interruptions

You’ve heard this story before: While Jesus is teaching on a Sabbath in the synagogue, he does something that the Pharisees think is against the rules of the Sabbath.  This one is in Luke 6:6-11. As usual, there are Pharisees and teachers of the law overseeing everything that goes on inside the synagogue.  And in the middle of his teaching, Jesus is getting ready to heal a man with a crippled hand.  But before he does this, he stops and looks at the Pharisees who are waiting for a chance to accuse Him of breaking the rules and regulations according to the Law of Moses. 

Jesus, knowing that the Mosaic Law forbids all forms of work on a Sabbath, remembers the several occasions when the Pharisees condemn Him for healing on a Sabbath.  So, Jesus flips around and challenges them with a question:  “I ask you, which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy it?” (v6) 

Basically, he’s asking them, not about the healing per se, but about whether there is a law against doing good.