3:5,6
Jesus was full of anger and distress. Now we should realise how deep the issue is. Jesus could have waited a day to heal the man, and there would have been no great loss to the man, instead He healed him there and then. He did this because the Pharisee’s understanding of the Law was so completely skewed. Their attitude made others suffer, and was a symptom of the sad state of their hearts. A similar sentiment can be felt towards many, particularly the “elite”, in today’s society. They cause pain and suffering for people in society, and their hearts are deeply corrupt, to their own harm as well. So Jesus heals the man.
In response the Pharisees leave and join with the Herodians in plotting how to kill Jesus. Instead of realising their own fault and repenting, they seek to kill the accuser. The Herodians were supporters of Herod, and so were effectively working for the Romans. The Pharisees hated the Romans, but their desire to get rid of Jesus overrode this.
3:7
As happened on a number of occasions, Jesus withdrew, this time to a lake. This may have just been to spend some time with His disciples, or it could have been in response to the plots of the Pharisees and Herodians. However, again as often happened, He was followed by large crowds. When Jesus is doing what Jesus does it will attract large crowds, and the same is true today. When we resort to gimmicks to attract people it is a sign that we are not really walking in step with the Spirit.
No comments:
Post a Comment