In Mark chapter 3 Jesus healed a man whose hand was withered. During Jesus’ traveling and teaching ministry He visited many cities and villages throughout Israel. It must have created a real buzz to see Jesus and His entourage rolling into your village. Jesus was always accompanied by His disciples and a few supporters, the curiosity seekers, and, of course, His enemies. If He happened to be in a town on the Sabbath, He went to the synagogue. The Pharisees, who seemed to care more about rules than relationships and liked power more than people, watched His every move and parsed His every word.
Picture the Disabled Man
In one particular village there was a disabled man who attended the synagogue service. Mark says his hand was “shriveled.” Whatever the medical reason for it, his hand was unusable. Have you ever been without the use of one of your hands? You never think about how much you use it or need it until you are deprived of it. How many daily activities require two hands? How many jobs require both hands? Was he embarrassed for people to see his bad hand? I wonder how many opportunities this man lost because he had only one good hand? How did he feel when His hand was suddenly, miraculously restored? How did that change the way he used that hand from then on? Now he could praise God with both hands in the air!
The Bible talks about using our hands in service to God. I wonder what part of your life or mine is disabled and in need of healing? What area of your life is “shriveled” and unused. Is it poor health, lack of relationships, the scars of abuse, the lack of resources, a missed education, a record, poor choices of the past, a past failure, some shameful habit, or something else? This man at least went to the synagogue to worship. Maybe he always went on the Sabbath, or maybe he just knew that is where Jesus would be. One thing is clear, everybody there was aware of his handicap.
Picture the Pharisees
The Pharisees attended the synagogue that day, too. Not to worship God, but to validate themselves. They went to watch Jesus, not with an attitude of loving devotion, but more like an investigative reporter hoping to scoop a scandal. Their eyes were filled with judgment and their hearts were full of self-righteousness. It is hard to imagine it, but they were so intent on finding fault with others that they would rather let people suffer than break their own misguided laws. Jesus never broke one Old Testament command, but He was guilty of breaking the popular manmade religious rules of His day, and the makers of those rules hated Him for it. According to them it was wrong to heal, but alright to plot evil on the Sabbath.
Their lack of sympathy for this man actually angered Jesus. He asked, “Is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the Sabbath…?” Mark says He was both angry and grieved with them. I wonder which of my attitudes towards people anger the Lord? Do I ever set up rules that keep me from reaching out to others? What kind of inner thoughts do you and I have about people who have been disabled by sin, situation, or sorrow, that actually grieve the heart of our Savior? Is the homeless man a sheep that needs a shepherd or merely an interruption to remove? What about the illegal alien, the smart-alecky skeptic, or the dirty unreached village in another hemisphere? Jesus read the hearts of the Pharisees and He searches ours, too.
Picture Yourself?
Did you “get the picture?” That is just day 2 of the “Picture It” method of daily Bible study in 40 Days In The Word. Picture yourself in the place of the different characters in the story. It can help you read the Bible with new eyes and feel it with a new heart. Email us with your insights and blessings so we can share with others what God is doing!
Revolutionize Your Bible Study and Revolutionize Your Life!
You are loved,
Bro. Kelly
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