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Gospel: Mark 3: 1-6
Jesus entered the synagogue.
There was a man there who had a withered hand.
They watched Jesus closely
to see if he would cure him on the sabbath
so that they might accuse him.
He said to the man with the withered hand,
“Come up here before us.”
Then he said to the Pharisees,
“Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath rather than to do evil,
to save life rather than to destroy it?”
But they remained silent.
Looking around at them with anger
and grieved at their hardness of heart,
Jesus said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.”
He stretched it out and his hand was restored.
The Pharisees went out and immediately took counsel
with the Herodians against him to put him to death.
The Gospel of the Lord.
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In ancient Palestine, most men made a living through manual labor. For example, Joseph was a carpenter. Paul was a tent maker. Peter was a fisherman. Tradition states that this man in today’s Gospel was a stone mason.
Like many other professions, masonry required the use of both hands. Thus, his withered hand not only prevents him from working; it’s also symbolic of his state in life. He’s paralyzed; all income and opportunity have dried up.
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His injury also represents the withered hearts of the religious authorities, who’ve become paralyzed, deadened inside through a harsh interpretation of the Law.
The fact that they aren’t moved by this miraculous healing, or wish that Jesus would simply have done it on another day, implies they’ve placed legal boundaries around compassion.
It’s okay to be compassionate six days a week, but don’t dare lift a finger on the Sabbath; that’s God’s day, as if God could ever rest from charity.
This is what angers Jesus so much, because love is the highest law.
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Today we’re all invited to reflect upon our own personal limitations.
Do we place a boundary around charity? Do we miss opportunities to love, to give, to forgive, to serve Christ in our neighbor?
If we have failed, most often it isn’t because we are unwilling to do good; often, we’re too busy to notice.
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“Jesus said to the man, ‘Stretch out your hand.’ He stretched it out and his hand was restored.”
Yes, God worked on the Sabbath, because love is the highest law. May we have that same attentive eye towards our neighbors today.
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Image credits: (1) Petrie Flom Center (2) My Lutheran Roots (3) BOOST Radio