“You Cannot Silence What is Just and Right”
Mark 3:1-12
Rev. Dr. Michael H. Koplitz
1 He entered again into a synagogue; and a man was there whose hand was withered. 2 They were watching Him to see if He would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse Him. 3 He said to the man with the withered hand, “Get up and come forward!” 4 And He said to them, “Is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the Sabbath, to save a life or to kill?” But they kept silent. 5 After looking around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored. 6 The Pharisees went out and immediately began conspiring with the Herodians against Him, as to how they might destroy Him. 7 Jesus withdrew to the sea with His disciples; and a great multitude from Galilee followed; and also from Judea, 8 and from Jerusalem, and from Idumea, and beyond the Jordan, and the vicinity of Tyre and Sidon, a great number of people heard of all that He was doing and came to Him. 9 And He told His disciples that a boat should stand ready for Him because of the crowd, so that they would not crowd Him; 10 for He had healed many, with the result that all those who had afflictions pressed around Him in order to touch Him. 11 Whenever the unclean spirits saw Him, they would fall down before Him and shout, “You are the Son of God!”12 And He earnestly warned them not to tell who He was. (New American Standard Bible – Mark 3:1-12)
It is the Sabbath, and JESUS went to the synagogue as all pious Hebrews did in His day. Mark’s author sets up the event by telling us that “they” were watching Him, observing what JESUS was going to do. Why are they watching Him? At this point in the Gospel, the leaders of the various sects of Judaism were trying to figure out what sect JESUS aligned Himself. As the Gospel continues, spoiler alert, each sect discovered that JESUS did not align Himself theologically with any of them.
So, the question from verses one to six is whether JESUS would heal any infirmed person on the Sabbath. Why does it matter? The Commandment to not work on the Sabbath was not clearly defined by the LORD nor by Moses. What is considered work? There are things that one has to do, for example, feed the family. Preparing food is work. Should one fast on the Sabbath? No, that is not a requirement from the LORD. Then it must be permitted to prepare food, at least to some degree. The list goes on about what is “legal” and “not legal.”
JESUS believed that healing a person was permitted on the Sabbath. Healing a person is a Mitzvah. It is a blessing from the LORD to be able to heal a person. Therefore, the Mitzvot must be permitted on the Sabbath. JESUS healed a man in the synagogue. JESUS did not hide His intentions to heal anyone who needed help, Sabbath or not. JESUS was courageous and bold.
The narrative continues in verses seven through twelve by telling us that JESUS not only healed Hebrews. JESUS healed people from anywhere! He did not discriminate. The reference to Tyre and Sidon are perfect examples. These were Gentile lands. JESUS healed Gentiles. Idumea was the land of the Herod family. They were terrible rulers and disliked by the common people. However, JESUS healed people from that land even if they were a part of Herod’s family.
A lesson for us from this passage is that the ruling class should silence no one. JESUS did not agree with the ruling class. He told them so and quite directly. They worked to silence Him, and eventually, they did by having JESUS executed. There was no tolerance for a different point of view. The religious elite worked hard to silence any other views. They did this to maintain their power. It does not matter that JESUS was considered a liberal in his day because he was trying to reform a traditional system. He wanted to allow a free expression of worship and praise to the LORD. In His day, that was considered a liberal position. Today the idea of free expression of worship and praise has been classified as a conservative position. There are elements in the United States’ society today who want to stop the free expression of devotion to the LORD. They want to remove all signs of the LORD from society. The followers of JESUS MUST stop this from happening. It must also be done by civil disobedience against this “new order.” The lessons on how to combat the rise of the anti-God belief are to show them that JESUS’s love is also for them.
Free speech was a movement in the 1960s on college campuses across the United States. It started at Berkley College in California and spread quickly. People with differing views to openly speak and debate with people of opposing views became a mainstay of society up to the year 2000. Then in the United States, that changed. The leaders of the free speech movement took over a large part of society and decided to implement a shutdown of free speech. They believe that only views that match their views are allowed to be heard. Many colleges do not include guest speakers and lecturers on their campuses who do not fully share their faculty and administration’s opinions. The once free speech preaching colleges are now liberal views only colleges. Sadly, the free speech movement leaders have shut down free speech. The idea of free speech for all must be revived from the 1960s today. This restoration is necessary to heal a severely divided country.
May the LORD bless you in your learning and studying of His Word.
