In our previous study we left Jesus with the Pharisees, debating whether or not Jesus’ disciples were permitted by the Law to pluck the grain from the wheat in the field on the Sabbath. The disciples weren’t harvesting the grain in order to sell or store and eat later. Rather, they plucked the grain to eat immediately, in order to satisfy their present hunger (Mark 2:23-28). In our current study we find Jesus entering a synagogue on another Sabbath (Mark 3:1-2). We know this Sabbath wasn’t the same as the one in our previous study, because, apparently, the scribes and Pharisees had laid a trap for Jesus. They wanted to see, if he would heal on the Sabbath, because they needed evidence to accuse him of wrongdoing (Mark 3:2).
Interrogating Jesus in order to understand why he did what he did seems to be over. The Jewish rulers had made up their minds about him and from this point onward, their questions etc. should be considered snares in efforts to trip Jesus up in his words. It seemed imperative for them to gain an advantage over him. Additionally, we need to keep in mind that these are the days of Jesus temptation in the wilderness of people (Ezekiel 20:35). Mark is still telling us when Jesus was with the wild beasts (Mark 1:13) or serpents (cp. Matthew 23:33), whom the scriptures identify as the scribes and Pharisees (Matthew 23:29), the very ones who were presently laying a trap for him (Mark 3:1-2; cp. Luke 6:6-7). So, if this Sabbath occurred immediately after the weekly Sabbath following Yom Kippur, then we have now come to the first day of the Feast of Tabernacles, a seven day festival in which the first day, the fifteenth of the seventh month, is a Sabbath (cp. Leviticus 23:33-35).
Mark tells us that Jesus’ accusers watched him, to see if he would heal the man with the withered hand, whom they probably brought there from another place in order to set the trap. Apparently, Jesus paid the man no mind, because none of the Synoptics, which record this event, mention him saying anything to Jesus or anyone else. The man may or may not have been privy to this unscrupulous plot. It is Matthew who tells us that the first to mention the man were the scribes and Pharisees. They pointed him out to Jesus, asking, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath days?” (Matthew 12:10).
At this point Jesus had to respond to the man’s condition. Otherwise, his enemies would have gained the upper hand and error would have supplanted the truth. So, rather than immediately healing the man, Jesus tried to reason with his enemies in an effort to get them to recognize their obvious error. Matthew has Jesus pointing out how even they would help an animal who had fallen into a pit on the Sabbath (Matthew 12:11-12). So, if logic is sound reasoning, why not help a human being on the Sabbath?
Apparently, Jesus’ question was met with silence on the parts of the scribes and Pharisees, so both Mark and Luke have him asking another question: “Is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath days, or to do evil? to save life, or to kill?” (Mark 3:3-4; cp. Luke 6:7-9). This question pointed to their own interpretation of the Sabbath law. Years ago, the Jews’ enemies were able to take advantage of them in battle by attacking them on the Sabbath, because the Jews wouldn’t fight back in honor of the day. It was the national hero, Mattathias, who convinced the Jews it would be a righteous thing to defend oneself in battle on the Sabbath, but they shouldn’t initiate an attack upon their enemies on that day.[1] So even the then present Jewish rulership taught it was a righteous thing to kill on the Sabbath in one’s defense. Using this logic, then, wouldn’t it also be a righteous matter to save life (make it whole) on the Sabbath (Mark 3:4)?
Once more Jesus’ argument was met with silence, and Mark tells us that this angered Jesus (Mark 3:5). Therefore, he commanded that the man stand in their midst, and speaking only the word—actually doing nothing—Jesus commanded the man to raise up his hand, and the man did so, showing he was healed. Yet, he wasn’t healed by anything Jesus **did** on the Sabbath day. Rather, he was healed by what Jesus **said** on the Sabbath. Certainly, no one could accuse Jesus of wrongdoing, because he **spoke** on the Sabbath. Yet, this enraged his enemies, and they left the synagogue and conspired with the Herodians how they might destroy him (Mark 3:6).
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[1] Josephus: Antiquities of the Jews 12.6.2 [271-277]; also consider the fact that these men had initiated an attack upon Jesus on the Sabbath by laying a trap for him.
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