My dad had polio. Polio is an illness caused by a virus. It can sometimes lead to paralysis. Polio reached pandemic levels throughout the world in the first half of the 20th century.

My dad was diagnosed as a teenager in the early 1940’s, and he spent weeks and weeks in St Anthony Hospital in Rockford, IL. I don’t know much more about that challenging time in his life, because he did not talk about it to my brother and me. It didn’t occur to us to ask him about it. We were kids. We simply knew our dad had had polio and he walked with a limp. One of his legs had been severely affected by the disease.

My dad was a carpenter, and he was usually dressed in a gray work shirt and jeans, or occasionally in dress pants and shirt. But NEVER in shorts.

One day when I was a teenager, my dad injured his affected leg. My mom needed to render first aid and dad’s pant leg was rolled up above his knee. For the first time, I saw my dad’s leg that caused him to limp. I was shocked! It looked thin, wrinkled, shriveled. How could the sight before me be a man’s leg? My dad was strong, rugged, tough, a working man who did hard physical labor. I turned away, sensing I had seen something I shouldn’t. At that moment, I began to “see” my dad differently, I began to slowly understand, he had endured pain and sacrifice to provide for his family. His shriveled leg was a testament to that.

In the beginning verses of Mark 3, Jesus enters the synagogue and encounters a man with a withered hand. The hand is useless. One Commentary says the hand muscles were shrunken and the limb shorter than normal—the cause may have been infantile paralysis. In any event, the man was unable to work for his living.

Jesus sees his need. He has compassion for him. He also sees the Pharisees watching, waiting for his next move.

In recent days, Jesus had healed a paralytic man, and dined with tax gatherers and sinners. In both instances, the scribes of the Pharisees questioned Jesus’ words and actions.

Now it is the Sabbath. Jesus and his disciples had just passed through a grainfield and picked and eaten some heads of grain. (Mark 2:23-28) The Pharisees had called him out on it, saying Jesus was doing work on the Sabbath, the day of rest. By the time of Jesus’ ministry, the Mosaic law of Sabbath rest, (Exodus 20:9-11) had been “enhanced” by the religious leaders through the years to include countless petty regulations and rules. Jesus had deflected the Pharisees in the grainfield encounter, citing David’s eating of the shewbread (I Samuel 21:1-6) and declaring, “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. Consequently, the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.”

Perhaps minutes to hours later, the Pharisees are now ready to pounce again with a new Sabbath challenge. Jesus is prepared. He asks the disabled man to step forward, so all the crowd can see him. (verse 3). And then Jesus addresses the Pharisees.

“Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save a life or to kill?” (verse 4)

We can imagine the silence was deafening. Because, indeed, the Pharisees did not respond. And then we come to verse 5, filled with emotions, drama and action.

“After looking around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored.”

Jesus looks deep into each Pharisee’s eyes, face, inner feelings. He is angry at their lack of compassion, at their challenges to his God-given authority, at their unhearing, unseeing judgement. The anger turns to grief as Jesus witnesses the hardness of their hearts to his ministry. The Pharisees choose their “enhanced” laws over a poor man’s plight, choose their power OVER him, instead of a blessing FOR him.

Then brilliantly, Jesus asks the disabled man to stretch out his hand. The hand is cured without any labor, but simply by Jesus’ voice. Jesus does not break the Sabbath labor laws, and neither does the man. Surely the Pharisees will approve. Their reaction is recorded in verse 6.

“The Pharisees went out and immediately began conspiring with the Herodians against Him, as to how they might put Him to death.”

The Pharisees’ reputation with the people has been thwarted. They will not accept this outcome. Immediately their plans for Jesus’ destruction begin.

Only the man with the withered hand was rewarded. Healed, restored, able to work and enjoy his life. Forever blessed by the Savior.

My father awaits that blessing too. At Jesus’ return, he will rise up from the grave, his withered, diseased leg fully restored. No more limping, no more pain. Oh, what a day that will be. I can’t wait to see him. I can’t wait to see my coming King.