9 He went on from there and entered their synagogue. 10 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. 11 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? 12 Of how much more value is a man than a sheep! So it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.” 13 Then he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And the man stretched it out, and it was restored, healthy like the other. 14 But the Pharisees went out and conspired against him, how to destroy him. (Matthew 12)
Jesus had just dealt with the Pharisees on the question of the Sabbath, but then it had to do with His disciples gleaning grain - interpreted as "doing work" - which one could view as selfish. Jesus takes it a step further - what about "doing work" to meet someone else's need? He makes it really hard are them, because He does not "do" anything. He simply says: "stretch out your hand." No laying on of hands, spitting, prying out his fingers, or any other "work." He simple speaks, which of course is all He needs to do as the Word of God. Yet it was enough to raise the ire of the Pharisees to plot to get rid of him. Rather than rant and rave about what they did, however, let us stop and think about the other side of the coin. What good do we do on the Sabbath for others? Do we go out of our way to see, even find, someone in need and do something for them, even say something to encourage them? Or are we living selfishly on the day that celebrates God's creativity, ignoring the needs of his highest creation - others made in the image of God. What good can you do?
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