Another of Hetty’s reflections: Matt 12:1-14
Mostly I am ignored at the temple. I go every week to pay my tithe, say my prayers, listen to the priest’s words, and no-one seems to notice me – I’m invisible.
Imagine my surprise when Jesus, surrounded by his followers AND a gaggle of Pharisees marched right up to me. Me! An invisible man with a shrivelled hand, who no-one ever wants to see, let alone help.
They were arguing about something. Arguing politely, but I could tell that those lawyers were trying to trap Jesus with his own words.
They stopped before me.
“Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?” they asked him.
Ah, so I was their visual aid. Here was a “rubber meets the road” moment for Jesus. (Or should that be “donkey’s foot pad meets the road?”)
Well he answered the question with a question. And then using the convenience of a man in need of a miracle close at hand, Jesus drove his point home. “Stretch out your hand,” he told me. I did. I gazed down at my hands. They were both as perfect as each other!
Heavenly father, it is not the rules that keep us right with you. It is not what we give up or do without. You only want us to live “mercifully”; to value our fellow humans as you do; to do good, every day of every week. Help me go through this life journey following Jesus in all that I do. Amen.
Travels from Ur 