9 Departing from there, He went into their synagogue. 10 And a man was there whose hand was withered. And they questioned Jesus, asking, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”—so that they might accuse Him. 11 And He said to them, “What man is there among you who has a sheep, and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will he not take hold of it and lift it out? 12 How much more valuable then is a man than a sheep! So then, it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.” 13 Then He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand!” He stretched it out, and it was restored to normal, like the other. 14 But the Pharisees went out and conspired against Him, as to how they might destroy Him. 15 But Jesus, aware of this, withdrew from there. Many followed Him, and He healed them all, 16 and warned them not to tell who He was.

Continuing on the theme of Sabbath observances, the issue of healing on that day takes center stage. The Pharisees, irritated and jealous as they were at the popular following Jesus had amassed, were looking for reasons, no matter how meager or strained they might be, to accuse Jesus of purposefully breaking the Mosaic Law—which would then discredit Him. Being quite skilled in one-up-manship and manipulation, they baited Him, using a physically deformed man as the pawn in the chess game of religiosity. The location was a synagogue, so they must have felt comfortable in their usually controlled environment, and they made the first move.

“Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?” If Jesus said, “Yes,” He would be breaking the Law of Moses which was to keep holy the Sabbath. They obviously felt healing came under the category of work, which would be a desecration of the Sabbath’s holiness. If Jesus said, “No,” then He would have shown Himself to be inconsistent since He already asserted it was permissible to “glean” grain on the Sabbath. Furthermore, it would have shown that the compassion which Jesus preached was subjugated by the Law.

In a master stroke, Jesus points out that anyone would have the sense to rescue an animal from danger on a Sabbath; how much more then to rescue a man from physical infirmity. So His answer is a direct hit, “It is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.” Then, without delay, Jesus heals the man.

At this, the Pharisees went berserk, immediately making plans to murder Him. Jesus withdrew to safety, but continued to preach and heal. His popularity continued to grow. But He cautioned His followers to not banter about His identity, for He did not want to unnecessarily encourage the persecution.

Lord, thank You that You are a compassionate God. Help me not to capitulate to the pressure toward legalism and manipulation of others. Also, help me not to coerce others to follow my interpretations as a means of controlling them.