More than once in the Gospel we are told that some unfortunate people were used by the enemies of Jesus to entrap him. Today we have a man with a withered hand being planted in the middle of the synagogue during the Sabbath day prayers to see whether Jesus would cure him. Medical work was forbidden on the Sabbath. It is also worth observing that this was a chronic illness, probably from birth, and there was no urgency whatever in the healing. It could easily have waited till the next day. But Jesus cuts through the legalism and literalism of his opponents and goes to the heart of the question: "Is it against the Law to do good on the Sabbath? To save life or to kill?" They refused to answer because there was only one answer. Jesus, angry at their pigheadedness and dishonesty, goes ahead and heals the man. What better day to receive the Lord's healing than on the Sabbath? But the enemies of Jesus are too blinded by their prejudice to see the obvious. They immediately went out to conspire with the Herodians, a group they normally detested, to plot against Jesus.

It is all too easy for us, too, to be blinded by prejudice and hate and not to be able to see goodness staring us in the face. Who are the people in my life to whom I find it difficult to give credit?