Judging People Upside Down
[1] Again he entered the synagogue, and a man was there with a withered hand. [2] And they watched Jesus, to see whether he would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse him. [3] And he said to the man with the withered hand, “Come here.” [4] And he said to them, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to kill?” But they were silent.
Mark 3:1–4 ESV Read More
Now Jesus has His disciples with Him and He’s been working miracles and teaching all over the area. The people that are receiving all of this are thrilled, of course. The people who are having their authority infringed upon are not so thrilled.
The new teaching that came from Jesus was objectionable to the scribes and Pharisees. He was doing things that they thought only God could do, and they were so convinced that He wasn’t God, they figured that He must be a demon-master of all demons. They were so bound up in their laws that they were watching to see if Jesus would break a law to help someone and give them a chance to accuse Him.
Think that through for a second. If Jesus shows up on the Sabbath and heals somebody, we’ll know He’s evil? They are desiring to catch and judge Jesus so much that they’ve turned morality upside down. They’ve created their own hierarchy of righteousness and lost all sense.
Snooping and lying in wait to see if somebody sins isn’t our job. We do this same thing when we figure out somebody was divorced, smokes, has a tattoo, or voted for Bernie Sanders. The job we have is to heal and restore. That’s what Jesus was doing there at the synagogue that day.
Jesus knew that they would accuse Him. He knew that they were lying in wait for Him to break one of their laws. Not only did that not deter Him, but He went to the synagogue that day knowing that would happen. Jesus wasn’t afraid of the judges, legalists, or critics. The great thing about Jesus, though, is how He handled His fearlessness. It’s easy to say “I don’t care what anyone thinks!” and be a jerk, but Jesus wasn’t that guy either. Being a bulldozer of righteousness is as bad as being a judgmental tattle tail.
The man with the withered hand needed healing as much as the critical Pharisees, and Jesus tried to heal them all. He reached out to the Pharisees with reason and to the man with the withered hand with healing power. As Christ lives His life in us, He is working the same way. Instantly judging the critics and hating them is as off-mission as not healing a person because they are funny looking.
Jesus came to seek and to save the lost, whether they were religious leaders or helpless and hopeless. Sabbath or not, rules or not, let’s watch and see the boundaries He challenges in us today as He reaches out to you and me.
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