Mark 3:5
And when he had looked round about on them with anger, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts, he saith unto the man, Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it out: and his hand was restored whole as the other. And when he had looked round about on them with anger, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts, he saith unto the man, Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it out: and his hand was restored whole as the other.
On another Sabbath in a synagogue a man with a withered hand is present while the Pharisees watch to accuse, and Jesus has him stand forth and asks whether it is lawful to do good or evil on the Sabbath, to save life or to kill, and they remain silent. He then looks round on them with anger while grieved for the hardness of their hearts, their lack of compassion, their refusal to answer, and their restrictions that keep them from recognizing mercy as good. He commands the man to stretch forth his hand, and the man wills and attempts it in faith even before healing, and as he stretches it forth it is restored whole as the other. The healing shows that doing good and restoring and saving life and showing mercy are lawful on the Sabbath and honor the day, upholding the fourth commandment as God gave it while breaking down human rites and restrictions that obstruct good. His anger is righteous indignation at hypocrisy and grievous sin and not retaliation for personal abuse, held together with love and mercy toward the afflicted and grief over leaders who cherish tradition, reject light, and treat obedience as unimportant.
Setting and Miracle
On another Sabbath Jesus was in the synagogue where a man with a withered hand was present, and the Pharisees watched to see what He would do. He knew that to heal would be regarded as transgression, yet He did not hesitate to break down the wall of traditional requirements barricading the Sabbath. He had the afflicted man stand forth and asked whether it is lawful on the Sabbath to do good or evil, to save life or to kill. In this He met the rabbis on their own maxim that failure to do good when one has opportunity is to do evil, and neglect to save life is to kill. They remained silent and would not answer.
He looked round about on them with anger while being grieved for the hardness of their hearts. That grief was over their lack of compassion as they witnessed suffering. It was also over their refusal to answer whether doing good and saving life are lawful on the Sabbath. Their Sabbath restrictions kept them from recognizing mercy as good.
His anger was righteous indignation directed at hypocrisy and grievous sin, not retaliation for personal abuse. Though feeling this indignation He remained in harmony with God and possessed love and mercy. His grief and anger saw through the religious leaders who cherished hypocrisy and traditions, rejected light and reproof, and treated obedience to God's requirements as unimportant, and rebuked their sin.
He said to the man, Stretch forth thine hand. The man willed and attempted to stretch it out even before it was healed, and that willing attempt was evidence of faith. As he stretched it forth it was restored whole as the other. The story of the man healed in the synagogue illustrates Christ's power to heal the soul.
Sabbath Law Teaching
On another Sabbath in the synagogue a man with a withered hand was present while the observers watched to see what would be done, and healing was known beforehand to be regarded as transgression, yet the wall of traditional requirements barricading the Sabbath was not allowed to prevent mercy. The afflicted man was made to stand forth and the question was put whether it is lawful on the Sabbath to do good or evil, to save life or to kill, meeting the teachers on their own maxim that failure to do good when opportunity offers is to do evil and neglect to save life is to kill, and no answer was returned. Grief and anger answered that hardness of heart, grief over lack of compassion and over Sabbath restrictions that kept mercy from being recognized as good, and the withered hand was stretched out and restored whole as the other. That restoration shows that doing good and restoring life are lawful on the Sabbath, that saving life is lawful on the Sabbath, and that doing good and showing mercy are lawful on that day.
Kindness and compassion outweigh external observance and traditional rules that obstruct doing good, and the refusal to answer about doing good and saving life exposed hardness met by a look of grief and anger before the hand was made whole like the other. Charity and benevolence are lawful on every day, and doing good and relieving suffering are in keeping with the Sabbath. Healing the withered hand on the Sabbath was an act of mercy that honors the day, rejecting added useless rites and ceremonies and restrictions while upholding the fourth commandment as God gave it, for those human additions dishonored the Sabbath, not the deed of mercy.
The Sabbath miracles were wrought wholly to heal the afflicted and to relieve suffering humanity afflicted by Satan, demonstrating a work of relieving suffering on that day. That work is good and merciful in character rather than criminal Sabbath-breaking, and relieving the suffering is fitting work for the sacred day rather than a display of power. The restoration of the disabled whole therefore belongs to healing mercy, not to transgression, and its healing character defeats condemnation as Sabbath-breaking.
Opposition and Application
The healing of the withered hand on the Sabbath stirred great malice among the Jews. The Pharisees and scribes were filled with anger and enraged because He did this good work on the Lord's day, though they claimed God's favor and special favor. Because of that malice Jesus withdrew with His disciples to another field of labor. He withdrew to a more favorable place to teach and heal and to continue His work elsewhere.
The Pharisees treated such works of mercy and relief for the afflicted as grounds to condemn Him as a Sabbath-breaker. This continued opposition from the first because He exposed their hypocritical pretensions, tore aside the cloak of rigorous rites hiding their moral deformity, and taught a pure religion that condemned their hollow professions of piety, so they hated Him and thirsted for revenge. They tried to provoke Him to say or do something condemnable and several times attempted to stone Him. They tried to arouse the Herodians by representing Him as seeking a rival kingdom and consulted with them how to destroy Him, and they tried to excite the Romans by representing Him as subverting their authority, to cut Him off from influencing the people. Their attempts were foiled because the multitudes witnessing His works of mercy and hearing His pure and holy teachings knew He was no Sabbath-breaker or blasphemer, and even the officers sent could not lay hands on Him, so in desperation an edict was passed that any professing faith in Jesus should be cast out of the synagogue.
The accusation of breaking the Sabbath could not be supported by the facts. His Sabbath work was miracles wrought to heal the afflicted, restoring a disabled man whole, good and merciful in character and not criminal Sabbath-breaking. At His trial the priests and rulers dared not accuse Him of Sabbath-breaking for such healings, because examination would bring their healing character to light and defeat their determined aim to condemn Him. If the charge could have been sustained by fact they would not have needed false witnesses against Him. The man's stretching forth his withered hand made a great stretch of faith, and that same stretch of faith in a sick person reaches the point of deliverance from pain and sickness.