Mark 3:1-6: I cannot imagine the frustration that Jesus was facing at this point. He showed up in the synagogue as was expected. Upon entering he was aware that the religious leaders had set up a situation of entrapment. They planted a man with a withered hand to see if Jesus would heal on the Sabbath!

Jesus was very angry and disappointed in the religious leaders because of their callous hearts (Mk 3:5). What did he do? He commanded the man to come forward. This became the focus of the ministry for the day. Jesus had him stretch out his hand and it was instantly restored.

No physical work took place in this healing. Jesus healed through the power of God. Notice also that this man did not have any faith to be healed. He was a decoy, an imposter who stood in place to trap Jesus. The people who brought him knew that He could heal but sought to destroy Him through the healing. Their faith was misplaced.

Jesus taught them from Torah. When a person is in distress, it is ok to relieve their distress on the Sabbath. This is one of the basic truth’s found in Torah. It applies down to the simple animals. If a donkey falls in a ditch, it is ok to get it out on the Sabbath.

The end result of the healing went exactly as the religious leaders had planned. They had their healing on the Sabbath and set out to destroy Jesus.

Mark 3:7-12: Mark gives us the scene of what happens next. The other two accounts from Matthew and Luke do not include this testimony. Jesus demonstrated that healing was certainly acceptable on the Sabbath.

Yet, I wonder if it was on the Sabbath. We have an account of many people traveling from many different parts of the region to meet with Jesus (Mark 3:7-8). In order for this group of people to come together would mean for many people to be traveling a long distance on the Sabbath. This would have gone against the belief of the Jewish people. So, I would argue that this took place shortly after the Sabbath due to the travel involved.

On the other hand, let’s argue that it did take place on the Sabbath. Now what? Jesus would have held a massive healing service that resulted in many people being healed of many diseases. People crowded against Him just to touch Him in order to be healed. This demonstrated the desperation of the people to receive healing. Imagine being sick and not having any possibility of being cured by doctors. Jesus was a doctor who healed on the spot. Think about it. These people were like animals trapped in the hopelessness of sickness. When Jesus healed them, they were delivered from distress (Mark 3:4).

Those who were demon possessed were delivered instantly. The demons were shouting “You are the Son of God!” (Mark 3:11).  Jesus was warning them not to declare this. The implication was that the people present were not to repeat what the demons were saying when they told of the account.

The unclean spirits recognized Jesus as “the Son of God”. The people recognized Jesus as good, the demons recognized Jesus as God, and the religious saw Him as a threat. What did Jesus do? He healed those who were sick and delivered people from their distress.

Often we forget who Jesus was. His Hebrew name was Yeshua. The word Yeshua in the Hebrew meant “Salvation”. He came to deliver people from their distress. This was His name and His nature. What would Jesus do? He came to set people free. He came to set them free from sickness, disease, and demon possession in this passage. He came to set people free from bondage. This was His nature and still is. I cannot stress enough that the nature of Jesus is to deliver people from bondage and set them free.

A little preaching: With that said. Imagine a church where no one makes a decision to follow Jesus as their Messiah. No one steps forward to make a decision to follow Jesus by publicly announcing that they are accepting the freedom found in Jesus. No one steps forward to commit their lives to the Messiah. I will show you a church that either leaches off other churches for members or is steeped in bondage similar to the bondage the religious leaders had set during the New Testament times. Jesus came to set people free. He came to give life and give it abundantly. That is what He did in this passage.

It distresses me greatly when I observe a church that never has an altar call. When a church never makes an attempt to draw people to make a decision to follow Jesus as their Lord and Savior. I have been involved in churches like this. It is very distressing because the very purpose of Jesus setting people free is ignored. Why? The excuses are as many as there are people. Some feel that you would not be in the church if you were not following Jesus. This is not true since many people will be involved in a social club just for the status of belonging. Others feel that making a decision or pressing for a decision is too restrictive on the people. It violates their right to make their own decision. This is also hogwash since those in bondage need to have the chains cut. To cut these chains off means a person has to be willing to make a stand and be delivered. As many as there are excuses, we need to stand up and declare that they are not good enough. Jesus came to set people free.

I just returned from a mission where many people came to make a decision to follow Jesus as Lord of their lives. Seventy-eight percent of the people presented with the Good news of freedom in Jesus accepted this and committed their lives to Him. After that took place everyone present received medical care, and twenty-nine percent of the people showed up for voluntary prayer and spiritual healing. God miraculously healed roughly thirty percent of those who asked for prayer. Remember though, only about thirty percent of the prayer request had to do with sickness or disease. God came to set people free.

Why don’t we see this in our churches? If we as Christians claim to really do as Jesus did, then our churches should be hospitals for the spiritually sick. We should be in the market of setting people free. Our nature should be focused upon bringing people to know their Messiah so that they can be set free. It’s worth thinking about.