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The Compassion and Anger of Jesus (Mark 3:1-6)

by Wayne Davies  
10/18/2014 / Bible Studies

In Mark 3:1-6 we have the fifth consecutive episode of hostility between Jesus and the Pharisees. After much positive reporting of Jesus' ministry in chapter 1, Mark's gospel changes its tone in chapter 2. Jesus continues to heal the sick and forgive sinners and teach the people, but now the opposition of the religious leaders comes to the forefront.

As chapter 2 ends and chapter 3 begins, this conflict continues. This is a good example of how the chapter divisions can get in the way of the flow of the text, for Mark 3:1-6 is the continuation of what Mark has been emphasizing since 2:1. And so this is a good reminder that both chapter divisions and verse designations were not part of the original manuscripts; they were added many centuries later.

Mark 3:1 is also an unfortunate place to begin a new chapter because Mark 3:1-6 is the perfect follow-up to Mark 2:23-27. In both of these episodes the issue is the Sabbath. The Pharisees have just wrongly criticized Jesus for "working" on the Sabbath. The disciples provided for their physical needs by picking grain, which Pharisaic tradition viewed as a violation of the Sabbath command to rest.

On another Sabbath the Pharisees have followed Jesus into the synagogue and are watching him like a hawk. A man with a deformed hand is also present, and "Some of them (the Pharisees) were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they watched him closely to see if he would heal him on the Sabbath" (Mark 3:2). The Pharisees sincerely believed that healing a man like this on the Sabbath was a violation of the Sabbath law against working.

Jesus knows what the Pharisees are thinking (as God, he is omniscient and knows every thought that has ever crossed your mind) and brings the man to the front of the room and rebukes the Pharisees by asking a brilliant question: "Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?" (Mark 3:4).

And how do these hypocrites respond? "They remained silent" (Mark 3:4). They have nothing to say. In the moment of reckoning, when they could have rebuked Jesus publicly, their tongues are tied.

Then Mark records a most amazing statement about Jesus: "He looked around at them (the Pharisees) in anger, deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts" (Mark 3:5). Then Jesus heals the man, right before their eyes! But note the incredible combination of compassion and wrath. Jesus restores the man's hand to wholeness while expressing his fury at the Pharisees.

Is this not another matchless display of his deity? Only Jesus, the God-Man, can both love a man in need while displaying his righteous anger at the Pharisees for their hard hearts.

This is the Jesus of the New Testament. He is God in a human body and only he can display both compassion and wrath simultaneously. May this account give us yet another reason to fall at his feet to worship, praise and adore him.

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