"Their Synagogue"

Still in Matthew 12. Jesus left the Pharisees (it's the only logical thing to do) and went to "their synagogue." I think Matthew emphasized here that it was not Jesus' but it was their synagogue, so to say. As if Jesus were saying, "Okay, let's see what you have in your church!" ha! That's how God's Flesh on earth speaks.

You know what they had in their synagogue? A man with a shriveled hand. The man had been like that a long time and no one could help him, not even the famed and biblical Pharisees. There was even a time when Jesus went to their synagogue to find a demon possessed synagogue member. All those years of solid bible-believing synagoguery didn't do anything to remedy demon possession or even a simple shriveled hand. Such a useless bible-believing religion and church. I wonder if churches today remedy simple problems like this? Or do they look the other way and instead indulge in theological discussions?

So Jesus went in there and ordered the man to stretch out his withered hand. Now that was a Sabbath taboo. You were not supposed to do that. Why not do it tomorrow or another day? Why on the Sabbath? So the Pharisaic theologians argued and asked, "Is it lawful to heal on a Sabbath?" Here was a man in dire need of healing, suffering from a defective hand, and all they could do was ask whether it was lawful to do anything about it.

So, Jesus ordered the man, "Stretch!" Now that's odd. Jesus ordered the man. He did not help him gently stretch out his hand, as I or anyone would've probably done it, out of respect and politeness--and religiosity. Have you seen anybody deal with a patient that way? Seems rude. There was once a paralytic Jesus ordered to "Stand up, pick up your mat, and go home!" He could've well said, "Get out of here!" Yet, I believe Jesus to be a very kind and compassionate fellow.

Now, why was he doing this?

It was to break men's traditions and foolish religiosity. It was to challenge or even demolish their synagogue. My Jesus is radical. He will demonstrate to one and all the futility of man-made ministries, even in rude ways, like kicking tables and pigeon cages in the temple court in broad daylight--just to drive home the point. Their synagogue principle, he explained, was giving more importance to animals than humans. They never realized this truth before this revelation. They had strictly forbidden helping people on a Sabbath, yet helped their fallen animals from pits and holes without thinking twice about it. 

Then, in their minds, they must have started saying, "Why, yeah! That seemed so stupid of us!" But the realization further drove them to jealousy and anger against Jesus. Many today do that: instead of just admitting error and repenting, they meet together to plan "how they might murder Jesus." Especially if the guy exposing their errors is an untitled and non-degreed nobody who isn't part of the higher echelon of their bible-based synagogue. Yet, for years, they never did anything to relieve the pains and hurts of their synagogue members, until Jesus came to set the captives free.

You see the funny thing here? They never dared break the Sabbath rule even one tiny bit and yet didn't have any qualms about murdering Jesus. Bwahahaha! Just like most churches today--they always major on the minors but never think twice about going against what God really wants in the bible.


I was once in a local church busily preparing for their anniversary celebration which costs a big sum. They were meeting at the church porch when a beggar appeared at the gate asking for some handout (it was almost Christmas). The pastor shooed the beggar off, saying they didn't have money (Boy, what a liar). Seeing that I was wondering about it all, the pastor explained to me: "We're not a charity agency." Uh, okay.

How about you? Are you part of their synagogue?