We've seen it emerge already as a theme throughout the gospel of Mark: what is the Sabbath? The discussion, and indeed the confrontation over what the Sabbath was and is comes to a head in this episode involving Jesus, the Pharisees and Herodians, and a man with a withered hand. Parallel to the development of the conversation over Sabbath-keeping is the marshaling together of Jesus' opponents. His adversaries started out as merely scribes (2:6), and their resistance was passive and implicit. Before long we get a clearer picture of the opposition, as the scribes are identified as scribes of the Pharisees (2:16). By the end of Mark 2 we see the Pharisees themselves enter into the discussion (2:24), and now by the beginning of Mark 3 we see that a formidable alliance of Pharisees and Herodians (3:6) has taken an active role in opposing Jesus and his ministry.
I mention all of this to demonstrate that the Pharisees and Herodians were not objective judges when it comes to evaluating Jesus and his actions. The word used in verse 2 is actually "observe", and it is the same word that would be used to describe a physician making a medical diagnosis, or interestingly enough, to describe someone taking part in a religious observance. Given that all of this takes place in the synagogue, I think it is fair to say that the Pharisees and Herodians true religion has ceased to be the worship of Yahweh, and has become the judgment of those around them. At some point, all of us have been guilty of judging a person's actions not based on their merit, but based on our opinion of that person. Such attitudes blinded the Pharisees and the Herodians to the Messiah standing in their midst, and more than likely they blind us to the God-given worth of the person whose actions we pre-judge.
As readers of the gospel, we have seen enough of Jesus' character to suspect that he is about to do something about the condition of this man with the withered hand. Our suspicions are confirmed when he tells the man to "stand up", or more literally "rise up", a word that is used not only to refer to the physical action of standing or rising, but is also used to refer to and describe the resurrection itself. Jesus is about to reveal the true power of the Sabbath in a way that no one could imagine. This man who would have been barred from Temple worship (see Leviticus 21:16ff), is about to be made whole again through the power of Christ. Sensing their silent judgment, Jesus even gives the Pharisees and chance to weigh in on the matter. "Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to kill?" He asks them this question knowing that as much as they revere the Sabbath, they have deemed certain actions in the past as being acceptable, perhaps the most prominent of the "exceptions" being the Maccabees self-defense on the Sabbath (see I Maccabees 2:41, a non-canonical book that fills in many of the historical gaps from the inter-testimental period). It is true that the Maccabees were the liberators of Israel, and that they were acting in self-defense, but nonetheless they worked (fought a battle) and killed on the Sabbath. Jesus point becomes all the more obvious: if exceptions can be made for killing, how can exceptions not be made for healing? The power of Jesus argument, and it's irrefutable nature are demonstrated in the silence of his opponents.
In the end, the tragedy is that the Pharisees and Herodians view of the Sabbath, and their prejudice against Jesus, caused them to miss what should have been obvious, especially to those learned in the law. As Jesus healed the withered hand of the man, they should have seen before their eyes the actual fulfilled of Isaiah 35:
"The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad; the desert shall rejoice and blossom like the crocus; it shall blossom abundantly and rejoice with joy and singing. The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it, the majesty of Carmel and Sharon. They shall see the glory of the Lord, the majesty of our God. Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees. Sat to those who have an anxious heart, 'be strong, fear not! Behold, your God will come in vengeance, with the recompense of God. He will come and save you." (Isaiah 35:1-4, italics mine)
The Pharisees and the Herodians, the religious leaders of the day, could have used their energy to speak courage into the anxious heart. Instead, they condemn themselves, ironically enough, by plotting to take a life on the Sabbath. How absurd their judgment of Jesus' healing actions looks when viewed against the backdrop of their own destructive scheming on the Sabbath. Thankfully, Jesus plans are not thwarted by judgmental attitudes, whether they belong to the Pharisees, the Herodians, or ourselves. You see, Jesus did much more than heal on the Sabbath, he healed the Sabbath. He restored our vision so that we can see what Sabbath truly is; not a ceasing from all work, but an entering into the rest of God.
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