Mark 3:1-5 And He (Jesus) entered the synagogue
again, and a man was there who had a withered hand. So they watched Him closely, whether He
would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse Him. And He said to the man who had the
withered hand, “Step forward.” Then He said to them, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save
life or to kill?” But they kept silent. And when He had looked around at them
with anger, being grieved by the hardness of their hearts, He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored as whole
as the other.
Last Sunday, Pastor JJ continued on his series preaching through
the book of Mark. In the gospel of Mark, we see the light of Jesus connected to
God the Father for a life defined, not by chaos, but in the stability of His almighty
power, love and mercy, which is the fuel that propels our Christian life. The Sabbath
was instituted by God in His Ten Commandments (Exodus 20) as a day of rest, but people had flipped this day created
for man’s good to be about mankind burdening themselves for the day (Mark 2:17). Jesus asks His critics: “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to
do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill? Why? The Sabbath law
stated that if someone in trouble reaches out their hand and asks for help from
someone, that someone must help the troubled person. Jesus, without touching
the crippled man, tells him to “Stretch out your hand”, thereby invoking the Sabbath law to help
and he is healed.
Note that
Christ was grieved by the hardness of their hearts. What do people put before
Jesus? Why are people offended by Jesus, by His miraculous power, by His
ultimate authority and his speaking the truth in love? Jesus is in pursuit of
our heart (knocking at the door – Revelation
3:20), but we have the option not to open the door to our heart to Him. Pastor
JJ asks: “Have you ever thought that God doesn’t hate people?” John
3:16 “For
God so loved the world that he gave his one and
only Son, that whoever believes in him shall
not perish but have eternal life.” Creator
God loves us and desires the “best” for us, as a “saved from sin/healed of sin”
child of God, fully trusting under His authority. We can never earn eternal
life. The Bible says that God came to earth and that on the cross, in the person
of His Son, He paid an infinite price. By His graciousness, He offers it to us
freely as a gift. It is received by faith. Faith is the unclean hand of a
beggar reaching out their hand to receive the gift of the king. We don’t
deserve it, but if we “stretch out our hand to Jesus”, by the grace of God, we
have it. Feel the warmth of His embrace. In His presence, daily live. Thank you, Lord, for the gift of eternal life Christ has given
believers. Praise be to God, and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!
2
Peter 3:9 “The Lord is
not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not
wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.”
In Christ,
Brian
2 comments:
Hi Brian,
I never realized the law said on the Sabbath, that is someone in trouble stretches out their hand asking for help, then you must give it. Thx for sharing this. I would like to learn a bit more about this as some feel that Jesus violated the Sabbath, thus sinning.
Blessings,
Ken
Great point Ken. People are always looking for a reason to discredit the Lord as just another sinful person, like themselves, instead of the "Lamb without blemish" sent by Father God to be Savior of the world. If Jesus sinned, just once, He could not pay for the sins of the world, because He would have to pay for His own sins and need a sinless Savior Himself. Christ, God the Son, knows the heart of all men. I love how Jesus first told the man that his sins were forgiven and explained that "words are easy to say". The question was if the crippled man's sins were "really" forgiven. Words are cheap without the authority and ability to back those words up. Jesus knew the Jew Laws completely and the intent of those laws. He not only used the "stretch out your hand" provision of the law for the healing miracle, but ironically had the crippled man do the healing action of complying and following the Lord's instruction, while Jesus never touched him. So all the Lord did was speak the words and proved His authority and divinity by the results without sinning in any way shape or form. I wonder why folks spend so much time trying to find fault in Christ Jesus, instead for looking at all the reasons that He is their blessed Redeemer, if they repent and believe "The Truth", "the Way" & "The Life" ... eternal life in Heaven. I pray that they do see "The Light". Thanks for writing brother.
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