The Son of Man Heals What Has Withered And Again Reveals Himself as Lord over the Sabbath (3:1-6).
In this narrative the Pharisees are seen as now deliberately out to trap Jesus. They had made their assessment and now it was a question of gathering evidence against Him. We have already seen how their opposition to Him had been growing (Mark 2:6; Mark 2:9-10; Mark 2:16; Mark 2:24), and it has now reached a climax (Mark 3:6). So they deliberately make use of a man with a paralysed and withered hand in order to test out what Jesus will do on the Sabbath day, having in fact little doubt what He would actually do, for they were now convinced that He treated the Law lightly, and especially the Sabbath, which in their eyes was a matter of huge importance. For to them strict observance of the Sabbath was one of the signs of a true Jew, and evidence of a true obedience to the covenant. Jesus, however, confuted them, not by diminishing the Sabbath, but rather, as in the previous example, by exalting it as of great benefit to mankind. Jesus was not anti-Sabbath. He was simply ‘anti' the unnecessary restrictions put on it by the Scribes and Pharisees.
Analysis of 3:1-6.
a And he entered again into the Synagogue, and there was a man there who had a withered hand. And they watched him whether he will heal him on the Sabbath day, that they might accuse him (Mark 3:1-2).
b And he said to the man who had his hand withered, “come and stand among us” (Mark 3:3).
c And he says to them, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath day to do good or to do harm, to save a life or to kill?” But they held their peace (Mark 3:4).
b And when he had looked round on them with anger, being grieved at the hardening of their heart, he says to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And the man stretched it out and his hand was restored (Mark 3:5).
a And the Pharisees went out and immediately, with the officials of Herod, took counsel against him how they might destroy him (Mark 3:6).
Note that in ‘a' the Pharisees watch Him in order to accuse Him, and in the parallel they plan how they can destroy Him. In ‘b' Jesus calls the man with the withered hand to stand among them, and in the parallel He looks round at the Pharisees and restores the man's arm. Centrally in ‘c' He demonstrates the fallacy of their thinking.