Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man.
—Mark 1:41
His hand was hideously deformed—a silent sufferer, neither seeking Jesus’ attention, nor asking for his help. But his affliction awakened an ache in Jesus’ heart, and he healed him.
The Pharisees didn’t give a rip about the man’s misery—they were just deadset on catching Jesus breaking the rules by healing him on the Sabbath. That made Jesus mad. He stared them down in anger, “deeply disturbed by their indifference to human need” (Mk. 3:5 TLB).
You don’t have to intentionally harm people to raise Jesus’ hackles. Just be indifferent to their needs. That infuriates him.
In becoming a friend of rules
be careful not to become an enemy of mercy.