On a Sabbath, while he was going through the grainfields, his disciples plucked and ate some heads of grain, rubbing them in their hands. 2 But some of the Pharisees said, “Why are you doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath?” 3 And Jesus answered them, “Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him: 4 how he entered the house of God and took and ate the bread of the Presence, which is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to those with him?” 5 And he said to them, “The Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.”
6 On another Sabbath, he entered the synagogue and was teaching, and a man was there whose right hand was withered. 7 And the scribes and the Pharisees watched him, to see whether he would heal on the Sabbath, so that they might find a reason to accuse him. 8 But he knew their thoughts, and he said to the man with the withered hand, “Come and stand here.” And he rose and stood there. 9 And Jesus said to them, “I ask you, is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to destroy it?” 10 And after looking around at them all he said to him, “Stretch out your hand.” And he did so, and his hand was restored. 11 But they were filled with fury and discussed with one another what they might do to Jesus.
6 On another Sabbath, he entered the synagogue and was teaching, and a man was there whose right hand was withered. 7 And the scribes and the Pharisees watched him, to see whether he would heal on the Sabbath, so that they might find a reason to accuse him. 8 But he knew their thoughts, and he said to the man with the withered hand, “Come and stand here.” And he rose and stood there. 9 And Jesus said to them, “I ask you, is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to destroy it?” 10 And after looking around at them all he said to him, “Stretch out your hand.” And he did so, and his hand was restored. 11 But they were filled with fury and discussed with one another what they might do to Jesus.
Doing good can often bring you harm. The Pharisees had come up with a long list of what was acceptable to do on the sabbath. They refused to do anything that resembled work, which of course put the burden on everyone else to do anything. They even defined rubbing grain between your fingers as work. It was all a big power play on their part; they wanted to be in control of everyone's spiritual lives, even above God. That is why they had such a violent reaction against Jesus: they perceived Him as invading their territory, when in fact they had invaded His as the Son of Man and Son of God. Probably what frustrated them the most is how He healed this man. He did not touch him, or give some command; He simply instructed him to stretch out his hand. There was nothing Jesus said or did that could be used as evidence that He healed on the Sabbath. Yes, everyone there who witnessed it knew He did it, but their was no proof, except the restored hand of this man. But the arrogance of these Pharisees had been violated and they went away furious, trying to come up with a way to get rid of Jesus. Sad to say, many people are actually trying to do the same - set up their own rules of righteousness to keep Jesus away, when He is exactly what we need.
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