Luke 6:11Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

And as Matthew relates, they go out to take counsel, that they should kill him.

But He taught things far beyond their comprehension, and opened to his hearers the way to future salvation by Him; and then after having first taught them, He suddenly shewed His divine power, as it follows, and there was a man there whose right hand was withered.

But it may be questioned how Matthew came to say, that they asked the Lord, whether it was lawful to heal on the sabbath, when Luke in this place states that they rather were asked of the Lord. We must therefore believe that they first asked the Lord, and that then He understanding by their thoughts that they sought an opportunity to accuse Him, placed the man in the midst whom He was going to heal, and asked the question which Mark and Luke relate Him to have asked. It follows, And looking round about upon them all.

The Lord now proceeds to another work. For He who had determined to make the whole man safe, was able to cure each member. Hence it is said, And it came to pass also on another sabbath, that he entered into the synagogue and taught.

The passage indicates that the Pharisees conspired against Him.

When the eyes of all were, as it were, riveted together, and their minds also fixed upon the consideration of the matter, he said to the man, Stretch forth thy hand; I command thee, Who created man. But he who had the withered hand hears, and is made whole, as it follows, And he stretched it, and it was restored. But they who should have been astonished at the miracle, increased in malice; as it follows, But they were filled with madness; and communed one with another what they should do to Jesus.

He chiefly heals and teaches on the sabbaths, not only to convey the meaning of a spiritual sabbath, but because of the more numerous assembly of the people.

The Pharisees were extremely agitated by the final act of the Lord, prompting them to collaborate with the Herodians to plot Jesus' destruction. The Herodians, likely the supporters of Herod Antipas, the ruler of Galilee, prioritized their political connections with the Roman authorities over religious matters. While the Pharisees and Herodians typically had differing agendas, their shared animosity brought them together. Aware of their schemes, the Lord deemed it wise to evade them on this occasion. He retreated to the shores. However, His withdrawal was not that of a fearful man escaping the threats of government authority; rather, He moved like a Sovereign among His followers. His retreat was ostensibly due to the discomfort of remaining among those who opposed Him.

On a certain Sabbath, Jesus was teaching in a synagogue when a man with a withered right hand was present. The scribes and Pharisees observed Him closely, eager to see if He would breach the Sabbath by healing the afflicted man. They not only watched silently but, as noted by Matthew, they focused their attention on Him and presented a challenging question to test Him. The Lord then called the man with the withered hand to stand in front of everyone and asked the Pharisees, “Which of you, having a sheep, if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not lift it out?” He continued by asking whether it is right to do good on the Sabbath or to do harm, whether to save life or to destroy it.

Understanding the intent behind the Pharisees' question and perceiving their thoughts, Jesus aimed to illustrate that performing good deeds on the Sabbath was not sinful. He summoned the man with the withered hand to stand in full view in the synagogue, posing a challenging question that disarmed the Pharisees: "Is it lawful to do good or harm on the Sabbath?" They found themselves speechless, unable to devise a Pharisaic response, as if to indicate their confusion regarding the query. Christ then articulated His message clearly: they were uncertain whether it was permissible to heal a person on the Sabbath, so He prompted them to consider the welfare of an endangered animal—a sheep—caught in a pit.

All these occurrences demonstrated that in Judea, it was still not feasible to proclaim the gospel freely, prompting Christ to retreat once more to Galilee, beside the shores of Lake Gennesaret, His preferred lake. There, away from the harsh atrocities committed by the blind followers of the obsolete covenant, He commenced an in-depth explanation of the origins of the new covenant, contrasting them with those of the old covenant. He continued to provide a thorough account of the beginnings of the new covenant in opposition to the foundations of the old covenant.

Became enraged: expressed more vehemently than in the accounts of Luke. Their fury towards Christ stemmed from two main reasons: first, His responses revealed their irrationality and underscored their lack of understanding of the law; second, He performed a healing on the Sabbath, contradicting their interpretations. Their contemplation of what they might do to Jesus suggested intentions to eliminate Him, as evidenced in Matthew and Mark. It appears they had started to attribute His miraculous acts to the influence of malevolent forces, a claim that Christ vehemently condemned shortly thereafter (Matt. 12:24 ff.).