Bible Study Series: Mark 3:1-6. Jesus broke traditions on the Sabbath.
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At that link, I also offer more commentary and a Summary and Conclusion, geared towards discipleship. Scroll down to the bottom and check it out!
Let’s begin.
Scripture: Mark 3:1-6
1 He again went into a synagogue, and a man was there who had a withered hand. 2 They were watching him, whether he would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse him. 3 And he said to the man having the withered hand, “Stand up in the middle.” 4 And he said to them, “Is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath or to do harm, to save a life or to kill it?” But they were silent. 5 And looking around at them with anger, and grieving at the obstinacy of their heart, he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored. 6 The Pharisees left and soon conspired with the Herodians against him, so that they might destroy him. (Mark 3:1-6)
Comments
This is the fifth and final confrontation, beginning with Mark 2 and going to 3:6.
1:
It was Jesus’s custom to go into the synagogue to teach (cf. Luke 6:6). The Greek literally reads “the synagogue,” but this is just a generic class. He had been traveling, and his disciples plucked heads of wheat in a field. In v. 7, Jesus returns toward the lake (of Galilee), so this synagogue was away from the lake and Capernaum. The word “again” indicates that he was probably in the synagogue at Capernaum. The passage here is silent on the precise location.
2:
“they”: they are the Pharisees (v. 6) and possibly the Herodians (v. 6). At least the Pharisees were convinced that Jesus could heal! They expected it! What about us? Do we have more unbelief than the Pharisees?
“watching”: Picture watchdogs sitting right by you and glowering at you. So it means, “watch closely, observe carefully … watch (maliciously), lie in wait for … watch one’s opportunity … watch, guard ….” The Shorter Lexicon suggests “watch (maliciously)” for v. 2 here. Anger is building in the religious leaders, the Watchdogs of Theology and Behavior.
“heal”: it means to “make whole, restore, heal, cure, care for.” Here the healing is instant.
“on the Sabbath”: The rabbis allowed healing to be done on the Sabbath, but only when a life was in danger, a baby was being born, or circumcision on the eighth day. This man’s disability fit none of those exceptions.
The man with the withered hand was not in a life-or-death situation.
Here are the Mishnah’s thirty-nine categories of work that were not allowed. This comes from the second century, but it does reflect the times of Jesus:
- Sowing, plowing, reaping, binding sheaves, threshing, winnowing, selecting, grinding, sifting, kneading, and baking.
- Shearing wool, bleaching, hackling, dyeing, spinning, stretching the threads, the making of two meshes, weaving two threads, dividing two threads, tying [knotting] and untying, sewing two stitches, and tearing in order to sew two stitches.
- Capturing a deer, slaughtering, or flaying, or salting it, curing its hide, scraping it [of its hair], cutting it up, writing two letters, and erasing in order to write two letters [over the erasure].
- Building, pulling down, extinguishing, kindling, striking with a hammer, and carrying out from one domain to another.
These are the forty primary labors less one.
(Source)
The rest of the tractate at another source goes on to define the parameters more precisely.
Religious teachers debated these issues endlessly. In effect, these strict teachers of the law said it was better that people should virtually do nothing on the Sabbath. It is better to be safe than sorry, to be severe and austere than risk too much questionable behavior before a holy God. In Num. 15:32-36, a Sabbath breaker was stoned to death.
3:
Calling the man to stand in the middle shows that Jesus was supremely confident in his and his Father’s and the Spirit’s ability to heal, and that’s why he told the man to stand in the middle of them. He was the Anointed One.
I have watched healing ministries up close, and sometimes they call people forward to stand in the middle, so to speak. Sometimes it works; other times it does not.
4:
Jesus is about to do good on the Sabbath. A third option was to do nothing, or so it seems, but then this is the same as not saving a life, and subsequently letting the life go away and gradually destroy itself. “Therefore, everything that you want people to do to you, in the same way you also do to them.” (Matt. 7:12; see Luke 6:31). This is more commonly known as “Do unto others and you want them to do to you.” The law and prophets are summed up in that counsel. Be active in doing good to others. The Pharisees were thinking and doing bad on the Sabbath, for they will plot to kill Jesus (v. 6)!
“save”: The verb is sōzō (pronounced soh-zoh and used 106 times in the NT), which means “save, rescue, heal” in a variety of contexts, but mostly it is used of saving the soul. Here it means saving or healing the body.
Since the theology of salvation (soteriology) is so critical for our lives, let’s look more closely at the noun salvation, which is sōtēria (pronounced soh-tay-ree-ah and used 46 times) and at the verb sōzō. We go beyond this passage here.
Greek is the language of the NT. BDAG defines the noun sōtēria as follows, depending on the context: (1) “deliverance, preservation” … (2) “salvation.”
The verb sōzō means “save, rescue, heal” in a variety of contexts, but mostly it is used of saving the soul. BDAG says that the verb means, depending on the context: (1) “to preserve or rescue from natural dangers and afflictions, save, keep from harm, preserve,” and the sub-definitions under no. 1 are as follows: save from death; bring out safely; save from disease; keep, preserve in good condition; thrive, prosper, get on well; (2) “to save or preserve from transcendent danger or destruction, save or preserve from ‘eternal’ death … “bring Messianic salvation, bring to salvation,” and in the passive voice it means “be saved, attain salvation”; (3) some passages in the NT say we fit under the first and second definition at the same time (Mark 8:5; Luke 9:24; Rom. 9:27; 1 Cor. 3:15).
Please see my word study on salvation and save:
What Is the Source of Salvation?
How Do We Respond to God’s Salvation?
“life”: it is the noun psuchē (pronounced ps-oo-khay, and be sure to pronounce the ps-, and our word psychology comes from it). It can mean, depending on the context: “soul, life” and it is hard to draw a firm line between the two. “Breath, life principle, soul”; “earthly life”; “the soul as seat and center of the inner life of man in its many and varied aspects, desires, feelings, emotions”; “self’; or “that which possesses life, a soul, creature, person.”
Word Study on Spirit, Soul, and Body
The Pharisees were silent. They could not answer the question. If they said it was unlawful, the people would recognize that this was a harsh interpretation of Sabbath keeping. If they said it was permitted, then they could not accuse him justly.
5:
Jesus was both angry and grieved. This is not human anger that aims to harm one’s opponents. No. He was about to do good. His emotion was righteous indignation at evil in their hearts. This anger was appropriate in this situation. He was also grieved at the stubbornness stuck in their hearts. So he felt compassion at the deep need in their heart, but he was angry at their external expression of their stubbornness. They expressed their obstinacy by becoming legalists and harsh and too restrictive.
Jesus was not an android who felt no human emotion. He was the God-man, and even God expresses anger.
Please see my posts and the two images telling the difference between human wrath and God’s wrath:
The Wrath of God in the New Testament
Do I Really Know God? He Shows Wrath
The Wrath of God in the Old Testament
See my post on the sinless life of Jesus:
8. Do I Really Know Jesus? He Was Sinless
It’s possible to show righteous anger (without a man losing his temper) and not sin.
“restored”: the verb means “restore, reestablish … cure, be cured … bring back, restore.” It is a great word choice on Mark’s part. The man’s hand was returned and reestablished and restored back to normal. Never accept as normal what is clearly abnormal. Pray! Pray continually for restoration.
6:
The Pharisees react badly.
Quick Reference to Jewish Groups in Gospels and Acts
This group, among others, were the Watchdogs of Theology and Behavior (David E. Garland, Luke: Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament [Zondervan, 2011], p. 243). The problem which Jesus had with them can be summed up in Eccl. 7:16: “Be not overly righteous.” He did not quote that verse, but to him they were much too enamored with the finer points of the law, while neglecting its spirit (Luke 11:37-52; Matt. 23:1-36). Instead, he quoted this verse from Hos. 6:6: “But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners” (Matt. 9:13; 12:7). Overdoing righteousness, believe it or not, can damage one’s relationship with God and others.
“Herodians”: You can learn more about them at the above link.
The Pharisees huddle together with the Herodians and hatch a plot
“destroy”: it means, depending on the context: (1) “to cause or experience destruction (active voice) ruin, destroy”; (middle voice) “perish, be ruined”; (2) “to fail to obtain what one expects or anticipates, lose out on, lose”; (3) “to lose something that one already has or be separated from a normal connection, lose, be lost” (BDAG). The Shorter Lexicon adds “die.” Here they wanted to crush him. All memory of his would be lost.
Let’s finish this pericope (pronounced puh-RIH-koh-pea) or section or unit of Scripture with a cultural observation and then apply it.
As I noted in other chapters, first-century Israel was an honor-and-shame society. Verbal and active confrontations happened often. By active is meant actions. Here the confrontation is both verbal and acted out. Jesus won the actual confrontation, and this victory opened the door to his verbal victory with religious leaders who were binding people up with traditions. They needed to be loosed from them. Jesus shamed the leaders to silence. It may seem strange to us that Jesus would confront human opponents, because we are not used to doing this in our own lives, and we have heard that Jesus was meek and silent.
More relevantly, for many years now there has been a teaching going around the Body of Christ that says when Christians are challenged, they are supposed to slink away or not reply. This teaching may come from the time of Jesus’s trial when it is said he was as silent as a sheep (Acts 8:32). No. He spoke up then, as well (Matt. 26:64; Mark 14:32; Luke 23:71; John 18:19-23; 32-38; 19:11). Therefore, “silence” means submission to the will of God without resisting or fighting back physically. But here he replied to the religious leaders and defeated them and their inadequate theology. Get into a discussion and debate with your challengers. Stand toe to toe with them. In short, fight like Jesus! With anointed words!
Of course, caution is needed. The original context is a life-and-death struggle between the kingdom of God and religious traditions. Get the original context, first, before you fight someone in a verbal sparring match. This was a clash of worldviews. Don’t pick fights or be rude to your spouse or baristas or clerks in the service industry. Discuss things with him or her. But here Jesus was justified in replying sharply to these oppressive religious leaders.
When Jesus Used Harsh Language
To repeat: whatever you do, don’t be rude or harsh towards your family or coworkers. Click on that link to see how we must take Jesus’s ministry in his own context. He used strong language against oppressors who had been inflicting harshness on people for many decades. These were leaders. In our lives today, the idea is to win regular people, not chase them away from the good news.
GrowApp for Mark 3:1-6
1. Jesus once again clashed with his opponents. Have you had to overcome old religious traditions to follow God fully?
2.. What about overcoming bad ideas generally?
RELATED
10. Eyewitness Testimony in Mark’s Gospel
2. Church Fathers and Mark’s Gospel
2. Archaeology and the Synoptic Gospels
14. Similarities among John’s Gospel and the Synoptic Gospels
1. The Historical Reliability of the Gospels: Introduction to Series
SOURCES
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