To watch this service, click on the link to our YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/ilygBBVmlEM?si=XE4Q2G9b2tTM4b3r
Back to the Future: Mark 3:1-6
Jesus, Son of God, entered the synagogue, meaning He went to church. Jesus went to church – even though He was under attack. The Pharisees were out to destroy him. He went to church. Church was his priority. There was someone in great need, a man with a shrivelled hand. He had a debilitating disease, with no help from the state, no social workers to visit him. We can assume he was actually impoverished – just the kind of person Jesus came for. The Pharisees were there, looking to catch Jesus out (v2). This is rather interesting; they wanted to see if Jesus would heal the man with a withered hand on the Sabbath.
Interestingly, even the Pharisees had faith Jesus could heal this man; they came to church expecting Jesus to heal him. Each week, we come to worship then go home. The box is ticked for another week. But do we come to church expecting the living God will join us here, stand in our midst and do mighty things in this church? Do we come believing that Jesus could work a miracle right here, that Jesus could save the lost in Roch? Are we praying for God to work in us as we gather?
The Pharisees hated Jesus. He was a threat to their authority. Yet, they show more faith than many of us. They came to the meeting expecting great things of Jesus. Do we? Jesus meets the Pharisees expectation. He calls the man with a shrivelled hand to come out in front of everyone and healed him. He healed him publicly.
Christianity is truth. It is well evidenced. We see this pattern right through the gospels. Everything is public. At His birth, shepherds gathered to see Him then ran off and told everyone. His miracles were public events. Jesus was dragged through the streets carrying His cross. He was mocked by the crowds. There were all real, historical events which people saw. True events. He was hoisted up high to die on a cross. He didn’t have the dignity of a private death. He was buried. Again, this was a public event. He even had guards. It was witnessed. Then He rose again and for 40 days He ate and drank with people. When He ascended this was witnessed. Everything He did was witnessed.
Jesus is the way, the truth and the life. Jesus is the Light of the world. In Him the reality of God is utterly exposed. Jesus is God revealed. Everything He did was public so that the truth can be seen for what it really is. There are no secret visions or hidden rituals as in other religions. Everything Jesus did was done in the light so it can be verified, so we can trust Him.
The man with a withered hand stood up. Please notice the change of wording; the man with the withered hand is now addressed as ‘the man.’ Why? Because God had already healed him of his affliction. He was no longer the man with a withered hand. Jesus said to the man, ‘Stretch out your hand.’ This would not have been possible with a weathered hand. The work of healing was already done (v5). The man’s hand had to be healed before he stretched it out.
We live in a broken world. Many of us have so much difficulty in our lives, which can weigh us down. Many of us are struggling with physical ailments. These often overwhelm us and confuse us. We try to overcome them by looking to the future, that one day it will all be fine. We push on and keep going. This is not the gospel. Such plodding on puts all that pressure on you to take the next step, to stretch out our hand to be healed by Jesus. That is not the gospel. It is self-help, relying on you to get yourself sorted. The Bible says He has done it! God came to earth; He took on flesh. Jesus came and lived the life we could not. He exchanged His perfection with our brokenness on the cross. By grace, we can now reach out to Him. We were healed before we even cried out His name. It is all of Jesus.
In Christ, our salvation is complete. All the work is done. We’re good to go. Christianity is not some blind faith of the future. Don’t plod for future hope. Don’t trust in your ability to plod. Christianity rests in the reality of what has already happened. History. Our faith is in the fact of what has already happened – His death and resurrection. Because He lives, I can face tomorrow.
Faith rests in fact, in what has already happened. The most proven fact in ancient history is His death on the cross. There are two Hebrew words in the Old Testament that perfectly describe what we see here in Mark 3. The first word is ‘kethim.’ It means what you can see, everything in front of you. As human beings we are limited in that we cannot see into the future. No-one knows what tomorrow brings. So, in Hebrew, the future is actually understood as what is being behind you, because you can’t see what is behind you. As human beings we have a God-given gift of memory, so that we are able to look back into the past. So, kethim is the word used in Hebrew for what we can see – which is the past. In the Hebrew mindset, the past is in front of us, it is what we can see.
The second Hebrew word is ‘achor,’ which means what we cannot see –which is what is behind us, which is the future. Therefore, the Biblical understanding of life is the past is in front of us because we can see it, and the future is behind us because we cannot see it.
Sadly, many Christians think that faith is all about taking a step forward into the darkness, into what you cannot see. Plodding forward in blind ignorance. That is not the gospel. Nowhere in the Bible are you called to take a step out in blind ignorance. The faith of the Bible is actually taking a step backwards, trusting in the kethim of what we can see before us, trusting in what God has already done for us.
It is like walking backwards on a straight road. In Abersychan there is an old train line. It is just a straight line for miles and miles and miles. I could walk down it backwards, quite comfortably, because I know looking forwards, seeing the line, it’s going to be straight for the next thousand steps. I don’t have to look behind me to see where I’m going. I’ve got all the information I need to walk backwards in front me. It’s even easier when the person who made that road, Jesus, is walking with you, saying, ‘carry on, there’s nothing behind you, keep going on.’
You take a step back into the future, because you can look back into the past, trusting all that God has done for you to get you this far. The evidence is there, so you can trust Him when you step back.
As Christians our faith is not blind. Our faith is built on evidence of what really happened in history – the perfect life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
In today’s scripture reading, the man’s withered hand was already healed before it was stretched out. He could not have stretched it out otherwise. The work was done. The man’s hand was not healed because he stretched it out, even if it was in obedience to Christ’s command. The man’s obedience was enabled because Christ had already healed him.
In the same way, in all the problems you face today, let me assure you that they are already dealt with. On the cross, Jesus paid the price for it all. Your problems are resolved. All you need to do is simply stretch out your hand to show the world that you have been publicly restored in Christ. By grace you have been saved. It is already done. Will you stretch out your hand in the grace of Jesus Christ?
Penuel Baptist Chapel, Roch 