Jesus is sad

Following the earlier theme of my idea that Jesus actually cared about the people who were Pharisees even while he hated what they stood for, I came to Mark 3.

Here, Jesus is angry and "deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts." I think he is sad because they think they know everything and so they can't learn anything new or open their hearts to see things in a new way. He is sad that their great learning has closed their minds rather than opening them. He is upset because they are Jews, the teachers and leaders of the people, the ones who are supposed to be teaching and showing the people by their example who God is.

And their God is a god of rules and regulations. The God of Jesus (himself) is merciful and kind and gracious and cares about those in need, regardless of the "rules" of the society. God (Jesus) wants to heal the man regardless of the fact that it is the Sabbath.

Jesus wants them to see and to change their minds, so instead of ignoring the man with the shriveled hand (Mark doesn't say the man asked for help, just that he was there), Jesus purposely takes up the challenge and tells the man to stand up in front of everybody. He doesn't just start teaching while ignoring him. Maybe he was front and center and everybody else was already looking at him. It seems that way - like it was staged - like he was in front and the Pharisees were around him when Jesus entered, so he couldn't really help but see the man. But he didn't shy away. He didn't need to. He knew he had the power to heal the man and he knew the Pharisees had brought the man there to try to trick him into breaking the Sabbath law.

He knew all that and he wasn't afraid. He just tackled the question head-on, asking them to answer his question - is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath? But they wouldn't say anything. I wonder why not? They certainly liked to talk in other places. But here, they are silent. I try to picture the scene. The man with the shriveled hand, the Pharisees behind him, standing silently, Jesus in front of them all, having just arrived in the synagogue.

Then Jesus becomes very angry and distressed. Mark says he was upset at their stubborn hearts. How sad when a person gets so stubborn that they won't listen to God himself! Jesus himself is standing right there in the room with them and they won't listen to him!!! No wonder he becomes angry and is deeply distressed!

And then Jesus looks at the man with the problem and solves it. The man believes. One would think that the man with the problem is "lowest" in the room. After all, he IS deformed and the culture of the time thought that the sick and deformed were in trouble with God - that God was mad at them and that was why they were sick - that they must be terrible sinners or they wouldn't be sick or deformed or leprous or whatever.

But when the Pharisees are silent, I think they lowered their own status. The next verse proves it. They begin to plan how to become murderers - killers!! The fact that Jesus healed a man made them want to kill him!!! To permanently get rid of him and his teaching!!!

No, I think that the fact that he healed a man ON THE SABBATH, which they seemed to hold more sacred than a person's life and health, made them see red, proving that their rules were more important than God and people. Again, how sad.

God, please help me not be that stubborn so I feel like getting rid of Jesus when he shows me I am wrong in how I handle life and others. I want to follow Jesus, not to put him out of my life. Keep my heart soft and my ears open, I pray.