1 And he entered again into the synagogue ; and there was a man there which, had a withered hand.
2 And they watched hirn, whether he would heal him on the sabbath day ; that they might accuse him.
3 And he saith unto the man which had the withered hand, Stand forth.
4 And he said unto them, Is it law- ful to do good on the sabbath days, or to do evil ? to save life, or to kill ? But they held their peace.
5 And when he had looked round about on them with anger, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts, he saith unto the man, Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it out: and his hand was restored whole as the other.
6 And the Pharisees went forth, and straightway took counsel with the Herodians against him, how they might destroy him.
7 But Jesus withdrew himself with his disciples to the sea : and a great multitude from Galilee followed him, and from Judea,
8 And from Jerusalem, and from Idumsea, and from beyond Jordan; and they about Tyre and Sidon, a great multitude, when they had heard what great things he did, came unto him.
9 And he spake to his disciples, that a small ship should wait on him because of the multitude, lest they should throng him.
10 For he had healed many ; inso- much that they pressed upon him for to touch him, as many as had plagues.
11 And unclean spirits, when they saw him, fell down before him, and cried, saying,Thou art the Son of God.
12 And he straitly charged them that they should not make him known.
These verses show us our Lord again working a miracle. He heals a man in the synagogue, " which had a withered hand." Always about His Father's business — always doing good — doing it in the sight of enemies as well as
restore it to its proper meaning and use. He declares that the Sab- bath is His day — His by creation and institution, since He first gave it in Paradise and at Sinai — and proclaims His determination to de- fend and purify His day from Jewish imposition, and to give it to His disciples as a day of blessing, comfort, and benefit, according to its original intention.
Two things are implied in our Lord's words. One is His own divinity. The "Lord of the Sabbath day" could be no less than Grod Himself. It is like the expression, " In this place is one greater than the temple." (Matt. xii. 6.) The other is His intention of altering the clay of rest from the seventh day of the week to the first. At the time that He spoke, neither of these things doubtless were appa- rent to the Jews, and probably not to His disciples. After his as- cension they " would remember his words."
A passage in Mayer's Commentary is worth reading. "It is cer- tain that Christ being a perfect pattern of doctrine in all things, did