GOSPEL MEDITATION #180
Mark 3:1-12
A Man with a Withered Hand and
A Great Crowd Follows Jesus
- Find a quiet place without distractions.
- Be comfortably alert, still, and at peace.
- Say the Lord’s Prayer. Sing or cant the Jesus Prayer.
- Pray for family, friends, neighbors, and yourself.
- Slowly and carefully read the passage of Scripture.
- From memory, determine the central points.
- A Sabbath, which for pious Jews meant no work on that day. Even healing would have been considered work.
- Was the man a ‘plant’? There were enemies of Jesus
there who wanted to accuse Him.
- Jesus was angry, and grieved, at the hard heartedness of
those who would accuse Him. A righteous anger?
- The healing produced a deadly, unrighteous anger in
Jesus’ enemies and they, the Pharisees and Herodians,
who would ordinarily have been at odds with each other,
now unite against Jesus and want to destroy (kill) Him.
- In sharp contrast, large crowds are attracted to Jesus.
These came from all over that part of the world save
Samaria, where there was a rival religious system.
- Jesus, perhaps sensing the danger from the large throng,
had a small boat ready for Him. Likely He pushed off a
little from the shore and taught from there.
- There were healings and demons cast out. The demons
were the ones who knew who Jesus was, incredibly, and
He refuse their testimony. What a turn of events.