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Pharisees

             Going on from that place, he went into their synagogue, and a man with a shriveled hand was there. Looking for a reason to bring charges against Jesus, they asked him, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”

 He said to them, “If any of you has a sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will you not take hold of it and lift it out? How much more valuable is a person than a sheep! Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.”

Then he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” So he stretched it out, and it was completely restored, just as sound as the other. But the Pharisees went out and plotted how they might kill Jesus. (Matthew 12:9-14)

We tend to think that Jesus didn’t minister to the Scribes and Pharisees and that He disapproved of them. After all, His words sound (to put it mildly) negative. But the first point is that the Scribes and Pharisees considered themselves scholars. They enjoyed arguing the finer points, the grosser points, and all other points of the Law. They would get together and compare one rabbi’s teachings with another's. At least, that’s the impression I get of them. So, what Jesus was doing was acting as one of their own. Granted, they didn’t like it because they hadn’t taught Him the secret handshake yet. They didn’t plan to, but there He was, being their equal, and very quickly making them look bad because they couldn’t keep up.

But even that was a ministry to them. He was giving them an opportunity to move toward God. He was giving them a chance to find the truth. He didn’t ask them to throw the Law away, but to recognize that there was a LAW greater than The Law. Loving and doing good is at least part of that LAW that The Law (as they practiced it) limited. They undoubtedly broke The Law by practicing THE LAW themselves at times. And we know that there were Pharisees, and probably Scribes (though I don’t think one is mentioned by name), who did make the connection.

After He healed the man’s hand, the Pharisees decided to figure out how to kill Him. It doesn’t say whether all the Pharisees started a conspiracy, or just the Pharisees of this town (at the moment), or just the leadership. It also doesn’t tell us exactly why they did so. Were they mad because He violated The Law, or their law by healing on the Sabbath? After all, they were trying to protect the nation from false messiahs. Were they embarrassed because He outmaneuvered and outperformed them with His miracle? Were they just trying to stay on the good side of those who wanted Him dead? It’s not wise to assume that they all had the exact same reasons, but they conspired nonetheless.

The key here is that Jesus loved the Pharisees. He ministered to them. He met their needs by challenging their premises and assumptions. But He didn’t do it to make Himself look good. He did it to give them a chance to discover the truth about Him and about themselves. That, too, is a ministry.

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