'Again he entered the synagogue. There was a man there who had a withered hand. They watched him closely to see if he would cure him on the sabbath so that they might accuse him. He said to the man with the withered hand, “Come up here before us.” Then he said to them, “Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath rather than to do evil, to save life rather than to destroy it?” But they remained silent. Looking around at them with anger and grieved at their hardness of heart, he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out and his hand was restored. The Pharisees went out and immediately took counsel with the Herodians against him to put him to death (Mk. 3:1-6). '
Jesus had a debate with the Pharisees and also performed a miracle to show his power in deed and word. Jesus was again teaching in the Synagogue in Capernaum on the Sabbath and the Pharisees were watching to see if he broke the Sabbath observance of no work on the Sabbath. Healing someone on the Sabbath who did not have a life-threatening illness was considered work. Jesus shifted the issue from doing work on the Sabbath to doing good or evil on the Sabbath. This implied that he had authority over the Sabbath and therefore equated himself with God. The Herodians were supporters of Herod Antipas, the Roman Governor of Galilee and were enemies of the Pharisees. It was their hatred of Jesus that united them in a common quest to stop the work of Jesus. In their minds Jesus was guilty of blasphemy which was punishable by death. Jesus was hated by both the evil spirits and the religious leaders,
Collect:
Almighty ever-living God, who in the abundance of your kindness surpass the merits and the desires of those who entreat you, pour out your mercy upon us to pardon what conscience dreads and to give what prayer does not dare to ask. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen!
References:
Raymond E. Brown, Joseph A. Fitzmyer, & Roland E. Murphy, (Eds.). (1990, 1968). The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentis Hall, Inc.
Jose M. Casciaro, Santiago Ausin, Gonzalo Aranda, Claudio Basevi, Vincente Balaguer, Francisco Varo, James Gavigan, Brian McCarthy & Thomas McGovern (Eds.). (2017). The Navarre Bible - New Testament. Dublin 8, Ireland: Four Courts Press.
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