Today’s passage belongs to a string of conflicts between Jesus and the authorities that starts in the chapter before with the healing of a paralytic who is brought down on a stretcher through the roof of a house (talk about crossing boundaries!), followed by a diner with “tax-collectors and sinners” in the house of Levi, a new disciple of Jesus, followed by a complaint that Jesus’ disciples did not fast as John’s disciples did, followed by yet another complaint about Jesus’ disciples breaking religious law in plucking heads of grain to eat during the Sabbath, and then, today’s passage where Jesus heals a man with a withered hand.
The two constants in all these passages are
1. Jesus’ (or his disciples) action breaking religious law or norm
2. The religious authorities coming down on Jesus for what he or his disciples did.
Although we would like to think of ourselves as playing the boundary-crossing role of Jesus and his disciples, the hard truth is that being a church, the role that will fall most naturally upon us (and thus needs the most resistance) is that of the religious authorities.
As New Day moves on, let’s stay vigilant that we do not put religious, civil or even moral “law” before the need of individuals and God’s desire for abundant life for them.