TEXT [Commentary]

F. Healing on the Sabbath in the Synagogue (12:9-14; cf. Mark 3:1-6; Luke 6:6-11)

9 Then Jesus went over to their synagogue, 10 where he noticed a man with a deformed hand. The Pharisees asked Jesus, “Does the law permit a person to work by healing on the Sabbath?” (They were hoping he would say yes, so they could bring charges against him.)

11 And he answered, “If you had a sheep that fell into a well on the Sabbath, wouldn’t you work to pull it out? Of course you would. 12 And how much more valuable is a person than a sheep! Yes, the law permits a person to do good on the Sabbath.”

13 Then he said to the man, “Hold out your hand.” So the man held out his hand, and it was restored, just like the other one! 14 Then the Pharisees called a meeting to plot how to kill Jesus.

NOTES

12:9-12 Does the law permit a person to work by healing on the Sabbath? The Sabbath conflict intensified when Jesus healed a deformed (lit., “withered” or paralyzed) hand in the synagogue in response to the Pharisees’ question about its legality (cf. Mark 3:1-6; Luke 6:6-11).

so they could bring charges against him. The Pharisees wanted to have an accusation against Jesus, so they asked him whether it was lawful to heal on the Sabbath (12:10; cf. Luke 13:14; John 5:7-10). The NLT’s translation expands this somewhat to bring out the Pharisees’ assumption that the healing would amount to work and would break the Sabbath. If the tradition later codified in the Mishnah around AD 200 was current in Jesus’ day, the Pharisees themselves would have evidently permitted healing when life was in danger (m. Yoma 8:6).

the law permits a person to do good on the Sabbath. Jesus responded (12:11-12) that it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath, even when an emergency constitutes a technical violation. He referred to a practice the Pharisees would evidently permit—removing a sheep from a “well” (more likely a cistern or pit; cf. Deut 22:4; Prov 12:10). Again the argument is from lesser to greater, since healing a needy person is more necessary than getting a sheep out of a cistern (cf. 6:26-30; 10:31).

12:13-14 The theological argument of the previous verses was concluded by Jesus doing what the Pharisees considered to be unlawful—he commanded the man to stretch out his hand, and as he did so, it was restored to normal function.

to plot how to kill Jesus. That the Pharisees would decide to kill Jesus is not a surprise to the attentive reader of Matthew (cf. 3:7; 9:11, 34; 12:24; 15:7, 12; 16:6, 21; 17:10, 12, 22; 20:18; 21:45-46; 22:15, 34; 23:29-32; 26:2-5, 14-16).

COMMENTARY [Text]

This passage reinforces the basic impasse between Jesus and the Pharisees, which is evident in 12:1-8. They were at loggerheads over the relation of Sabbath law to deeds of compassion. The Pharisees evidently interpreted the Sabbath law strictly and made no exceptions for instances of compassion like those involved in Jesus’ healings, but Jesus pointed out an inconsistency in their approach. They had no problem with a sheep being rescued from a cistern on the Sabbath, yet they condemned him for healing a person, who is much more valuable to God than a sheep. Theoretically, they might have responded to Jesus that the healing of the man’s hand was not a matter of life or death, and could have waited until the next day, but Matthew’s narrative ends with this rejoinder of Jesus. Jesus showed that the written Torah was not violated by such healing.

The legal dispute is one thing, but it led the Pharisees to take steps to end the dispute by eliminating Jesus. At first glance, this seems to be a rather draconian solution to a religious dispute. Perhaps the Pharisees were simply planning to enforce Exodus 31:14, but baser motives were probably at work. Evidently, Jesus was perceived as a threat to the status quo, so jealousy could also be involved, since an increase in Jesus’ popularity and influence would inevitably mean a decrease in that of the Pharisees (cf. 27:18). Additionally, the Pharisees may have feared that Jesus’ followers would become a riotous mob, which the Roman authorities would view as a threat to their rule over Judea (cf. 26:4). At any rate, it is not a little ironic that a dispute over the finer points of Sabbath law led the Pharisees to plan to break the sixth commandment, “you shall not murder.”