Daily Devotions
Mark
1 Peter 2:11 "Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul."
Day 62 – Mark 3
“Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul.” 1 Peter 2:11
NOTHING HIDDEN FROM THE LORD JESUS
The Pharisees may have thought that what they harboured in their hearts, surely no one could see what was in there. They were sorely mistaken. Nothing could lay hidden from Jesus. He could read their minds and see their hearts. He knew that the Pharisees were watching to see if they could somehow find fault with Him if He were to heal the man with the withered arm.
“And He said to the man who had the withered hand,
‘Step forward.'”
MARK 3:3
What Jesus did was something that the Pharisees had not expected. He called the man with a withered arm out into the open. Now all could see the pitiable plight of the man with the withered arm. Who would like to be in his shoes? Who would be able to have a withered arm and not desire to see healing?
A QUESTION THROWN TO THE PUBLIC
The Pharisees were stunned. They could not figure out what Jesus would do next! After the man with the withered hand stepped forward, Jesus threw a question to all in the synagogue.
“Then He said to them, ‘Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good
or to do evil, to save life or to kill?'”
MARK 3:4
1. The synagogue was meant to be a place where the Scriptures were studied
The question that Jesus threw to all the worshippers in the synagogue was not out of place at all. Those who were gathered at the synagogue were supposed to be diligent students of the Scriptures.
2. The Pharisees did not have a patent right to spiritual knowledge
Spiritual knowledge was public domain. Anyone could have access to spiritual insight. Anyone could attempt to answer the question Jesus raised.
a) What is lawful on the Sabbath?
To the Pharisees, the answer was to be found in their man-made code of law. If they were such masters of religion, what would their answer be?
b) Would it be lawful to do good or to do evil?
This was a rhetorical question that hardly needs anybody to have super intelligence to answer correctly!
c) Would it be lawful to save life or to kill?
This was part of the same rhetorical question. When put in this manner, the Pharisees knew that they were trapped! They could not answer Jesus without giving away their position away.