Mark 3:1-12 Sabbath
Healing June
10, 2017
Jesus chooses the Twelve. Five Decisions
for the individuals
The crowds continued to follow Jesus and were now having
to make personal decisions about Him. Is he:
1)
|
A Lawbreaker?
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Mk 3:1–6
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2)
|
A Miracle
Worker?
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Mk 3:7–12
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3)
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Our Master?
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Mk 3:13–19
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4)
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Beside Himself?
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Mk 3:20–21, |
5)
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In League with Satan?
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Mk 3:22–30
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A Man with a Withered Hand
Mark 3:1 And He entered the synagogue
again, and
a man was there who had a withered hand.
Most
feels this is the next Sabbath.
Luke 6:6 Now it happened on another Sabbath, also, that He
entered the synagogue and taught. And a man was there whose right hand was withered.
Withered Hand: This word suggests disease or accident as the cause. He came there either for a cure, knowing Christ
to be in the synagogue, for the sake of worship or put there as a trap by the Pharisees; He was unable to use his hand
(2)
So they watched Him closely, whether He would heal him on the
Sabbath, so
that they might accuse Him.
Matthew 12:10 And behold, there was a man who had a withered hand.
And they asked Him, saying, "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?"—that they might accuse Him.
The question arises here: was this
cripple planted there
purposely? They knew that,
if they planted
this crippled man right in the way of our Lord, Jesus would heal him when He came into the synagogue.
(what do you think)
The
"withered hand" implies that the man was unable to use his hand. The Pharisees continued to watch Jesus in
order to "accuse Him". Rather than honestly evaluating His claims,
most of them looked for an opportunity to discredit Him. Here they found an
opportunity to charge Him with a capital offense in Israel, namely, Sabbath
violation.
The Sabbath controversy offered their best opening. So here they are ready for business.
(3)
And He said to the man who had the withered hand, "Step forward."
The Wycliffe translation is better here: “Rise, come into the midst and stand there.”
Made the
individual stand in the center of all that were there, so no one will miss it.
Step forward: Jesus read their thoughts and
determined to show mercy by His good work. He
would heal him on the Sabbath; heal him in the synagogue, heal him before all.
Matthew added:
Matthew 12:11-12 Then He said to them, "What man is
there among you who has one sheep, and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath,
will not lay hold of it and lift it out?
(12) Of how much more value then
is a man than a sheep? Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath."
(4)
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.
He said to them: Either to the whole group, or rather,
to the Scribes and Pharisees, who were watching him, and had put a question to
him,
They had learned
not to answer Jesus because
they always got into trouble when they did. Just
think, this individual stood there in
sullen silence and helplessness before them all before the question of Jesus.
Pharisees were harboring murderous thoughts; he was seeking to save life. Pharisees thought it was breaking the Sabbath.
Notice: Rather than
avoiding a conflict, Jesus provoked one. He did so to teach His critics a lesson. His question raised the issue
of Sabbath observance from the level of what was legal to the level of what was
moral. For Jesus not to heal the man would have been a violation of God's
purpose for the Sabbath, namely, to bring blessing to people. Moreover, by
healing the man "on the Sabbath," Jesus was doing "good,"
whereas the Pharisees were doing "evil" by trying to trap Him.
Christ put the meaning of the Sabbath to the test. Certainly it was
more consistent with the intention of the law to restore this man's afflicted
hand, even on the Sabbath, than to destroy his hopes for the sake of keeping
human tradition. The Pharisees did not respond, for they knew that they would
condemn themselves.
Pharisees held their peace: or "were silent", not being able to
return an answer, but what must have been in his favor, and to their own
confusion, and therefore chose to say nothing. Mark alone wrote
that the critics kept quiet, probably to clarify their guilt.
Jesus
was taking steps to save this man's life; Pharisees were thinking out methods
of killing Jesus.
Pharisees heart had been
closed up, so that Jesus wholesome doctrine had no effect upon them
(5) 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.
Jesus
was "looking around" for someone who would respond to His question. This
expression is unique to the Gospel of Mark. Peter remembered Jesus looking
around and communicated these to Mark as significant indications of His
"looking" for the proper response from people.
With anger: The empty legalism and utter hypocrisy
of the Jews evoked
His righteous anger. Mark has a good deal to say about the looks of
Jesus with this word.
This
is the only place in the New Testament where Mark actually stated that Jesus
was angry.
This was a case of righteous, disgust in the presence of unrepentant evil.
"Hardness of heart" can also mean
"blindness."
Ephesians 4:18 They are darkened in their understanding
and separated from the life of God because of their ignorance and hardness of
heart. (or blindness of their heart, other
translations)
Ephesians 4:26 "BE
ANGRY, AND DO NOT SIN": do not let the sun go down on your wrath, (Jesus is
angry without sin)
This
is also the only account of this miracle that records Jesus' compassion for
this person with His anger towards the Pharisees. The tenses of the Greek verbs indicate that
Jesus was angry momentarily, but His attitude of compassion was persistent.
References to Jesus' emotions are peculiar to Mark's Gospel. They show His
humanity.
Since
Jesus did not use anything but His word to heal the man, His enemies could not charge
Him with performing work on the Sabbath. Jesus' beneficent creative work on
this occasion recalls His work in creating the cosmos. The Pharisees should
have made the connection and worshipped Jesus as God.
(6)
Then the Pharisees went out and immediately plotted with the Herodians
against Him, how they might destroy Him.
Luke 6:11 But they were filled
with rage, and discussed with one another what they might do to Jesus.
The Pharisees (legalists) joined with Herodians
(Hellenizing conformists) in common rejection and hatred of the Servant of God; they began their plot to kill Him.
This is the first mention
of the Herodians and they were a Jewish political party that favored Herod
and Roman rule.
The Pharisees would welcome the help of their rivals to destroy
Jesus. In the presence
of Jesus they unite their forces.
Jesus again deliberately violated
the Jewish Sabbath
traditions.
Jesus wanted to do more than merely heal a man; He wanted to teach the Pharisees
that God wanted His people to enjoy freedom
and not suffer in religious bondage
Acts 15:10 Now therefore, why do you
test God by putting a yoke on the neck of the disciples which neither our
fathers nor we were able to bear?
It is always right to
do good; and if
we do not do good,
we do evil
James 4:17 Therefore, to him who
knows to do good and does not do it, to
him it is sin.
Jesus saw the hardening of their hearts the evil process taking place within them, and He knew where it would end. These religious men would actually become murderers of their own Messiah!
Remember, Pharisees hated him,
because he corrected them and laid open their hypocrisy; and because he won the hearts of the people and lessened
their influence. They therefore determined to remove him, if possible, and
thus avoid his corrections. Sinners would
often rather put to death the man that corrects
them, even to the murder of the Messiah, than forsake the sins for which he rebuked them
Instead
of simply leaving Jesus alone, they took steps to kill Him. As the gospel story
unfolds, it becomes increasingly clear that Jesus' enemies opposed Him because
He constituted a threat to their authority. That motivation is evident here, too, because
"the Herodians" were supporters of Roman authority over Palestine.
Together, the Pharisees and the Herodians "feared he might be an
unsettling political influence in Palestine." These two groups had little
in common except their common enemy, Jesus.
This
is Mark's first explicit reference to Jesus' death. Jesus' enemies had decided to
"destroy Him." They only needed to plan how.
This
decision of Jesus' enemies to kill Him constitutes a turning point in Mark's
narrative. It is a benchmark that affected Jesus' ministry from then on.
A
Great Crowd Follows Jesus, Jesus'
ministry to the multitudes
(7)
But Jesus withdrew with His disciples to the sea. And a great
multitude from
Galilee followed Him, and from Judea
(8) and Jerusalem and Idumea and beyond the Jordan; and
those from Tyre and Sidon, a great multitude, when they heard how many things
He was doing, came to Him.
As we talked about before, the great crowds followed
Jesus from all over the region so that He was unable to have any privacy. Thousands
of people came from all over either to be healed or to watch Jesus heal others. When He was near the Sea of Galilee, the disciples kept a boat handy so He could
preach from it.
Jesus fame has spread throughout all Israel.
The crowds
came from a very wide area
and created a potential problem for Jesus,
for the Romans
might think He was leading
a popular uprising and interfere with His ministry.
The
"sea" to which Jesus "withdrew" was the Sea of Galilee. He
went there rather than to the areas farther south, where it would have been
easier for His enemies to harass Him. Jesus withdrew because of the religious
leaders' plot to kill Him.
Jesus time had not yet
come, and he took care of his life, thus showing that we are not needlessly to
throw ourselves into danger.
(9)
So He told His disciples that a small boat should be kept
ready for Him
because of the multitude, lest they should crush Him. (10) For He healed many, so that as many as had afflictions pressed
about Him to
touch Him.
He told His disciples: Jesus commanded them
Jesus
addressed the crowds from a small "boat", just a fishing boat, on the
lake when they "pressed" too heavily upon Him. Apparently the
disciples kept this little boat handy whenever Jesus spoke to the crowds from
the shore. If He needed to step back from them, He would have a place of
retreat. Mark probably mentioned this detail to stress the large numbers of
people who followed Jesus.
Being on the water: Jesus voice will be amplified and will have a separation
from the people while in the boat. It
also shows Jesus' willingness to adapt His presentation to the needs of His
audience. Perhaps "the big fisherman," Peter, was responsible for
this boat.
Kept ready for Him: Be constantly for His service
Pressed about Him: Not merely gathered about Him to hear Him, and thus
created a pressure, but actually pushed themselves upon Him, to touch him.
Matthew 9:20-21 And suddenly, a woman who had a flow of blood for
twelve years came from behind and touched the hem of His garment. (21)
For she said to herself, "If only I may touch His garment, I shall
be made well."
The
people seemed to have little interest in worshipping Jesus as God, but they
were eager to receive the physical benefits of His ministry. These benefits
Jesus graciously bestowed on them.
(11)
And the unclean spirits, whenever they saw Him, fell down before Him and cried
out, saying,
"You are the Son of God." (12) But He sternly warned them that they
should not make Him known.
Unclean spirits - Persons who were possessed of evil spirits. We have seen
earlier Demons are
evil or unclean
spirits and are servants of Satan.
There is only one devil, but
many of demons who serve the devil and make his power practically universal.
Distinctions: Angels and Demons, Angels can materialize, take people by the hand,
eat meals with them, and engage in physical combat, etc. Demons
are always seeking
embodiment: they appear powerless except to the extent that they can take possession of a person or
animal.
They saw Him: This was the usual effect
Fell down before him and cried. The possessed man fell down,
and his voice uttered the cry; but both acts are given to the evil spirit;
You are the Son of God: did not the Pharisee hear this
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