Another time Jesus went into the synagogue, and a man with a shriveled hand was there. 2 Some of them were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they watched him closely to see if he would heal him on the Sabbath. 3 Jesus said to the man with the shriveled hand, “Stand up in front of everyone.”
4 Then Jesus asked them, “Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?” But they remained silent.
5 He looked around at them in anger and, deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts, said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was completely restored. 6 Then the Pharisees went out and began to plot with the Herodians how they might kill Jesus.
-Mark 3:1-6
Have you ever heard your pastor preach on a passage in the Bible, only to hear the same verses later in the week during Harvesters or when you’re reading the Bible on your own, or a friend mentions it randomly?
When God wants to get your attention about something, He’ll oftentimes repeat Himself. The same is true about God with the Bible. If something is super important, He’ll repeat it again. Today’s passage is the second of back-to-back Sabbath stories about Jesus. You can read yesterday’s devos if you want to read about the first.
Just like yesterday’s story, here again the Pharisees are super mad that Jesus “did work” on the Sabbath day intended for rest. They are so worried about whether or not Jesus was following some rule that they completely ignored the well-being of others.
Imagine if Jesus came into the hospitals on a Saturday morning (considered to be part of the Sabbath day according to Jewish traditions) and start healing people of Covid-19, and then the religious people chimed in and said, “Jesus, you’re not following the religious rules! Stop healing people!”
Which is more important—following the rules or actually helping people? That’s the question Jesus posed when he asked the Pharisees which is lawful on the Sabbath: to save life or to kill?
This is another reminder that the Pharisees and religious leaders of the day have made “following rules” their god so much so that they have lost sight of what it means to love people. They try so hard to follow these rules because they think that each person can earn their way to heaven. We call this a works-based mentality. You save yourself by what you do.
But that’s not Christianity. In Christianity we know that there is NOTHING we can do to save ourselves. Only Jesus can save us by His sacrifice on the Cross.
Going to church, reading the Bible, praying, attending Harvesters and AYL, are all great things to do, but we shouldn’t do them to try to earn our salvation. Instead, because we already have our salvation through Christ, out of gratitude and joy, we go to church, read our Bible, pray, and attend Harvesters and AYL, etc.
I know, I know, you heard this all when you read yesterday’s devos. But it’s so important that God repeats it again in Mark back to back. If it’s important enough for God to repeat it in the Bible, we can repeat it for devos.
May you enjoy your relationship and salvation in Jesus today. And may any of your rule-following or good deeds come from the overflow of His love for you.
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