Mark 3:1-6: a reflection

1He entered again into the synagogue, and there was a man there whose hand was withered. 2They watched him, whether he would heal him on the Sabbath day, that they might accuse him. 3He said to the man whose hand was withered, “Stand up.” 4He said to them, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath day to do good or to do harm? To save a life or to kill?” But they were silent. 5When he had looked around at them with anger, being grieved at the hardening of their hearts, he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was restored as healthy as the other. 6The Pharisees went out, and immediately conspired with the Herodians against him, how they might destroy him.

In the synagogue there is a man with a withered hand, and the Pharisees are watching, not with compassion for the man, but to see whether Jesus will heal on the Sabbath so they can accuse him. Jesus poses a question that exposes their hearts: Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to kill? They will not answer. And Mark records something striking: Jesus looked around at them with anger, grieved at the hardness of their hearts, and then healed the man.

Notice what grieved and angered Jesus. It was hearts so hardened by rule-keeping that they cared more about a technicality than about a suffering man in front of them, hearts that would rather see a rule preserved than a person healed. To Jesus, the answer to his question was obvious: doing good is always lawful; the Sabbath, or any rule, was never meant to forbid mercy. Their inability to see that, their preference for the rule over the person, moved him to anger and grief.

There is a searching challenge in this. We too can let rules, propriety, the way things are done, harden us against simply doing good to a person in need. We can be more concerned with keeping things correct than with showing mercy, and not even notice the suffering in front of us. Jesus' question cuts through it: is it lawful to do good? Yes, always. Do not let rule-keeping or propriety crowd out plain mercy. When there is good to be done for a person in need, do it, and do not let a hardened preference for the rule stand in the way.

Lord Jesus, you were grieved and angered by hearts so hardened by rule-keeping that they prized a technicality over a suffering man. Search my own heart for that hardness. Keep me from letting rules or propriety crowd out plain mercy, or blind me to the person in need in front of me. Help me see that doing good is always lawful, and to do it. Soften my heart toward people.