Again he entered the synagogue, and a man was there who had a withered hand. They watched him to see whether he would cure him on the sabbath, so that they might accuse him. And he said to the man who had the withered hand, “Come forward.” Then he said to them, “Is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the sabbath, to save life or to kill?” But they were silent. He looked around at them with anger; he was grieved at their hardness of heart and said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand restored. The Pharisees went out and immediately conspired with the Herodians against him, how to destroy him.
- Mark 3:1-6
This seems to be a particularly appropriate reading for our present time. Rules, rules, rules—be sure you follow all the rules or else the authorities will conspire against you. You will literally be turned away. We are living in a time when obeying all the many and conflicting rules are front and center–the focus of life.
I love to read passages of the New Testament that show Jesus as a regular person within a particular society. He laughs, he cries, he gets angry. How does he view the many rules of Jewish life? Remember he was an observant Jew—he followed the Law. And yet, if we imagine the picture drawn in this passage, Jesus was probably just going to a Jewish service of worship when he was presented with a man who had suffered all his life from a birth defect—a withered hand. What to do?
Ah ha! the rule-makers say—let’s see what he does. It’s Sunday after all. (No cheating as there is no healing allowed on Sundays.) And Jesus does not disappoint them. He chooses mercy. He heals the man’s hand. And he is angry with the hard hearts of the rule-makers. As it turns out, this was the last straw for them. They just could not have this kind of thing continue.
My question is this—where do you find yourself in this story? I ask myself the same question. I have always been a rule-follower—my dad was an FBI guy. We didn’t break the rules. But the rule book is very heavy and hard to discard. I know this: I would hope that by God’s grace and love that I would choose mercy. Is there is room in my softened heart to make space for that?
Musical Reflection - Fix Me Jesus - Revelations by Alvin Ailey
