39. Doing Good Well (Mt 12:9-21)

“Our divine Savior brought to ignorant and weak man his truth and his grace: truth to point out the road leading to his goal; grace to give him the strength to reach that goal. To travel on that road means, in practice, to accept the will and the commandments of Christ, to conform one’s life to them.”

- Pope Pius XII

Matthew 12:9-21

He moved on from there and went to their synagogue, and a man was there at the time who had a withered hand. They asked him, ‘Is it against the law to cure a man on the sabbath day?’ hoping for something to use against him. But he said to them, ‘If any one of you here had only one sheep and it fell down a hole on the sabbath day, would he not get hold of it and lift it out? Now a man is far more important than a sheep, so it follows that it is permitted to do good on the sabbath day.’ Then he said to the man, ‘Stretch out your hand.’ He stretched it out and his hand was better, as sound as the other one. At this the Pharisees went out and began to plot against him, discussing how to destroy him. Jesus knew this and withdrew from the district. Many followed him and he cured them all, but warned them not to make him known.

This was to fulfill the prophecy of Isaiah: Here is my servant whom I have chosen, my beloved, the favorite of my soul. I will endow him with my spirit, and he will proclaim the true faith to the nations. He will not brawl or shout, nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets. He will not break the crushed reed, nor put out the smoldering wick till he has led the truth to victory: in his name the nations will put their hope.”

Christ the Lord

If Jesus had merely been a good talker, the Pharisees’ persistent resistance would have been understandable. But Christ backs up his flawless arguments with undeniable deeds. A man with a withered hand (picture that – a tragic deformity, an arm without a hand; how much suffering this man must have undergone!) comes to Jesus, full of hope that this famous, wonder-working rabbi from Nazareth might pour out some healing power on him. And Jesus, full of the surpassing love that God bears towards his children, obliges. The whole synagogue is witness to the miracle. Before their very eyes, the withered hand is made whole.

Yet the Pharisees react not with humble awe, not even with humble inquiry, to find out how a man so clearly sent by God can at the same time scorn what they consider to be God’s commands. Rather, they become more firmly fixed in jealous anger and begin plotting their Savior’s death.

There is only one explanation: their pride. Their self-sufficiency and arrogance had grown to colossal proportions, and no matter how brilliant, eloquent, powerful, and good this upstart Nazarene rabbi may be, they refuse to do the one thing required to become his follower: humble themselves and obey. They cannot say, “Thy will be done” – the only proper response to the coming of the King. Instead, they echo the ancient serpent’s refrain, “I will not serve” (Jeremiah 2:20). With Christ, it’s either one or the other, because there really is only one Lord.

Christ the Teacher

Jesus has just defeated the Pharisees in an argument about picking grain on the Sabbath. He deigned to discuss their accusations on their own terms, hoping that stooping to their level would open their minds. But instead, they renew the dispute from another angle. Jesus successfully argued that one doesn’t have to go hungry on the Sabbath in order to respect the spirit of God’s law. Now he is faced with a different case: is it acceptable to heal someone on the Lord’s Day?

The Pharisees had made a distinction in this regard. It was lawful, they taught, to heal someone who couldn’t wait to be healed, but if the injury wasn’t urgent, the Lord’s day should be honored by refraining from this type of work. Jesus points out the hypocrisy of this position, since those same Pharisees permitted the tending of needy livestock on the Sabbath – not only when those animals were in danger of death. The Pharisees have tangled themselves up in their own arrogance. In leaning so confidently on their education and intelligence, they have unwittingly begun to idolize their self-made rules. Jesus has to remind them that the Sabbath, as all of God’s commands, is for the benefit of God’s children. These commands are not ends in themselves, but means to an end: loving God above all things and loving one’s neighbor as oneself.

If St Matthew decided to include this episode, it’s because the Holy Spirit knows we too can use the reminder.

Christ the Friend

As soon as his enemies begin plotting his death, Jesus retires from the public eye. He was unable to convince them of the truth, and so he retreats. He knows that little time remains in which to prepare his Apostles. How accurately the quotation from Isaiah (42:1-4) describes the Savior’s heart! A vain, power-hungry political leader would have continued to look for public clashes with his opposition once he had put them on the run. But Jesus is thinking first of all of them, his enemies – they are the bruised reeds and the smoldering wicks. He will not browbeat them. He will continue to heal and preach and gently instruct his disciples about his Kingdom. There will be other opportunities to try again to reach out to the Pharisees, but in the meantime, Jesus is focused on the bigger picture: preparing the ground for the foundation of the Church, which will bring his hope, his forgiveness, and the light of his truth far beyond the boundaries of the Holy Land to the lands of the Gentiles throughout the world.

Christ in My Life

Parts of me are just like the Pharisees. I throw tantrums in my heart when I don’t get what I want. How many times I have unknowingly been on the verge of falling into spiritual disaster, but you secretly protected me? Thank you, Lord, for putting up with me. Forgive my bursts of selfishness. Lead me along the path of spiritual maturity, the path of self-forgetful love – your path…

Sometimes I wonder why my growth as a Christian seems to happen so slowly, but it is no mystery. The habits of my heart are focused on myself. Let me always remember that pride and God can never coexist; like oil and water, like night and day, if my heart is full of arrogance, it can’t be full of you. With the humility of your heart, Lord, shape my heart to be more like yours…

In your wisdom and love, you take care of me. You don’t let the feeble flame of my weak faith die out; you don’t aggravate my weak spots. You are patient with me. Thank you. Make me like you. Teach me…

Yours in Christ, Father John Bartunek, LC

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