Justice and Lord of the Sabbath
In Mark 3, Jesus is confronted with two issues. He had just entered a synagogue and saw a man with a shriveled hand. Obvious work for Jesus. The other issue is the synagogue has some people who look like they set up this entire situation, who see this handicapped man as an opportunity to play “Gotcha” with Jesus. Jesus has the man stand up among them all and asks what is lawful – to do good on the Sabbath or to do evil? No one answered. Jesus becomes indignant. “Okay, you want to play that game, I’ll just show you.” He heals the man.
A couple of things are noteworthy – I don’t know if they were setting Jesus up. If so, they had worked evil into the day in clear violation of the Sabbath. But maybe it was just a situation where they all got there, saw the handicapped man and said, “Oh boy, oh boy, this is gonna be great! We couldn’t have set this up better if we had wanted to! We’ll finally get something on Jesus!”
In that case, which I think is more likely, Jesus’ brother’s words come to mind in James 4:17 – “So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin” (ESV). Jesus here in this synagogue and situation is equating inaction with evil – even on the Sabbath.
This is not a one-off situation where the exception proves the rule. Rather, it is at the heart of who God is – He is at His heart “just” as He has revealed that in His word. To be clear, when we hear the word “justice,” if we have in mind the guys in the white hats finishing off the guys in the black hats, we’ve gotten it wrong. Rather, those who have been given much have much responsibility to look after those who are weaker. Justice is wrapped up in Jubilee and taking care of widows, orphans, and foreigners. A man with a shriveled hand is an opportunity to work justice, to do the right* thing by him. A sandwich. A cup of water. Clothing. The taking in of strangers. Helping the sick. Visiting prisoners. Sound familiar? Matthew 25.
We, as the people of God, have the responsibility to do God’s work. This is primarily accomplished in the church but spills over into all our interactions with all people. Please be careful with what I am about to say – if a law or the practice of that law is unjust and we are capable of bringing justice to a situation in contradiction of that law, we carry that responsibility. This is Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Jr. stuff. But more importantly, it is the stuff of God.
*Justice and righteousness are the same word in NT Greek.