"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' opponents in this story, "the scribes and Pharisees," are so intoxicated with their self-righteous anger they cannot catch the subtlety of his question.
No one could argue that healing a man's withered hand is a good thing. Someone might say,"There is a time and place for everything!" and this is not the time for that!
That might make a cogent argument. It might even be used against Jesus' practice of healing on the Sabbath, something which he did rather often.
But since they didn't use that line, Jesus doesn't need to answer it. Instead he confronts them with a confounding question. They are so angry they cannot quite comprehend what he is saying, and that's because he has named their behavior -- they are doing evil on the Sabbath. When they conspire to kill him, they destroy life, rather than save it, on the holiest day of the week. These good, law-abiding, holy men!
Recently, amid the tragedies in Charlottesville, some people used violence to fight violence. Although their weapons were not as cruel as those of the KKK and Neo-Nazis, they caused harm.
In their own eyes, the racists won that conflict. Though none of their own was murdered, at least one was so intimidated he ran away from a group of counter-protesters.
In any conflict, it seems, there is the temptation to fight fire with fire, to use the enemy's tactics while claiming the higher ground and the moral authority to do so.
However, since there is no higher court in this world to validate that moral authority, the tactic fails. The bad guys win in their own minds first, and often in the court of public opinion.
Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King won their battles as Jesus won his, with non-violence. All three men, working under the same peaceful spirit, remind us to resist evil peacefully, civilly and patiently. Our faith teaches us not to fight fire with fire or hate with hate; Jesus has already conquered sin and death by his cross.
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I love to write. This blog helps me to meditate on the Word of God, and I hope to make some contribution to our contemplations of God's Mighty Works.
Ordinarily, I write these reflections two or three weeks in advance of their publication. I do not intend to comment on current events.
I understand many people prefer gender-neutral references to "God." I don't disagree with them but find that language impersonal, unappealing and tasteless. When I refer to "God" I think of the One whom Jesus called "Abba" and "Father", and I would not attempt to improve on Jesus' language.
You're welcome to add a thought or raise a question.