Don't do things right; do the right thing!

Mark 3:1-6

Then Jesus went back in the meeting place where he found a man with a crippled hand. 2 The Pharisees had their eyes on Jesus to see if he would heal him, hoping to catch him in a Sabbath infraction. 3 He said to the man with the crippled hand, "Stand here where we can see you." 4 Then he spoke to the people: "What kind of action suits the Sabbath best? Doing good or doing evil? Helping people or leaving them helpless?" No one said a word. 5 He looked them in the eye, one after another, angry now, furious at their hard-nosed religion. He said to the man, "Hold out your hand." He held it out-- it was as good as new! 6 The Pharisees got out as fast as they could, spluttering about how they would join forces with Herod's followers and ruin him.

Food for thought!

We're back in the synagogue. The setting is like this: there's Jesus, there's his critics the Pharisees, there's a man in need, and there's a Sabbath. What would you do if you were in that synagogue that Saturday? With whom do you identify yourself, with Jesus being watched, with the Pharisees on the watch, with the sick man in need of help, or with the Sabbath to keep?

Jesus knows what is going on. He knows that he's being watched. He knows that this whole thing is designed as a trap to ensnare Him. But, Jesus also knows that this man needs healing, which only he can give, and Jesus is determined to do the right thing come what may. You see, it is always risky doing the right thing; many people are only interested in doing not the right thing but doing things right. Doing things right means following the rules and laws and people's expectations. Doing the right thing means doing what is good and right even when it goes against the law or against people’s expectations.

Jesus told the man to “Stand here where we can all see you.” Jesus calls him to come and stand before the whole crowd. What Jesus is about to do will not be done in a corner.

Jesus confronts the obvious hypocrisy of the Pharisees by asking them two simple, straightforward questions: Is it lawful to good or evil on the Sabbath? It is lawful to save a life or to take a life? By calling the man to the front of the crowd and asking these questions was all an effort to awaken sympathy in the hearts of the Pharisees. Jesus was using this moment to try and touch their hearts. His efforts failed! They had hard hearts. No one said a word.

The Pharisees suffered from “hardness of heart”. These men had been confronted with truth many times and they continually rejected that truth. As a result, their hearts became hard. They were outraged when Jesus healed the man on a Sabbath; they were only concerned in doing things right and not in doing the right thing. The Pharisees and the Herodians were bitter enemies. They were on the opposite sides of every issue. But, they found common ground in their common hatred of the Lord Jesus. So, they formed a plot to find a way to “destroy” Him. They wanted Jesus dead and they set out to accomplish that end.

There is a bit of irony in this story, as well as a lot of hypocrisy. These men are upset because Jesus gave life back to the man on the Sabbath, but they have no problem plotting to take life from Jesus on a Sabbath day. That is evidence of the hardness of their hearts.

What is it that Jesus is teaching us if not that we cannot and should never compromise on doing good; attending to human need has precedence over religious laws and rituals.