Stretch Out Your Hand
Introduction: The Unexpected Invitation
Good morning. My name is Trevor, and I’m the worship director here at The Well. Over the past several summers, there’s been a week where I’ve put down my guitar and put on this headset mic, and I’m just grateful once again to have the opportunity to open God’s Word with you this morning. We’re continuing in our summer series called Invitation. Throughout this series, we’re looking at eight different passages where Jesus invites someone into something, answering the question: what is Jesus inviting us into even today?
Many years ago, I was in Estes Park, Colorado, for a conference, and I was invited to go on a hike by one of the guys I was sharing a rental house with. His name was Joe, and I liked Joe. I like the outdoors, so I accepted his invitation. Later that night, he told me we were leaving at 2:00. I thought he meant 2:00 PM. Apparently, Joe meant 2:00 AM. That probably should have been my first clue that this was going to be very different than I thought, but I was young and dumb, so I said, “Sounds great.”
Just before going to bed to get a few hours of sleep, he asked, “Hey, by the way, did you bring any gloves with you?” I said, “Joe, it’s July. No, I don’t have gloves.” He said, “Oh, okay. Well, that’s fine. You may just want to grab an extra pair of socks for your hands.” Again, this should have tipped me off, but I just threw a couple of bottles of water, a few granola bars, and a pair of socks in my backpack.
Joe looked like he stepped out of an REI ad. He had every gadget imaginable. We got to the trailhead at 2:00 AM, and it was pitch black. He put on a high-tech headlamp while I was standing there in jeans and a windbreaker, carrying the same backpack I used in college to carry books. We hit the trail to hike Longs Peak. A few hours in, it felt like a normal hike—steep, but manageable. The whole time, Joe kept saying, “Hey man, it’s going to get a lot harder.” I told him, “Joe, you’re not helping. Pump me up, man!”
Then he told me that the previous year, he had to turn back because he didn’t have the right gear for ice. I didn’t either. Then he mentioned he had been training for a year to come back and do this. I, on the other hand, had eaten four donuts the day before. Eventually, we reached a clearing called the boulder field. I saw all these tents and asked what they were for. Joe explained that some people hike to this point, camp, and then finish the hike the next day. That would have been great information to have earlier, but I wasn’t turning back.
It got way harder—harder than anything I’d ever done. At one point, a group of Girl Scouts whizzed by us wearing helmets. I took it as a challenge. If they could do it, I could do it. Eventually, after 5,100 feet in elevation gain and eight miles, we made it to the top. The view from 14,000 feet was amazing. There was no oxygen, but you could see forever. I felt great until I realized we had to go all the way back down. That was an invitation where I thought I knew what I was getting into, but it ended up being something completely different—and ultimately, much better. Today, as we look at Mark chapter three, I think we will see that Jesus’ invitations often work the same way.
A Scene in the Synagogue
We begin in Mark chapter three. Jesus is entering a synagogue, most likely in Capernaum.
Mark 3:1 (NASB)
He entered again into a synagogue; and a man was there whose hand was withered.
It’s important to note that the text says he entered “again.” Earlier in Mark, Jesus was in this same synagogue teaching when a demon-possessed man interrupted him, and Jesus cast the demon out. Since then, Jesus had been teaching all through Galilee, performing miracles and casting out spirits. By the time we get to chapter three, the news has spread. People know that wherever Jesus goes, amazing things happen. When he walks in and people see a man with a withered hand, I’m sure they were grabbing their popcorn, waiting to see what would happen next.
Mark 3:2 (NASB)
They were watching Him [to see] if He would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse Him.
“They” in this verse refers to the Pharisees, the Jewish religious leaders. This tension had been building. In the previous chapter, the Pharisees confronted Jesus because his disciples were picking grain on the Sabbath, which they considered “work.”
The Burden of Regulation vs. The Joy of Restoration
In Exodus, we have a list of things prohibited on the Sabbath, but the Pharisees had added to that list significantly. They created 39 different categories of work plus additional restrictions. For example, you couldn’t move a chair across a room if it crossed a property line. You couldn’t tie or untie a knot unless it could be done with one hand. You couldn’t even eat an egg laid on the Sabbath because that was considered work performed by the chicken. Most importantly for this story, you could not heal on the Sabbath unless it was a life-threatening situation.
At the end of chapter two, Jesus told them that the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. It was intended for restoration, not burdensome regulation. That statement just poured gas on the fire. The Pharisees were now watching Jesus closely, hoping to catch him healing this man so they could accuse him of a capital offense. According to their interpretation of the law, the punishment for breaking the Sabbath was death.
Mark 3:3-4 (NASB)
He said to the man with the withered hand, ‘Get up and come forward!’ And He said to them, ‘Is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the Sabbath, to save a life or to kill?’ But they kept silent.
Usually, people seek Jesus out for healing. In this case, there is no recorded interaction between the man and Jesus before this moment. Jesus knows the law the Pharisees hold dear, and he points out that what he is about to do is “good” and “saving a life.” In that era, a withered hand meant you couldn’t work. This man was likely a burden to his family or society, forced to beg. Restoring his hand meant giving him his dignity and his life back.
Anger, Grief, and the Hardness of Heart
Mark 3:5 (NASB)
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.
Notice that Jesus looks at them with anger. This is actually the only explicit reference in the Gospels to Jesus being angry. It’s telling that he isn’t angry with tax collectors or sinners; he is angry with the self-righteous religious leaders. The outcasts acknowledged their need, but these men were blinded by pride.
Jesus was also grieved by their “hardness of heart.” He saw the man and had compassion, but the Pharisees were only “watching” him. There is a difference between seeing someone and watching someone. Jesus saw the people others overlooked—the woman at the well, Zacchaeus, the paralyzed man. The Pharisees were watchers; they focused on shortcomings, weaknesses, and mistakes. In their silence and lack of repentance, Jesus found great sorrow.
Mark 3:6 (NASB)
The Pharisees went out and immediately [began] conspiring with the Herodians against Him, [as] [to] how they might destroy Him.
This is strong language. They didn’t just want to discredit him; they wanted to destroy him. The Pharisees and the Herodians were actually enemies—one group was religious, the other was political. They clashed constantly, much like the “red and blue” of our modern culture. But their shared hatred of Jesus united them. As the saying goes, “The enemy of my enemy is my friend.”
The Invitation for Us: A New Heart
On first glance, the invitation in this passage seems to be “stretch out your hand.” That was a personal invitation for that specific man. But what is the invitation for everyone else? What is the invitation for us today? It is an invitation to be fully restored from the inside out. Just as he restored a withered hand, he can restore a withered, hardened heart.
Ezekiel 36:26-27 (NASB)
’Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. ’I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances.
This is the prophet Ezekiel looking forward to the new covenant that Jesus would bring. When we trust in Christ, we are fully restored. Our withered heart is replaced with a living, tender one. Verse 27 says his Spirit will “cause” us to walk in his statutes. We obey because he is leading us to obey.
Before I became a father, I had never changed a diaper, and honestly, I never wanted to. But from the moment they placed my son in my arms, I was willing to do anything for him. My desires changed because my identity changed. When we embrace the gospel, our appetites and priorities change. As Tim Keller says, “Religion says, ‘I obey, therefore I’m accepted.’ The gospel says, ‘I am fully accepted in Jesus Christ, therefore I obey.’”
Signs of a Hardened Heart
As we wrap up, I have three questions for us to consider. First: Do you see any signs of a hardened heart in yourself? Charles Spurgeon once warned that we can be very “respectable” people—Bible readers and church-goers—and yet grieve the Savior because of a hard heart.
One sign of a hard heart is indifference toward people.
1 John 4:20 (NASB)
If someone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen.
The Pharisees cared more about their traditions than the welfare of the man with the withered hand. Do we view relationships as transactional? Do we use people as a means to an end? It’s easy to care for people we like, but what about the person with a different political opinion, the coworker who gets on your nerves, or the person who continually sabotages their own life?
Another sign is active opposition to God’s Word. This sounds like, “I know the Bible says that, but…” or “God will forgive me, so it’s not a big deal.” That is pride—the belief that we know better than God. Apathy is also a form of opposition. We oppose God by staying quiet when our faith demands we take a stand or advocate for others.
Responding to the Call
Question two: What should be our response when we see these signs? First, we must admit it. This is step one of recovery: admitting we are powerless over our brokenness. The Pharisees were unwilling to do this. Second, we must desire to be healed.
Psalms 139:23-24 (NASB)
Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me and know my anxious thoughts; And see if there be any hurtful way in me, And lead me in the everlasting way.
If I am sick and the doctor prescribes medicine and dietary changes, but I don’t follow the instructions, I won’t get better. We have to want it. While the Spirit works in us, we must participate in that work. Finally, our response should be total dependence.
John 15:5 (NASB)
’I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.
Jesus is the source. Our tendency is to hear a message like this and make a new list of things to “do” to soften our hearts, but that just puts us back in the camp of the Pharisees. The goal isn’t to do more for God; it’s to be with him.
Guarding Your Heart through Community
Question three: How do we guard against the hardening of our heart? At The Well, we talk about three things: God’s Spirit, God’s Word, and God’s People. We need the Spirit’s power and the Word’s instruction, but we also need each other.
Hebrews 3:13 (NASB)
But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is [still] called ‘Today,’ so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.
Biblical community is a gift. Sin is deceitful; it tells us lies disguised as truth. We need the accountability of others to point us back to the truth. We need people who are willing to encourage us, call us out, and have hard conversations. The Pharisees existed in an echo chamber with no accountability, and they didn’t even realize their hearts had become as shriveled as the man’s hand.
Conclusion: An Extended Invitation
Jesus was inviting the Pharisees to something better, and though many missed it in the moment, that wasn’t the end of the story. Nicodemus was a Pharisee, and he helped bury Jesus. Joseph of Arimathea was a Pharisee, and he provided the tomb. The Apostle Paul was a Pharisee, and he wrote much of the New Testament. They eventually heard and accepted the invitation to be restored from the inside out. That same invitation is extended to you this morning.
Would you pray with me? God, we thank you for your Word and your truth. It’s easy to be lulled into the deceitfulness of sin and believe in our own power. We pray that we would rest in you, not in our works. For those who haven’t trusted you, would you stir their hearts even now? Give them a new appetite for your things and call them into this beautiful invitation today. We love you and thank you. In Jesus’ name, Amen.