What does Mark 3:3 mean?
Jesus walks into the synagogue on the Sabbath and is immediately faced with a trap set by His critics. In here are a man with a withered hand and a group of Pharisees on a stakeout. The man's injury is not life-threatening. There would be no significant harm if it were healed one minute after the sun went down, and the Sabbath was over. But the Pharisees lie in wait to find out if Jesus will accept this. They seem to be testing the edges of Jesus' legalism, as compared to their own.Jesus is in the business of sacrificing for us. He has no problem braving the hypocritical judgment of the Pharisees to heal this man where he is. He also has no reason to hide; He has authority over healing and the Sabbath, and no regard for the Pharisees' extra-biblical rules (Matthew 23:2–4). He knows that their pious lifestyles are not designed to show God's love, or even show their love for God, but to garner attention from other people (Matthew 23:5–7).
So, He calls up this wounded man, who needs a true expression of love. Jesus is making this into a very public, open display. He presents the man to the people in the synagogue. He exposes the man's need. In so doing, He exposes the Pharisees' hearts.
The word translated "rise" is from the Greek root word egeiro. This is not the only time Jesus will tell someone to rise up in the context of healing (Mark 2:11–12; 5:41; 9:27; 10:49). This is also the same phrase used for the resurrection (Mark 16:6, 14). In getting up and coming to Jesus we find healing and new life. As 1 Corinthians 6:14 says, "And God raised the Lord and will also raise us up by his power."
Unlike the crowds who mob Jesus every chance they get, this man does not ask to be healed (Mark 3:7–10). He presumably goes to the synagogue to learn about God and how he should interact with God. He embodies the humble man in Luke 14:10, who sits at the lowest place at the table and is led by the host to a place of honor. His humility is a marked difference from the attention-grabbing Pharisees (Luke 18:10–14).
Mark 3:1–6 relates a story of Jesus healing a man with a withered hand on the Sabbath. Continuing from chapter 2, this passage is usually grouped as the last of five events which show Jesus' authority. This incident specifically reinforces His lordship over the Sabbath. At the same time, this event can also be considered the first of five stories about the different reactions people have to Jesus' early ministry, seen in chapter 3. Since the beginning of Jesus' ministry, the Pharisees' antagonism has slowly grown. Now, Jesus' provocative actions push the religious teachers over the edge, and the Pharisees ally with the Herodians to plot Jesus' destruction. Matthew 12:9–14 and Luke 6:6–11 record parallel accounts of these events.
The bulk of chapter 3 deals with how different people react to Jesus' teaching and His assumption of authority. The Pharisees' confusion transitions into plotting. The crowds that continually follow Jesus for healing become more frenetic and dangerous. Jesus' own family, afraid for His sanity, try to pull Him away. But true followers also show themselves. Twelve join together to become a core group, while a slightly bigger crowd, more interested in Jesus' teaching than miracles, earn the honor of being called His true family.
