Surge | Stand up

He said to the man whose hand was withered, “Stand up.”- Mark 3: 3 (WEB).

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Jesus entered into the synagogue that Sabbath day knowing the Pharisees were watching Him. They were setting a trap for Him. Despite this situation, He healed the man with the withered hand. For me, this points to one word: compassion. Jesus had compassion for people with problems and needs. It is quite clear that the Pharisees did not have compassion for this man. They were only focused on their own agenda and plans.

The Gospel of Mark often focus on emotions. We read about Jesus’ emotions in this chapter. In Mark 3: 5 we read: “When he had looked around at them with anger, being grieved at the hardening of their hearts, he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.”  It is not very often that we read that Jesus Christ showed anger. Anger due to the hard hearts of the Pharisees. This reminds us to make sure that our hearts are always open.

For this man to be healed, he first had to show up with an open heart. He had to go out of his house to the synagogue. If he stayed at home, things might have turned out different for him on that joyous day. Some say that people with disabilities were not permitted at the synagogue. Others say that maybe the Pharisees arranged for him to be at the synagogue. Whatever the case, this man showed up. That was the first important step.

Next, this man had to do two things: stand up and stretch out his hand. Jesus asked only these two small things from him.  He obeyed and Jesus Christ healed him.  For me, this symbolizes what we need to do daily as well: stand up and stretch our hand out to Jesus Christ.  Whatever life throws at us, we need to show up, stand up and stretch out our hand to our Saviour.

Reflection on Mark 3: 1 – 19 by Hanne Teach

(Listen to the Podcast here)

Dominus exaudivit (Ps. 34:18)

If we believe in Jesus, feeling joy should be our default position.

The Bible talks a lot about sadness too—it doesn’t try to minimize it or sweep it away with saccharine phrases. King David much wrote about his sadness in Book of Psalm.

I am trying to tell you that you don’t have to feel bad for feel sad if you’re a Christian because even Jesus was racked with sadness at times in the Bible. But we have to remember that God also says His mercies are new every morning—even the times when you don’t want to get out of bed. With every sunrise, God gives us another blank sheet of paper and invites us to fill it up with things that make us come alive.

All of us experience negative emotions from time to time and some of us were born with an extra dose of them because of our genes.

Let people around us be sad if they need to be or go ahead and be sad yourself if you need to. Then find your way back to hope but if you’ve lost your way, find someone who is trustful and who you can trust to share your sadness. Find someone who will reach out to you the way God reaches out to all of us—fiercely and without stopping until He’s got us wrapped in a hug.

If you know someone who is trapped by their hurts, go to them, don't wait too long. And if you’re the one hurting, be sad, but don’t get stuck. Find someone to travel the path with you. You’ll know you’ve found the right person if they don’t try to fix you but they’ll just want to be with you on the way to Jesus. Amen. God bless us.

By Marta Kamaludin.