The Withered Hand

In Matthew 12, we read the following story; "[Jesus] went on from there and entered their synagogue. And a man was there with a withered hand. And [the pharisees] asked Him, 'Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?'—so that they might accuse Him. 
He said to them, 'Which one of you who has a sheep, if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not take hold of it and lift it out? Of how much more value is a man than a sheep! So it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.'"

Then Jesus did the unthinkable.
To some around Him, he did the absurd.


Then He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” 

What?
What did Jesus just ask?
Did Jesus just ask this man to show his withered hand?  
To show his deepest secret?  
His shame?
What on earth was Jesus doing?
Does He not even consider what this man has faced all of his life? 
What about the pain?
What about the ridicule?
WHAT ABOUT THE SHAME?
WHAT ABOUT MY SHAME?
WHAT ABOUT MY PAIN?


But that is what Jesus does.
Isn't it.
He comes to us and asks us to expose our shame.  Our nakedness.  Our weakness.  Our sin.
Then He does the unthinkable.
He restores us.
He heals us.
He forgives us.
He surrounds us.
He reminds us that we are His.

And the man stretched it out, and it was restored, healthy like the other.