“Which one of you who has a sheep, if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not take hold of it and lift it out?” (Matthew 12:11 ESV)

The Pharisees (A strict Jewish sect) questioned Jesus, whether he would heal on the Sabbath. Jesus answered them, first with a question, and then with an action. The question revealed the hypocrisy of the Pharisees application of the 4th commandment (Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy), implying that they treat their animals better than they do their people. The Pharisees were strict law-keepers, not only of the written books of Moses, but also of the oral law (The Talmud and the Mishnah) which the rabbis had written as a commentary on how the commandments of the Torah were to be carried out. Jesus’ question revealed not only the hypocrisy, but the inaccuracy of their oral traditions. Then his action, to actually heal the man with the withered hand, answered not only their question concerning the Sabbath, but also revealed his identity as the Lord of the Sabbath. Yet, this only led to their further determination to kill him.
I’ve had the privilege of visiting Israel. They still have many Sabbath laws. They even run their elevators differently on the Sabbath, making them stop on every floor, so that no one has to lift a finger to work by pressing a button. How sad to focus so hard on law-keeping, yet miss the Lord to which the law was written to reveal.