What would Jesus change?
WWJD was a big hit years ago. The bracelets were a hit with Christians everywhere. The acronym stood for, what would Jesus do? It was a great question to remind ourselves of daily, as we encountered real life situations. Yet I wonder in 2026, if Jesus were to walk amongst us as Christians and as a Church, what would Jesus change?
In Mark 3 there is a story of Jesus entering the synagogue and it happened to be the Sabbath. The Jewish leaders of that day had over time turned the law into legalistic law in many ways. As Mark was trying to say throughout his gospel with no pun intended, you are missing the mark! Here we find an encounter where Jesus had just rebuked the pharisees for misunderstanding the Sabbath as his disciples were pulling grains to eat. Now he enters the Synagogue and the pharisees followed Him closely to see if he would break the laws of the sabbath as they saw it. There was a man with a withered hand in attendance that day. It was the perfect setup to publicly catch Jesus in a trap they thought. Jesus called the man forward and they said, “Then he spoke to the people: “What kind of action suits the Sabbath best? Doing good or doing evil? Helping people or leaving them helpless?” No one said a word.” Mark 4:4 (message version). When nobody responded, Jesus healed the man with the withered hand. That day the man's life was transformed as he put his hand in the hand of the Man who stilled the waters.
That day something happened more than just to the man. That day, Jesus changed the way things were being done because the people had lost sight of the purpose of the Sabbath and the laws. Jesus would even say, “The Son of Man is also the Lord of the Sabbath.” Mark 2:28. They couldn’t fathom doing things differently but here is why… the Kingdom of God had slowly become their own personal kingdom. They used the laws of the past as a controlling mechanism rather than a means to bring glory to God. They were filled with information, but Jesus came to bring transformation! When Jesus arrived on the scene, He quickly showed them the Kingdom of God was above all else.
Still today, we as Christians at times fall into the same trap as the Pharisees of that day. We have done religion so long that we have turned it into our own personal kingdom instead of glorifying God. Kingdom of God above all else must be a calling card of every believer and church. Whenever our own personal kingdom is above that, we have crossed a dangerous line. This story in Mark chapter 3 reminds us that Jesus might have a different agenda than you and I at times. I have no doubt that if Jesus entered most any local church today that He would immediately make some changes. The same issues in different ways still abound. Jesus wasn’t changing just a man’s hand that day. Jesus was transforming lives and point people to the Kingdom of God. Still today we must ask honestly, what would Jesus change?
In Mark 3 there is a story of Jesus entering the synagogue and it happened to be the Sabbath. The Jewish leaders of that day had over time turned the law into legalistic law in many ways. As Mark was trying to say throughout his gospel with no pun intended, you are missing the mark! Here we find an encounter where Jesus had just rebuked the pharisees for misunderstanding the Sabbath as his disciples were pulling grains to eat. Now he enters the Synagogue and the pharisees followed Him closely to see if he would break the laws of the sabbath as they saw it. There was a man with a withered hand in attendance that day. It was the perfect setup to publicly catch Jesus in a trap they thought. Jesus called the man forward and they said, “Then he spoke to the people: “What kind of action suits the Sabbath best? Doing good or doing evil? Helping people or leaving them helpless?” No one said a word.” Mark 4:4 (message version). When nobody responded, Jesus healed the man with the withered hand. That day the man's life was transformed as he put his hand in the hand of the Man who stilled the waters.
That day something happened more than just to the man. That day, Jesus changed the way things were being done because the people had lost sight of the purpose of the Sabbath and the laws. Jesus would even say, “The Son of Man is also the Lord of the Sabbath.” Mark 2:28. They couldn’t fathom doing things differently but here is why… the Kingdom of God had slowly become their own personal kingdom. They used the laws of the past as a controlling mechanism rather than a means to bring glory to God. They were filled with information, but Jesus came to bring transformation! When Jesus arrived on the scene, He quickly showed them the Kingdom of God was above all else.
Still today, we as Christians at times fall into the same trap as the Pharisees of that day. We have done religion so long that we have turned it into our own personal kingdom instead of glorifying God. Kingdom of God above all else must be a calling card of every believer and church. Whenever our own personal kingdom is above that, we have crossed a dangerous line. This story in Mark chapter 3 reminds us that Jesus might have a different agenda than you and I at times. I have no doubt that if Jesus entered most any local church today that He would immediately make some changes. The same issues in different ways still abound. Jesus wasn’t changing just a man’s hand that day. Jesus was transforming lives and point people to the Kingdom of God. Still today we must ask honestly, what would Jesus change?
Recent
Archive
2026
2025
January
July
2024
March
June
October
December
No Comments