Being and doing what you condemn in others!

Mark 3:1-6

While in Capernaum Jesus went over to the synagogue again, and noticed a man there with a deformed hand. Since it was the Sabbath, Jesus’ enemies watched him closely. Would he heal the man’s hand? If he did, they planned to arrest him! Jesus asked the man to come and stand in front of the congregation. Then turning to his enemies he asked, “Is it all right to do kind deeds on Sabbath days? Or is this a day for doing harm? Is it a day to save lives or to destroy them?” But they wouldn’t answer him. Looking around at them angrily, for he was deeply disturbed by their indifference to human need, he said to the man,“Reach out your hand.” He did, and instantly his hand was healed!

At once the Pharisees went away and met with the Herodians to discuss plans for killing Jesus.

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 him 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 come and stand in front of the congregation. What Jesus is about to do will not be done in a corner. And then Jesus confronted the obvious hypocrisy of the Pharisees by asking them simple, straightforward questions: “Is it all right to do kind deeds on Sabbath days? Or is this a day for doing harm? Is it a day to save lives or to destroy them?” 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; they were interested in keeping the rules and not saving life. Are we any different? 

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 “kill” 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. Many times we do those very things we condemn in other people.