Chapter 3 (NIV)
1Another time he went into the synagogue, and a man with a shriveled hand was there. 2Some of them were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they watched him closely to see if he would heal him on the Sabbath. 3Jesus said to the man with the shriveled hand, "Stand up in front of everyone."
4Then Jesus asked them, "Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?" But they remained silent.
5He looked around at them in anger and, deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts, said to the man, "Stretch out your hand." He stretched it out, and his hand was completely restored. 6Then the Pharisees went out and began to plot with the Herodians how they might kill Jesus.
3 comments:
He entered again into a synagogue; and a man was there whose hand was withered. They were watching Him to see if He would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse Him. He said to the man with the withered hand, "Get up and come forward!" (Mark 3:1-3 - NASB)
It’s interesting to see how the teachers of the law/ Pharisees are looking for every opportunity to accuse Jesus of breaking the law. Apparently, according to the Jewish customs and law, it was in fact not allowed to heal anyone on Sabbath. However, we can see that Jesus is making strong statement by healing the man with the withered hand, emphasizing that “the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.” In a similar way, we should remember that Jesus is our Lord and master in our everyday life, not only during times when we depend on Him or need His guidance. His calling to follow and obey Him: “Get up and come forward!” was not only given to this man with the withered hand or Peter and Andrew who were fishermen. We also received His calling and He wants us to get up out of our sinful habits and to completely surrender to the ONLY true king in our lives.
Many of us are like those man. Rather than being open hearted and find one's strength/goodness, we often focus on their faults and mistakes.
It is almost funny to see that pharisees going out to begin plotting how to kill Jesus immediately afterwards. I'm not sure how much of chances? they gave Jesus before quickly concluding that they must kill him.
I pray for wisdom so that I will not quickly judge others and not look at others with my eyes/hearts but from God's.
It is so sad that when the people saw the man with the withered hand, they were not moved by compassion. Instead they looked for vengeance and judgment. I think compassion is closely tied with the Holy Spirit.
Without compassion, we are stuck inside ourselves - we are greedy, self-righteous and callous. And if we are stuck inside ourselves, there is no room for God.
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