On another Sabbath day, Jesus was in the synagogue teaching. A man enters with a withered right hand. The Pharisees have already shown that they have specific rules and regulations that they bind in order to keep the Sabbath faithfully in their eyes. They did not think that Jesus should heal on the Sabbath and they were watching him closely to see if he would on this day.

Jesus knew their thoughts. He understood that they would be unhappy with him for what he was about to do. He asked them a simple question. “I ask you, is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to destroy it?” Luke 6:9. There appeared to be no one answer so Jesus healed the man. This made them angry and they began to discuss what they might do to Jesus.

They should have come to the synagogue to hear the Law and look for ways that they could serve the Lord better. Serving the Lord was far from their thoughts. They were intent on finding fault with Jesus. This illustrates for us the importance of coming to worship with the right mindset. If our heart is not ready and focused on the task of worshipping God, we can find ourselves distracted and giving attention to the wrong things. Jesus did heal the physical but they were missing the importance of healing the spiritual as well.

Verses 12-16 talk about the twelve apostles that would follow Jesus. This list of names are men of different backgrounds and professions. The interesting thing is that none of these men came from the religious leaders or the priests. These were twelve ordinary men that Jesus chose to be the apostles. Some we know a great deal about, some we don’t know much other than their name. They had the distinction of being eye witnesses to the Son of God on earth. Can you imagine the stories they could tell.

There is a sad note at the end of the list. Judas is labeled the one who became a traitor or the one who betrayed Jesus in every gospel account that lists the twelve. His actions live long after him mainly because he gave up and took his own life instead of seek repentance. When you look at the actions of Peter and Judas, there really is no difference. Peter denied knowing the Lord, Judas tried to profit from knowing the Lord. Both instantly regretted their choice but how they handled it was completely different. One should never doubt the Lord’s ability to forgive.

The list of the twelve shows us that anyone can do great things for God. We don’t have to have a certain level of education. We don’t have to know everything or every answer. We don’t have to have a certain lineage. All we have to do is give ourselves to the cause of Christ. Anyone can make a difference if they try. God can use us all.