In today's reading Jesus reached out to a man with a withered hand. The church authorities were watching him to see if he would heal on the Sabbath. I learned rather recently that in Jesus' time the belief was that people suffered afflictions as a result of someone's sin... maybe their father's? So physical disability was the consequence and a sign of sin. Jesus sought to liberate and heal.. and I wonder how he did it? we attribute miracles to him, but I wonder if the miracle was simply his presence, his reaching out, his love for them. That IS a miracle in a community where certain of its members are marginalized. To step over the customary boundaries, the usual lines we don't dare cross, and see God in another. This is why people love Jesus! because he loved them first! He looked at them and saw a brother, a sister. Today, I am going to cast my gaze upon that scene of Jesus reaching out to the man with the withered hand, and try focusing on all the parts of the scene: Jesus, his posture, his movement, the man who seeks Jesus, his hand, his heart.
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