Behold them watchers

Even though they were watching, they failed to genuinely see Him because their hearts and lives were wrapped around themselves and their tradition. With their shriveled heads and shrunken hearts they couldn't bear stepping out the door of tradition to extend either a hand or heart to those without. Nobody had ever done this before. In their minds they were thinking; why would someone take away from their precious personal time with their family, friends or making a buck to help someone with a shriveled appendage? Of course, being a professional synagogue goer, these watchers had forgotten the only purpose for the house of prayer. In the Gospel of Mark chapter 3 verses 1-2 we read 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. Who were these synagogue watchers? Who were they keeping their eye on? Who were they hoping to accuse? What were they going to accuse Him of doing? The shockingly unbelievable answer to whom these watchers were can not be taken lightly and counted as unimportant. They were the religious elite of their day. Combing the temple mount to make sure of their control, they watched their businesses of buying, selling and politics of course. We can understand how easy it must have been to gaze upon the Light of the world as he entered the house of prayer but who would have thought they were watching the Savior in order that they might accuse Him of doing something on the sabbath. Whether the results be good or bad didn't matter to these religiously white concrete sepulchers. Breaking down their man centered traditions and convicting their comatose consciences was and still is today one of the great works of the Holy Spirit. Darkness cannot hide when light enters in. And the Light of Jesus shone round the man with a withered hand. After the encounter with the Man from Galilee, he was told to "Stretch forth thine hand" and the bible says he was made whole. God had done a miraculous healing right in front of their very eyes and all these pharisaic religious onlookers could do was to straightway go and accuse Him and think of how they could destroy His earthly ministry. Wow! Doesn't that sound alot like many good religionists today? Who would think the members of the local synagogues of our modern day would be so perpetually blissful about the works of God especially when they claim that they have seen the Light themselves? God could be doing a great work right in the midst of the Pharisees (of both then and now) and they would look for ways to accuse Him, ridicule Him and ultimately destroy Him. Why could they not see the miracles that had taken place right before their very eyes? Why did they not understand His teachings? The answer is perfectly clear. The accusers did not know God then. And even today, the modern accusatory herod seekers do not know God or the power of His resurrection. When we consider the depths of what some good goers strain to get their way, it can easily be understood that the non-Word readers are the ones who have so very little zeal for the souls of other brethren. They claim to have good ethics, but ethics is no good without God. They claim to have love for their brethren, but if they don't know God then they don't know love because God is love. They stand waiting to tell some higher up in the modern ekklesia that "such and such did this or that and we don't think that looks good". Every miracle that God does in the midst of these modern gospel collectors is thought of as something that God owed to them because of their righteousness not His Son's righteousness. How magnificently ignorant this situation appears to be. If a person becomes "Born Again" in their midst, there may be the occasional hand clap and hushed amen but by and by the congregations of today think that they deserve to have God move in their midst. They don't have to repent and make things right because hey they pay their tithes, outwardly they are churchy to the naked eye, they talk the good talk but when it comes to caring for God's Word and allowing His Word to be the supreme authority in their lives as well as their families' they don't have the time because they already "knew that". Even if it's the simple stuff like staying indoors and reading God's Word, it seems that they have no time for His Word and whats even more strange is that they don't really care if any else reads it or not. This is not just confined to their own families but it has spread to their brothers and sisters in the house of God. To them, bible study isn't needed and most surely not wanted. With their keen eyes of discernment, they are sharp and powerful when it comes to uncovering something wrong with anyone else that either attends or even contemplates a bible study in their church. How dare another Christian to study the Word of God in the house of God when a watcher cannot be present. It must be that these "watchers" actually have their name on the deed and of course we have to obey the "no trespassing sign" which they installed around the house of God. The only way to escape their murmuring is to allow them to inspect, detect, and reject anything that they deem to be against their selfish wishes. How can these modern day so called believers count the word of God of none effect? How can those who have been "Born Again" not thirst for the sincere milk of God's Word? They have been "Born Again" haven't they? They made a profession one time they exclaim. They checked the inside cover of that bible they received when they got baptized to make sure of it. Perhaps there beloved family member reminds them that yes, sure enough they got saved. Maybe their preacher told them that he remembered the look on their face when they were baptized. Another good one that we have all heard is that "I remember the preacher praying with and for me". Since when does man have that kind of authority? Since when do we check out our baptism bible to see if we were saved? Since when can we trust the heart of man? The bible says that a man's heart is deceitfully wicked who can trust it. It also says that there is a way that seems right unto a man but the end thereof is death. The synagogue watchers still aim to accuse those who aim to love. May God forgive them and may the true believers remain diligent in their prayers for them.