Mark 3:1-5

Compassion is an attribute of God and is not dependent on the traditions of men. 

Now is the time for mercy and healing in His wings. He cares for you!

Paul wrote, “There was given me a thorn in my flesh, from Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness'” (2 Corinthians 12:7-9).

Sustaining grace. Grace that meets us at our point of need and equips us with courage and wisdom and strength. Sustaining grace. It doesn’t promise the absence of struggle, but it does promise the presence of God. Max Lucado

Mark 3:1-5

3 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. The New King James Version

Jesus demonstrates His lordship over the Sabbath by healing a man. This action provokes the Pharisees and their allies to plot against Him.

Jesus’ question about the Sabbath is provocative and was intended to question common viewpoints. Elsewhere Jesus teaches that love of neighbor not only fulfills the law but is central to the kingdom of God. Here, Jesus tangibly demonstrates that human traditions and moral codes should not conflict with love of neighbor.

This biblical idiom, often rendered as “hardness of heart”, indicates both stubbornness and opposition to God’s workings. Faithlife Study Bible

Christ put the meaning of the Sabbath to the test. Certainly it was more consistent with the intention of the law to restore this man’s afflicted hand, even on the Sabbath, than to destroy his hopes for the sake of keeping human tradition. The NKJV Study Bible

Christ looks at the root of bitterness in the heart, the blindness and hardness of that, and is grieved. Let hard-hearted sinners tremble to think of the anger with which he will look upon them shortly, when the day of his wrath comes. But if we are healed, Christ, his power and grace, must have all the glory. Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary

Psalm 34:14 Depart from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it.

Matthew 12:10 And behold, there was a man who had a withered hand. And they asked Him, saying, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”—that they might accuse Him.

Matthew 12:11 Then He said to them, “What man is there among you who has one sheep, and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not lay hold of it and lift it out?

Luke 6:7 So the scribes and Pharisees watched Him closely, whether He would heal on the Sabbath, that they might find an accusation against Him.