Comments on Matthew 12:1-13 v1-8 The content of these verses has been addressed in the comments on Mark 2 in LDSS Vol. 3, No. 7. v9-13 Jesus is in a synagogue (v. 9) where there is a man present who has a withered hand. The Pharisees, who are looking to get Jesus into trouble, ask him if healing on the Sabbath is acceptable (v. 10). His response is that it is lawful to save life, even animal life, on the Sabbath (v. 11). And man is above the animal, so it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath (v. 12). Jesus then has the afflicted man stretch his hand out and it is miraculously healed (v. 13). Jesus' reply to them is quite sophisticated, but his healing of the man is even more sophisticated. Jesus does nothing overt to heal the man, there is no laying on of hands, no physical act except speaking. The man is the one who stretches out his hand. Thus, Jesus rebukes the Pharisees for their bad doctrine and fault-finding, but then goes on to not even lift a finger to perform this miraculous healing. The Pharisees have nothing to accuse Jesus with, he made no overt act to heal the man. He rebukes them and then leaves them not a straw to grasp at. v9 "their synagogue", apparently the same synagogue as the Pharisees from v. 2. v10 "a man which had his hand withered", it would appear the man did not approach Jesus asking for the healing. The text suggests the Pharisees were the ones who instigated the matter. Was the man there to be healed by Jesus? Given Jesus doesn't even question the man's faith or motives, it seems likely he was. Would Jesus heal the man just to spite the Pharisees even if he had no faith? That doesn't seem likely as faith is usually, but not always, presented as the essential ingredient in such healings. "Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath days?", the Pharisees' argument here is underlain by the fact that the man's affliction is not life threatening and has apparently been with him for a long time, perhaps since birth. Why then not just wait until tomorrow to heal the man and avoid the risk of profaning the Sabbath? Jesus' reply addresses their underlying "It isn't life threatening" argument by presenting the sheep in the pit, a case which is also not life threatening (if the sheep were to fall into a pit with water it would drown before rescued so that isn't an issue). If it is lawful to help out only a sheep when it is not life threatening, then it is lawful to help out a human when it is not life threatening. v11 "sheep...fall into a pit", the Luke 14:5 account has "an ass or an ox" (a better translation would be "who's son or ox") and is the source for the famous Mormon colloquialism "ox in a mire", which apparently was originated, or at least popularized, by Spencer W, Kimball: "I wonder if money earned upon the Sabbath, when it is unnecessary Sabbath earning, might not also be unclean money. I realize that some people must work on the Sabbath; and when they do, if they are compelled, that is, of course, a different situation. But men and women who will deliberately use the Sabbath day to develop business propositions, to increase their holdings, to increase their income, I fear for them.... There are people who work on the Sabbath, not through compulsion, but because the income is attractive, and others who work voluntarily to get the 'time and a half' that Sabbath work gives them.... The Savior knew that the ox gets in the mire on the Sabbath, but he knew also that no ox deliberately goes into the mire every week." (Spencer W. Kimball, CR, October 1953, pp. 54-56.) Unfortunately, it seem the "ox in a mire" is used more often to falsely justify precisely what Kimball was arguing against, people excusing themselves from observing the Sabbath. The "mire" is apparently a paraphrase of the KJV "pit". The Greek term "phrear" refers to a pit filled with water from an underground spring. In an arid environment these springs may be ephemeral, and so the pits may be dry, filled with water, or a quagmire of mud depending upon season and local conditions. Copyright © 2002 by S. Kurt Neumiller . All rights reserved. No part of this text may be reproduced in any form or by any means for commercial gain without the express written consent of the author. Digital or printed copies may be freely made and distributed for personal and public non-commercial use.