Jesus Heals A Man With A Withered Hand On The Sabbath
And he said unto them, What man shall there be among you, that shall have one sheep, and if it fall into a pit on the sabbath day, will he not lay hold on it, and lift it out? How much then is a man better than a sheep? Wherefore it is lawful to do well on the sabbath days. Matthew 12:11-12
Likely, you have witnessed the actions of "Pharisees" in your church; if not, you've probably not been in church much. People like to think they know what God means by specific laws. However, Jesus came and gave a common-sense interpretation of those laws in the Sermon on the Mount, and then he lived them while performing miracles during his time on the earth. A note in the Matthew Henry Commentary says:
"It is no new thing for the most harmless and innocent actions of Christ's disciples to be evil spoken of, and reflected upon as unlawful, especially by those who are zealous for their own inventions and impositions."
Another point made by Matthew Henry:
"Satan gains this point, if, by sowing discord among brethren, he prevail to drive them, or any of them, from the synagogue, and the communion of the faithful."
Some people use God's word as a weapon, and the entire meaning is lost because of their ill intentions. The point is, we shouldn't argue about things we aren't 100% sure of; debate is one thing, but to be rigid and think you are the only one who is right is doing a disservice to the faith. Not having the mind of Christ while debating your point only shows outsiders that we are not in sync in our beliefs.
Even though the Bible is God-breathed, in my opinion, if you are trying to make a point using the Bible as the interpreter, make sure you define your point using multiple writers so that particular point cannot be dismissed by the person you are debating. Though it is all God's word, I don't use Paul to interpret Paul. Set your point aside until you have clarity and can find your answer in other similar scriptures.
Another point that is clear from this story: We often like to think that the flesh is meaningless, but if it didn't mean something to God, why would Jesus bother to heal people? The Lord cares about people, and so should we.
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