11. (a) Why did the Pharisees question Jesus about curing on the Sabbath? (b) What did Jesus’ answer reveal?

¹¹ During his Galilean ministry in the spring of the year 31 C.E., Jesus spotted a man with a withered hand in a synagogue. Since it was a Sabbath, the Pharisees asked Jesus: “Is it lawful to cure on the sabbath?” Rather than feel genuine concern for this poor man’s suffering, they had a desire to find a pretext for condemning Jesus, as their question revealed. No wonder Jesus was grieved at their insensitive hearts! He then pointedly threw a similar question back at the Pharisees: “Is it lawful on the sabbath to do a good deed?” When they kept silent, Jesus answered his own question by asking them if they would not rescue a sheep that had fallen into a pit on the Sabbath.b “Of how much more worth is a man than a sheep!” Jesus reasoned, with irrefutable logic. “So it is lawful [or, right] to do a fine thing on the sabbath,” he concluded. God’s justice should never be shackled by human tradition. Having made that point clear, Jesus went ahead and healed the man’s hand.—Matthew 12:9-13; Mark 3:1-5.