to save or to kill…

To save or to kill? Which if these is lawful on the Sabbath?

You see the religious leaders were watching Jesus on the Sabbath in the temple to see if he would heal, which is working on the Sabbath. So seeing the darkness in their hearts he asks, “Is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the sabbath, to save life or to kill?” Should we do harm or should we heal?

But really come on Jesus, this man’s hand has been withered for a long time, what is one more day going to hurt? Can’t you wait until the day after the Sabbath and heal him? But isn’t that really the point of His question?

Should we do good or do harm? You see not healing this man on the Sabbath would actually harm him. Remember that it is not just about physical healing. In Jesus day healing meant restoration to community so not allowing this man to be who and what is is suppose to be in community not only harms this man, but it also harms the community. So by not healing him in a sense you are killing him because he is not able to be a part of community.

So then everytime we do not allow someone to be a member of the community, we are choosing death over life. Everytime we do not allow good to happen, we are allowing harm to happen.

So which is lawful any and every day of the week, to save or to kill? Life is what Jesus came to give us, and abundantly, so I think the answer is to save. So go and save the world, by loving it like Jesus.