Mark 3:5 Study Bible: And 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." He stretched it out, and his hand was restored.

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Jesus looked around at them with anger and sorrow at their hardness of heart. Then He said to the man, "Stretch out your hand." So he stretched it out, and it was restored.

Study Bible

He looked around at them with anger
In this phrase, we see Jesus expressing a rare but significant emotion: anger. The Greek word used here is "ὀργή" (orgē), which denotes a righteous indignation. This is not a sinful anger but a holy response to the hardness of heart displayed by the Pharisees. Jesus' anger is directed towards the injustice and lack of compassion shown by the religious leaders, who prioritize legalism over mercy. This moment underscores the humanity of Jesus, who, while fully divine, experiences emotions deeply. It also serves as a reminder that anger, when aligned with God's righteousness, can be a catalyst for change and justice.

and deeply grieved
The phrase "deeply grieved" translates from the Greek "συλλυπέω" (syllypeō), indicating a profound sorrow. This grief is not just a passing sadness but a deep, heartfelt lament over the spiritual blindness and stubbornness of the Pharisees. Jesus' grief highlights His compassion and love for humanity, even for those who oppose Him. It reflects the heart of God, who desires that none should perish but that all should come to repentance. This dual expression of anger and grief reveals the depth of Jesus' care for the spiritual well-being of all people.

at their hardness of heart
The "hardness of heart" refers to the stubbornness and insensitivity of the Pharisees to the truth and love of God. The Greek term "πωρώσει" (pōrōsei) suggests a callousness or a spiritual insensitivity. This condition is often a result of persistent unbelief and resistance to God's work. In the biblical narrative, a hardened heart is a serious spiritual condition that prevents individuals from recognizing and responding to God's presence and action. Jesus' response to this hardness is both a warning and an invitation to open one's heart to the transformative power of God's love.

He said to the man
Here, Jesus turns His attention to the man with the withered hand. This shift in focus from the Pharisees to the individual in need demonstrates Jesus' personal care and concern for each person. It is a reminder that, despite the opposition and misunderstanding from others, Jesus is always attentive to those who seek Him. His words are not just commands but are filled with compassion and authority, offering healing and restoration.

“Stretch out your hand.”
The command "Stretch out your hand" is both a test of faith and an invitation to receive healing. The man is asked to do something that seems impossible due to his condition. Yet, in obedience to Jesus' word, he finds the strength to act. This act of faith is crucial in the biblical narrative, illustrating that faith often requires stepping out in trust, even when the outcome is uncertain. The command also signifies Jesus' authority over physical ailments and His power to restore what is broken.

And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored
The man's obedience results in a miraculous healing. The phrase "his hand was restored" signifies a complete and immediate healing, demonstrating Jesus' divine power. The Greek word "ἀποκαθίστημι" (apokathistēmi) means to restore to its original condition, indicating that the man's hand was made whole as if it had never been withered. This miracle serves as a testament to the transformative power of Jesus' ministry and His ability to bring wholeness to every aspect of human life. It also acts as a powerful witness to the Pharisees and all present, challenging them to reconsider their understanding of God's work and presence among them.

Persons / Places / Events

1. Jesus
- The central figure in this passage, Jesus is in the synagogue, demonstrating His authority and compassion.

2. The Pharisees
- Religious leaders who are observing Jesus, often with the intent to accuse Him.

3. The Man with the Withered Hand
- A man present in the synagogue with a physical ailment, whom Jesus heals.

4. The Synagogue
- The place of worship and teaching where this event occurs.

5. The Crowd
- Other individuals present in the synagogue, witnessing the interaction between Jesus and the Pharisees.

Teaching Points

Righteous Anger
Jesus' anger is directed at the hardness of heart, not at the individuals themselves. This teaches us that anger can be righteous when it is in response to sin and injustice.

Compassion Over Legalism
Jesus prioritizes compassion and healing over strict adherence to legalistic interpretations of the law. We are called to show mercy and love above rigid rule-following.

The Condition of the Heart
The Pharisees' hard hearts contrast with Jesus' compassionate heart. We should examine our own hearts to ensure they are open to God's work and not hardened by pride or legalism.

Sabbath and Rest
Jesus demonstrates that the Sabbath is a time for doing good and bringing restoration. We should view our rest as an opportunity to reflect God's love and mercy.

Faith in Action
The man with the withered hand obeys Jesus' command to stretch out his hand, demonstrating faith. Our faith should lead us to action, trusting in Jesus' power to heal and restore.

Bible Study Questions

1. How does Jesus' response to the Pharisees' hardness of heart challenge our understanding of righteous anger?

2. In what ways can we prioritize compassion over legalism in our daily lives, especially in our interactions with others?

3. What are some signs of a hardened heart, and how can we guard against this in our spiritual walk?

4. How can we use our Sabbath rest to reflect God's love and mercy to those around us?

5. What steps can we take to ensure our faith leads to action, as demonstrated by the man with the withered hand?

Connections to Other Scriptures

Matthew 12:9-14 and Luke 6:6-11
These parallel accounts provide additional context and details about the healing of the man with the withered hand.

Exodus 20:8-11
The Pharisees' concern about the Sabbath is rooted in the commandment to keep the Sabbath day holy, which they interpret strictly.

Isaiah 53:3-5
This passage speaks to the suffering servant, which can be connected to Jesus' compassion and willingness to heal despite opposition.

Hebrews 3:15
This verse warns against hardening one's heart, which is relevant to the Pharisees' attitude in this passage.

Sermons

Anger Against Sin Blended with Pity	J. J. Goadby.	Mark 3:5
Christ's Anger not Like Ours	Cornelius a Lapide.	Mark 3:5
Christ's Indignation	T. H. Horne, D. D.	Mark 3:5
Hardness of Heart	J. Thornton.	Mark 3:5
Hardness of Heart	A. Barnes, D. D.	Mark 3:5
Hardness of Heart	G. Petter.	Mark 3:5
Hardness of the Heart	Pulsford's, Quiet Hours.	Mark 3:5
Jesus Angry with Hard Hearts	Charles Haddon Spurgeon	Mark 3:5
Remedies for Hard-Heartedness	G. Petter.	Mark 3:5
Rules to be Observed	G. Petter.	Mark 3:5
Signs Whereby Men May Know Whether Their Hearts are Hardened	G. Petter.	Mark 3:5
Stretch Forth Thy Hand!	A.F. Muir	Mark 3:5
Stretch Forth Thy Hand!	A. Rowland	Mark 3:5
The Anger and Grief of Jesus	Alexander Maclaren	Mark 3:5
The Anger of Christ	J. J. Goadby.	Mark 3:5
The Disposition of a Wise Minister	Quesnel.	Mark 3:5
The Saviour's View of Sin	A. Rowland	Mark 3:5
A Withered Hand	Quesnel.	Mark 3:1-5
Analogies of Faith	S. S. Bosward.	Mark 3:1-5
Christ and the Sabbath	J. B. Lister.	Mark 3:1-5
Divine Kindness Amid Human Opposition	D. Davies, M. A.	Mark 3:1-5
Good Lawfully Done on the Sabbath	W. M. Taylor, D. D.	Mark 3:1-5
Publicity	Bishop Hall.	Mark 3:1-5
Restoring of the Man with the Withered Hand	Expository Outlines	Mark 3:1-5
Stretch Forth Thine Hand	A. F. Muir, M. A.	Mark 3:1-5
The Good Eye and the Evil Eye	T. T. Lynch.	Mark 3:1-5
The Human Side of a Miracle	S. S. Bosward.	Mark 3:1-5
The Power of the Human Hand	H. R. Reynolds, B. A.	Mark 3:1-5
The Sin of Neglecting to Do Good	G. Petter.	Mark 3:1-5
The Withered Hand	W. S. Houghton.	Mark 3:1-5
The Withered Hand	H. R. Reynolds, B. A.	Mark 3:1-5
To Save Life or to Kill?	H. M. Luckock, D. D.	Mark 3:1-5
Withered Hands	Dr. Parker.	Mark 3:1-5
Sabbath Observance	E. Johnson	Mark 3:1-6
The Man with the Withered Hand	J.J. Given	Mark 3:1-6
The Man with the Withered Hand; Or, Keeping the Sabbath	A.F. Muir	Mark 3:1-6

People

Alphaeus, Andrew, Bartholomew, Beelzebub, Boanerges, Herodians, James, Jesus, John, Judas, Matthew, Peter, Philip, Simon, Thaddaeus, Thomas, Zabdi, Zebedee

Places

Capernaum, Galilee, Idumea, Jerusalem, Jordan River, Judea, Sea of Galilee, Sidon, Tyre

Topics

Anger, Angry, Arm, Completely, Deeply, Distressed, Forth, Grieved, Hardening, Hardness, Healthy, Heart, Hearts, Indignant, Restored, Round, Sad, Says, Stretch, Stretched, Stubborn

Dictionary of Bible Themes

Mark 3:5

     2351   Christ, miracles
     5013   heart, divine
     5149   eyes
     5764   attitudes, negative to God
     5765   attitudes, to people
     5790   anger, divine
     5791   anger, human
     6178   hardness of heart

Mark 3:1-6

7430 Sabbath, in NT

Mark 3:4-5

2009 Christ, anger of

Library

And Judas Iscariot
AND JUDAS ISCARIOT TEXT: "And Judas Iscariot."--Mark 3:19. There is something about the name of this miserable man which commands our attention at once. There is a sort of fascination about his wickedness, and when we read his story it is difficult to give it up until we have come to its awful end. It is rather significant, it would seem to me, that his name should come last in the list of the Apostles, and the text, "And Judas Iscariot," would suggest to me not only that his name was last, but …
J. Wilbur Chapman—And Judas Iscariot

'He is Beside Himself'
'And when His friends heard of it, they went out to lay hold on Him: for they said, He is beside Himself'--Mark iii. 21. There had been great excitement in the little town of Capernaum in consequence of Christ's teachings and miracles. It had been intensified by His infractions of the Rabbinical Sabbath law, and by His appointment of the twelve Apostles. The sacerdotal party in Capernaum apparently communicated with Jerusalem, with the result of bringing a deputation from the Sanhedrim to look into …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Christ's Relations
'Whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is My brother, and My sister, and mother.'--Mark iii. 35. There was a conspiracy to seize Jesus because He is 'mad,' and Mary was in the plot! I. The example for us. (1) Of how all natural and human ties and affections are to be subordinated to doing God's will. Obedience to Him is the first and main thing to which everything else bows, and which determines everything. If others compete or interfere, reject them. Out of that common obedience new ties …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Anger and Grief of Jesus
He looked round about on them with anger, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts.'--Mark iii. 5. Our Lord goes into the synagogue at Capernaum, where He had already wrought more than one miracle, and there He finds an object for His healing power, in a poor man with a withered hand; and also a little knot of His enemies. The scribes and Pharisees expect Christ to heal the man. So much had they learned of His tenderness and of His power. But their belief that He could work a miracle did not …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Mistakes of Christ's Foes and Friends
'And the scribes which came down from Jerusalem said, He hath Beelzebub, and by the prince of the devils casteth He out devils. 23. And He called them unto Him, and said unto them in parables, How can Satan cast out Satan? 24. And if a kingdom be divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. 25. And if a house be divided against itself, that house cannot stand. 26. And if Satan rise up against himself, and be divided, he cannot stand, but hath an end. 27. No man can enter into a strong man's …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Christ's Kindred
'There came then His brethren and His mother, and, standing without, sent unto Him, calling Him. 32. And the multitude sat about Him; and they said unto Him, Behold, Thy mother and Thy brethren without seek for Thee. 33. And He answered them, saying, Who is My mother, or My brethren? 34. And He looked round about on them which sat about Him, and said, Behold My mother and My brethren! 35. For whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is My brother, and My sister, and mother.'--Mark iii. 31-35. …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Ambassadors for Christ
'And the Pharisees went forth, and straightway took counsel with the Herodlans against Him, how they might destroy Him. 7. But Jesus withdrew Himself with His disciples to the sea: and a great multitude from Galilee followed Him, and from Judaa 8. And from Jerusalem, and from Idumaa beyond Jordan; and they about Tyre and Sidon, a great multitude, when they had heard what great things He did, came unto Him. 9. And He spake to His disciples, that a small ship should wait on Him because of the multitude, …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Necessity of Divine Influences. [*Continued]
Luke xi. 13.--"If ye, then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children; how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him." In expounding the doctrine of these words, in the preceding discourse, the argument for the necessity of Divine influences had reference to the more general aspects of man's character and condition. We were concerned with the origin of seriousness in view of a future life, and the production of a sense of moral corruption and …
William G.T. Shedd—Sermons to the Natural Man

Jesus Angry with Hard Hearts
But I must not let imagination mislead me: they did nothing of the kind. Instead of this, they sat watching the Lord Jesus, not to be delighted by an act of his power, but to find somewhat of which they might accuse him. When all came to all, the utmost that they would be able to allege would be that he had healed a withered hand on the Sabbath. Overlooking the commendation due for the miracle of healing, they laid the emphasis upon its being done on the Sabbath; and held up their hands with horror …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 32: 1886

Mutual Help.
(Female Friendly Society.) S. MARK iii. 35. "Whosoever shall do the Will of God, the same is My brother, and My sister, and My mother." There are just two points which I want to put before you to-day. First, what you as Christian women ought to be. Secondly, how you can help each other to be so. On the first point I would ask you to remember the glory and dignity of womanhood. You get this dignity from Jesus Christ, who was born of a woman, and who said, "Whosoever shall do the Will of God, the …
H. J. Wilmot-Buxton—The Life of Duty, a Year's Plain Sermons, v. 2

The Eccentricity of Religion
"They said, He is beside Himself,"--MARK iii. 21. THE most pathetic life in the history of the world is the life of the Lord Jesus. Those who study it find out, every day, a fresh sorrow. Before He came it was already foretold that He would be acquainted with grief, but no imagination has ever conceived the darkness of the reality. It began with one of the bitterest kinds of sorrow--the sorrow of an enforced silence. For thirty years He saw, but dared not act. The wrongs He came to redress were there. …
Henry Drummond—The Ideal Life

The Hardening Operation of Love.
"Being grieved for the hardness of their heart."--Mark iii. 5. Love may also be reversed. Failing to cherish, to uplift, and to enrich, it consumes and destroys. This is a mystery which man can not fathom. It belongs to the unsearchable depths of the divine Being, of which we do not wish to know more than has been revealed. But this does not alter the fact. No creature can exclude itself from the divine control. No man can say that he has nothing to do with God; that he or any other creature exists …
Abraham Kuyper—The Work of the Holy Spirit

Life and Character of John
"Volat avis sine meta, Quo nec votes nec propheta Evolavit altius: Tam implenda quam impleta, Numquam vidit tot secreta Purus homo purius. (Adam of St. Victor.) The Mission of John. Peter, the Jewish apostle of authority, and Paul, the Gentile apostle of freedom, had done their work on earth before the destruction of Jerusalem--had done it for their age and for all ages to come; had done it, and by the influence of their writings are doing it still, in a manner that can never be superseded. Both …
Philip Schaff—History of the Christian Church, Volume I

Whether the Sin against the Holy Ghost is the Same as the Sin Committed through Certain Malice?
Objection 1: It would seem that the sin against the Holy Ghost is not the same as the sin committed through certain malice. Because the sin against the Holy Ghost is the sin of blasphemy, according to Mat. 12:32. But not every sin committed through certain malice is a sin of blasphemy: since many other kinds of sin may be committed through certain malice. Therefore the sin against the Holy Ghost is not the same as the sin committed through certain malice. Objection 2: Further, the sin committed through …
Saint Thomas Aquinas—Summa Theologica

The Great Schism
If a house be divided against itself.--Mark iii, 25. From such a revival as that of the Great Awakening, parties must of necessity arise. Upon undisciplined fanaticism, the Established church must frown. But when it undertook to discipline large numbers of church members or whole churches, recognizedly within its embracing fold and within their lawful privileges, a great schism resulted, and the schismatics were sufficiently tenacious of their rights to come out victorious in their long contest for …
M. Louise Greene, Ph. D.—The Development of Religious Liberty in Connecticut

The Abrogation of the Saybrook Platform
That house cannot stand.--Mark iii, 25. The times change and we change with them.--Proverb. The omission of all persecuting acts from the revision of the laws in 1750 was evidence that the worst features of the great schism were passing, that public opinion as a whole had grown averse to any great severity toward the Separatists as dissenters. But the continuance in the revised statutes of the Saybrook Platform as the legalized constitution of the "Presbyterian, Congregational or Consociated Church," …
M. Louise Greene, Ph. D.—The Development of Religious Liberty in Connecticut

The Apostle Judas
"And Judas Iscariot, which also betrayed Him." MARK 3:19 (R.V.) THE evidential value of what has been written about the apostles will, to some minds, seem to be overborne by the difficulties which start up at the name of Judas. And yet the fact that Jesus chose him -- that awful fact which has offended many -- is in harmony with all that we see around us, with the prodigious powers bestowed upon Napoleon and Voltaire, bestowed in full knowledge of the dark results, yet given because the issues of …
G. A. Chadwick—The Gospel of St. Mark

The Withered Hand
"And He entered again into the synagogue; and there was a man there which had his hand withered. And they watched Him, whether He would heal him on the sabbath day; that they might accuse Him. And He saith unto the man that had his hand withered, Stand forth. And He saith unto them, Is it lawful on the sabbath day to do good or to do harm? to save a life, or to kill? But they held their peace. And when He had looked round about on them with anger, being grieved at the hardening of their heart, He …
G. A. Chadwick—The Gospel of St. Mark

Characteristics of the Twelve
"And He appointed twelve, that they might be with Him, and that He might send them forth to preach, and to have authority to cast out devils: and Simon He surnamed Peter; and James the son of Zebedee, and John the brother of James; and them He surnamed Boanerges, which is, Sons of thunder; and Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddeaus, and Simon the Cananean, and Judas Iscariot which also betrayed Him." MARK 3:14-19 (R.V.) THE pictures …
G. A. Chadwick—The Gospel of St. Mark

Christ and Beelzebub
"And the multitude cometh together again, so that they could not so much as eat bread. And when his friends heard it, they went out to lay hold on Him: for they said, He is beside Himself. And the scribes which came down from Jerusalem said, He hath Beelzebub, and, By the prince of the devils casteth He out the devils. And He called them unto Him, and said unto them in parables, How can Satan cast out Satan? And if a kingdom be divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if an house be …
G. A. Chadwick—The Gospel of St. Mark

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