Once again Jesus entered the synagogue, and a man with a withered hand was there. In order to accuse Jesus, they were watching to see if He would heal on the Sabbath.
Then Jesus said to the man with the withered hand, “Stand up among us.” And He asked them, “Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy it?”
But they were silent.
Jesus looked around at them with anger and sorrow at their hardness of heart. Then He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” So he stretched it out, and it was restored.
At this, the Pharisees went out and began plotting with the Herodians how they might kill Jesus.
Mark 3:1—6
Jesus returned to the synagogue. The religious leaders had already accused Jesus of blasphemy and of keeping bad company, and now they sought a way to accuse him of desecrating the Sabbath. The accusation of desecrating the Sabbath is very serious: The penalty for desecrating the Sabbath is death. According to rabbinic interpretation of the Torah, medical treatment was permissible on the Sabbath only if it was necessary to save a person’s life. This ruling is based on a passage in Leviticus:
“Keep My statutes and My judgments, for the man who does these things will live by them.”
Leviticus 18:5
However, having a withered hand is not life-threatening. As a result, in the eyes of the Pharisees there was no rabbinical interpretation or legal justification which would allow Jesus to heal this man on the Sabbath. Jesus knew their deceitful thoughts and therefore asked them: “Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy it?”
But they did not answer a single word. Their silence revealed that they had an unbending religious attitude which was devoid of compassion. He was grieved at the hardness of their hearts.
Some people see Jesus as an easy-going preacher of love who accepts everything and anyone — no matter what. Jesus did indeed teach about the love of God, but he also commanded people to repent of their sins and warned them of the coming judgment. He was angry at hard-hearted individuals who refused to believe in him and opposed his mission to inaugurate the Kingdom of God. Consider this: The way in which we react to Jesus is of great significance. The authority of Jesus — which is expressed by his teachings and his deeds — demands that we make a decision concerning his identity. It is simply impossible to remain indifferent or neutral when we are confronted by Jesus’ authority. We must decide: Will we trust in him, or will we oppose him?
The healing of the man with a withered hand did not cause the religious leaders to praise God, but rather it provided them a pretext to devise a plot against Jesus. Because of their common hatred of Jesus, the Pharisees united with their rivals, the Herodians. In the end they were the ones who desecrated the Sabbath by doing evil and plotting to kill Jesus.
