For us today, the question of whether Jesus healed on the Sabbath may seem less urgent than it was to the Jews of his time since our Sundays are often so full of activities, not all of them religious. In fact, perhaps we need to consider if we are doing enough to keep the sacred character of the Day of the Lord.

In Jesus' time, strict laws governed the keeping of the Sabbath, particularly in the prohibition of work. Of course, things were not always as rigid - for instance, many rabbis would certainly allow healing actions when the sufferer was in severe danger. Here however, the man's shriveled hand was not life-threatening and thus Jesus' healing action was judged negatively by his opponents.

Certainly, they might have felt vindicated when he apparently does so but Jesus asks them a difficult question about whether it was lawful to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill on the Sabbath. In this, He was in no way fearful of standing for what He believed to be right, despite the critical eyes of His enemies .

Here we might want to ask ourselves whether we have the courage to stand and be counted in speaking the truth or standing in solidarity with those who are right. The temptation to remain in cowardly silence and pretend that "this is not our business" will always be there - but can we as Christians neglect our prophetic role?