Luke 6:6-11
Our reflection today comes from the enlightening text of Luke 6, and it has to do with the captivating incident of the man with the withered hand. As I taught from this text in our recent Bible Study I was further challenged, blessed, and inspired. So often we read a text and still fail to see key thoughts and ideas situated in the text until we read it repeatedly. Often as we read again, we are constrained to say like the learned apostle Paul “O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out!” (Romans 11:33). There is so much more that meets the eye in every text.
Here in this text, we are introduced to this man, who for whatever reason is constrained to live with the tragedy of no longer having the vital use of his right hand. What a tragedy indeed! In fact, extraordinarily little is known about him from the passage apart from this salient fact. He is severely limited and hampered. Life really takes a bad turn for him. The reader cannot help but have great empathy for him. He is portrayed as a victim of the most regrettable of circumstances.
However, there are some other things that we quickly observe about this man that diligent students of the Word may also find interesting, instructive, and thought-provoking. For instance, I find it remarkable that in this whole passage about this man and his plight, one never hears one word from him. He is neither complaining nor agreeing; he is neither petitioning nor praising. His silence is so loud that it is almost deafening. He does not ask for anything. He does not even ask to be cured as many others in the healing episodes of the Gospels. Jesus must call him and when he does, he just stands there silently. He does what Jesus tells him to do but we never hear a word from him, not even an expression of praise when he is healed. He does not thank Jesus, praise God, or tell others about it after he is cured.
For some reason it seems as if he had lost his voice. He had become silent. He had lost his ability to express himself, to speak for himself, to cry out in protest or commendation. He is just there, passively, with no male energy, no initiative, no determination! He seems trapped, controlled, governed by circumstances. He does not make life happen, he waits for others to make it happen and then perhaps he reacts. He is not going anywhere with his life and seems not to care that he is not going anywhere.
Consequently, I just want to say to you and to all of us today – Never become so beaten by life and your circumstances that you so lose your voice until you become silent and passive! The truth is, so many people in today’s world and church have become like this. No longer are they getting up and making things happen but like this unfortunate character, as portrayed by Luke and the other synoptic gospel writers, life is just happening to them. They say nothing! They do nothing! They barely react to anything! Instead of participating, they just merely observe. They become spectators, spiritual zombies, waiting by the poolside of life for someone to come and trouble the water for them (John 5:1-14). In the passage, the man’s hand becomes healed, but you are made to wonder if the other parts of his being are working well.
Therefore, may I use this platform again to urge you to get up and use every opportunity to make things happen not just for yourselves but for all those around you who seem voiceless and beaten down by life and its circumstances. Jesus called on him to “Rise and Stand Forth” (Luke 6:8). It is obvious to many that this man needed not just physical healing but inner, spiritual, mental, emotional, and psychological healing. Jesus wanted him to know that he was seen and needed for him to get back up and on with his life. Though physically healed, he still needed to have his voice restored. Remember Jesus is yet calling on us to rise and stand forth in the midst. He does not want us to be relegated to the back, lost, silent, afraid, and passive! May we be empowered today to return to the arena of life. He has given us the power to turn our lives and our local churches around! May God help us to find our voices again, refusing to be silent or silenced! Get up and roar! Today we reject all negativity and passivity!
Leroy V. Greenaway
Presiding Bishop – Northeast Region
