Mark 3:2 Commentary and Bible Study

The scribes and the Pharisees with hostile eyes ‘watched him.’ That refers to a formal accusation; they wanted to bring charges against him, to have him arrested and dealt with. They have learned nothing from what Christ has told them previously. What is he going to do? Who is he going to find in this assembly that needs healing? Is he going to heal on the sabbath day? Because according to their rules – not the rules of the Old Testament, but the rules which they had added as the years had gone by – he must not do such a thing. ‘He has done it before, and surely he will do it again and we are watching him. If he does, we will haul him before the courts.’Luke tells us that Christ knew their thoughts. Their hostility may have been obvious, but Luke goes beyond that and tells us that Christ knew with certainty what they were thinking. As the Son of God he knew all things and had access to the secret thoughts of men so that nothing could be hidden from him. What these men were before him, all will be on the Day of Judgment – ‘Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do’ (Hebrews 4:13). His enemies could get no advantage over him by plotting in the secrecy of their own thoughts. Christ’s response that will follow is a direct response to their evil thoughts.