Mark 3:1-6

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.

Opening Prayer: Lord God, when my hand is withered due to sin, move me to seek out the healing grace of your Son in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. I trust that he can heal me and restore me to your friendship.

Encountering the Word of God

1. A Sandwich of Five Conflicts: After several successes in the opening chapter, Mark narrates a series of five conflicts. In these conflicts, “Jesus encounters rising opposition as the kingdom of God and the kingdom of Satan come into conflict” (Huizenga, Loosing the Lion, 68). The five conflicts are organized as a chiasm or “sandwich,” meaning that the first and last conflicts are connected, the second and fourth conflicts are connected, and the middle conflict acts as a transition. In the first and final conflicts are marked by healings: in the first conflict (Mark 2:1-12), Jesus healed a paralytic, and in the last conflict (Mark 3:1-6), Jesus healed a man with a withered hand. In the first, the scribes whispered their opposition to Jesus in their hearts. But in the fifth conflict, the opposition is openly hostile. “[T]he reaction is different at the end of each story. In the first story, those witnessing the healing of the paralytic glorify God (2:12). In the fifth story, the Pharisees witness the healing of the man’s withered hand, depart, and conspire with the Herodians to eliminate Jesus” (Huizenga, Loosing the Lion, 108). The five conflicts build up to the plot to kill Jesus for the sin of blasphemy and thus anticipate the finale of Mark’s Gospel.

2. A Divided Kingdom: The healing of the man with the withered hand in the Gospel of Mark can be read in the light of the story of the divided kingdom. When Israel split from Judah and formed its own kingdom, the king they chose, Jeroboam, led the people of Israel into idolatry. Jeroboam’s hand withered when he stretched out his hand toward the man of God at the altar at Bethel (1 Kings 13:4). Jeroboam was angry that the man prophesied that the altar at Bethel, which Jeroboam had set up, would be destroyed and that, one day, a son named Josiah would be born to the house of David and would destroy the false priesthood Jeroboam set up and destroy Jeroboam’s altars. Jeroboam was not of the royal line of David, but was a general chosen by the people to lead the ten northern tribes who broke away from Judah (1 Kings 12:20). When Jeroboam’s hand withered, he commanded the man of God to intercede for him so that his hand might be restored. Even though his hand was restored, Jeroboam did not repent of his evil ways. Instead, he appointed priests for his sanctuaries and ordained anyone who desired to become a priest. His sin led to the extermination and destruction of his line (1 Kings 13:33-34). Jeroboam was a false king who led the people of Israel into sin. He set up golden calves in Dan and Bethel so that the people of Israel would not be tempted to go to Jerusalem (1 Kings 12:25-33). 

3. Overcoming Division: In a certain sense the Pharisees were acting like King Jeroboam. Instead of leading the people to recognize Jesus, the son of David, as the Messiah, they sought to destroy Jesus and put him to death. Just as Jeroboam led the division between the tribes of Israel, the Pharisees tried to sow division between Jesus and his disciples and between the people and Jesus. When King Jeroboam’s withered hand was healed by the man of God, the king persisted in his evil ways. When the Pharisees saw Jesus cure the man with a withered hand, they persisted in their evil ways. There is an implicit irony: the withered hand of the man in the synagogue is healed while the hands of the Pharisees wither as they plot with the Herodians, who are supporters of a false king, to kill Jesus, the son of David and true king of Israel. Jesus will work to overcome division and reconcile humanity with God, and reconcile humanity in the restored Kingdom of David.

Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, I am always in need of your healing touch. No matter how far I progress in holiness in this life, there are still important areas of my life that need your wisdom, mercy, and love.

Living the Word of God: Is my hand withered due to sin? As I look over the past week, were my hands used for good or for evil? Were they hands of mercy, forgiveness, service, charity, and justice? Or were they hands of selfishness, sin, and impurity?