Jesus entered the synagogue.
There was a man there who had a withered hand.
They watched Jesus closely
to see if he would cure him on the sabbath
so that they might accuse him.
He said to the man with the withered hand,
“Come up here before us.”
Then he said to the Pharisees,
“Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath rather than to do evil,
to save life rather than to destroy it?”
But they remained silent.
Looking around at them with anger
and grieved at their hardness of heart,
Jesus said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.”
He stretched it out and his hand was restored.
The Pharisees went out and immediately took counsel
with the Herodians against him to put him to death. (Mk 3:1-6)
Can you imagine that?
Jesus, the Son of the Living God put to death?
For doing good?
What had His world come to?
Come to think of it, what has our world come to?
We are more than two thousand years removed from the birth of Christ yet our world does not appear to have gotten any better. Instead, it seems to get worse each year.
Recently, there have been a spate of shootings on school grounds. We also know of many wars and other atrocities against people.
Crimes against life — abortion, euthanasia, doctor-assisted suicide, capital punishment, poverty, famine, infanticide, genocide — all appear to be running rampant.
The world is crying out for good people to come to the front in order to provide direction.
Or, is it?
A good person comes to the front and that person may be met with the same level of skepticism and hatred as evidenced in the Gospel.
The world, steeped in sin, does not want a witness of God’s love. It wants to remain in sin and darkness.
The world may not want a witness; but, the world desperately needs one.
FAITH ACTION: You may suffer for being a witness to God this day. Do it, nonetheless.