3 Jesus went into the synagogue again and noticed a man with a deformed hand. ² Since it was the Sabbath, Jesus’ enemies watched him closely. If he healed the man’s hand, they planned to accuse him of working on the Sabbath.

³ Jesus said to the man with the deformed hand, “Come and stand in front of everyone.” ⁴ Then he turned to his critics and asked, “Does the law permit good deeds on the Sabbath, or is it a day for doing evil? Is this a day to save life or to destroy it?” But they wouldn’t answer him.

⁵ He looked around at them angrily and was deeply saddened by their hard hearts. Then he said to the man, “Hold out your hand.” So the man held out his hand, and it was restored! ⁶ At once the Pharisees went away and met with the supporters of Herod to plot how to kill Jesus.

Mark 3:1-6

Dear God, the part of this story that strikes me today is verse 6. It wasn’t enough for the Pharisees to be upset with Jesus or challenge him. When they ran out of convincing arguments as to why Jesus was dangerous, they decided to partner with the government to increase their authoritarian power. They wanted him dead because they could no longer argue convincingly against Jesus. They were losing the people and instead of either 1.) improving their argument against Jesus or 2.) admit they were wrong and reassess their attitude toward him, they chose door #3: Eliminate him through government power.

There’s a lesson here for us. In my mind, a lot of the Evangelical Church today has lost its ability to articulate and persuasively present its arguments regarding the things it thinks are important [insert your morally questionable activity/attitude here]. So about 40 or 50 years ago it started to seek the power through politics. If it could just get the right laws passed then people would have to see it their way. That would stop this nonsense from happening! And although I’m not saying that liberal ideology is on the side of Jesus, I am saying that the keepers of the faith are no better at arguing against liberal ideology than the Pharisees were against Jesus, so they decided political power over the nonbelievers is the way to go. In my mind, that will only lead to hard hearts on both sides. Door #1 is open to them (persuasion). Door #2 is open to them (admission). They are opting for Door #3, which is power over others.

Father, help me to know how to embrace Door #1 and persuasively argue for your morality in a way that will draw others towards you and not away from you. Help me to be open to consider Door #2 when appropriate. Holy Spirit, counsel me and teach me when I am wrong. And help me to completely reject Door #3. I do not want power over anyone else. I want to simply be their brother in Jesus.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen