But Jesus knew their thoughts and said to the man, “Get up and stand in the middle.”
Then he spoke to them, “I want to ask you: what is allowed by the Law on the Sabbath,
to do good or to do harm, to save life or destroy it?” And Jesus looked around at them all.
Then he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out and his hand was
restored, becoming as whole as the other. But they were furious and began to discuss
with one another how they could deal with Jesus.

Reflection:

This particular passage shows us how out of
touch the teachers of the Law and the Pharisees are with
regard to the spirit of the law. Instead of rejoicing that one
of those afflicted be healed, they instead weaponized
the Sabbath and will not hesitate to use it against
Jesus if He heals the man with a paralyzed right hand on that
day. The good of the paralyzed man is of no importance
to them. He is a convenient instrument to target Jesus
if He will transgress the work prohibition during
the Sabbath Day. It is their bad that Jesus would not be
deterred from doing good. He heals the man with a paralytic
right hand right before their eyes. Then He discussed with
them an important truth. The Sabbath is for the good of the
people. And if good is done, then the spirit of the Sabbath
is fulfilled. The teachers of the law and the Pharisees
are furious. They have been outmaneuvered by Jesus.
But they too could not be deterred. They discussed ways
to bring down Jesus next time. Instead of learning from this
experience, it even hardened their heart more.

© Copyright Bible Diary 2021