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February 22 – Mark 3:1-12

The Pharisees and teachers of the law believed Jesus could heal. That’s the very basis for the “trap” they hope Jesus falls into. In fact, the religious leaders are betting that Jesus won’t be able to resist healing the man with the shriveled hand in the synagogue on the Sabbath. Consider what this really means—the religious leaders believe Christ can miraculously heal. They believe He is loving and compassionate. Yet they reject Him. They know about Jesus, but they refuse to follow Him. Instead, while Jesus has healing on His mind, they have murder on theirs.

Jesus knows what they are after, but He continues to teach the same lesson He has been trying to teach them all along—that God cares more about love and compassion than religious rituals and sacrifices. So, before Jesus heals the man’s shriveled hand, He asks, “Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?” (v. 4) And in this question, Jesus reveals the religious leaders’ hearts. They hate and long to kill; Jesus loves and longs to heal. God does not cease loving on the Sabbath. None of God’s commandments conflict with His command to love and do good, certainly not the command to observe the Sabbath!


In response to Jesus’ question, the religious leaders remain silent. (If they had any sense, they were reflecting on the fact that their hatred had just been revealed in the synagogue on the Sabbath.) Jesus looks at them “in anger” and is “deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts” (v. 5). The tense of the Greek verbs is telling here. The word for “anger” is in the aorist tense, meaning that it happens at a point in time, while “distressed” is in the present tense, which indicates it is an ongoing emotion. Jesus was only angry for a moment, but He remained troubled by their hardness of heart. He cared deeply about what their choice to reject Him would mean for them and for the people they were supposed to be leading and teaching. Jesus’ love even extended to those who wanted to kill Him!


Though the religious leaders refuse to follow Jesus after this, the common people rush to Him with their sick and disabled. People came from miles around, and Jesus had to teach them from a boat on the shore to keep them from overwhelming Him as they tried to touch Him. He continued to heal and show God’s love, and the religious leaders continued to seek His death.


Ironically, it wasn’t the learned holy men of Jesus’ day who understood what God was doing. In fact, they totally missed it. Though they believed Jesus had miraculous powers to heal and that He would heal on the Sabbath out of compassion, they still wanted to kill Him. So, faith in Christ is not simply knowing about Him and believing He can do the impossible; it’s about submitting to Him and following Him—something the religious leaders refused to do.


Thank the Lord for His love today. Praise Him that He is a God of compassion rather than a taskmaster who insists on the perfect keeping of rules and rituals. Praise Him for making a way for imperfect sinners like you to come to Him, and ask where you still need to submit to following Him more closely. Be willing to let Him teach you more about His compassion and love so that you can reflect it to others—even on the Sabbath.

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My name is Melissa Anderson. I'm a spiritual director and ordained pastor who loves God, people, and words. You can read more about me by clicking the button below.

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