New Testament Studies

The Gospel of St. Mark

By Robert C. Crowder

Lesson Fifteen

Mark 3:1-6  And he entered again into the synagogue; and there was a man there which had a withered hand. And they watched him, whether he would heal him on the sabbath day; that they might accuse him. And he saith unto the man which had the withered hand, Stand forth.  And he saith unto them, Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath days, or to do evil? to save life, or to kill? But they held their peace. And when he had looked round about on them with anger, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts, he saith unto the man, Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it out: and his hand was restored whole as the other.  And the Pharisees went forth, and straightway took counsel with the Herodians against him, how they might destroy him.

Previously in our study in Mark chapter two, Jesus and His followers had a run-in with the Pharisees.  It centered on Jesus followers breaking the law on the Sabbath by picking corn.  Jesus rebuked the Pharisees with the words “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath; therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the Sabbath.” (Mark 2:27-28)

At work this week I was walking on the production floor when one of the quality control agents got my attention.  She was talking about a mishap she had and was showing her bruised finger.  She stated that she had slammed it in a door and now she had no feeling in the tip of one finger.  She had just returned from seeing the doctor and he said that there was really nothing he could do for her.  She might possibly lose the feeling in the tip of her finger for the rest of her life.  She said it was uncomfortable and made typing on the computer very difficult.  As I looked at her fingers I gave her my sympathies and told her that I hoped she got the feeling back and wished her my best.  It was at that moment that I remembered the story about Jesus healing a man with a “withered” hand, which just happened to be the next bible study in Mark.

By studying the parallel passages in Matthew 12: 9-14 and Luke 6: 6-11, we find that the incident in chapter three takes place on a different Sabbath than the one at the end of Mark chapter two.  We also know the location of the synagogue to be in Capernaum, Jesus’ hometown. 

 “And he entered again into the synagogue; and there was a man there which had a withered hand.”

We begin our study in Mark, chapter 3 and verse one.  Jesus and his followers enter the synagogue, as was Jesus’ habit on the Sabbath.  The congregation contained local townspeople, rulers, elders and the Scribes and Pharisees.  The focus of this passage is on three personalities, Jesus, the man with the withered hand and the Scribes and Pharisees.  The fact that the Scribes and Pharisees were there should come as no surprise as they were always in attendance.  If the doors were open, they were there.  Most had critical roles in the services in the synagogue. 

So it is in this setting that we find Jesus teaching (Luke 6: 6) in the synagogue in Capernaum.  As He is teaching Jesus notices a man that has a “withered” hand or wasted away by disease.   There doesn’t seem to be anything special about the man.  We do not know if his friends brought him to the synagogue, as did the four that brought the man with palsy to Jesus.  We do not even know if this man was seeking out Jesus to heal his hand.  We do not know how long he had the disease.  But it appears that the man was faithful in his attendance and because he was, he was right in the middle of God’s plan.  He was exactly where Jesus needed him to be healed, to show a miracle to those present and to teach His disciples an important lesson.

“And they watched him, whether he would heal him on the Sabbath day; that they might accuse him.”

The “they” here is the Scribes and Pharisees.  Some Theologians suggest that they had laid this “trap” to catch Jesus.  They were lurking around in the background watching the whole process.  They were eager with anticipation.  You can almost hear them whispering amongst themselves, giddy with anticipation.  The longer Jesus taught the more their anticipation grew.  Matthew records a conversation between Jesus and the Scribes and Pharisees that is not in the passage in Mark.  They ask Jesus a question saying “Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath days? that they might accuse him.”  The fact is, both of these groups know the answer.  In the Law, Exodus 23:4,5 you read, “If thou meet thine enemy's ox or his ass going astray, thou shalt surely bring it back to him again.  If thou see the ass of him that hateth thee lying under his burden, and wouldest forbear to help him, thou shalt surely help with him.”  And in Deuteronomy 22:4, “Thou shalt not see thy brother's ass or his ox fall down by the way, and hide thyself from them: thou shalt surely help him to lift them up again.”

But their conscious is already seared.  They could not get over their jealousy of Jesus to see the truth.  They pushed the connived trap even further.  They asked, “Would he dare heal the man on the Sabbath, in front of all these witnesses?  Will we finally catch him breaking the ‘law’ in such a way that they would be able to get rid of this rebel?”  The Greek word for watched in this verse is “paratereo” meaning to inspect alongside, note insidiously.  The Scribes and Pharisees were eyeing Jesus just as a hungry wolf would eye a lamb.

“And he saith unto the man which had the withered hand, Stand forth.  And he saith unto them, Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath days, or to do evil? to save life, or to kill?  But they held their peace.”

Jesus asks the man with the withered hand to stand.  You can almost hear the air being drawn into the audiences’ lungs and held in expectation.  The moment had finally come!  Their goal was within reach.  All Jesus had to do was to heal this man and they had Him!

Notice how Jesus locates the man with a need and takes the focus off of the Scribes and Pharisees and draws everyone’s attention to him.  Jesus asked the man to stand.  As he stands, all eyes shifted their gaze to this diseased man being singled out by the Teacher.  Until this point only Jesus and the Scribes and Pharisees are in on the purpose of the man standing.  The man doesn’t know what is about to take place; he just stands as he is commanded.  “Jesus thus placed the man openly before all the people, as though he stood on trial as to his right to be healed on the Sabbath day.”¹

Jesus then turns His gaze toward where the accusers, the Scribes and Pharisees, were and asked them a simple question.  “Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath days, or to do evil?  To save a life, or to kill?” 

“It seems to have been a maxim with the Jews, that not to do good, when we have an opportunity, was to do evil; not to save life was to kill, or to be guilty of murder.  If a man has an opportunity of saving a man's life when he is in danger, and does not do it, he is evidently guilty of his death.  On this principle our Saviour puts this question to the Jews, whether it was better for him, having the power to heal this man, to do it, or to suffer him to remain in this suffering condition.”²

The Scribes and Pharisees were not concerned about the man’s health and therefore they were condemning the man to a life of pain and misery.  No wonder they would not answer.  To do so would condemn them before the witnesses gathered.  They held their tongue and once again their failure burned within them, piling on all the more for the contempt they had for Jesus.  Once again Jesus fouled their plans and their comfortable life styles.  Jesus was devoted to the common man.  Luke 19:10 says, “ For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.”  The people sought Jesus out and they openly followed Him.  They couldn’t get enough of Jesus.  Many traveled great distances just to see and hear Him speak, some even gave all they had to follow Him.  They just left their old life and followed Jesus.

Yes, Jesus had to be stopped!  The people must be saved from themselves, even if it was for no other reason than to save the people from blindly following this radical named Jesus.

“And when he had looked round about on them with anger, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts, he saith unto the man, Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it out: and his hand was restored whole as the other.” 

When they whimpered amongst themselves and did not answer, Jesus looked around at them with anger; justifiable abhorrence, indignation, vengeance, wrath.  Jesus could see the evil in their hearts and was angered at the sin in their hearts.  Mark uses the word “hardness of their hearts” to describe their selfish mind and heart.  Why would anyone not be in favor of seeing a man healed, no matter what day it was.  The scriptures made exceptions to the Law of working on the sabbath, as we have seen, but these men could not and would not make the same decision for this man. 

Jesus turns toward the man and asked him to “stretch forth thine hand.”  All eyes now shifted from the Scribes, Pharisees and Jesus to the man.  All had forgotten about him standing in the midst of them.  Now with just a simple statement all eyes were now on the man as he raised his hand.  You can hear the “Oohs and Aahs, Hallelujahs and Amen’s could be heard all around the synagogue as they clearly see that his hand was restored and looked just like his good hand.

“And the Pharisees went forth, and straightway took counsel with the Herodians against him, how they might destroy him.”

Isn’t it a pity that these learned men could not see the beauty of the healing because of the scales on their eyes?  These Scribes and Pharisees sunk to the lowest level when they took counsel with the Herodians.  These two groups were diametrically opposed to each other. 

The Herodians were Jews who favored being under the rule of Rome.  The Herodians desired to have a king and the Roman King was just as good as any king for them.  Herod Antipas filled the bill.  He was made the king of the Jews by the Roman emperor after conquering the land.

They were no friends of the Jewish law.  They had no problems with paying tribute to Caesar.  This was in large contrast with the Pharisees who considered themselves as free people. Unlike Jesus, the Pharisees grew angry and sinned, for it was against their conscience to consort with the Herodians.

This lesson clearly points out that we must not let worldly men’s words and plans against Christ and Christians from living a separated life discourage us.  We must live our lives for God, and like in the above story, show love and mercy towards our neighbor.

ã 2002 bobsbiblestudies