1. And he entered again into the synagogue; and there was a man there which had a withered hand.
2. And they watched him, whether he would heal him on the sabbath day; that they might accuse him.
3. And he said to the man which had the withered hand, Stand forth.
4. And he said to them, Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath days, or to do evil? to save life, or to kill? But they held their peace.
5. And when he had looked round about on them with anger, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts, he said to the man, Stretch forth your hand. And he stretched it out: and his hand was restored whole as the other.
THEOPHYL. After confounding the Jews, who had blamed His disciples, for pulling the ears of corn on the sabbath day, by the example of David, the Lord now further bringing them to the truth, works a miracle on the sabbath; showing that, if it is a pious deed to work miracles on the sabbath for the health of men, it is not wrong to do on the sabbath things necessary for the body: he says therefore, And he entered again into the synagogue; and there was a man there which had a withered hand.
And they watched him, whether he would heal him on the sabbath-day; that they might accuse him.
BEDE; For, since He had defended the breaking of the sabbath, which they objected to His disciples, by an approved example, now they wish, by watching Him, to calumniate Himself, that they might accuse Him of a transgression, if He cured on the sabbath, of cruelty or of folly, if He refused. It goes on: And he said to the man which had the withered hand, Stand in the midst.
PSEUD-CHRYS. He placed him in the midst, that they might be frightened at the sight, and on seeing him compassionate him, and lay aside their malice.
BEDE; And anticipating the calumny of the Jews, which they had prepared for Him, He accused them of violating the precepts of the law, by a wrong interpretation. Wherefore there follows: And he said to them, Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath-day, or to do evil? And this He asks, because they thought that on the sabbath they were to rest even from good works, whilst the law commands to abstain from bad, saying, You shall do no servile work therein; that is, sin: for Whosoever commits sin is the servant of sin. What He first says, to do good on the sabbath-day or to do evil, is the same as what He afterwards adds, to save a life or to lose it; that is, to cure a man or not. Not that God, Who is in the highest degree good, can be the author of perdition to us, but that His not saving is in the language of Scripture to destroy.
But if it be asked, wherefore the Lord, being about to cure time body, asked about the saving of the soul, let him understand either that in the common way of Scripture the soul is put for the man; as it is said, All the souls that came out of the loins of Jacob; or because He did those miracles for time saving of a soul, or because the healing itself of the hand signified the saving of the soul.
AUG. But someone may wonder how Matthew could have said, that they themselves asked the Lord, if it was lawful to heal on the sabbath-day; when Mark rather relates it that they were asked by our Lord, Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath-day, or to do evil? Therefore we must understand that they first asked the Lord, if it was lawful to heal on the sabbath-day, then that understanding their thoughts, and that they were seeking an opportunity to accuse Him, He placed in the middle him whom He was about to cure, and put those questions, which Mark and Luke relate. We must then suppose, that when they were silent, He propounded the parable of the sheep, and concluded, that it was lawful to do good on time sabbath-day. It goes on: But they were silent.
PSEUD-CHRYS. For they knew that He would certainly cure him. It goes on: And looking round about upon them with anger. His looking round upon them in anger, and being saddened at the blindness of their hearts, is fitting for His humanity, which He deigned to take upon Himself for us. He connects the working of the miracle with a word, which proves that the man is cured by His voice alone. It follows therefore, And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored. Answering by all these things for His disciples, and at time same time showing that His life is above the law.
BEDE; But mystically, the man with a withered hand shows the human race, dried up as to its fruitfulness in good works, but now cured by the mercy of the Lord; the hand of man, which in our first parent had been dried up when He plucked the fruit of the forbidden tree, through time grace of the Redeemer, Who stretched His guiltless hands on the tree of the cross, has been restored to health by the juices of good works. Well too was it in the synagogue that the hand was withered; for where the gift of knowledge is greater there also the danger of inexcusable guilt is greater.
PSEUDO-JEROME; Or else it means the avaricious, which, being able to give had rather receive, and love robbery rather than making gifts. And they are commanded to stretch forth their hands, that is, let him that stole steal no more, but rather let him labor, working with his hand the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needs.
THEOPHYL. Or, he has his right hand withered, whom does not the works which belong to the right side; for from the time that our hand is employed in forbidden deeds, from that time it is withered to the working of good. But it will be restored whenever it stands firm in virtue; wherefore Christ said, Arise, that is, from sin, and stand in the midst; that thus it may stretch itself forth neither too little or too much.
6. And the Pharisees went forth, and straightway took counsel with the Herodians against him, how they might destroy him.
BEDE; The Pharisees, thinking it a crime that at the word of the Lord the hand which was diseased was restored to a sound state, agreed to make a pretext of the words spoken by our Savior; wherefore it is said, And the Pharisees went forth, and straightway took counsel with the Herodians against him, how they might destroy him. As if every one amongst them did not greater things on the sabbath day, carrying food, reaching forth a cup, and whatever else is necessary for meals. Neither could He, Who said and it was done, be convicted of toiling on the sabbath day.
THEOPHYL. But the soldiers of Herod the king are called Herodians, because a certain new heresy had sprung up, which asserted that Herod was the Christ. For the prophecy of Jacob intimated, that when the princes of Judah failed, then Christ should come; because therefore in the time of Herod none of the Jewish princes remained, and he, an alien, was the sole ruler, some thought that he was the Christ, and set on foot this heresy. These, therefore, were with the Pharisees trying to kill Christ.
BEDE; Or else he calls Herodiamus the servants of Herod the Tetrarch, who on account of the hatred which their Lord had for Joimum, pursued with treachery and hate the Savior also, Whom John preached it goes on, But Jesus withdrew himself with his disciples to the sea; He fled from their treachery, because the hour of His passion had not yet come, and no place away from Jerusalem was proper for His Passion. By which also he gave an example to His disciples, when they suffer persecution in one city, to thee to another.
Catena Aurea Mark 3