The Tuesday after the First Sunday after the Epiphany of our Lord
Posted on January 14, 2025 by under
Scripture: St. Mark 3:1-6 (NKJV)
3:1 And He entered the synagogue again, and a man was there who had a withered hand. 2 So they watched Him closely, whether He would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse Him. 3 And He said to the man who had the withered hand, “Step forward.” 4 Then 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 kept silent. 5 And when He had looked around at them with anger, being grieved by the hardness of their hearts, He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored as whole as the other.
6 Then the Pharisees went out and immediately plotted with the Herodians against Him, how they might destroy Him.
Devotion
“And He entered the synagogue again…” Jesus wasn’t one to not go to the church. Scripture recorded numerous times Jesus went to the synagogue and to the temple. While His going there was in accordance with God’s command, it is obvious from today’s reading the Pharisees saw their own presence to be quite different. Being good in their own sight, they felt no need for what God had to offer them in worship, namely the forgiveness of sins. Instead, they sought to find fault in Jesus.
Jesus knows what is going on in the hearts of the Pharisees. And yet, our Lord is merciful and gives them an opportunity to confess the truth by giving them the opportunity to repent and turn to Him. But they refused the God whom they claimed to worship. They are as Jesus said, “You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do” (John 8:44).
On the other hand, through faith we are of our Father in heaven. The faithful are born, “not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God” (John 1:13). According to His grace God says “Stretch out your hand” that we might lay hold of Jesus and His righteousness. The hardness of our heart is gone as the Holy Ghost works within us daily to repent and trust in Jesus for the forgiveness of our sins.
Collect: O Lord, we beseech Thee mercifully to receive the prayers of Thy people who call upon Thee; and grant that they may both perceive and know what things they ought to do, and also may have grace and power faithfully to fulfill the same; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
