Mark 3:1-6 | James Tissot | The man with the Withering Hand

Mark 3:1-6   The man with the withered hand

The Man with the Withered Hand (L'homme à la main desséchée),  Painted by James Tissot (1836-1902), Opaque watercolour over graphite on grey wove paper, Painted circa 1890 © Brooklyn Museum, Purchased by public subscription, 00.159.95 Jesus went into a synagogue, and there was a man there who had a withered hand. And they were watching him to see if he would cure him on the sabbath day, hoping for something to use against him. He said to the man with the withered hand, ‘Stand up out in the middle!’ Then he said to them, ‘Is it against the law on the sabbath day to do good, or to do evil; to save life, or to kill?’ But they said nothing. Then, grieved to find them so obstinate, he looked angrily round at them, and said to the man, ‘Stretch out your hand.’ He stretched it out and his hand was better. The Pharisees went out and at once began to plot with the Herodians against him, discussing how to destroy him.   READ MORE     Reflection on the Gouache on Paper Today’s reading continues from yesterday. The Pharisees are still out to trick Jesus and condemn Him for healing on the Sabbath. Whilst in yesterday’s reading Jesus explained that the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath, we see a different Jesus today. As the Pharisees are still missing His point, we now hear that Christ was angry and frustrated. Very human feelings. The Pharisees are more keen to observe a legal code rather than to be touched by the plight of a fellow human being. They are hard, tough and uncaring towards their fellow human beings. As the central point of the story seems to be all about Jesus condemning the hardness of heart of the Pharisees, we may be tempted to think that the man with the withered hand was just a mere prop to tell the story. We may view this man as just being a good background story to make the point of how Jesus fought with the Pharisees and how the whole issue was about what to do and what not to do on the Sabbath. Yes, Jesus indeed makes the point that we must never allow rituals and tradition to keep us from bringing healing and wholeness into the lives of others. However… in all of Scripture, people are not to be seen by God or used by God as mere props or means to tell a story! The man that we find in this passage was real flesh and bone; a real human being created in the image of God. He probably had a family as well, we don’t know. All we know is that he had a severe health issue and his faith drove him to meet Jesus. So his faith in Christ is the real focus point of the whole story. We can apply this story as well to every case of spiritual withering we have… we know the Physician to whom we must go to for healing. Or even, when our faith has been withering, we know Who can restore it for us… by Patrick van der Vorst