Then Jesus asked them, "Which is lawful on the Sabbath:  to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill? But they remained silent. He looked around at them in anger and, deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts, said to the man, "Stretch out your hand." He stretched it out, and his hand was completely restored.

Then the Pharisees went out and began to plot with the Herodians how they might kill Jesus.

Mark 3:4-6, NIV

Imagine that: Jesus healed a man and the Jewish leaders wanted to kill Him. As if that wasn't bad enough, when Jesus drove out the demons from people who had been held in bondage by their evil, the "experts" in the law said that it was by the chief of demons that He did so. To make the unreasoned attacks on Jesus complete, even His own family thought that Jesus was out of His mind and sought to take charge of Him.

Why was everyone against Jesus? All that He ever did was to bring healing to the sick, relief to the demon possessed, and the promise of freedom to those who all their life had been held captive by their fear of death... but there was something else that Jesus did - He made people uncomfortable!

And, most people when they become uncomfortable go into attack mode, and that is precisely what we see throughout Christ's ministry. After years of opposing Jesus because they could not accept His simple teaching of repentance, they finally killed Him. It's true that a few would eventually recognize Him as the promised Messiah (including His family), but many continued to reject Him until the day that He died.

What about you?

Today's reading is the 3rd chapter of Mark. It contains much to think about.