what they became. They were so obsessed with the rules, they missed God when He was right in front of them. People ask why doesn’t God do miracles anymore, I would argue that He does but people miss them, because as people we have always had the ability to miss God. Look at this, they are in the presence of a man who claims to be God. Who claims to be the Messiah, He fills all of the job requirements, even better as a homeless Rabbi He’s obviously not in it for the money. They have with them a man who can only be healed by an act of God. You would think that if Jesus can do it they will turn and follow Him, that they will have all the proof they’ve ever needed, but they are not after proof, they are after blood. Look at why verse 10 tells us they asked Jesus about healing the man it says, “That they might accuse him.” Jesus first has to deal with his enemies.

Basically Jesus knows it’s a trap, but it’s not the guy with the withered hands, fault so He heals the man and takes the opportunity to point out the hypocrisy of the Pharisee’s along the way. Notice, even though He is the Prince of Peace, Jesus lived an authentic life. He didn’t back down the Pharisee when it was appropriate. The result of this deed is that the Pharisees are furious, if you read verse 14 they go from wanting to accuse Him to wanting to ruin Him. In fact the NIV translates it as kill Him. Jesus could have stayed but realize, one it wasn’t the time for Him to die, that wasn’t God’s plan and second there was no reason to stay other than to antagonize the Pharisees. Now fun as that may be, that is not appropriate, there is a difference between standing for a principle and just being a bully, Jesus isn’t a bully so He leaves.

But then He is faced with the demands of those who would call Him friend. Verse 15 tells us “He withdrew from there. And great multitudes followed Him, and He healed them all.” Understand the point here, it is not that Jesus minds this. God desires to have a relationship with us, and to spend time with us. This is seen in the fact that here is Jesus, yes He is 100% God but He is 100% man. He has just been rejected by the people who are supposed to serve Him the religious people, not just rejected they wanted to kill Him. That is a bad day, you know when He withdrew being a human He probably just wanted to be alone, but His followers came with Him and it wasn’t just a few, it was great multitudes. Lots of people followed Him, and a lot of them needed healed, and notice He took the time to heal them all.