Mat 12:13 Stretch forth your hand.

This is one of those phrases that gives strong evidence for the theory of this site: that Christ wasn't speaking just to those around him in his lifetime, but to us all, even in his most basic statements. Here, this seems to be a command to a man to stretch out his crippled hand, but it is actually much more than that when we look at the words in the original Greek.

"Stretch forth" is ekteinô, which means "to strech out," but also means "to offer food," "to prostrate yourself," and "to extend."

"Hand" is cheir, which means "the hand" but has a host of meanings in Greek beyond a simple body part. It means "helping another" (like the English "lending a hand") and it means "an act or deed," especially in the sense of going beyond words, which if very much in keeping with what Christ is saying in this passage, that God doesn't want lip service from us

To the lame man, Christ was saying "stretch out your hand" but to us, he was saying "offer food, prostrate yourself, extend yourself" and "help others" and "going beyond words to deed." A pretty complete statement for three Greek words--ekteino (stretch out) sou (your) cheir (hand).

This statement punctuates Christ's response to those who criticized him for doing good on the Sabbath. As we reach this point, I realize that, from Christ's point of view, the exchange was less about that Sabbath than about what God expects from us. He starts by saying that he wants "mercy not sacrifice." The idea of the Sabbath is extended not just to the day of rest but to all religious practice and "the law" or more precisely, the "traditions" of worshipping God. From his view, the practices of worship are less important than how we treat each other.

How does Christ view our relationship with one another? He describes a sheep that has falling into a pit as an analogy for our fellow many. We have all gotten in too deep, gotten in a rut, and we need to be raised up. How does God raise us up? Through our helping one another. That is why we are here and by raising one another, we are worshipping God in the way he prefers.