Advent 2025: Sun 21 Dec
Mark 3.1-5 Religion challenged again
1 Another time Jesus went into the synagogue, and a man with a shrivelled 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 shrivelled 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.
Mark has picked many examples of Jesus at work on the Sabbath Day. Pharisees aren’t mentioned by name in this instance, but it’s clear that more than a few people are touchy about Jesus’ behaviour on the Sabbath Day. Jesus travelled around the region and preached in synagogues as well as out in the open.
Jesus is aware that there are negative people present –they haven’t come to worship God or learn from Scripture, but rather to enforce their narrow interpretation, keeping worship and Scripture in a secure box of their own making.
Synagogue worship was attended by the same local people week in and week out. People wouldn’t flock to a particular synagogue in another village because they had a good cantor there, or because the scrolls of the Scriptures were more finely crafted than those in their local synagogue or because the leader kept to time. I expect that everyone turned up anyway, so that if a travelling speaker came, especially one as remarkable as Jesus, the place would be no more filled than on any other Sabbath.
Our disabled man was a local. Let’s call him Joshua, because he’s as anonymous in this account as the man who’d been lowered down on his mat earlier in Mark’s narrative. We at least will not want to make him an object, but a person. Everyone knew that Joshua could not produce as much output as able-bodied people. They may have considered Joshua’s affliction a result of sin, his or his parents’, in which case he didn’t deserve any sympathy. Joshua may have struggled to earn a living. He came to synagogue each Sabbath. The text suggests that he was the only person present with a disability, as the trouble-makers were watching to see if Jesus would heal him.
What is going on in the heads and hearts of people who cannot see the wonders of God at work for the dark glasses they have placed over their eyes? What makes winning some technical argument over Sabbath Day practice more vital to them than the miracle of tissue being restored before their very eyes? They did not care about the man.
Jesus might be in a bit of a dilemma here. His driving motive is compassion to heal, to restore, to make new, to reveal the amazing wonder of Father God, to demonstrate the joy and freedom of the Kingdom of heaven to all. He sees in our Joshua a man who can be restored to health and dignity, and freedom from the accusation of sinfulness. But before he can do this, he must address the hardened hearts in the room. Is it wrong to heal someone on the Sabbath? Is this “work”? Is it not bringing glory to God? No answer emerged. Their silence justified Jesus’ next action.
Jesus was angry and distressed, but he was not diverted. He healed the man.
What are the blessings and challenges of the church that is nearest to your home? What can you bring to that fellowship?
When do we have a right to be angry or distressed?
How could you get attendance the same whatever the service?
Has a miracle ever passed you by because it didn’t fit into your box?
Are there any Joshuas in your fellowship?
Could Mark be accused of being a bit impersonal?
Father God, challenge me when I judge others. Amen.
The prophecy in Isaiah is not about a baby boy. You have to be born – it’s who you become that matters. These titles were earned by Jesus the man: Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Paul