Luke 6: Your Paralyzed Hand Is for the Glory of God

Introduction

“This morning, I would like to speak a little to all those who have a paralysis in their lives.” Pastor Tino Di Domenico, of the Pentecostal Evangelical Christian Church of Seriate, preaches on the man with the withered hand in Luke 6:6-10.

In Italian, we say someone has “a short arm” when he becomes stingy or unavailable. The pastor is not speaking only about money: he is speaking about those who no longer take steps to know God and serve him, instead of giving themselves fully to the Lord’s work.

The title of the message says it: your paralyzed hand is for the glory of God. For God turns weaknesses into strength and transforms our limits into opportunities. Through the young boy who had only five loaves and two fish, God fed an immense crowd. “Our limits are not a limit for God; they are a limit in our mind, in our faith.”

Outline of the message

1. A hand that once had life, then withered

Some gospels speak of a paralyzed hand, others of a withered hand. This hand once had sap, blood flowing through it, then it dried up and became weak and fragile.
It is Luke, the physician, who tells the scene: on a Sabbath day, Jesus enters the synagogue and teaches. All the attention should be on him, but it turns to a man whose right hand is withered.
The Pharisees want to use this man’s weakness to put Jesus in difficulty. Many also seek to take advantage of our weaknesses: the pastor tells of receiving on his phone a fake message announcing a €3,500 charge on his card, a scam aimed at elderly people.
“All things are possible to him who believes” (Mark 9:23). The pastor wants to awaken faith so that we make choices that remove every paralysis.

2. People define us by our weaknesses, God looks at us differently

What was this man’s name? And the woman with the flow of blood? And the bent-over woman? We do not know their names, only their weaknesses and their illnesses. “People want to define us by our limits and not by our possibilities.”
God, for his part, looks differently: “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor” (Luke 4:18). God’s preference goes to weakness.
Be careful, however, not to defend your weakness by saying: “God says it is good that I am weak.” No: God says the weak is strong, because he wants to resolve weakness just as he wants to resolve paralysis.
Having a hand that does not work means having possibilities and potential, but not doing what God has called you to do.
Jesus fights the religion that shuts people in: “Which of you, if your son or an ox fell into a well, wouldn’t immediately pull him out on a Sabbath day?” (Luke 14:5). He reproaches those who load others with burdens but do not carry them themselves (Matthew 23:4).

3. “Rise up, and stand in the middle”

This man was sitting and hiding his hand, probably resting on his leg. He would have preferred to stay on the side so that no one would notice “his little hand.” Jesus says to him: “Rise up, and stand in the middle.”
God wants to use our weaknesses to be glorified. Moses said he stammered; Gideon was the most fearful of men. Paul reminds the Corinthians that there were not many wise or powerful among them, but that God chose the weak things to put to shame the strong (1 Corinthians 1:26-27).
Out of 8 billion people, most know nothing about grace, and you have received it. Is that not a reason to rejoice?
“Stand in the middle, be available, have the courage to testify, do not hide your fragility. You do not need to become a superstar to serve God.”
The man sees hatred in the eyes of the Pharisees, but in the eyes of Jesus he sees something else. When we have weaknesses, we must not look at our little arm, but fix our eyes on the Lord.

4. Not doing good is doing evil

Jesus asks a question of the wise men watching him: “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good, or to do harm? To save a life, or to kill?”
The pastor draws the lesson: not saving is killing, and not doing good is doing evil. “To him therefore who knows to do good, and doesn’t do it, to him it is sin” (James 4:17). There are sins of omission.
Even criminal law recognizes this today: seeing a person on the ground, or even a dog, and not coming to their aid is an offense.
Jesus looks around at them all, then says to the man: “Stretch out your hand.” He does so, and his hand is healed. This story is that of all who, in one way or another, have withered.

5. The hand withers through inactivity

Perhaps you were once strong and generous in God’s work: your arm supported others, your hand pushed forward. Then, little by little, a compromise today, another tomorrow, you pulled back your arm, your presence, your gift and your talent.
Your reputation changed: “That one has pulled back his hand, he has a short arm, he is no longer as zealous as before.”
The first thing we lose is our identity. No one knows this man’s name. “To make a name for themselves, many lose their name”: in seeking success and comfort, they lost their spiritual identity.
What gifts has God given you? Have you recognized them? Or have you buried your talent and pulled back your hand? The hand of Yahweh, for its part, is not shortened (Isaiah 59:1).
Do not accept living as a spiritual invalid. Jesus came so that we might have life abundantly (John 10:10). He makes his servants a flame of fire (Hebrews 1:7).
If your hand is healed, it means that tomorrow you go back to work. “The Church is me.” As long as you say “the Church,” the Church is always other people.
“Why bother? I will mind my own business and step back.” You can do that, but know that it is your hand that is withering, and that no one will benefit from the gift God gave you.

6. God turns your weakness into a testimony

God has things prepared for you before the foundation of the world. The pastor reads them “like a notary reading a will”: you are blessed in the heavenly places (Ephesians 1:3), even with your withered hand. “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you,” says Yahweh, “thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you hope and a future” (Jeremiah 29:11).
No false humility: at Pentecost, flames of fire rested on each one. God has prepared works for you to accomplish, even if you think you are the last one able to do them.
To evangelize the Decapolis, Jesus sent neither Peter nor Simon the Zealot, but the man who had been possessed by a multitude of demons: “Go to your house, to your friends, and tell them what great things the Lord has done for you” (Mark 5:19).
To reach Samaria, when the disciples wanted to call down fire on the Samaritans, God used a woman who came to the well when no one else was there, because she was ashamed. She told the city: “I have met the Messiah,” and the whole crowd went out to meet Jesus.
Moses had the strong hand of a shepherd. God told him to put it in his bosom, and it came out leprous (Exodus 4:6). “When you do not obey, you become worse than what you are.”
In 41 years of faith, the pastor has seen people pray, be baptized, then abandon the faith. That servant who knew his lord’s will and did not do it will be beaten with many stripes (Luke 12:47).

7. Stretch out your hand: Jesus restores your dignity

“How pleasant it is when someone else prays in our place.” But how sad to know that it was you who should have done it. God will always find someone to continue his work, as in the parable of the great supper (Luke 14:21). God does not stop because we stop.
Receive this message not as a judgment, but as counsel from God: “You left your first love. […] Do the first works” (Revelation 2:4-5).
Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus were hiding. When they understood the meaning of the cross, they came out into the open. “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might” (Ecclesiastes 9:10).
While others look at you as a disabled person, Jesus looks at you as a valiant soldier. His gaze keeps your accusers at a distance, the way you keep wild animals at bay by looking them in the eyes.
Why does Jesus not perform this miracle in secret? To restore dignity. The woman with the flow of blood for twelve years was unclean and excluded from everything. Jesus brought her before everyone to say: this woman is perfectly healed, she is not a danger, she is a blessing.
“Time has passed, but time does not have the last word. You have a past, but the past does not have the last word over your life.” Faith goes with obedience: do you also want to do something, or must God do everything?

Key takeaways

Our limits are not a limit for God: he turns weaknesses into strength and into a testimony of his glory.
A paralyzed hand is a gift or a calling we no longer exercise, often because of inactivity and compromise.
Knowing how to do good and not doing it is a sin: there are sins of omission.
Jesus calls us to come out of the shadows and stand in the middle, without hiding our fragility.
Jesus does not heal in secret: he wants to restore dignity and change the reputation of those he lifts up.

Personal application

What gifts has God given you, and which ones have you stopped exercising?
In what area of your life (church, family, work) have you pulled back your hand, telling yourself that others would take care of it?
What pushes you to stay on the side rather than stand in the middle?
Is there a good thing you know you must do this week and keep putting off?
What reputation or image of yourself do you need Jesus to transform?

Verses cited

Frequently asked questions

What does the paralyzed hand of Luke 6 represent?

For Tino Di Domenico, it is the image of the one who has “a short arm”: he has abilities, gifts and a calling, but no longer does what God asked of him. This hand once had life, then it withered, often through inactivity and accumulated compromises.

Why does Jesus ask the man to stand in the middle?

The man would have preferred to stay on the side so that no one would see his hand. Jesus places him in the middle because he does not perform his miracles in secret: he wants to restore this man’s dignity, change his reputation before everyone and make his weakness a testimony to the glory of God.

What is a sin of omission according to this message?

Jesus asks whether it is lawful to do good or to do harm, to save a life or to kill. The preacher concludes that not saving amounts to killing and not doing good amounts to doing evil. He recalls what the Bible says (James 4:17): whoever knows how to do good and does not do it commits a sin.