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, there are times when I wish I was more willing to be confrontational. I tend to be way to meek. I don’t want to be the cause of someone else getting angry. I think that’s it. I’ve never articulated it in words before, but I think that’s it. It’s pretty simple really. I don’t want to be the reason someone else feels anger. But Jesus knew that what he was about to do would anger the Pharisees. Jesus was angry himself. Mark tells us that in verse 5. If I had been there, I might have told them man, “Hey, meet me back here tomorrow and I’ll take care of that hand.” Problem solved. But Jesus wasn’t there to heal the man’s hand. He was there to teach not only the Pharisees, but also everyone there and even me.
One of the problems with confrontation is that sometimes I’m wrong and the person I’m confronting doesn’t deserve to be confronted. For example, in yesterday’s story from Mark 2, the Pharisees confronted Jesus about his disciples picking grain on the Sabbath. They were angry and they let the anger lead them into the wrong action. I guess that’s where Jesus adds a layer to this. Yesterday, I mentioned that it would have been better for the Pharisees to say to Jesus, “Help us understand why it’s okay for your disciples to pick grain on the Sabbath,” but that’s not what they did. They just confronted. For Jesus in this story, he asked them a question that revealed to them their error in thinking, but their anger drove them to sin. They had an opportunity to talk it out with Jesus, but they chose not to. What would have happened if they had reasoned all of this out with Jesus and allowed their minds to be changed?
Father, there are times when it’s okay to be the cause of someone’s anger, but it needs to be done shrewdly and wisely. It also needs to be done humbly. I guess I’ll go back to the serenity prayer when it comes to this, but tweak it to ask you to not only give me the serenity, the courage, and the wisdom, but also the discernment to find the most constructive path that will bring you glory.
I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,
Amen
Emails to God 