Mark 3:1-6
You Have to Do Right

He entered again into the synagogue, and there was a man there who had his hand withered. They watched him, whether he would heal him on the Sabbath day, that they might accuse him. He said to the man who had his hand withered, "Stand up." He said to them, "Is it lawful on the Sabbath day to do good, or to do harm? To save a life, or to kill?" But they were silent. When he had looked around at them with anger, being grieved at the hardening of their hearts, he said to the man, "Stretch out your hand." He stretched it out, and his hand was restored as healthy as the other. The Pharisees went out, and immediately conspired with the Herodians against him, how they might destroy him.

World English Bible

Did you notice the silence?

We've all been there at some point in our lives. That moment of stillness, where even though we may be surrounded by cacophony, we feel like the whole world is hanging motionless, watching to see what happens next. A moment where the options are so plainly in front of us that we can no longer delay the choice, we can no longer deny the options, but we must "do." Do we walk away, escaping, wasting the opportunity? Do we capitulate to the demands of those who are trying to break us? Do we stand up for what is right, hoping that we have the strength to hold up against the wrong? Each of these moments may be dramatically different, but each demands a conscious, deliberate act to do right—or fail and do wrong.

Mark gives us a brilliant insight into what Jesus was thinking in this moment. He asked his question "to save life or to kill?" as he cast hard, direct, intense looks past the eyes into every heart of every Pharisee standing in that circle. His jaw clenched, his brow furrowed, his mouth scowled, making one more pass with his eyes, giving them yet another moment to crack the hardened stubbornness in their hearts—and they all failed. That failure hurt Jesus, too, and he must have let out a sigh as he saw that these men were so lost in their misdirected piety. Anger or not, grief or not, Jesus, defiantly, calmly, with all the confidence and assurance of Heaven, must have spoken slowly, clearly, in a tone that rang of Eternity, "stretch out your hand."

I read this story and think of my failures in my moments. One way to fail is to avoid the confrontation, knowing that the situation is tense, the opinions of the crowd are against me, and I will hurt as a result. Another way to fail is to let my anger overwhelm me, and seize the chance to yell and scream at these hypocrites for their heartless attitudes and obsession with power and control. When I give in to my anger, I become one of them, fighting for their power.

My favorite way to fail is to try to bring the Pharisees around. Jesus knew the miracle he would do would initiate their murder plots against him. I'm sure that's the double meaning of his question to the Pharisees. I wouldn't want to be the one that pushed them over the edge! Surely if I back down, I can give them another chance to come around to the good side, right?

No. Life doesn't work that way. "Right" is never served by foregoing right and doing wrong. Jesus gave the Pharisees the chance, the opportunity to make the right decision before he healed the crippled man. They could have backed down. They had time, they had opportunity, and they chose not to take that opportunity, and they consciously reacted to Jesus' defiant healing with plans for murder. They decided wrong!

James explains in chapter 3, verse 17 of his letter that "the wisdom from above is first pure" and then it is "peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits." Jesus was merciful, patient, and loving, but most of all, he was without sin. Without that righteousness as God's Son, none of the rest of those attributes would have mattered.

When we have those moments, we must hold on tight to God's Righteousness more than anything else, knowing that in God's strength, we can stand firm, we can use our emotions to God's glory, and we can do what is right in God's eyes, no matter what the consequences and the reaction. You see, Jesus knows just what that feels like!