jeremyphillips's blog

Prahbu Isu was a guru who was always making people think differently – turning things on their head and making people scratch their heads, or become enraged, or leave them open mouthed. Now one of the main ways that the Jews of that day defined their identity was in keeping the Sabbath, a day of doing no work, a day of rest. Keeping this Sabbath was part of what defined them as a people. It was their righteousness. Prabhu Isu wanted to shake this notion up so one Sabbath day, while teaching in a synagogue he saw a man with a shriveled right hand. There were Jewish religious leaders there wanting to see if he would heal on this day of rest. They considered healing on this day to be breaking God’s law, proving that Isu was a law-breaker, a false prophet. So they wanted to catch him in the act, as it were. Prabhu Isu knew what was going on, so this is what he did: he said to the man with the shriveled hand, “Get up and stand in front of everyone.” He did. Then Isuji asked the crowd, “What is legal on the Sabbath – to do good or to do evil, to save life or destroy it?” A bit hard to argue with that one…. Then looking at them all, he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He did it and his hand was completely healed. The issue here was not so much what you can or can’t do on the Sabbath. Isuji was talking about that righteousness and justice that is the foundation of God’s throne. It was not the petty quarrels over the fine points of the Law. It was a deeper righteousness that God was making the world RIGHT - one shriveled hand, one shriveled life at a time. He is righting the wrongs, the injustices, the pain and sorrow, and bringing justice, goodness, righteousness. This is what defines his rule over the world, the foundations of his throne. It is his heart. And the way he brings about his righteousness also turns the expected on his head. It is not through force or pressure, but through entering the pain, the injustice, the unrighteousness – by becoming shriveled himself on the cross.