Bible Note #62: Compassion & the Anger of Jesus–Mark 3:1-6

Jesus entered the synagogue again, and a man was there who had a shriveled hand.  In order to accuse him, they were watching him closely to see whether he would heal him on the Sabbath.  He told the man with the shriveled hand, “Stand before us.”  Then he said to them, “Is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath or to do evil, to save life or to kill?” But they were silent.  After looking around at them with anger, he was grieved at the hardness of their hearts and told the man, “Stretch out your hand.” So he stretched it out, and his hand was restored.  Immediately the Pharisees went out and started plotting with the Herodians against him, how they might kill him.  Mark 3:1-6 CSB

It must have been a very intense moment.  Jesus was very angry.  Mark makes it very clear that this was a moment of deep emotion for Jesus.  We do read about Jesus’ anger from time to time in the gospels.  This passage—Mark 3:1-6—is really a good standard-bearer for how Jesus’ anger works.  In a nutshell, his anger shows itself when he sees those with religious power exercising their “righteousness” and legalistic strictness to the harm of others.  I’ve written about “righteous” anger elsewhere (click here to see that).

The event occurs in a place of worship and prayer, presumably a place where people gathered to seek and follow God, again presumably a place where the character of God was to be displayed, celebrated, and emulated.  I think we can safely assume that Jesus entered this place with the intention of doing all of that, and, as we see, in the end that is just exactly what he does do.

Upon entering the synagogue, Jesus encounters a broken man, a man with a “shriveled” or “withered” hand.  Those are the most common English translations on offer.  Neither is anything like a modern medical term.  The Greek word that Mark uses is a term that normally describes a plant that has been dried up by the brutality of the desert sun.  It isn’t a medical diagnosis but rather a sort of visual description.  In any case, the gist of the matter is that this man’s hand was non-functioning.  In a world in which most all men earned their living through manual labor, this man would likely have been nearly unemployable and so destitute.

Mark seems to hint that he was brought into the synagogue on that particular sabbath day as bait.  “In order to accuse him, they were watching him closely to see whether he would heal him on the Sabbath” (v. 2).  These enemies of Jesus apparently knew something about Jesus’ character that we would do well to remember in these days.  They knew that Jesus was guided by compassion for the weak and broken and not by some hard-edged interpretation of the law.  They knew that if they put a broken, destitute man in front of Jesus, he would not let some pharisaical twist of the law hold him back from acting in kindness and mercy.  And they were right.

You can see the fierceness of Jesus’ anger as he looks into the eyes of these Pharisees and religious leaders and sees only a hard-hearted, vicious perversion of “righteousness” in them.  It infuriated him.  It offended his godly sense of true righteousness.  Jesus knew what true righteousness looks like:

to loose the chains of injustice
    and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free
    and break every yoke?
Is it not to share your food with the hungry
    and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—
when you see the naked, to clothe them,
    and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?  Isaiah 58:6-7 NIV

Jesus was, according to Mark, deeply offended and infuriated by the “hardness of heart” that would deprive this broken, vulnerable, and suffering man of the help he so needed.  Like Isaiah, Jesus was offended by the lack of compassion and by the way the Pharisees and legalists were distorting the true character of God.

So also now in our day, will the followers of Jesus be known for their compassion, their kindness, their gentleness, their empathy toward those who are weak, vulnerable, broken, outcast, hungry, thirsty, in prison, the orphans, the widows, the poor, the refugees?  Or with those claiming the name of Jesus be known for their hard-heartedness, their rejection of compassion and empathy, for their harshness and inhumanity, their use of the “law” as a club with which to crush the weak.  This is the moment of decision for those who want to claim the name of Jesus, the Jesus who chose to “break” the law in order to show compassion.

© 2024 Gary A. Chorpenning

Photos by GAC

Also see:
Pastor Note #138: The Way of Jesus: Selfless Service OR Coercion and Domination?
Bible Note #56: Mark 10:35-45 & Serving or Ruling Over
Pastor Note #134/Bible Note #55: Love of Jesus, Love of Neighbor
Prayer Note #64: Anger and the Fruit of God’s Spirit
Pastor Note #132: Anger and Following Jesus