And looking round about upon them all, he said unto the man, Stretch forth thy hand. And he did so: and his hand was restored whole as the other. ... Luke 6:10

As I have read the devotions for Lent thus far, it seemed to me that there were several instances of "stretching forth a hand" (or an arm). I checked my handy-dandy electronic concordance and found that there are more than 100 references to "stretching forth a hand" in the Bible. In Genesis, Abraham stretched forth his hand and took the knife to slay his son, and Israel (Jacob) stretched out a hand to bless Ephriam and Manasseh.

In the struggle to gain release of his (God's) people, Moses (and Aaron) stretched out arms to bring down the plagues on the Egyptians. After their release, Moses stretched out his rod-holding hand, first to part the seas for the children of Israel to cross over on dry ground and then to close the waters upon the chariots and horsemen of Egypt. Joshua was told by God to stretch out his spear, and the inhabitants of Ai were utterly destroyed.

The Psalms and Proverbs tell of stretching out hands to both save and destroy. Proverbs 21 talks about the virtuous woman stretching out her hand to the poor and needy.

In the New Testament, multiple texts tell of miracles performed by Jesus involving an outstretched hand. In this Luke verse, the person is told to stretch out his arm, which was then restored to health. In other texts, it is Jesus who stretches out a hand to cure the person. At Gethsemane, when an outstretched hand drew a sword, and cut off the ear of a servant, Jesus healed the wound. After the Resurrection, Jesus offered his outstretched hands to Thomas to convince him that he had indeed been crucified and now stood before him, alive once again.

We, too, can stretch out our arms for both good and ill. An outstretched hand can slap or it can caress. It can give or take away. It can offer injury or healing. We, indeed, are the hands of Christ on earth. How will you use your outstretched hands today?

Dear God, teach us to use our arms and hands not to destroy, but to build up; not to harm but to help; not to curse but to bless; not to show hate but to show love. We ask in the name of Jesus, who helped and blessed and loved us all. Amen

Contributed by Betsey R.
Published Sunday February 27, 2005
Week 14 of Liturgical Year A