When we find ourselves in the midst of conflict and angry tension, how we respond can make a difference. This may well be an opportunity to be a healing and life-giving presence. Though grieved and angry himself, in this story Jesus remains true to his life-purpose, being a healer and a life-giver.
Consider how you might become more like Jesus in your response to life circumstances. Spend time with him, watch him closely, talk with him. Let your prayer be one that brings you closer to becoming “as Christ” here and now.
What the resurrection of Jesus promises is that things can always be new again. It’s never too late to start over. Nothing is irrevocable. No betrayal is final. No sin is unforgivable. Every form of death can be overcome. There isn’t any loss that can’t be redeemed. Every day is virgin. There is really no such thing as old age.
As John Shea once so aptly put it: What the resurrection teaches us is not how to live–but how to live again, and again, and again! –Ronald Rolheiser
Mark 3:1-6 NKJV
Healing on the Sabbath
And he entered the synagogue again, and a man was there who had a withered hand. So they watched Him closely, whether He would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse Him. And He said to the man who had the withered hand, “Step forward.” Then He said to them, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill? But they kept silent. And when He had looked around at them with anger, being grieved by the hardness of their hearts, He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored as whole as the other. Then the Pharisees when out and immediately plotted with the Herodians against Him, how they might destroy Him.
For Prayer and Reflection:
What did you hear or feel as you listened/read? A word? a phrase? A sensation?
Jesus had just told the Pharisees that, “The Sabbath was made for man, not for the Sabbath.” How is this revealed in this passage?
Jesus came to do good and to save life. What might you bring to Him to be restored and made whole?