Rules Boys

He went on from there and entered their synagogue. And a man was there with a withered hand. And they asked him, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”—so that they might accuse him. He said to them, “Which one of you who has a sheep, if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not take hold of it and lift it out? Of how much more value is a man than a sheep! So it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.” Then he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And the man stretched it out, and it was restored, healthy like the other. But the Pharisees went out and conspired against him, how to destroy him. (Matthew 12:9-14 ESV) What's the big deal? So what if Jesus healed on the Sabbath? What would make them want to kill him? They were used to setting the rules for everything spiritual. What happened, when it happened, where it happened. They had forgotten that God set the rules, and the big deal was that He was claiming the authority of God. They wanted to be God, and often, so do we. We want to set the rules for our lives and those around us. What we need to be is willing followers of Christ.