Then Jesus said to them, “I ask you, is it lawful to do good on the sabbath rather than to do evil, to save life rather than to destroy it?”
Jesus asked his opponents a question loaded with controversy and complexity, and salted with insinuation. Apparently they could not see that their closely watching him and private conversations that will followed were work on the Sabbath. Work is work, whether you're paid or not; whether it's productive or not; whether it does evil or good. Work is what we do when we're not sleeping, eating, or passing the time in idle conversation. The scribes and Pharisees in this story are clearly planning to do something in the near future. That his arrest, trial, and crucifixion don't happen on the Sabbath are beside the point. They plotted against him on the Sabbath.
The Lord's response invokes another law which is spelled out in the Book of Deuteronomy:
You shall not see your neighbor’s ox or sheep going astray and ignore it; you must bring it back. If this neighbor does not live near you, or you do not know who the owner may be, take it to your own house and keep it with you until your neighbor claims it; then return it.
You shall do the same with a donkey; you shall do the same with a garment; and you shall do the same with anything else which your neighbor loses and you happen to find. You may not ignore them.
You shall not see your neighbor’s donkey or ox fallen on the road and ignore it; you must help in lifting it up. Deut 22:1-4
These verses say nothing about the Sabbath and but they have the authority of God's word. And should we should put off God's commandments to a more convenient time?
Clearly, Jesus offers a different response than those of his idle opponents, who have nothing better to do than plot to do evil.
On this Labor Day, many centuries after the Lord's healing of the crippled man, we ponder the necessity, value, dignity, and beauty of work. We do not suppose that, with a little bit of luck someone else can do the blooming work.
In fact many people will lose their jobs and livelihood due to invasive innovations in robotics and artificial intelligence. Both promise a future where we have more time for leisure. But, throughout human history, few people have shown much interest in true leisure -- study, the arts, prayer, fruitful conversation, etc. They prefer idleness laced with cheap entertainment and the capital sins -- pride, greed (avarice), lust, envy, gluttony, and wrath (anger), and sloth. The rise of robotics and artificial intelligence does not signal the dawn of a new day; it may be the dusk of human civilization.
Clearly, we have work to do as Labor Day leads us into another season of productive labor. The midterm elections signal a potential change of our self-governance, but require serious leisure activities like political discussion, study, and prayer.
AI and robotics invite us to renew the practice of sabbath; the alternative is slavery.
