10 He looked around at them all, and then said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He did so, and his hand was completely restored. 11 But they were furious and began to discuss with one another what they might do to Jesus.
There are good reasons to get angry, and then there are dumb reasons. This was a dumb reason. Jesus healed the man’s hand, returning him to society and productivity and the religious leaders get mad, furious in fact. You would think everyone would be happy if someone who had a crippled hand was suddenly made completely whole. I am sure those in the crowd who witnessed this miracle jumped up and down in excitement. I can picture the excitement passing through the crowd as neighbor tells neighbor, the ripple of noise and commotion reaching beyond those present. But some with a front row seat are silent. They simply begin to plot in their hearts and then with each other. Things are out of their control. Jesus does not want to fit their mold. He must be controlled. I hear the political spin doctors at work. They must figure out some way to discredit Jesus. Maybe some racy photos would do it, but He is squeaky clean. We could use Photoshop, but we forgot our camera. We can fake evidence against Him. Plant some people in the news conference to ask him the difficult and embarrassing questions. Then we will use sound bites to spin the story the way we want it spun. This all sounds like modern spin, doesn’t it! But this is exactly what they did, apart from the photos and fancy editing. The plotting that is beginning in these moments following this man’s healing is the seedbed of the crucifixion. It is just a matter of time until these seeds bear fruit and Jesus is killed unjustly, because He continues to do good things, miraculous things, things that bring glory to God. Can you imagine the feeling this man had as he began that action of faith? He starts to stretch out his hand and it continues to open far beyond its usual stretch. Instead of tightness, flexibility comes. He continues to stretch and it opens completely, fingers moving, opening and closing. He uses his other hand to touch and experience the restored limb. He probably claps and waves. And this miracle creates such anger in the religious leaders that they plot Jesus’ destruction. Do you ever get mad when God does unexpected things to those around you? Jealous? Rejoice with and for the other person. Don’t begin to plot.
The Arnold Journey 