Chapter 3 of the Book of Mark shares the story of:
A Man with a Withered Hand
Again he entered the synagogue, and a man was there with a withered hand. And they watched Jesus,to see whether he would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse him.
The Pharisees accepted Jesus in front of others, listened and treated Him as their peer. They were awed by His teaching, sharing, and ministering, until He broke their law of healing on the Sabbath.
The Pharisees were watching Jesus, hoping He would break their law by healing on the Sabbath.
In this instance, they wanted Him to heal the man with the withered hand so they could accuse Him!
Jesus knew their very thoughts, and hardened hearts.
And he said to the man with the withered hand, “Come here.”
And he said to them, "Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to kill?”
But they were silent.
But they were silent….
They did not answer Him.
They grieved and angered their God.
And He looked around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, and said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was restored.
The Pharisees went out and immediately held counsel with the Herodians against him, how to destroy him.
He performed a creative miracle in their midst, but not before He silenced their attempt to discredit Him.
The leaders then walked away in silence to conspire evil against Jesus. They tried to silence, shun, and curse God. They couldn’t stop Him from Healing on the Sabbath, nor could they give an answer to Jesus or the people why it was evil to do healing on the Sabbath.
The Jewish Sabbath lasted from sundown on the sixth day of the week until sundown on the seventh day. No one was to work, cook, minister, heal, or help another during this time.
When others misunderstand, reject, or accuse you falsely be certain Jesus can and will silence your accusers BEFORE He does a miracle in your life!
After He silenced the Pharisees, whose hearts were hardened, He told the man to stretch out His withered hand. It was made whole.
God gets angry and grieved at those with hardened hearts.
Mark 8:17-18
Jesus describes a hard heart as being unable to perceive, understand, see, hear, or remember. These are all spiritual inabilities, and a hard heart can prevent a person from understanding even the few spiritual things they can perceive.
My prayer today is, “Lord keep my heart soft and pliable in your hands. Don’t let my will but your will be done today and every day.”
For His glory,
Marlene Hoenig, from ashes to beauty Cinderella Released Ministrues
Globe International
http://CinderellaReleased.wixsite.com/website
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