How much then is a man better than a sheep? Wherefore it is lawful to do well on the sabbath days.
A man is worth far more than a sheep, so it is right to do good on the Sabbath days, and healing the withered hand was a lawful act of care that did not break the Sabbath. Since even rescuing a sheep fallen into a pit on the Sabbath was accepted, caring for human suffering honors rather than violates the day, and to withhold relief when pain can be eased is itself wrongdoing. Christ's works of mercy and necessity were in perfect harmony with God's law and upheld the fourth commandment, for the Sabbath was made for man to bless and not oppress him, and God does not desire His creatures to suffer an hour's pain that may be relieved. The day remains God's, set apart from the six working days, so this permission does not make personal work, business for gain, ordinary schooling, or pleasure-seeking lawful on the Sabbath. Relieving the sick and suffering, caring for necessities of life, and labor truly needed to save life are works of mercy that may be done, including by physicians and nurses when there is real suffering to alleviate.
Historical Setting
The saying was given in the synagogue in answer to the Pharisees' question whether healing on the Sabbath is lawful. A man with a withered hand had come hoping to be healed, and the Pharisees, knowing healing was intended, asked in order to accuse. Christ answered from their own practice of laying hold of a sheep fallen into a pit on the Sabbath and lifting it out, which they had done that very morning. He then proved the principle by commanding the man to stretch forth his hand, who by faith exerted his useless hand and received imparted vitality in nerves and sinews and muscles until it was perfectly restored.
The saying belongs to the account that includes going through the cornfield and plucking ears of corn and healing the man with the withered hand. It belongs to the occasion when scribes and Pharisees accused the Lord who made the Sabbath of breaking it. The healing of the withered hand that illustrates the saying was a good work, yet the Pharisees were enraged that it was done on the Lord's day. The miracle provoked great malice, and news of it spread through Galilee.
Human Worth Greater
A man is better than a sheep, and human life is worth more than an animal's. Doing good on the Sabbath is lawful, so helping and healing people accords with the fourth commandment and does not violate it. Relieving the sick is a work of mercy, even when a physician must work to care for them. No soul should be imperiled or abandoned when so great a price has been paid for it, but the discouraged man in distress is to be rescued, encouraged, and aided.
The argument reasons from the accepted practice of laying hold of a sheep fallen into a pit on the Sabbath and lifting it out to the rightness of healing a person. Just as people would rescue the sheep, healing the man's withered hand was a lawful act of care, for the Sabbath does not forbid helping someone in need. Since human need outweighs concern for an animal, caring for human suffering and relieving it when needs call for it honors rather than violates the Sabbath. Healing and relieving suffering does not break the Sabbath.
The Sabbath is not served by leaving people to suffer while rescuing an animal from danger. Failing to help someone when there is opportunity to do so is itself wrongdoing. No one should withhold relief when a person's pain can be eased, but the sick are to be cared for and the wants of the needy met. The contrast exposes a willingness to leave a person suffering while acting to protect an animal's value, and murderous intent toward the Healer was less righteous than deeds of mercy.
Mercy Lawful on Sabbath
It is lawful to do good on the Sabbath days, and healing the withered hand was a lawful act of care that did not break the Sabbath. Human life is worth more than an animal's, so the accepted practice of laying hold of a sheep fallen into a pit and lifting it out proves the rightness of healing a person. Failing to help when there is opportunity to relieve suffering is itself wrongdoing, and the Sabbath does not forbid helping someone in need. The healing proved the charge of Sabbath-breaking false, for nothing contrary to the law was done.
Relieving the sick and suffering is a work of mercy, not a violation of the Sabbath. Caring for the sick when their needs call for it, doing what is needed to make them comfortable, attending to the necessities of life, and meeting the wants of the needy are works of mercy and necessity that are lawful and do not violate the commandment. Human need outweighs concern for an animal, so care for the sick is permitted by Christ's example. Ordinary treatments and operations that can wait should be postponed so workers can rest and worship, and regular writing or labor is not made appropriate when no special need calls for it.
Labor needed to save a person or an animal is lawful compassionate, life-saving work on the Sabbath. That permission does not extend to labor for personal financial advantage or personal financial gain, which violates the Sabbath commandment.
Christ's works of mercy and necessity were in harmony with Sabbath keeping and upheld the Sabbath commandment according to God's law. They corrected false restrictions without abolishing the fourth commandment, and acts of mercy honor the Sabbath while restrictive traditions, useless rites and ceremonies, selfish and arbitrary teachings, and false accusations dishonor it and gave rise to the charge that He broke the Sabbath. His example shows that God's law can be kept, and He proved He was from God by repeatedly speaking the word to relieve suffering of every kind and degree through works of mercy.
The holy Sabbath was made for man, and the object of the law is to bless all who obey it, not to oppress them. God's work never ceases but is even greater upon the Sabbath than upon other days, and in like proportion man has a work to perform upon that day. Acts of benevolence and mercy are always in order upon that day, and God does not desire His creatures to suffer an hour's pain that may be relieved upon the Sabbath or any other day, so no one should withhold relief when pain can be eased.
Christ Honors the Law
How much then is a man better than a sheep proves Christ guiltless, showing He kept every command of the Decalogue without fault. His Sabbath works were in perfect harmony with God's law, so they did not make Him a Sabbath-breaker, and His example shows that God's law can be kept. Relieving suffering for people or animals on the Sabbath is in harmony with the commandment of God and does not violate it, for doing good on the Sabbath is lawful.
Jesus' healing of the man with the withered hand proved the Pharisees' charge false, for He did nothing contrary to the law. The charge that He had broken the fourth commandment could not be brought without exposing the accusers' objection to relieving human suffering, including by miracles. The accusers stood exposed as ignorant of the Scriptures and the power of God and of the true meaning and principles of the law spoken by Christ Himself from the pillar of cloud.
His Sabbath conduct did not amount to breaking the Sabbath, so if the charge against Him had been supportable His accusers would not have needed false witnesses. His healing miracles revealed the true character of His work, so His accusers avoided charging Him with Sabbath-breaking lest the evidence of His care for the afflicted defeat their purpose. An examination of His Sabbath healings would reveal the good He did and defeat their attempt to condemn Him, which His enemies feared.
By rejecting human restrictions and affirming the fourth commandment as God gave it, Christ honored the Sabbath, while those who complained dishonored it. He upheld the Sabbath according to God's law, rejecting human teachings that had distorted it and made its observance reflect selfishness and arbitrariness rather than God's character.
Boundaries and Faithful Application
“It is lawful to do well on the sabbath days” does not make the Sabbath available for personal work or business, and calling an act good does not turn transgression of God’s commandments into obedience. The day is God’s, set apart from the six days given for work, and what Sabbath duty requires must be judged by the claims of God’s commandment, not by custom and teaching, nor by convenience or claimed benefit. Appealing to doing good while using custom and teaching to excuse one’s own business is breaking the Sabbath under the cover of the verse. Nor does the verse justify attending secular school or sending children to the schoolroom or academy on the Sabbath or any part of it as on a common weekday, or giving or receiving ordinary lessons in which there is no sacredness. To use it without limits to excuse schooling would also justify laboring to earn bread, leaving no clear boundary, loosening the fourth commandment, bringing the Sabbath down to common working days, and making void the law of God. If a school will not allow Sabbath observance, the Sabbath is to be kept strictly rather than setting aside the commandment for convenience.
The same boundary excludes labor for personal financial advantage and regular work to earn a living or to earn bread for a family. Such use blurs the boundary of Sabbath duty, excuses loosening the fourth commandment, and removes any line between what should and should not be done. Labor needed to save a person or an animal is compassionate, life-saving work and does not open the door to work for gain. Regular Sabbath writing or labor is likewise not made appropriate when no special need calls for it, and devoting the Sabbath to such work harms the soul, sets a poor example, and fails to honor God.
Unnecessary work, ordinary work, and pleasure-seeking activities such as ball playing and swimming are not justified by the verse and constitute neglect of the day sanctified by God. Ordinary treatments and operations that can wait should be postponed so Sabbath workers can rest and worship, needed preparations should be completed beforehand, and ordinary work should not intrude on its sacred hours. Physicians are not justified in doing many things on the Sabbath that they should refrain from doing, and as far as possible all other work is to be laid aside. Faithfulness requires keeping the distinction God made between the Sabbath and the six working days, obeying His law exactly as given in Eden and at Sinai without altering it, and upholding the Sabbath as a test to the world and a sign between God and His people by testimony of allegiance to the Creator.
Rescuing and helping a person in distress is the good the verse allows, applied even to encouraging and aiding a discouraged man rather than abandoning him, for no soul should be imperiled when so great a price has been paid for it. Physicians and nurses may therefore minister to the sick and travel on the Sabbath when there is real suffering to be alleviated, and such work is not a desecration of the day. Physicians may need to devote Sabbath hours to relieving human suffering, with work planned to obey God, ordinary treatment and operations that can wait deferred, patients told that physicians must have one day for rest so that the Bible Sabbath is made prominent and God’s law is magnified, any fee received given to the Lord’s treasury for poor people who need medical care but cannot afford it, and as far as possible all other work laid aside while doing all in power to let light shine because evil is seeking to cast its shadow across every soul. Keeping the Sabbath means laboring six days and then on the seventh day putting away one’s own interests and pleasures to worship God, yet Christ’s works of healing prove that acts of necessity and mercy done on the Sabbath are not a transgression of the fourth commandment, and following His example in this cannot be a mistake.
A man is worth far more than a sheep, so it is right to do good on the Sabbath days, and healing the withered hand was a lawful act of care that did not break the Sabbath. Since even rescuing a sheep fallen into a pit on the Sabbath was accepted, caring for human suffering honors rather than violates the day, and to withhold relief when pain can be eased is itself wrongdoing. Christ's works of mercy and necessity were in perfect harmony with God's law and upheld the fourth commandment, for the Sabbath was made for man to bless and not oppress him, and God does not desire His creatures to suffer an hour's pain that may be relieved. The day remains God's, set apart from the six working days, so this permission does not make personal work, business for gain, ordinary schooling, or pleasure-seeking lawful on the Sabbath. Relieving the sick and suffering, caring for necessities of life, and labor truly needed to save life are works of mercy that may be done, including by physicians and nurses when there is real suffering to alleviate.
Historical Setting
The saying was given in the synagogue in answer to the Pharisees' question whether healing on the Sabbath is lawful. A man with a withered hand had come hoping to be healed, and the Pharisees, knowing healing was intended, asked in order to accuse. Christ answered from their own practice of laying hold of a sheep fallen into a pit on the Sabbath and lifting it out, which they had done that very morning. He then proved the principle by commanding the man to stretch forth his hand, who by faith exerted his useless hand and received imparted vitality in nerves and sinews and muscles until it was perfectly restored.
The saying belongs to the account that includes going through the cornfield and plucking ears of corn and healing the man with the withered hand. It belongs to the occasion when scribes and Pharisees accused the Lord who made the Sabbath of breaking it. The healing of the withered hand that illustrates the saying was a good work, yet the Pharisees were enraged that it was done on the Lord's day. The miracle provoked great malice, and news of it spread through Galilee.
Human Worth Greater
A man is better than a sheep, and human life is worth more than an animal's. Doing good on the Sabbath is lawful, so helping and healing people accords with the fourth commandment and does not violate it. Relieving the sick is a work of mercy, even when a physician must work to care for them. No soul should be imperiled or abandoned when so great a price has been paid for it, but the discouraged man in distress is to be rescued, encouraged, and aided.
The argument reasons from the accepted practice of laying hold of a sheep fallen into a pit on the Sabbath and lifting it out to the rightness of healing a person. Just as people would rescue the sheep, healing the man's withered hand was a lawful act of care, for the Sabbath does not forbid helping someone in need. Since human need outweighs concern for an animal, caring for human suffering and relieving it when needs call for it honors rather than violates the Sabbath. Healing and relieving suffering does not break the Sabbath.
The Sabbath is not served by leaving people to suffer while rescuing an animal from danger. Failing to help someone when there is opportunity to do so is itself wrongdoing. No one should withhold relief when a person's pain can be eased, but the sick are to be cared for and the wants of the needy met. The contrast exposes a willingness to leave a person suffering while acting to protect an animal's value, and murderous intent toward the Healer was less righteous than deeds of mercy.
Mercy Lawful on Sabbath
It is lawful to do good on the Sabbath days, and healing the withered hand was a lawful act of care that did not break the Sabbath. Human life is worth more than an animal's, so the accepted practice of laying hold of a sheep fallen into a pit and lifting it out proves the rightness of healing a person. Failing to help when there is opportunity to relieve suffering is itself wrongdoing, and the Sabbath does not forbid helping someone in need. The healing proved the charge of Sabbath-breaking false, for nothing contrary to the law was done.
Relieving the sick and suffering is a work of mercy, not a violation of the Sabbath. Caring for the sick when their needs call for it, doing what is needed to make them comfortable, attending to the necessities of life, and meeting the wants of the needy are works of mercy and necessity that are lawful and do not violate the commandment. Human need outweighs concern for an animal, so care for the sick is permitted by Christ's example. Ordinary treatments and operations that can wait should be postponed so workers can rest and worship, and regular writing or labor is not made appropriate when no special need calls for it.
Labor needed to save a person or an animal is lawful compassionate, life-saving work on the Sabbath. That permission does not extend to labor for personal financial advantage or personal financial gain, which violates the Sabbath commandment.
Christ's works of mercy and necessity were in harmony with Sabbath keeping and upheld the Sabbath commandment according to God's law. They corrected false restrictions without abolishing the fourth commandment, and acts of mercy honor the Sabbath while restrictive traditions, useless rites and ceremonies, selfish and arbitrary teachings, and false accusations dishonor it and gave rise to the charge that He broke the Sabbath. His example shows that God's law can be kept, and He proved He was from God by repeatedly speaking the word to relieve suffering of every kind and degree through works of mercy.
The holy Sabbath was made for man, and the object of the law is to bless all who obey it, not to oppress them. God's work never ceases but is even greater upon the Sabbath than upon other days, and in like proportion man has a work to perform upon that day. Acts of benevolence and mercy are always in order upon that day, and God does not desire His creatures to suffer an hour's pain that may be relieved upon the Sabbath or any other day, so no one should withhold relief when pain can be eased.
Christ Honors the Law
How much then is a man better than a sheep proves Christ guiltless, showing He kept every command of the Decalogue without fault. His Sabbath works were in perfect harmony with God's law, so they did not make Him a Sabbath-breaker, and His example shows that God's law can be kept. Relieving suffering for people or animals on the Sabbath is in harmony with the commandment of God and does not violate it, for doing good on the Sabbath is lawful.
Jesus' healing of the man with the withered hand proved the Pharisees' charge false, for He did nothing contrary to the law. The charge that He had broken the fourth commandment could not be brought without exposing the accusers' objection to relieving human suffering, including by miracles. The accusers stood exposed as ignorant of the Scriptures and the power of God and of the true meaning and principles of the law spoken by Christ Himself from the pillar of cloud.
His Sabbath conduct did not amount to breaking the Sabbath, so if the charge against Him had been supportable His accusers would not have needed false witnesses. His healing miracles revealed the true character of His work, so His accusers avoided charging Him with Sabbath-breaking lest the evidence of His care for the afflicted defeat their purpose. An examination of His Sabbath healings would reveal the good He did and defeat their attempt to condemn Him, which His enemies feared.
By rejecting human restrictions and affirming the fourth commandment as God gave it, Christ honored the Sabbath, while those who complained dishonored it. He upheld the Sabbath according to God's law, rejecting human teachings that had distorted it and made its observance reflect selfishness and arbitrariness rather than God's character.
Boundaries and Faithful Application
“It is lawful to do well on the sabbath days” does not make the Sabbath available for personal work or business, and calling an act good does not turn transgression of God’s commandments into obedience. The day is God’s, set apart from the six days given for work, and what Sabbath duty requires must be judged by the claims of God’s commandment, not by custom and teaching, nor by convenience or claimed benefit. Appealing to doing good while using custom and teaching to excuse one’s own business is breaking the Sabbath under the cover of the verse. Nor does the verse justify attending secular school or sending children to the schoolroom or academy on the Sabbath or any part of it as on a common weekday, or giving or receiving ordinary lessons in which there is no sacredness. To use it without limits to excuse schooling would also justify laboring to earn bread, leaving no clear boundary, loosening the fourth commandment, bringing the Sabbath down to common working days, and making void the law of God. If a school will not allow Sabbath observance, the Sabbath is to be kept strictly rather than setting aside the commandment for convenience.
The same boundary excludes labor for personal financial advantage and regular work to earn a living or to earn bread for a family. Such use blurs the boundary of Sabbath duty, excuses loosening the fourth commandment, and removes any line between what should and should not be done. Labor needed to save a person or an animal is compassionate, life-saving work and does not open the door to work for gain. Regular Sabbath writing or labor is likewise not made appropriate when no special need calls for it, and devoting the Sabbath to such work harms the soul, sets a poor example, and fails to honor God.
Unnecessary work, ordinary work, and pleasure-seeking activities such as ball playing and swimming are not justified by the verse and constitute neglect of the day sanctified by God. Ordinary treatments and operations that can wait should be postponed so Sabbath workers can rest and worship, needed preparations should be completed beforehand, and ordinary work should not intrude on its sacred hours. Physicians are not justified in doing many things on the Sabbath that they should refrain from doing, and as far as possible all other work is to be laid aside. Faithfulness requires keeping the distinction God made between the Sabbath and the six working days, obeying His law exactly as given in Eden and at Sinai without altering it, and upholding the Sabbath as a test to the world and a sign between God and His people by testimony of allegiance to the Creator.
Rescuing and helping a person in distress is the good the verse allows, applied even to encouraging and aiding a discouraged man rather than abandoning him, for no soul should be imperiled when so great a price has been paid for it. Physicians and nurses may therefore minister to the sick and travel on the Sabbath when there is real suffering to be alleviated, and such work is not a desecration of the day. Physicians may need to devote Sabbath hours to relieving human suffering, with work planned to obey God, ordinary treatment and operations that can wait deferred, patients told that physicians must have one day for rest so that the Bible Sabbath is made prominent and God’s law is magnified, any fee received given to the Lord’s treasury for poor people who need medical care but cannot afford it, and as far as possible all other work laid aside while doing all in power to let light shine because evil is seeking to cast its shadow across every soul. Keeping the Sabbath means laboring six days and then on the seventh day putting away one’s own interests and pleasures to worship God, yet Christ’s works of healing prove that acts of necessity and mercy done on the Sabbath are not a transgression of the fourth commandment, and following His example in this cannot be a mistake.