And when He had looked around at them with anger, being grieved by the hardness of their hearts . . .

 

 Now it happened that He went through the grainfields on the Sabbath; and as they went His disciples began to pluck the heads of grain.  And the Pharisees said to Him, "Look, why do they do what is not lawful on the Sabbath?"  But He said to them, "Have you never read what David did when he was in need and hungry, he and those with him:  how he went into the house of God in the days of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the showbread, which is not lawful to eat except for the priests, and also gave some to those who were with him?"  And He said to them, "The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.  Therefore the Son of Man is also Lord of 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 went out and immediately plotted with the Herodians against Him, how they might destroy Him. 

 

- Mark 2:23—3:6 

 

 Then He went out again by the sea; and all the multitude came to Him, and He taught them.  As He passed by, He saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax office.  And He said to him, "Follow Me."  So he arose and followed Him.  Now it happened, as He was dining in Levi's house, that many tax collectors and sinners also sat together with Jesus and His disciples; for there were many, and they followed Him.  Now it happened, as He was dining in Levi's house, that many tax collectors and sinners also sat together with Jesus and His disciples; for there were many, and they followed Him.  And when the scribes and Pharisees saw Him eating with the tax collectors and sinners, they said to His disciples, "How is it that He eats and drinks with tax collectors and sinners?"  When Jesus heard it, He said to them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.  I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance."  The disciples of John and of the Pharisees were fasting.  Then they came and said to Him, "Why do the disciples of John and of the Pharisees fast, but Your disciples do not fast?"  And Jesus said to them, "Can the friends of the bridegroom fast while the bridegroom is with them?  As long as they have the bridegroom with them they cannot fast.  But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast in those days.  No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; or else the new piece pulls away from the old, and the tear is made worse.  And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; or else the new wine bursts the wineskins, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined.  But new wine must be put into new wineskins."

 

 Now it happened that He went through the grainfields on the Sabbath; and as they went His disciples began to pluck the heads of grain.  And the Pharisees said to Him, "Look, why do they do what is not lawful on the Sabbath?"  But He said to them, "Have you never read what David did when he was in need and hungry, he and those with him:  how he went into the house of God in the days of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the showbread, which is not lawful to eat except for the priests, and also gave some to those who were with him?"  And He said to them, "The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.  Therefore the Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath."   My study bible comments that under the new covenant, the food which was at one time not lawful for anyone to eat except for the priests is now freely given to all by the Lord of the Sabbath.  Jesus, the Son of Man, was prefigured by David when he gave the showbread to those who were with him.  It is unique to Mark's Gospel that we're told Jesus states "the Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath."  The emphasis here is a continuation of the understanding that Jesus is the physician who goes where the need is greatest (see yesterday's reading, above).

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 went out and immediately plotted with the Herodians against Him, how they might destroy Him.   My study bible comments on Jesus' response to the hardness of the hearts of the Pharisees.  It says that righteous anger is a natural human emotion which is experienced in the face of sin.  It says that there is also anger that is certainly sinful (Matthew 5:22), but anger can also be God-given and proper to humanity (Psalm 4:4).  Christ's anger in this instance is in response to people who profess God but have such hardness in their hearts that they cannot rejoice in the healing of one of their brothers.  Their predictable response is to immediately plot with the Herodians (those who support the Roman rule of the house of Herod) how they might destroy Him.

The ruthlessness of power makes its appearance in today's reading, as the Pharisees go out to immediately plot with the Herodians against Christ, to find how they might destroy Him.  This is something we need to study and understand.  We need to think about how hard it is to discern God in the midst of the world.  That is, to discern God in the midst of the world where it looks like all power is only material, and those who hold powerful positions will brook no criticism or opposition even when it comes from what is holy, from God -- a world in which we may easily become incapable of making that discernment.  Christ acts with compassion:  perhaps if the Pharisees themselves could find compassion in themselves they would read this circumstance more clearly.  Perhaps even without understanding exactly who Jesus is, a true love of God in their own hearts, as opposed to hard-heartedness, would at least have allowed them to perceive the righteousness of Christ's behavior.  As it is, the "rules" they enforce so zealously are only used to bludgeon an innocent Man, and for the sake of their own positions and power.  Elsewhere we're told that Jesus says to them, "If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and came from God; nor have I come of Myself, but He sent Me. Why do you not understand My speech? Because you are not able to listen to My word.  You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.  But because I tell the truth, you do not believe Me.  Which of you convicts Me of sin? And if I tell the truth, why do you not believe Me?  He who is of God hears God’s words; therefore you do not hear, because you are not of God" (John 8:42-47).  This is an illustration once again of Jesus' teaching regarding the two greatest commandments of the Law (Matthew 22:36-40, Mark 12:28-34, Luke 10:25-28).  Here, these men so protective of their position and authority cannot put God first wholeheartedly.  Their behavior toward neighbor reflects that failure to hold strongly the first great commandment, and so they fail in the second.  This is something we must emphatically take to heart in the world in which we live, in which political affiliation, or philosophy, or ideology, or some set of rules is meant to substitute for that first place in our hearts for God.  Regardless of the value of what is created by human beings, there is only one place reserved for wholehearted worship, and that place is filled not by a thing or a system but by a Person.  That Person (or three Persons in One) is love and offers us the root foundation in which to grow of love, truth, beauty, and goodness.  On this is rooted all the Law and the Prophets, and this is the word given to us by our Lord, the Person who is Truth ("I am the way, the truth, and the life" - John 14:6).   When we are tempted to put something else first, we are exercising a kind of hardness of heart that gives us blindness and darkness.  We will always be missing something without the heart in its rightful place.  This is how we open up to the light that is the life of human beings.