GREAT THINGS ENTERPRISE
CLAUDE BLACK
Mark 3:4
When I”m Wrong
The author, publisher, and philosopher Elbert Hubbard (1856-1915) said, “There is nothing so bitter as the point in an argument when you know you are wrong.” At that point, there are three possible actions. First, one can double down on their wrong premise and begin to argue with more energy. Or, second, one can acknowledge their error. Or, third, one can retreat in silence, often a sullen silence.
In St. Mark’s account of an injured man asking for Jesus’ help on the Sabbath, Jesus asked the man to stand in their midst. Likely, Jesus asked the man to stand in order to awaken sympathy for the stricken man, or he was going to take his next step in such a way that no one could possibly fail to see it. In St. Matthew’s account, it was at this point that the Pharisees and teachers of the law asked, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?” (Matt. 12:10) Jesus, of course, knew the law and that all work was forbidden on the Sabbath. He also knew that they defined healing as work. Medical attention could be given on the Sabbath only if a life was in danger. An injury could be kept from getting worse, but it must not be made better. A bleeding cut, for example, might be bandaged with a plain bandage but not with ointment. Or cold water, for example, could not be poured on a sprained hand or foot.
The guardians of orthodoxy, of course, who were looking to indict Jesus and kill him, thought they had him in their crosshairs. “And he said to them, ‘Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil? To save life or to kill?’ But they were silent.” (Mark 3:4) According to Jesus’ argument, it was never lawful to do a wrong, and to have the power to do an act of mercy, even on the Sabbath, and not do it is to do wrong. Therefore, it is always lawful to do good, not excluding the Sabbath, for that day is dedicated to God and to good works. It was at that bitter point that the critics saw the contradiction, dare one say error, in their position, and “they were silent.”
The essence of Jesus’ lesson is that to have the opportunity to do good and not do it is to do wrong. True before Jesus’ lesson in the synagogue, true in the synagogue, and still true.
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