Jesus, Healing on the SabbathTruth Taught- We see the great difference between God and the religious. Our Lord heals on the Sabbath while they make plans to kill on the Sabbath.
In our passage for today, Jesus and the Pharisees face off again. On this occasion, they accuse Jesus of breaking the Sabbath Law again.
Last time we looked together at Jesus and His disciples being accused of breaking Sabbath Law by picking grain and eating it on the Sabbath. Now, the Pharisees are accusing Him of breaking the Sabbath by showing kindness and care to a man with a hand that is deformed or injured in some way.
What should have happened that Sabbath Day was a celebration. Jesus and this man meet in the synagogue what an amazing God-ordained meeting! The talk should have been, now we shall see our friend healed because Jesus is here, what a glorious Sabbath this will be! Jesus will show His great power to heal and this man will forever be changed and God will be praised…
This is not what happened. When people have hard hearts and focus on the letter of the law but not the intent of the law, they have made themselves enemies of righteousness. Tradition had become their Bibles and their works, their god. They had become more and more like the dead things they worshipped and in their hard hearts there was no room for compassion, mercy, or Jesus.
Mark 3:1–6 (ESV)
3 Again he entered the synagogue, and a man was there with a withered hand. 2 And they watched Jesus, to see whether he would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse him. 3 And he said to the man with the withered hand, “Come here.” 4 And he said to them, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to kill?” But they were silent. 5 And he looked around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, and said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was restored. 6 The Pharisees went out and immediately held counsel with the Herodians against him, how to destroy him.
1. The Great Contrast Between Works and Grace (3.1-4)
3 Again he entered the synagogue, and a man was there with a withered hand. 2 And they watched Jesus, to see whether he would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse him. 3 And he said to the man with the withered hand, “Come here.” 4 And he said to them, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to kill?” But they were silent
This event probably took place the same day as the previous text and involved the same Pharisees. This was the synagogue in Capernaum. This was Jesus’ synagogue. They had formalized it to the point that it really wasn’t a place of worship any longer but simply a place where rules were kept and a trap could be set.
Notice how hardhearted these Pharisees are. They use this man with a withered hand not as someone to help and care for but a test case for religious rule keeping.
The rule the Pharisees had set in place was that a healing was allowed if a person’s life was in danger. Here, the man with a withered hand was probably not in danger of dying. So, in their opinion, this man’s suffering could wait until tomorrow.
Isn’t it so gracious of Jesus to attend to his need right there on the spot. There was no waiting until tomorrow for Jesus. He was willing to heal him and willing to heal immediately. We quickly see the glorious contrast between God and sinful man. God comes to our rescue while sinful man turns away or uses the suffering person as a means to an end. Their purpose that day was to trap Jesus and after the man would be discarded as no longer useful to them.
What sort of cold religion says that it is more important to observe the letter of the law (here not even the letter of the law but the letter of some man-made tradition) than to show compassion to someone in need? Their purpose that day in the temple was not worship but entrapment. They were not in the synagogue that Sabbath Day to worship and glorify God but were simply there to catch Jesus in their trap. They were so obsessed with catching Jesus that they were willing to do anything in order to shut Him up.
They knew Jesus was a Healer and that He would heal this man on the Sabbath so, they stood ready to set Him up.
Our Lord sees our need and is willing to meet it anywhere and anytime.
They are now using this poor man as theological bait to trap Jesus. They don’t care about this man at all. He is just handy and useful for their evil purposes. Was it lawful to heal someone on the Sabbath? Healing is not mentioned in the 39 articles of forbidden work but it does appear in another Jewish rulebook called the Mishnah. Watch what the Scribes and Pharisees did to God’s good Law. Here, all healing is forbidden except for life threatening cases and to aiding in childbirth. Other than that, healing was forbidden on the Sabbath. Remember, this was not God’s commands but man’s additions. I pray when you consider this text your heart sinks in sadness as you consider the plight of this man. Make sure and understand that these religious leaders could not heal him. However, they were so evil and so hardhearted that they think it’s wrong for Jesus to heal him.
Beloved, we are bound to obey all God commands but we must not obey man’s additions to God’s commands. Do you see how when one works for salvation, such as the Pharisees, even the day of rest must be a day of rule keeping and not rest because in their thinking, there is no salvation in rest.
Oh, the joy the worshipping community should have had when Jesus healed this man. They should have shouted for joy when God performed this wonderful miracle but they didn’t.
” 4 And he said to them, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to kill?” But they were silent
Here is Jesus’ response to their accusations. Their law/tradition in the Mishnah claimed it was okay to break the Sabbath to save a life. However, the intent of the Sabbath was to celebrate your rest in God alone. This man while not dying from his withered hand surely could not celebrate the Sabbath. So, Jesus connects the truth that it is a good thing to also do good to others on the Sabbath. Help others so they can worship God on the Sabbath.
He was completely living out God’s intent for the Sabbath by healing this man on that very day. What joy this man would express and what Glory God would receive when Jesus heals this man on the Sabbath.
But they were silent
These religious people were never quiet. They were always telling others when they were wrong, or at least wrong in their opinion. They wrote massive volumes on the letter of the Law but here, they were silent. They were silent when they were clearly wrong and in sin but the rest of the time, they were extremely vocal. They were very quick to point to everyone else when they did not prescribe to their rules but silent when they broke God’s Law.
What was Jesus getting at? What point was He making? He is saying, you think it’s alright to plot and scheme on the Sabbath how you wish to kill Me, However, it’s not alright to do good and heal someone? How twisted were there motives and their teaching.
2. Jesus’ Anger at Their Hard Hearts (3:5)
5 And he looked around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, and said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was restored.
Notice in verse 5, Jesus looked at them with anger. Can you imagine that look? He looked at each of the Pharisees with divine anger not one of them escaped His gaze. Can you imagine the flash and stare of His eyes as one by one they received His indignation and anger?
This anger was right and holy this was a godly anger.
Mark tells us there were two things in this gaze of Jesus… Anger was there and grief was also there. Jesus was angry because of the fact that they took God’s wonderful Law that meant good for His people and twisted it robbing God’s people of all He had for them and using it for their own sinful purposes. This angered Jesus and also caused Him grief.
I wonder if this is the look that lost people will receive when Jesus as their judge one day sentences them to hell. They too have twisted God’s good intentions for their own sinful purposes. Will they receive that look?
Matthew 7:21–23 (ESV)
21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’
Father is there anyone here today that is not saved? Is there anyone here who remains in this lost condition now? We thank You that forgiveness is available now. However, on that day there will be none available.
What caused Jesus’ anger and grief?
grieved at their hardness of heart
They would not see their own sin but tried to stand in judgement over Jesus. It was made very clear to them and yet they could not or would not see their own sin. A person with a hard heart will not see their own sin but very quickly point out someone else’s. Jesus had no sin but the dynamic goes like this. They refused to repent of their sin of plotting for Jesus’ murder and yet they were very quick to spy out Jesus and look for flaws and faults according to their manmade law.
They remained silent when their sins were exposed but quickly gathered together to discuss Jesus’ faults.
Do not Kill is fairly plain and simple part of God’s Law, the Ten Commandments. Yet that exactly what they were doing…even on the Sabbath.
Please listen…we must dread the thought of being hardhearted ourselves. Dread the heart condition that would allow us to be hypocrites with false professions of faith. Dread the deadness of the soul that could make a false profession or mascaraed as Christians while lost. Dread the type of hard heart that looks to catch others in a technicality while you are in out right blatant sin.
Jesus would reveal who these Pharisees really were.
Matthew 23:27–28 (ESV)
27 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness. 28 So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.
Remove the marble slab tombstone and dig past the well-kept lawn and go down a few feet and there, Jesus tells us, there you will find the true Pharisee. There is what the Pharisee really looks like to God. They play the part of being pure and righteous but God loathes them and their condition. They look the part and do all works to make you think they’re genuine but their hearts are dead, their souls are dead and the deeds they perform are satanic deception. The Pharisees were Satan’s minions to fool the people into thinking God is accessed by human works and not by grace.
said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was restored.
What I want to point out is that Jesus commanded this man to do what he couldn’t do. Stretch out your hand was something he longed to do but could not. Jesus, do You know how many times I’ve longed to do what you’re asking? I’ve longed to shake hands with a new acquaintance; I’ve forgotten what my wife’s skin feels like. I’ve forgotten how to pick up something from the table, I cannot work but have to beg like a dog, Jesus I can’t…The difference is the Word of God. At Jesus’ words he could do the impossible. He could obey and he did obey…his hand was made whole.
As the Creator, at His very word, Stretch out your hand, our Lord in a split second gave this man everything he needed to obey that direct command. Jesus gave him new muscle, ligaments everything he needed so that he could stretch out his hand. This is a Let there be light moment, this was a Lazarus come forth moment. With the command comes the power to obey.
This was a divine healing. No one but Jesus could do this. No one but Jesus would do this.
How quickly Jesus can change a shriveled hand to a healthy hand. How quickly can Jesus heal a shriveled heart and lost soul.
Is Jesus commanding you today? Is He calling you to a certain task? You may think it’s impossible but understand our Lord will give you the power to respond in obedience. He will fulfill His desires through you. He will give you what you need to obey His command.
3. The Pharisee are No Longer Ruling Over the People (3:6)
6 The Pharisees went out and immediately held counsel with the Herodians against him, how to destroy him.
This means that they were almost forced out. They had lost all that they had over the people. No more could they lord over the people with manmade rules, at least in the synagogue. Jesus had exposed them for the evil tyrants they were. The bottom line here is that it’s always lawful on any day to do good and especially the Sabbath.
Let’s look together at their evil twist. They are arguing that it’s not lawful to heal on the Sabbath. This man could be healed tomorrow. His condition is not life threatening so wait until tomorrow. Jesus is not going to let this man suffer for another day just so some manmade rule can be observed. He heals him right then in an instant with a word.
Now evil really shows itself. In their thinking it was sinful to heal on the Sabbath but they are going out to plot Jesus’ murder. You can’t heal on the Sabbath but you can scheme a murder on the Sabbath. Do you see how corrupt their minds are?
” 4 And he said to them, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to kill?” But they were silent
So, to remember the Sabbath and keeping it holy is still a principle for us today. Keeping the principle of the Sabbath is not legalistic. It is not Phariseeism. Keeping God’s law is not legalistic. Keeping man’s rules is.
What should be our response to this passage?
Ask God to reveal to us any hardheartedness that we might have. The Pharisees were great critics, fault-finders, word-spinners. Their goal was to find something about Jesus they could use to fuel their attacks and their unbelief.
Are you quick to find fault in someone or something outside of yourself? Do you see other’s sins while yours just don’t seem too bad?
How is it that we can have a heart that God is pleased with? Seek to discover your own sin and then ask God to grant you true repentance. Seek to have a clear conscience before God.
Apart from God’s miracle of salvation all people have hard hearts that remain obstinate toward God’s call to repent. These Pharisees were shown truth and they dug their heals in and would not let go of their pride. Jesus was angry and grieved at their hard hearts.
Are you one who is ready to believe all the Bible tells you? Are you one who sees your own sin and is quick to repent? Or are you like the Pharisees putting on a show of pretend piety?
Resources Used:
Jesus Angry with Hard Hearts (A Sermon by CH Spurgeon)
Mark by William Lane
Words of Blessing
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