Word to the Wise
Wednesday, January 20, 2021 - Wednesday in the 2nd Week in Ordinary Time
[Heb 7:1-3, 15-17 and Mark 3:1-6]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 the 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. [Mark]
When I was a kid, going to the latest cowboy movie at the local theaters was a regular thing. One characteristic of these movies that became part of our common parlance had to do with the color of the hats worn by the "good guys" and the "bad guys." The good guys wore white hats and the bad guys wore black hats. It was clear from the start which side was which. The Gospel According to Mark draws that line early on as well. Jesus faces off with the Jewish leadership of his time: scribes, Pharisees, Sadducees, Herodians and Elders of the people. After the healing recounted in today's gospel passage, we are told that the Pharisees joined with the Herodians (followers of the Roman puppet leader in Galilee) to plot against Jesus. These two groups ordinarily would have had nothing to do with one another. What they shared in common, as the gospel points out, was "hardness of heart." This hardness of heart would not even let them answer Jesus' question about doing good on the sabbath instead of evil. The Pharisees could only see that "work" was being done, no matter how good.
The Pharisees, in our time, would say, "It is never acceptable to do evil in order to accomplish good." In yesterday's gospel, Jesus states that he is "Lord of the sabbath!" and the rule about work on the sabbath may have to yield to the law of compassion. On another occasion similar to the one today, Jesus points out that the Pharisees, etc. would take care of their farm animals on the sabbath by watering them! The real issue is "hardness of heart."
When rules are enforced simply because they are rules and not because they are helpful, great harm can occur. The commandment to honor "the Lord's Day" is one of the original ten. It is designed to maintain the law of worship and acknowledgment of God. It is not designed to prevent a person from urgent works of compassion. Sometimes this gets stretched too much to where athletic and social events are given priority over worship on Sunday. On the other hand, we do not wish hospitals to close on Sunday!! Jesus' identity as "Lord of the sabbath" is at the heart of the Gospel According to Mark and at the heart of good common sense! Hardness of heart is not a sign of the Kingdom of God. AMEN