Jesus Heals a Man’s Withered Hand on the Sabbath

Intro

Mark 3:1–6 “And he entered again into the synagogue; and there was a man there which had a withered hand. And they watched him, whether he would heal him on the sabbath day; that they might accuse him. And he saith unto the man which had the withered hand, Stand forth. And he saith unto them, Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath days, or to do evil? to save life, or to kill? But they held their peace. And when he had looked round about on them with anger, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts, he saith unto the man, Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it out: and his hand was restored whole as the other. And the Pharisees went forth, and straightway took counsel with the Herodians against him, how they might destroy him.”

Be quick to give grace

The attitude of the phrasee’s was one that looked to accuse. Before Jesus had even done the miracle, they were looking to accuse Him

Story of Pastor Tim and disloyal accusation

Giving grace is more God-honoring than giving out accusations. Giving grace identifies us with Christ. Because that’s what He did. It’s hard, it’s unnatural, it’s perplexing to the world that is watching.

Giving grace doesn’t make us weak, it makes us meek.

The pharasee’s, in all their religious training, couldn’t give out accurate accusations against a sinless man. Why do we think we can do any better? Jeremiah even warns us that our heart is deceitful above all things.

Even though we know these things, we are still so quick to accuse people and judge people. Why is that? It’s the same reason the pharasees had, pride.

Pride makes us look foolish

Pharasee’s couldn’t see the obvious

November 8th, utah is up 7-0 against the Oregon ducks. Travis Wilson makes an incredible pass to Kaelin clay who catches the ball and outruns an oregon duck to make it to the endzone. However, just before crossing the endzone, he drops the ball and proceeds to do his endzone celebration dance. Meanwhile, the oregon ducks pick up the ball and run it all the way back to their endzone for an oregon duck touchdown. instead of it being 0-14, it ends up turning into a tie game. The oregon ducks go on to win the game by quite a margin. Look up that video on youtube and read through the comments. The top comment was “when you practice your celebration dance more than you practice football.” Pride made Kaelin Clay look foolish. the announcers couldn’t believe it. The fans, the teams, nobody could believe that foolishness they just witnessed.

Proverbs 16:18 “Pride goeth before destruction, And an haughty spirit before a fall.”

What makes us cringe more, when a humble man falls, or when a proud man falls?

We have no room in our life for pride.

Our Sin Grieves our Savior

Do we think of our heavenly father when we think of our sin? Do we think of how it hurts our heavenly father when we choose our sin over Him.

The Bible tells us that Jesus was grieved for the hardness of their hearts. He wasn’t upset because of their attitude of accusation. He wasn’t mad they didn’t have an answer to hi obvious question. He was grieved because he saw their heart.