As we transition more fully into Jesus’ ministry and the miracles the gospel writers include, we discover that the religious leaders began to dislike Jesus. In our last episode, Jesus appeared to challenge their view of God being the only source of forgiveness, and this didn’t sit well with them, even if Jesus was more than willing, and able, to help people with His healing ability.
While we could call the religious leaders jealous of Jesus, jealousy covers some of their feelings, but not all of them. While there likely were some religious leaders who wished to have Jesus’ ability to help others, I think that most disliked Him for directing the people to a different view of the scriptures and of prophecy. They also disliked Jesus for not thinking that the things they believed were important were important.
The miracle we will be focusing on in our passage for this episode is one of these early miracles that challenged the religious leaders regarding their beliefs. While they could not argue with Jesus’ logic, they disliked the angle Jesus chose to share His message. Let’s read what happened.
Our passage is found in the gospel of Matthew, chapter 12, and we will be reading it from the Good News Translation. Starting in verse 9, Matthew tells us that:
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.
In our passage, the Pharisees in this synagogue could not argue with Jesus’ logic, but they also disliked the angle Jesus reframed the discussion. Up to this point, these religious leaders had focused entirely on the list of things that shouldn’t be done on the Sabbath. They had very detailed lists and definitions of what would be considered work verses something that was acceptable.
Because the religious leaders already knew the only answer they would accept, when Jesus tells them a different answer, they make plans to kill Him. It is unclear whether this was the beginnings of the plot to kill Jesus, or if Jesus subtly avoided these early attempts to kill Him, similar to what He did in the Nazareth synagogue when the leaders there wanted to throw Him off a cliff.
However, in Jesus’ answer and in the miracle itself, we discover an amazing perspective on the Sabbath. When discussing the Sabbath with most Christians living today, the impression one gets is that it was entirely negative, it was oppressive, it was nailed to the cross, and/or it is something that God gave exclusively to the Jewish nation and we don’t have to bother with it today. Very few Christians see the Sabbath as a specific day of the week and the perspective that this day has been given as a gift to us.
But in Jesus’ response, we see the contrast with what the religious leaders of that day believed, and we see how Jesus’ response contrasts what many Christians believe about this day today.
The Pharisees present in this synagogue likely had staged this scene to challenge Jesus on this point. The Pharisees ask Jesus to directly answer if healing someone on the Sabbath is breaking the Sabbath day’s rest.
However, Jesus doesn’t answer the question as directly as they would have preferred. First, Jesus shares the illustration of a sheep falling into a hole and how everyone present would agree that it is okay to lift the sheep out. Even if someone else was passing by, it would be okay to help because no money was being exchanged, and because this sort of thing was a spontaneous need.
Then Jesus shifts to remind us that human beings are worth much more than sheep. While there is a push in the world to think of humans as being equal to the animals, in God’s eyes, there is a difference in value. God doesn’t see animals as worthless, but He sees animals as having value, and humans as having a greater value.
Not to go on too far of a tangent, but God values animals more than we do, and He values us as humans so much that Jesus came to give His life for us! This is the measure of value God uses to value humanity. Jesus didn’t become a cat, dog, monkey, or even an insect to save those creatures, but He did come to earth as a human to save each of us!
To draw His answer to a clear conclusion, Jesus states that it is perfectly acceptable to help other people on the Sabbath. Jesus then uses less effort than one would use to lift a sheep out of a hole by telling the man to extend his hand, and in this action, the hand was healed.
When viewing the Sabbath, Jesus saw it as an opportunity to rest, remember what God has done for us, and a day where we can be free to help each other. In Jesus’ eyes, the Sabbath is a gift given to a perfect world at the conclusion of creation week, and there is no reason to even think that this gift would only be for a small segment of His creation, or even that this gift wouldn’t be present in the perfectly recreated new heaven and new earth.
The Sabbath as a gift brings with it opportunity not oppression, and it should be a day where we remember God and give thanks to Him for what He has done for each of us.
These religious leaders saw the Sabbath as a day dedicated to God, and one that God wanted His creation to honor and respect. While this isn’t a false idea, the picture they painted of God is that He was keeping track of how well or poorly His people were respecting this day, and their belief was that if the people disrespected it too much, God would become angry and kick them out of their land. This did happen in the nation’s history, but they misrepresented God’s love and grace by emphasizing the legalism because they feared God would do it again if they kept disobeying Him.
The Jews twisted God’s gift and made it a curse, and most Christians believe that Jesus erased both the blessing and the curse of Sabbath when He came. However, this miracle doesn’t say anything about the Sabbath being removed or erased. Instead, Jesus elevated the Sabbath back to being a gift for humanity, and a day that we are free to help each other while giving thanks to God.
As we come to the end of another podcast episode, here are the challenges I will leave you with:
Continue to seek God first in your life and choose to honor His Sabbath as a day of rest, and as a gift given to us where we can remember what He has done for us while spending time with others. Choose to see Sabbath as an opportunity for a closer relationship with God and not as an oppressive rule from a cruel deity.
Also, always pray and study the Bible for yourself to learn what God really wants to teach you. If you haven’t studied the Sabbath and its significance in God’s eyes, then that would be a great topic to study. The Bible gives us everything we need to be able to see the Sabbath as God sees it, and we also can learn exactly what day of the week it is. Choose to accept God’s Sabbath over what tradition wants to claim was changed or done away with.
And as I end every set of challenges by saying in one way or another, never stop short of, back away from, chicken out of, or deviate away from where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!