The man was not only to rise to his feet but to change his position, so that all in the synagogue could easily see him. Quite likely he was sitting in the rear, or in a corner, or perhaps behind a pillar. On the other hand, Jesus was probably at the front of the synagogue at the time and doubtless invited the man to come near to where He Himself was standing or sitting at the moment. In striking contrast with the candor, frankness and openness of Jesus were the devious and clumsily hidden attempts of the scribes and Pharisees to spy on Him and to lay traps for Him.

 See on Mark 2:8. With the spies now in pursuit of Him, Jesus would have no difficulty in being able to determine the trend of their thinking with respect to anything He might do. Their very presence gave them away; and as if that were not enough, their facial expressions told the same story. This is not, however, to say, as do some critics, that Jesus did not have supernatural power to read men‘s thoughts. There were several instances in which He most certainly displayed supernatural understanding of the thought processes of various persons (see John 8:6-9; 13:21-30; DA 461, 655).