We remind ourselves that this series of messages are based on Act 11:21“And the hand of the Lord was with them: and a great number believed, and turned unto the Lord.” (KJV)
The Lord’s hand is a powerful hand, a hand that helps, a hand that exalts us, and His hand is at work in all areas of our lives. However, as we studied in detail in the previous chapter, only when our hands are willing to do all that is required of us to do, can the Lord’s hand intervene to do His part on our behalf, and eventually bless the work of our hands. Each one of us have certain responsibilities entrusted to us that the Lord expects us to fulfil, in order for His blessings to be bestowed on us.
People who sought after God….
1. The man with a withered hand
In Mark 3:1, we read, “Jesus went into a synagogue again. A man who had a paralyzed hand was there.” (GW)
When Jesus lived here on earth, not only did He teach, but often He modelled what He taught, and thereby set an example that others could follow. If we think of it, Jesus was probably the only one who had no need to go to church. However, an important part he modelled to his followers, was His regular attendance and participation at the local synagogue. The word ‘again’ in the above mentioned verse, clearly meant that Jesus used to visit the synagogue frequently. It was at one such visit to the synagogue, that Jesus met a man with a paralyzed or withered hand.
We can also recall another incidence where Jesus modelled humility and servant leadership to His disciples, when he put a towel around his waist, took a basin of water and stooped down to wash all of their feet. No words could have demonstrated more powerfully Jesus’ lesson on being humble, and a servant leader to His disciples. It was an unforgettable practical lesson deeply etched in the minds of His disciples that holds good for all of us even today.
That day when Jesus went to the synagogue, there was present a man with a withered hand. If we could for a brief moment put ourselves in his situation, we would probably understand that he must have come in and sat there with a heavy heart, and a deep sense of helplessness and embarrassment. He was unable to do things with his hand that everyone else could with ease, and therefore would not have been able to mingle freely with others because of his malady. In spite of his limitations that could have kept him away from the synagogue, he decided to be there, and not let his infirmity be a hindrance to being in a place of worship and fellowship.
Often we make many excuses to not be in church, and in fellowship with other believers. It’s good to remind ourselves that church is not a place of social gathering, but one where we come together to seek God, worship Him, desire to be in fellowship with other believers in order to be strengthened in our faith, and thereby bless one another. Our motive to come to church should not be just to be on the receiving end, rather to look for ways whereby we can give of ourselves to the Lord, and be a blessing to others.
If the man with a withered hand chose not to be at the synagogue, he had every reason to do so, and no one could have blamed him for that. He had enough reasons to justify himself to not be in fellowship with other people. However, there must have been something that motivated him to overlook his infirmity, and be present at the synagogue. He must have realized the fact that if he used his physical infirmity as an excuse to stay away from the synagogue, it would result in him becoming weak spiritually, and that this would pose a far greater problem than his physical weakness.
In Matthew 18:20, we read, “For where two or three come together in my name, I am there with them." (GNB).
Every time we gather together as a church, we must remember that the Lord is there in our midst. The Lord’s promise is that even if there are only two or three people gathered together in His name, He will certainly be present there among them. When we come to meet the Lord with the rightful expectation and motive, we will surely go out a transformed people. Whenever we come to church we do so with the eager expectation that the Lord who is among us knows our hearts, is aware of all our needs, is ready and willing to bless us, revive us, strengthen us and send us out with His divine presence and blessings. We should never allow our physical weakness to hinder us from attending church for when we do so, we are weakening the spiritual part of us, which requires to be strengthened regularly. Only as our spirit and soul grow in the Lord, will our physical body also receive wholeness and well-being.
We read in 3 John 1:2, “Beloved, I pray that in all respects you may prosper and be in good health, just as your soul prospers.” (NASV)
Our soul prospers only as we hear the word of God continually, and as we spend time in the presence of the Lord.
2. Noah
In Psalm 53:2, we read, “God looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, that did seek after God.” (RV)
God is looking down from heaven, and searching for those who are truly seeking after Him. In the days of Noah, while all the people were doing whatever was right in their own eyes, and living wicked lives, we read that ‘Noah walked with God’ because of which the Lord chose to save Noah and his family. As Noah and his family walked in obedience to the Lord, the Lord sought after them, and saved them from the floods and destruction.
3. Jacob
We also read about Jacob, whose heart’s desire was to receive the blessings of God in his life. Though Jacob was the younger of the twin boys and was not entitled to any of the blessings that were rightly due only to his elder brother Esau, he sincerely longed for the blessings of Esau to be his. However, in order to obtain it he cheated both his brother and father, and received the blessings, but as a result of his deception he also had to face the consequence of being cheated many times later on in his life.
We must desire the blessings of God, but we should not defraud anyone to obtain them for if we do, we too will have to face similar consequences like Jacob did. God’s word is straightforward, that whatever a man sows that is what he will also reap.
As a result of his cheating and deception Jacob was forced to leave home and run for his life in order to escape his brother’s raging anger. He reached a point in his journey, when he had to stop and take a break because the sun had already set.
And here’s what Jacob did in Genesis 28:11, “At sunset he stopped for the night and went to sleep, resting his head on a large rock.” (CEV)
In Genesis 28:13, we see, “The LORD was standing beside the ladder and said: I am the LORD God who was worshiped by Abraham and Isaac. I will give to you and your family the land on which you are now sleeping.” (CEV)
As Jacob laid himself to rest with a stone as his pillow, he saw in a dream the most amazing sight of the angels of God ascending and descending on a ladder, and Lord Himself standing above them. Though Jacob did wrong and deceived his brother and father, deep down in his heart he sincerely sought after God and His blessings. In his darkest hour of loneliness and distress, the Lord sought after Jacob to comfort and bless him with the promise that the very place where he laid down as a stranger, would one day belong to him and his descendants.
Some of us may be in a place where we are not sure of the next step like Jacob. Everything is dark and gloomy around us. If we can look to the Lord, He will lighten up our path and guide us in the way forward. No matter how bad or grim a situation we may be in, if we are willing to seek God, and commit everything to Him, He will intervene and do the miraculous, way beyond our thinking and imagination.
4. Samson
I think no one could have been in a worse situation than the one Samson was in. Samson was a judge chosen by God, endowed with God’s Spirit and a man with tremendous strength. He was a mighty warrior. However, Samson lost it all because of several wrong choices he made in his life. At the end of his life as a prisoner of the Philistines, he became an object of contempt and scorn. At this point he lost his strength, his eyes, his anointing, and the power of God’s Spirit that rested on him mightily. Samson was in a most deplorable condition. In was in such a moment of total desperation that Samson cried out to the Lord.
In Judges 16:28, we read, “Then Samson prayed, "Sovereign LORD, please remember me; please, God, give me my strength just this one time more, so that with this one blow I can get even with the Philistines for putting out my two eyes." (GNB)
Samson who was caught in this most pathetic and desperate situation, called out to the Lord and pleaded with Him to have mercy on him for one last time. The purpose God chose Samson as a judge of Israel, was mainly to subdue the Philistines who caused Israel great harm. On that last day of Samson’s life, with that one prayer, was fulfilled all of God’s purposes in a mighty way. God answered Samson’s prayer, and he brought down the entire temple killing more Philistines that day than he had ever done in his entire life.
The story of Samson gives us a warning that we ought to be cautious about the choices we make, especially with regard to our friendships. However, Samson’s life also is an encouragement to us that even if we have made wrong choices, and have deliberately gone down a wrong path, and walked away from the Lord, we can still repent and call on the Lord, and He is willing to mediate and deliver us. Maybe some of us have even given up praying because we feel our situation has gone way beyond our control, and we feel so let down. The Lord can change any situation, and can honour us in that very place where we stood disgraced. We should never be discouraged, because the word of the Lord promises us that, though the righteous fall many times, the Lord will always raise him up. We just need to call on the Lord, and believe that He is able to deliver us from every predicament.
5. The thief on the cross
In Luke 23:42 we read, Then he said to Jesus, "Lord, remember me when You come in Your kingdom“." (EMTV)
There was a man, convicted as a thief, who was crucified on a cross adjacent to where Jesus was crucified. He too like Jesus was in the last moments of his life. He realized that he was hung on that cross for the wrongs he had done, but he also had the revelation that Jesus hung there next to him, as the sinless Son of God, bearing the sins of the whole world on Himself. He must have been a man of tremendous faith that at that crucial hour, he not only perceived who Jesus was, but was willing to put his trust in Jesus. By doing so, he became a partaker of the salvation that Jesus offered to him, right on the cross and so close to death.
This clearly reminds us that our situation no matter how hopeless it may seem, is never beyond God’s intervention and deliverance.
On the other side of Jesus was another man who was also a criminal, hung on a cross. Here’s what he said, Luke 23:39, “Then one of the evildoers who were hanged blasphemed Him, saying, "If You are the Christ, save Yourself and us." (EMTV)
Though he was in a similar predicament as the man on the other cross, his attitude to Jesus was one of contempt and disbelief. The sole reason this man called out to Jesus, was the selfish motive that Jesus should save him from his painful situation.
There are always these two categories of people we will come across. Those who believe and those who don’t. There are many examples of this in the Bible; Cain and Abel, Esau and Jacob, Ishmael and Isaac and the two men hung on either side of Jesus, one who had a heart of belief and the other one of disdain and unbelief.
Sadly, at the foot of the cross where Jesus hung, amidst all the pain and agony, we encounter these two groups of people.
The second group of people are those who seek God only for their own personal gain. To some people God is like an ATM (Automatic Teller Machine). They only go to God for their time of need and once it is met, they forget about Him, and will go back to Him only when another situation arises. The only thought on the minds of such people is never about ‘how can I be a blessing for the Lord’ rather ‘how can I use God to meet my needs’. Some treat God like they would a doctor. They run to him in times of sickness and once they recover, they find no need for Him. The next time they go to Him, is when they have another bout of sickness.
If we were to introspect ourselves to see which category we belong to, here’s a good indicator. In our personal prayer time, if we spend most of our time talking to God only about our personal needs and blessings we desire, then we can be certain that we are probably in the second category. Instead, we should ask the Lord to change our hearts so we desire Him for who He really is, and to give us hearts that are truly burdened about the things that are on the Lord’s heart.
In ancient Tamil literature, we read of poets who came seeking after Kings, and the exclusive purpose was that as they presented their songs to the Kings, they did so with the expectation to receive something from them. However, when the Magi who came seeking after Jesus the King of Jews, they came with the only intention to worship Jesus, and give Him their gifts. As they sought the Lord for the right reason, the Lord granted them protection from Herod without them having to ask Him for it. Like the Magi, we too must seek the Lord only with the true intent to worship Him, and present ourselves as offerings for His glory.
The man with a withered hand received healing - Jesus’ reaction to the second group
As we look back on the man with a withered hand who came to the synagogue, there was another group of people who were also present that day.
We read in Mark 3:2, “Some people were there who wanted to accuse Jesus of doing wrong; so they watched him closely to see whether he would cure the man on the Sabbath.”
We also read in Mark 3:5, “And looking around at them with anger, grieved at the hardness of their hearts, He said to the man, "Stretch out your hand." And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored.” (LEB)
As the man with the withered hand came to the synagogue seeking after God, there was a group of people who were also in the synagogue with the singular purpose of finding fault with Jesus. Isn’t it ironical that created men stood in the presence of the creator with the purpose of finding fault with Him? As Jesus looked at this group, He was filled with anger and grief when He perceived the hardness of their heart. Probably, the man with the withered hand was insignificant to others, but the Lord did not miss him or his condition. Jesus spoke healing and restored his hand to perfection and wholeness, and everyone there was totally amazed. Those who probably avoided him or looked down on him earlier would have come close to touch him, and feel the hand that was perfectly healed and restored by Jesus.
It is important for us to remind ourselves, that we too should come to church and seek God for only the right purposes. When the Lord looks at us He must be pleased with us, and not be grieved at us. We may be in an impossible situation like the man with the withered hand, but the Lord will honor us, if we sincerely seek Him with all our heart. We will go out with healing, strength, wholeness and blessing from the Lord.
There are two groups of people in the church, one who are sincerely seeking after God and the other who are there just to find fault. Let us choose to be in the group of people who come only to worship the Lord giving Him all the glory due to His name, and seeking nothing for ourselves but that we be a blessing to others.
Rev. F. Andrew Dixon
www.goodnewsfriends.net
Transcribed by: Sis. Esther Collins
