9 Jesus left that place and went to a synagogue, 10 where there was a man who had a paralyzed hand. Some people were there who wanted to accuse Jesus of doing wrong, so they asked him, “Is it against our Law to heal on the Sabbath?”
11 Jesus answered, “What if one of you has a sheep and it falls into a deep hole on the Sabbath? Will you not take hold of it and lift it out? 12 And a human being is worth much more than a sheep! So then, our Law does allow us to help someone on the Sabbath.” 13 Then he said to the man with the paralyzed hand, “Stretch out your hand.”
He stretched it out, and it became well again, just like the other one. 14 Then the Pharisees left and made plans to kill Jesus.
15 When Jesus heard about the plot against him, he went away from that place; and large crowds followed him. He healed all the sick 16 and gave them orders not to tell others about him. 17 He did this so as to make come true what God had said through the prophet Isaiah:
18 “Here is my servant, whom I have chosen,
the one I love, and with whom I am pleased.
I will send my Spirit upon him,
and he will announce my judgment to the nations.
19 He will not argue or shout,
or make loud speeches in the streets.
20 He will not break off a bent reed,
nor put out a flickering lamp.
He will persist until he causes justice to triumph,
21 and on him all peoples will put their hope.”
Read Matthew 12:9-21 in context and/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!
When reading about the various events, teaching, and miracles in Jesus’ time on earth, I am continually amazed at how Jesus ministered and taught. One thing that I admire about Jesus is how He responds to the religious leaders in this event.
While the event we are looking at is included in Mark and Luke as well, Matthew’s version shifts the focus of the conversation slightly, and in this shift, we see an interesting response Jesus shares that Mark and Luke don’t include.
“Jesus left that place and went to a synagogue, where there was a man who had a paralyzed hand. Some people were there who wanted to accuse Jesus of doing wrong, so they asked him, ‘Is it against our Law to heal on the Sabbath?’” (v. 9-10)
Jesus chose this synagogue perhaps because He knew this disabled man would be there, or maybe this event was a set up and these leaders invite Jesus into their trap. Either way, they want to catch Him saying or doing something that breaks what is acceptable on the Sabbath, and they have already judged healing to be unlawful on the day of rest.
While Jesus disagrees with their assessment of where the line of acceptable work on the Sabbath is, instead of getting into a debate over where the line is placed, He answers with an illustration. Jesus’ response emphasizes His point while also making those holding to the opposing idea look unloving and insensitive – which is exactly what they are being like and exactly opposite of what God’s character is.
Jesus responded to their question by saying, “What if one of you has a sheep and it falls into a deep hole on the Sabbath? Will you not take hold of it and lift it out? And a human being is worth much more than a sheep! So then, our Law does allow us to help someone on the Sabbath.” (v. 11-12)
While I am unaware of all the laws that the Pharisees had written to help keep people from breaking God’s big laws, perhaps in this response, Jesus draws our attention to an inconsistency in the way they were interpreting their laws. In Jesus’ illustration, the individual is allowed to “take hold of it and lift it out”. In any other situation, this could be classified as work, but somewhere, the exclusion was made for helping livestock that were in danger or needing help.
Jesus simply attaches His healing to the loophole by emphasizing that humans are more valuable than animals – and with the illustration fresh in people’s minds, Jesus then attaches the conclusion of this illustration to His clear response. By the logic of the laws in place, “our Law does allow us to help someone on the Sabbath.” (v. 12b)
Jesus uses the word “help” in His response as opposed to the word “heal”. He then helps the disabled man out by simply suggesting that he stretches out his hand. The man’s faith caused the healing. Jesus simply helped.
This event tells us that God wants us to help others regardless of the day of the week it is, and that His character places love over legalism, and helping others over strict obedience.
This thought was inspired by studying the Walking With Jesus “Reflective Bible Study” package. To discover insights like this in your own study time, click here and give Reflective Bible Study a try today!
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