Jesus looked around at them in anger and, deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts, said to the man, "Stretch out your hand." ~Mark 3
Yes, Jesus got mad. I know that it was the stubborn hearts of the men in the synagogue that caused him distress but what made him angry was their use of a crippled man as bait. They wanted a reason to accuse Jesus of breaking a commandment so that they could bring him up on charges and have him executed. They cared nothing for the man that had lived among them except how his healing could be used as evidence against the only one capable of doing that healing.
I imagine the man was surprised and perhaps taken aback when Jesus asked him to stand up in front of everyone. He probably held little hope of a miracle knowing the Sabbath law. I can imagine his joy as he watched his hand unfurl and the bones, sinew and muscles all line up. I'll bet he was thrilled with the wonder of stretching out fingers and flexing them back and forth. He must've gotten lost in amazement at the creases in his palm and laughed more than once at the change in his life. I hope he never missed synagogue after that. A constant reminder to the leaders there of the stinging rebuke from the Lord. A seed of the Kingdom planted in thier midst.
"So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath." ~Jesus
No comments:
Post a Comment