Jesus Heals A Lame Man

QUESTION: Jesus heals a lame man - Why did He do it on the Sabbath?

ANSWER:

Jesus heals a lame man in the following verses:

Matthew 12:9-14 says, "Going on from that place, he [Jesus] went into their synagogue, and a man with a shriveled hand was there. Looking for a reason to accuse 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 man 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."

I believe that Jesus healed the lame man on the Sabbath for two reasons:

First, to bless this man with his healing. Jesus did many good and kind acts during his earthly ministry. As Acts:10:38 says: "How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him." Jesus loves people to this day, and He loves to bless them. He also often used healings to teach other lessons to those around him, which brings me to the second reason for healing this man on the Sabbath.

Second, Jesus wanted to show everyone that there is never a wrong time to do good deeds. He used the example in Matthew 12:10-11 of finding a sheep in a pit on the Sabbath, how no one would leave the poor thing to die in that pit, but anyone would bring her out, even though it is the Sabbath day. Going onto verse 12, Jesus says: "How much more valuable is a man than a sheep! Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath."