GREAT THINGS ENTERPRISE
CLAUDE BLACK
Mark 3:5
Conflicting Emotions
It is not uncommon to have a mixture of emotions, each tugging against the other. One can experience the pleasure of driving a new car off the lot, for example, while simultaneously realizing how expensive it will be to fuel and repair the machine—and make the monthly payments. Or one can experience the joy of learning that they will become a parent while simultaneously considering the immense responsibility of parenting. Or one can be elated about receiving a promotion while dreading the workload the new rank demands. Or one can be elated with the purchase of a new house while being aware of the endless mortgage payments, unending repairs, and repetitive cleaning it demands.
St. Mark described a situation where Jesus faced a mixture of emotions. He recounted Jesus teaching in a synagogue where there was a man with a withered hand who requested Jesus’ help. In the same synagogue was a delegation of Pharisees and teachers of the law who were looking for an excuse to accuse Jesus for violating one of the Sabbath laws. The critics challenged Jesus’ intention to help the infirmed man because it was the Sabbath, and no work, even helping an infirmed man, could be done on this day. “And looking around at them with anger, being grieved because of the hardness of their hearts, he said to the man, ‘Stretch forth your hand,’ and he stretched it out and his hand was restored.” (Mark 3:5)
According to Mark, anger and grief, two conflicting emotions, welled up in Jesus as he confronted this situation—anger that these pious critics were willing to let this infirmed man continue to suffer rather than violate a manufactured rule and grief at the growing hardness of their hearts. Conflicting emotions can lead to inaction—not buying a new car, not becoming a parent, not seeking a promotion, not buying a new house, or letting a man with an infirmed hand continue to suffer, or it can inspire action. Jesus’ resolution to this conflict was to say to the man, “Stretch forth your hand.” This is good illustration of how to deal with conflicting emotions.
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