Mark 3:1–6 (NKJV): And He entered the synagogue again, and a man was there who had a withered hand. 2 So they watched Him closely, whether He would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse Him. 3 And He said to the man who had the withered hand,  “Step forward.” 4 Then He said to them, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?” But they kept silent. 5 And when He had looked around at them with anger, being grieved by the hardness of their hearts, He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored as whole as the other.

6 Then the Pharisees went out and immediately plotted with the Herodians against Him, how they might destroy Him.

Mark keys in on an important fact about the Pharisees in the region - they hated Jesus. It made no difference what He did, how many people He healed, how wonderful the words He spoke were, they liked what they had, and they were not about to let anyone take that away, even one who might be the Messiah. This may seem to be an harsh analysis of these men, but the scripture passage clearly leaves room for it. Notice they watched Him closely. Psalm 37:32 says, “the wicked watches the righteous, and seeks to slay him.” How true of the Pharisees. And as they watched Him, they didn’t need to wait long to find something to sink their fangs into, a man with a withered hand. Ah, they knew that the Son of glory could not resist doing good, and they took complete advantage of it. Even when Jesus knew their thoughts and wickedness, He asked them a question to possibly break through the hardness of their hearts, but the scripture says, “they kept silent.” Why is it that man can be so wicked and ignore every good thing for his own lusts? How can anyone then even think that there is something good in the flesh? For these men are not unlike everyone who is motivated by their own desires, just to a different degree. The end result is the same regardless, they have all sinned and come short of the glory of God (Rom. 3:23). But even knowing full well that they would use this good deed against Him, Jesus heals the man. The icing on this proverbial cake is the last part that says “they went out immediately and plotted with the Herodians against Him.” How appropriate that they would form a confederacy with the Herodians, for these illegitimate ascenders to the throne loved their status. They are the Herods that went back to the first century BC, descendants of Idumea, the region of Edom. They were Hellenist Greeks converted to Judaism, that were appointed to the kingship over Israel, not the legitimate line of Judah. These Herodians wanted their control and favor by Caesar and bribed and conspired with anyone that would help them keep it. So, in walk the Pharisees. The politics of that time are like today. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes, and Jesus became their target because His acts were righteous. Let us not as the scripture says, “grow weary in well doing”, for we were called to this ministry of reconciliation for the hearts and souls of people that need the healing touch of Jesus.