On Line Bible Study - For the week January 12 - 18, 2009

Lesson 370

Mark 3: 1 Another time he went into the synagogue, and a man with a shriveled hand was there. 2 Some 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. 3 Jesus said to the man with the shriveled hand, "Stand up in front of everyone."
4 Then 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.
5 He 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. 6 Then the Pharisees went out and began to plot with the Herodians how they might kill Jesus.

This is the fifth - and final - "controversy" in the opening chapters of Mark's Gospel. While his ministry of teaching and healing in the synagogue was at first celebrated (see Mark 1:21ff), it came to be seen as something that must be destroyed (Mark 3:6). Let's consider several interesting points in this story:

1. First, there is a passage in Isaiah 35:3 that makes reference to "feeble hands being strengthened" as an indication that God's grace has returned to the people.
2. And, with reference to this man with a shriveled hand, the apocryphal Gospel of the Hebrews deals with this story in an attempt to understand the connection between "life and death" that Jesus speaks of, and an apparently non-life-threatening condition of a withered hand. The Gospel of the Hebrews tells us the man is a stone mason, and his hands enable him to make his living.
3. "Stubborn hearts" (or "hardened hearts") are not conducive to the work of God.
4. Such irony - that Jesus is faulted for healing on the Sabbath, while the Pharisees and Herodians fail to recognize the extent to which their plotting to kill Jesus violates the very essence of what the Sabbath stands for. Which is lawful, to save life or to kill? The Mishna allowed for persons to take life-saving measures on the Sabbath.
   

There is a missing word in the translation - the last line of the story should indicate that the Pharisees and Herodians plotting had a sense of urgency, or immediacy to it. It has to be remembered that the Pharisees were acting in a protective manner, seeing Jesus as a threat to their understanding of the truth of the Law.

I recall reading somewhere that our competency is our greatest liability. The assurance that we know how to do something can become the largest obstacle in our openness to learning new things. When it comes to our relationship with God, religion is its own worst enemy. Spiritual certainty is only a small step away from hardened hearts.

If you had never read or heard this story before, and you came to this point in the book, reading that a plot was emerging to kill Jesus, would you want to read on? Why? (Or why not?)

We will continue with Mark 3 next time.