Mark 3:1-6

Jesus lifts the burden of the law again
Mark 3:1-6

As we saw in chapter 2, Jesus knows how to heal the afflicted, which he does here again in a public setting: but Jesus always includes a lesson to be learned from the healing.

In the synagogue, there is a man with a crippled hand.  Jesus has no problem healing the man, except that it seems to be the Sabbath again, and

Rabbinical Tradition (not God’s law) states that no healing should occur on the Sabbath unless the man is near death.  Only then can basic care be given so that he might live until the following day when full-service care can be given.  In some cases, inaction or modest action could result in the harm or death of a person!  Does this seem ridiculous to you?  It did to Jesus too, so he asked the question in verse four, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save a life or to kill?”  The teachers of the law either didn’t have an answer, or they just wanted to see what Jesus would do next.  In any case, they kept silent.

But Jesus knew their hearts and was deeply grieved because of it.  The man with the crippled hand received physical healing, but it was the teachers of the law who were near death because of the hardness of their hearts.  After Jesus healed the man, the teachers of the law went out in a huff to go ask the Jewish rulers (the Herodians) how they might kill Jesus.

Do we do harm to others because we do not act?  Do we get in the way of the progress of others?  God wants healing for His people.  The time to act is now!  May we have the heart for God today, and a heart for others, not just head knowledge and theory.