“Again he entered the synagogue, and a man was there with a withered hand. And they watched Jesus, to see whether he would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse him. And he said to the man with the withered hand, ‘Come here.’ And he said to them, ‘Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to kill?’ But they were silent. And he looked around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, and said to the man, ‘Stretch out your hand.’ He stretched it out, and his hand was restored. The Pharisees went out and immediately held counsel with the Herodians against him, how to destroy him.” -Mark 3:1-6

Who responds this way? The Pharisees’ motive for going to the synagogue wasn’t to worship the Lord, it was to accuse him. Yet, Jesus was compassionate towards them. This text says Jesus was angry, but it defines the anger. This would be an example of righteous anger. His anger had to have been towards the sin itself against his perfect father, because it caused him not to be bitter towards these men, but to love them. He was grieved because their hearts were hard. Jesus knew his Father and the nature of sin, 1) that it offends and mocks the perfect God wrongly, and 2) that sin deceivingly steals joy and keeps us in a place of bondage where it grows to destroy and kill.

The Pharisees were out to destroy Jesus. The sadly ironic thing is that the very process of their man hunt was destroying themselves, not Christ.  Jesus’ response stemmed from:

1) Confidence in his identity in his father. His father said to him, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.” (Mark 1:11) Because he was sure of his father’s love for him, he was free to love man. His identity was defined by his full acceptance by his father.

2) A love and compassion for these Pharisees. If you love someone, of course you will be saddened if you know they are being deceived. Jesus’ grieving displays his mercy towards these men, despite their evilness towards him.