Jesus Cares About Our Small Needs
The human hand is amazing. Five fingers, 14 joints, and 27 bones. Our fingers don’t have muscles, and they operate like marionettes. They are connected to tendons, some of which reach all the way to the shoulder, and these “strings,” combined with brain power, enable your hands to paint, pour, play piano, and do things that defy imagination.
It has been said that hands make us human, because the skills they make possible are unique and special. The rest of the animal kingdom does not have the abilities we humans have in our hands.
Hands also have fingerprints which are an identifier that shows that while we have many things in common, nobody is an exact clone of another person. Each of us is different.
One Sabbath a man came to the synagogue who had a “withered hand.” He couldn’t use his right hand because it hung limp. He would not die from the handicap, but it severely limited him and kept him from getting jobs and enjoying many of life’s simple pleasures
Jesus saw the man and asked him to step forward. Then Jesus said, “Stretch out your hand.” Suddenly the silence became deafening as all the attendees looked to see what would happen. The man slowly stretched out his hand, hardly believing what was happening. He opens and closes his fist in wonder. Tears begin to flow as he recognizes the gift that he has received. It was a day he would never forget.
The story of the healing of the withered hand is found in Matthew, Mark, and Luke. It reveals that Jesus cares not only about critical cases but also “smaller needs,” such as our ability to work and earn a living, to greet each other with a handshake, and to be creative.
He is the God of great and small. We have big needs and little needs. He cares about them all. And there is a spiritual lesson. A crippled hand may represent a weak point in our lives, such as
a regret that hangs on like a monkey on our back, robbing us of peace. Or a character flaw, like
gossip or temper, that trips us up. Or an addiction. These may seem like small things, but they are big enough to cause us real difficulty. Jesus Christ is the same Physician of the Soul today as he was when he walked this earth, and He can help us.
He knows your need. He wants to help. Seek Him today for healing.
“Heal me, O LORD, and I shall be healed; Save me, and I shall be saved, For You are my praise” (Jeremiah 17.14).