Thursday, October 22, 2009

Mark Chapter 3 Withered Hand Man

So the Obscure Biblical Character is… the no-name man with the withered hand in the synagogue in Mark chapter 3!

Mark 3:1-6
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.

So, the moral of the story (beyond ‘Jesus knows best’) is that our hearts shouldn’t be made of stone, especially on the Sabbath. Also, the moral could be that when we do good, others will plot against us. Although Jesus didn’t seems to be phased by this too badly, which could be another moral of the story: don’t be surprised when others try to be mean to you when you are nice and Christ-like to others.

So this next week is:
-a woman
-anointed Jesus with fragrant oil
-Jesus stood up for her against Judas Iscariot

It’s in one of the gospels, again. We’re not doing a poll for this week, so you’ll have to guess and think about it.

Many thanks to Sarah, who did this week’s and last week’s Song Nights.

In His Service,
Joyce

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