Picture the scene upon that distant day:
The stern, superior doctors of the law,
The grim, accusing, jeering Pharisees,
The people gathered in the synagogue
To hear the explanation of the Word,
And in their midst the gentle Nazarene!
How deep the temple's silence must have been
As the young Prophet spoke.
"Stretch forth thy hand," he said expectantly,
And, lo, the man whose hand hung by his side
Withered and useless
Heard that firm command,
Obeyed that ringing voice.
What happened then? It has been told to us
By those who saw the withered hand restored.
They also heard the angry, heated words
Of the alarmed and jealous Pharisees;
They heard the Master sternly speak to them,
Saw him pass through the angry, surging mob,
And followed him with wondering reverence.
Luke tells us Jesus spent the night in prayer;
Then, when the dawn flushed all the eastern sky,
He came down to the waiting multitude,
To those who longed for freedom from their woes,
The sick, the lame, the sorrowing, the blind.
Luke tells us simply that he healed them all!
