So the Pharisees went out immediately and began plotting with the Herodians, as to how they could assassinate him.
[Mark 3:6 NET]
In the last Day Share, we saw that the Pharisees were angry over the fact that Jesus's disciples were eating grains of corn on the Sabbath day as they were walking through a field. There is an increase in tension over this same issue of keeping the Sabbath day at the beginning of chapter 3 of Mark's Gospel. The Pharisees have set a trap for Jesus. In the synagogue, there is a man with a withered hand - probably a deformed limb which was paralysed and useless to him. It would have been challenging for this man to earn a living and Jesus would have been eager to heal him. But the Pharisees are on the look-out because it is the Sabbath day and in their religion this was not the sort of activity that should be performed on the Sabbath day. So they are watching Jesus to see whether he will fall into their trap. Jesus is fully aware of their schemes and he is distressed by their attitude. However, he still goes ahead and heals this man from his disability. Before he performs his miracle, Jesus asks the Pharisees a very legitimate question, “Is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath, or evil, to save a life or destroy it?” [Mark 3: 4 NET]. There is silence - the Pharisees are not able to answer this question because they are aware that Jesus' question is valid. So Jesus is angry and distressed at their legal, restrictive attitude. But he goes ahead and heals the man in open view of them all.
The reaction from the Pharisees is predictable and immediate. We have another use of Mark's favourite word - eutheos (immediately) but it does not relate to Jesus this time. The Pharisees are determined to assassinate Jesus and they were not prepared to wait too long. No wonder Jesus is angry at their cold-hearted religion. They did not show any understanding of how this man's life would have been massively changed that day in the synagogue because of the intervention of Jesus. They were not in any way interested in this individual. The difference is stark. For Jesus each individual mattered. For them their misguided religion mattered more than people. There was no concern, no compassion, no empathy and no love. Christianity is not like that - Jesus cared for this man more than he cared for approval with the Pharisees. He was not deliberately provoking a reaction from them. He was serving as he had come to do and he could not avoid helping this poor man in his need.
But the Pharisees realised that they needed an ally and they look out some members of another Jewish group around in Palestine at that time. The Herodians were probably supporters of Herod Antipas or maybe the whole Herodian dynasty. We are familiar with Herod the Great who was the 'king of Judea' at the time when Jesus was born in Bethlehem. Herod was a cruel and ruthless ruler who brutally killed member of his own family. He was not a pure Jew - he came from Idumea but he followed the Jewish religion. He owed his appointment to the Romans and he spent large sums of money building gigantic splendid monuments to enhance his reputation. Herod Antipas was his son. Some historians reckon that the Herodians as a group were realists who reckoned that to overthrow the Romans they needed the support of this powerful dynasty - who by the way, were Roman puppets!.
I find it strange that the Pharisees are prepared to join forces with this group. The Pharisees were extremely nationalistic and they were formed in the period between the Old and the New Testament when the Jewish religion was under severe attack from a cruel Syrian king named Antiochus Epiphanes. The Pharisees were devout Jews who were proud of their ancestry - the Herodians were supporters of a dynasty who were Jews out of convenience and were in league with the Romans. There must have been religious and philosophical differences between the Pharisees and the Herodians. But the Pharisees are so determined to eradicate Jesus that they will join forces with anyone. There is extreme hypocrisy in all of this. Their scruples are put to one side in their hatred of Jesus.
This is an alliance of convenience and there is no set of uniting principles with the two sects - only a hatred of a common enemy. During the Second World War, Churchill (Prime Minister of the United Kingdom) and Roosevelt (President of the USA) joined forces with Joseph Stalin (the Russian communist dictator) because they had a common enemy. Churchill hated communism but he hated Hitler even more. I think this alliance of Herodians and Pharisees would be just the same.
We may find that there will be strange alliances in opposition to Christianity in our time. Like Jesus we are under constant scrutiny. We need wisdom and courage in equal measure.
[Photo by Markus Winkler on Unsplash].
An interesting comment, Peter.
When Mandella was criticised by USA for friendship with Gaddafi, he made a related but slightly different point. To the USA he said, although we (S Africa) are your friends, that does not make your enemies our enemies. We can still be friends with your enemies and friends with you. We need be no one's enemy.