Conflict in the Synagogue (Mark 3:1–6)

1 And He entered the synagogue again, and a man was there who had a withered hand. 2 So they watched Him closely, whether He would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse Him. 3 And He said to the man who had the withered hand, “Step forward.” 4 Then He said to them, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?” But they kept silent. 5 And when He had looked around at them with anger, being grieved by the hardness of their hearts, He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored as whole as the other. 6 Then the Pharisees went out and immediately plotted with the Herodians against Him, how they might destroy Him.

I. As Jesus entered the synagogue the lines of engagement were already sharply drawn.

A. Jesus had come to keep the Sabbath.

His opponents had come to look for something to use against him. The conduct of his disciples had come unsuccessfully under hostile scrutiny in the previous story, so here his growing group of enemies hoped to find solid justification for accusing Jesus himself.

They wanted to see if they could catch Jesus defiling the Sabbath. They considered healing to be a form of work. Thus in this unnamed synagogue two competing views of holiness collided—with fatal consequences.

B. On this Sabbath Jesus found a man with a shriveled hand

This man was in the company of people who would have been content if he had retained his disability for one more day. Had Jesus waited until sundown to heal this man, he would have avoided giving further offense to his critics.

Some of them were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus. The man might have been there by coincidence, but some interpreters speculate he might have been a “plant” by the religious leaders. They were testing Jesus to see what he would do. Yes, he allowed his disciples to pick grain on the Sabbath, but would he really do work himself? Jesus himself had given them the answer to this in 2:27–28. But they wanted to see how far Jesus would go.

II. Jesus had declared that the Sabbath was made for man.

A. Our Lord’s questions in Mark 3:4 were never answered by His enemies.

Since evil is at work every day, including the Sabbath Day, why should good not be at work as well? Death is always at work, but that should not hinder us from seeking to save life.

The context suggests that the Pharisees believed that Jesus could heal. They did not want to know if he could; they wanted to know if he would. It is sad that they used religion as a weapon and ignore human need just to prove a point.

B. The one being tested became the tester as Jesus asked the Pharisees to interpret the law for him.

It was an impossible question for them to answer. It was meant to expose the listeners’ hearts. If they answered what the question obviously demanded, they would have to admit to more than they were willing to admit at this point.

By refusing to do good to a person on the Sabbath, the Pharisees were committing sins of omission and, in fact, doing evil. Further, because they were keeping the Sabbath law, they were in a position to call their evil good. Jesus’ question pointed to the Pharisees’ actions. While he was about to “do good” on the Sabbath by improving a man’s life (and most likely giving him back his occupation and livelihood), the Pharisees were “doing evil” by plotting against Jesus.

III. So angry were the Pharisees over what Jesus had done that they united with the Herodians and started making plans to arrest Jesus and destroy Him.

A. The Herodians were not a religious party.

They were a group of Jews who were sympathetic to King Herod and supported his rule. Most of the Jews despised Herod and obeyed his laws reluctantly; so it was surprising that the Pharisees, who were strict Jews, would join themselves with these disloyal politicians. But it was a common enemy—Jesus—that brought the two groups together.

The Pharisees under normal circumstances were very careful not to associate with Gentiles or those whom they considered unclean. The Herodians were followers of Herod the Great. They not only had contact with the Romans, but they also desired to maintain the status quo of Roman rule. Jesus was a threat to the status quo. As the Pharisees know, he was also a threat to their religious rule.

B. If it was not against the letter of the law for the Pharisees to embark on this course of action, it was certainly against the spirit of the law.

That more than anything else, perhaps, demonstrates the bankruptcy of their position. For in claiming to uphold the letter of the law they set themselves against God. Their reverence for the law has rendered it useless as a tool for understanding the will of God.

There is a new way of understanding God’s will—in the person of Jesus, in the things he says and does. It was preposterous for the Pharisees to argue about violations of Sabbath law when God was doing mighty things before their eyes, which they would not acknowledge due to the hardness of their hearts.

In a continuation of the conflicts with religious authorities in chapter 2, this chapter begins with Jesus establishing human need over religious law. Jesus placed a high value on meeting human need. When human need comes into conflict with rules, humanity must take priority.