Why did the Pharisees confront Jesus with the question of whether it is lawful to heal on the Sabbath?
After being defeated (Matthew 12:1–8), the Pharisees return to Jesus to accuse him in a situation they see as more favorable to them, expecting that Jesus will not pass by anyone in need without helping him, while they completely reject healing on the Sabbath. In their view, medical help on the Sabbath was only allowed in life-threatening cases, not for this chronic illness.
After having been defeated in their previous encounter (Matthew 12:1–8), the Pharisees now once again returned to Jesus to accuse him, this time in a situation they considered to be more favorable to themselves. They expected that Jesus would not pass by someone in need without helping him, while for them it was a settled matter that healing on the Sabbath was completely forbidden. In their view, medical assistance on the Sabbath was only permitted in cases of life-threatening danger—which, in a chronic condition such as this one, was not the case.1
They knew that Jesus often performed his healings on the Sabbath, and now they sought to uncover the false doctrine they assumed lay at the root of this practice—namely, the teaching that the professional work of physicians is not bound by the Sabbath law of the Lord. If Jesus were to repudiate this alleged heresy, He would at the same time be condemning his own Sabbath healings as violations of the law. They assumed that there would be no way for him to escape such an accusation.2
The Pharisees evidently failed to understand that the healings constituted more than the removal of bodily affliction; they did not grasp its spiritual significance, because they did not acknowledge Jesus as the Messiah (see Matthew 8:17; John 6:27, John 12:37).3
10 And a man was there with a withered hand. And they asked him, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?” so that they might accuse him.