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. (Mk 3:1-2)
I guess the whole thought for today’s Gospel passage would be: If you’re going to be blamed for doing something, best be blamed for doing something good. If you’re going to be faulted, be faulted for saying or doing the right thing rather than the wrong thing.
That being said, it still amazes me to think that a group of people could have been so set against Jesus that they would want to denounce Him for doing something good for another person. When Jesus straightened the hand of the man in today’s Gospel, a large group of people in the crowd decided that they would use that act as an occasion to denounce and condemn Jesus.
Why? Because He “worked” on the Sabbath, which was supposed to be a day of complete rest.
How had the world gone so wrong that they would look upon a miracle as an abomination? Why could they not see the hand of God working in their midst?
The Gospel reminds us that, if we choose to do so, we can fail to see God working in our lives. We can come to the point of resenting God if we focus upon our own selves and our own agenda.
This is important to remember because the world is still set against God. In many ways, it is more set against God now than when Jesus was condemned and put to death. The world became fixated against God when Jesus rose from the dead.
Because of that, there are many in the world who rise up against anyone who does something good in the name of the Lord. Do not let them stop you from doing or saying the right thing.
FAITH ACTION: Do something good for someone today without worrying about how it might be looked upon.