The Sound of One Hand Clapping[1]
After they got out of the fields of grain, they went on to the Synagogue. There, they met a man with a crippled hand. The scribes and the Pharisees looked at each other with their eyebrows raised, as if to wonder. Would Jesus dare heal someone on the Sabbath? That would be more evidence against him. To push the matter they asked "Is it okay to heal someone on the Sabbath?" It was a trap.
Jesus gave a knowing smile, and then he turned toward the man with the crippled hand and waved him over. The man came. Jesus then turned to the scribes and the Pharisees and said, "Fellas, if you had a single sheep and it fell into a pit on the Sabbath, what would you do? Surely you would rescue it. Is it lawful to save a life? Surely, a man is more important than a sheep." The scribes and Pharisees just stood there, refusing to take a position. Jesus shook his head, then turned back to the man with the crippled hand and told him, "Stick out your hand." As he extended his hand it was healed.
The scribes and Pharisees, instead of being happy for the cured man, were infuriated. The only pleasure they took was found in the fact that now they had more ammunition, more charges to bring Jesus to ruin.
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