You see, when I chose to sin, I choose to turn away from God.
I recently read the story of Christ’s healing of the man with the withered hand and I have been thinking about it ever since…
“Again He entered the synagogue, and a man was there who had a withered hand. And they watched Him, to see whether He would heal him on the sabbath, so that they might accuse Him. And He said to the man who had the withered hand, ‘Come here.’ And He said to them, ‘Is it lawful on the sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to kill?’ But they were silent. And He looked around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, and said to the man, ‘Stretch out your hand.’ He stretched it out, and his hand was restored. The Pharisees went out, and immediately held counsel with the Herodians against him, how to destroy Him.” (Mark 3:1-6).
There was Christ, standing in the midst of the congregation. He would have been listening to the prayers and the readings. He would have been praying to God the Father and God the Holy Spirit – which is really just another way of saying that He was speaking with perfect love to the other Persons of the Most Blessed Trinity.
And as He was absorbed in that perfect LOVE, He looked and saw a man in need. Now, the man did not ask for anything. He was just attending the prayers. Maybe in his heart that day he was praying with despair. Maybe in his heart that day He was saying to himself, “God there is no hope. I have no avenue to turn.”
And I imagine this because that man lived twenty centuries ago and lived with a disability that prevented him from physical labour. And in a world without disability benefits or social welfare of any kind, that disability would have afflicted the entirety of that man’s life. Because he could not work, he could not marry (unless the disability was caused by an injury after marriage). He could not feed himself with the money that he earned. He could not be accepted into the mainstream society. His disability excluded him from the world. And you can see that in the reaction of the Pharisees. When Christ asked them whether they should do good, the Pharisees did not speak. They had no compassion for the man – they thought only of themselves and their rules. They assumed that the man was injured because he had dishonoured God and was punished for that… Perhaps that man experienced no compassion in his life – except from Christ Himself.
And I have been reflecting on that today, because that man’s isolation from his society through his disability is like my isolation from God through sin…
You see, when I chose to sin, I choose to turn away from God. And in turning away from Him I isolate myself from His mercy and Goodness – not because He is not with me, but because I refuse to turn to Him.
And I have been wondering today, who else was praying for that man that day in the synagogue. For there must have been someone there who saw that man and prayed for his healing. After all, God heard that prayer and broke every rule of man and nature to heal him. Because God is infinite mercy and compassion, and God does what needs to be done for the Good…
For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.