Albert Barnes Commentary Mark 3:5

"And when he had looked round about on them with anger, being grieved at the hardening of their heart, he saith unto the man, Stretch forth thy hand. And he stretched it forth; and his hand was restored." — Mark 3:5 (ASV)

With anger. This means with a severe and stern countenance, and with indignation at their hypocrisy and hardness of heart.

This anger was not, however, a spiteful or revengeful passion; it was caused by excessive grief at their state. It was not a sudden and tumultuous hatred of the men whose hearts were so hard; rather, it was hatred of the sin they exhibited, joined with extreme grief that neither His teaching, nor the law of God, nor any means that could be used, overcame their confirmed wickedness.

Such anger is not unlawful (Ephesians 4:26). Indeed, in this instance, our Lord has taught us that anger is never lawful unless it is tempered with grief or compassion for those who have offended.

Hardness of their hearts. The heart—understood figuratively as the seat of feeling or affection—is said to be tender when it is easily affected by the sufferings of others, by our own sin and danger, and by the love and commands of God; and furthermore, when we are easily made to feel regarding the important matters concerning our well-being (Ezekiel 11:19–20).

A heart is hard when nothing moves it; when a person is insensible to the sufferings of others, the dangers of their own condition, and the commands, the love, and the threatenings of God. It is most tender in youth, or when we have committed the fewest crimes. It is made hard by indulgence in sin, by long resisting the offers of life, or by opposing any great and affecting appeals which God may make to us by His Spirit or Providence, by affliction, or by a revival of religion.

Hence, the most favorable period for securing an interest in Christ, or for becoming a Christian, is in youth—the first, tenderest, and best days of life. Indeed, even in the days of childhood—in the Sabbath-school—God may be found, and the soul prepared to die.