Lectio
“The man (in Luke 6:6-11) represents the human race, withered by the unfruitfulness of good works, because of the hand in our first parent stretched forth to take the apple, which was healed by the innocent hand stretched forth on the cross. And rightly was the withered hand in the synagogue, because where there is the greater gift of knowledge, there the transgressor lies under the greater blame.”
— Venerable Bede, in Thomas Aquinas, Catena Aurea on Luke 6:6–11
Meditatio
Through Adam, we carry with us the stain of sin, such that even our good works, our best ideas, and our most noble attempts to be righteous can be shadowed by self. No matter how hard we try to do good, to be good, and to live up to God’s goodness, left to our own devices we will fall short, for our hearts, which were made for Him, seem to lean away from Him. On our journey toward salvation, we will always be tempted to bring our own selfish desires, self-centered fears, and self-seeking motives with us, and to cast, through this withered hand of our lower nature, a shadow on the imago dei with which we were imbued by God and which He invites us to become in fullness.
Our sinfulness, our withered and broken state, is not the end of the story, however. In fact, it is but a mere beginning. For it is from our brokenness, from this state of sickness and suffering, that we become willing to receive the gift of healing that Christ offers us on the cross. Even if our sin is not the sole reason for Christ’s incarnation, it is all too often the cause for us receiving Him. It is the light of Heaven, shining down on the shadows of Hell beneath which we dwell, cowering in the smallness we have chosen by choosing ourselves over God’s vast and majestic abundance.
Through the grace of the cross, we come to realize that this withered, desiccated self, alone in a desert of its own making, offers us only unquenchable thirst, insatiable hunger, and unfulfilled longing. It is a body devoid of life, a heart empty of love, and a soul absent of God. Through Christ, by reaching out to touch His innocent hand stretched forth on the cross in love, the curse of Adam is lifted, we are given new life, and all that we lack — body, mind, and spirit — are brought to fullness in Him, and though we may still retain our wounds, the light of His love fills them and they no longer get to lay claim on who we are — for the journey that began in our brokenness ends, at last, in Him.
Oratio
Within My Self
the self I knew
before I met You
knew so little of life
so little of love
so little hope
so little mercy
yet that self
knew so much of itself
overshadowing all else
unable to see past itself
to the grace indwelling
beneath itself
within everyone else
then I met You
who showed me my Self
a reflection of You
reaching for You
from within myself
within everyone else
the gift of Love itself
Contemplatio
Whatever in you feels withered — worn thin by trying, by falling short, by the small self that keeps overshadowing the larger one — is not beyond His reach. His hand was stretched out for exactly this. Rest here, and let Him touch what you cannot heal on your own.
Related Scripture
“A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you; and I will remove from your body the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.”
— Ezekiel 36:26 (NRSVCE)
For Further Reading
If you enjoyed this post, you may also like Anger Never Reaching the Mouth: Abba Isidore and the Freedom Grace Gives (Lectio Divina), which finds the same grace at work in a different bondage of self — not a withered hand, but a heart no longer ruled by what it feels.
Robert Van Valkenburgh
Grappling With Divinity.
Wrestling With God.
Returning To Love.
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