Healing the Withered

Healing the Withered – The scripture for today is from Mark 3, a scene in which Jesus is being watched to see whether he will, on the sabbath, cure a man with a withered hand. He does, of course, heal the man. This man with the withered hand has likely been overlooked. A withered hand is easy to hide or overlook, and it may be that he wasn’t noticed. This healing story is often overlooked, too, because of all of the other significant and miraculous healings Jesus performs. In this gospel this story is buried in the midst of controversy between the Pharisees and Jesus. Jesus could have waited until the Sabbath was over to heal the man, but Jesus does not ignore this man. We, too, may have aspects of our lives that are withered and hidden. Even if the man is hiding the withered aspect of the man’s life, Jesus notices, beckons, and heals the man. Our vulnerabilities are difficult to reveal by opening ourselves in the church, but this is where we are healed.