The account of the man with the withered hand in Mark 3 always intrigued me. I always wondered what a withered hand really looked like. What ever a withered hand is or looks like, Jesus Christ, the healer, fixed it. This is a passage loaded with many things.
"He entered again into a synagogue; and a man was there whose hand was withered. They were watching Him to see if He would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse Him. He said to the man with the withered hand..."
These people were 'watching' Jesus. It doesn't appear like they are 'watching' because they have been impressed by him. They are watching because they were looking to accuse him. In fact, not only did they want to accuse him, but even worse... they wanted to destroy him (verse 6). They kept their eyes peeled. They couldn't afford to blink. They didn't want to miss anything. And so they were watching intently, hoping he'd mess up.
"If they hate you, know that they hated me first", Jesus says in another place. In this passage in Mark, know that if they watched Jesus intently, know that 'they' are watching you too. This should be motivation for every Christian - every true believer - to live an exemplary life. We ought to be shining examples of the highest integrity and honor. Truthfulness and honesty should characterize our lives. We ought not to give anyone an occasion to speak poorly of us. We ought to be as blameless as is humanly possible and always run to Christ and His Word for help.
People watched Jesus. People are watching us.
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