Again he entered the synagogue. There was a man there who had a withered hand. 2 They watched him closely to see if he would cure him on the sabbath so that they might accuse him. 3 He said to the man with the withered hand, “Come up here before us.” 4 Then he said to them, “Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath rather than to do evil, to save life rather than to destroy it?” But they remained silent. 5 Looking around at them with anger and grieved at their hardness of heart, he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out and his hand was restored. 6 The Pharisees went out and immediately took counsel with the Herodians against him to put him to death.
Jesus continued to heal and show mercy on the Sabbath and based on their rigid interpretation and application of the Law, the Pharisees considered Jesus’ healing on the Sabbath to be work and therefore a violation of the Law punishable by death (Ex. 31:15).
The Pharisees were spying on Jesus who was teaching in the Synagogue at Capernaum to see if he would heal the man there with the withered hand on the Sabbath in violation of the Law of Sabbath Rest (Ex. 20:8-11). The Pharisees focused on strict observance of the Law, but Jesus’ mission was to heal physically and spiritually. Jesus called the man before them and challenged the Pharisees’ understanding of the Sabbath by asking whether it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath, to save a life rather than to destroy it (v. 4). The Pharisees did not answer. The controversy was not about the healing, but the meaning of the healing. Jesus had previously said that he had authority over the Sabbath and therefore equated himself with God (Mk. 2:28). Jesus was angry and sad at their lack of compassion and healed the man which was a challenge to the Pharisees' legalistic interpretation of the Law.
Herod the Great and then his sons ruled over a significant portion of the eastern part of the Roman Empire including Judea, Samaria, Galilee, Idumea, and parts of Transjordan. They were appointed by the Romans to govern as client kings or tetrarchs and were allowed some degree of autonomy. The Herodians were a political faction associated with Herod Antipas, the ruler in Galilee during Jesus' time. The Herodians and the Pharisees were aligned in their common opposition to Jesus. The miracle triggered opposition against Jesus and led to a plot to kill Him. Jesus was feared by evil spirits but was hated by Jewish religious leaders.
Almighty God, we ask you to pour out your mercy upon us and pardon what we hold in our hearts for fear of your judgment. Grant us the grace to understand your will and the strength to live it. This we pray through Christ our Lord. Amen!
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References
Chiu, José Enrique Aguilar, et al. The Paulist Biblical Commentary. Paulist Press, 2018.
Brown, Raymond Edward, et al. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Upper Saddle River, NJ, United States, Prentice Hall, 1990.
Chiu, José Enrique Aguilar, et al. The Paulist Biblical Commentary. Paulist Press, 2018.
Brown, Raymond Edward, et al. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Upper Saddle River, NJ, United States, Prentice Hall, 1990.
Orchard, Bernard, et al. A Catholic Commentary on Holy Scripture. Feb. 1953.
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