Luke 6:8

‘But he knew their thoughts, and he said to the man who had his hand withered, “Rise up, and stand forth among us.” And he arose and stood forth.'

Jesus was fully aware of the situation. ‘He knew their thoughts.' This fact is stressed regularly (compare Luke 5:22). However, they were not hard to assess. We can imagine the long hall, and the Pharisees sitting there in the chief seats, and the pointed silence when Jesus came in, and the eyes turning to look at the paralysed man. Jesus was left in no doubt of what the situation was.

He could have avoided confrontation. He could have told the man to come and see Him after sunset, when the Sabbath was over, but that would have been to concede that the Rabbis were right. And He did not believe that they were. In His eyes they had gone too far in their desire to preserve the Sabbath. And He further knew that they were directly challenging His authority, and that the crowds were aware of it as well. So He called the man to come and stand where everyone could see.

‘Rise up and stand forth among us.' This is literally, ‘Rise into the midst'.