The scribes and the Pharisees watched him, to see whether he would heal on the Sabbath, that they might find an accusation against him. Luke 6:7 WEB

Luke’s gospel account is filled with numerous descriptions of Christ’s activities on the Sabbath. Here, Luke shares how the scribes and Pharisees laid in wait for Jesus to violate their traditional understanding of keeping the Sabbath. They wanted to catch the Lord in a supposed violation of Sabbath day rest. And so, looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, they watched closely to “catch” Jesus healing on the Sabbath. 

The scribes and the Pharisees closely followed the law of Moses. But also, they followed Jewish oral traditions and enforced those man made rules on others. Jesus referred to these oral traditions in Matthew 15:9 as he said, “And they worship me in vain, teaching as doctrine rules made by men. WEB” With these words, Jesus teaches how the oral traditions of the scribes and Pharisees distorted the word and will of God.  

Lawful on the Sabbath

The overly complicated and onerous laws of the scribes and Pharisees often prevented sensible action from taking place on the Sabbath. Lukes gives an example of this as Jesus heals a man with a withered hand. First, knowing that his adversaries sought to accuse him, Jesus said in Luke 6:9, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good, or to do harm? To save a life, or to kill? WEB” Then, Jesus proceeded to heal the man with the withered hand. 

This infuriated the scribes and Pharisees. They looked upon the healing of the man as a violation of law. If the man’s life were in danger, then their interpretation of the law required intervention. However, since the man did not have a life threatening issue, the oral traditions prohibited any intervention on the Sabbath. Blinded by legalism and compulsively obsessed with finding fault in others, these self righteous religious zealots continued to plot against Christ because of their misguided belief that he violated the Sabbath.

Yesterday’s Devotional: Mockers Will Come