Luke 6:9

King James Version (KJV)

Then said Jesus unto them, I will ask you one thing; Is it lawful on the sabbath days to do good, or to do evil? to save life, or to destroy it?

Adam Clarke
Bible Commentary

I will ask you one thing - I will put a question to you. See on Mark 3:4, Mark 3:5; (note).

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Matthew Henry
Concise Bible Commentary

Christ was neither ashamed nor afraid to own the purposes of his grace. He healed the poor man, though he knew that his enemies would take advantage against him for it. Let us not be drawn either from our duty or from our usefulness by any opposition. We may well be amazed, that the sons of men should be so wicked.

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SDA Bible Commentary (limited)
Volume 1-7

9. I will ask. According to Matthew’s account of the incident, it seems that the Pharisees had already raised the question of the propriety of healing on the Sabbath (see Matt. 12:10).

Is it lawful? See on Mark 2:24. Rabbinical laws were again shown to be in conflict with the needs of humanity. Those who today claim that Jesus paid no regard to the law of God, in other words, that by precept and example He departed from the claims of the fourth commandment, join forces with the scribes and the Pharisees and partake of their spirit. At the close of His earthly life Jesus affirmed that He had kept His Father’s every command (see John 15:10).

Good, or to do evil. Here in the sense of bringing benefit or harm. According to Matthew’s account, the scribes and Pharisees had previously addressed the question to Jesus, as to whether it was lawful to heal on the Sabbath (Matt. 12:10). Rabbinical regulations made a careful distinction between cases of chronic sicknesses and cases involving immediate danger of death. Specifically, certain disease were named as being more grave than others, and those suffering from these diseases might be given help according to their need. On the Sabbath little provision was made for relieving pain that did not involve acute illnesses, or for helping those who had suffered long, such as the one Jesus was about to heal. It is probable that the law was more or less liberally interpreted, and that persons suffering from many other diseases were actually cared for on the Sabbath. For further information on the rabbinical principles for Sabbath care of the sick, see Mishnah Shabbath 14. 4; 22. 6, Soncino ed. of the Talmud, pp. 539, 540, 747.

To save life. According to another Jewish maxim, to refuse to do good would be to inflict injury, to neglect to care for life would be to take life. But this man’s life was not in danger, and the act of healing could therefore be postponed until after the Sabbath. But Jesus affirmed that it could not be wrong to do good on the Sabbath. From Jesus’ point of view, to pass by the opportunity of bringing relief to the sufferer would be to do wrong. The scribes and Pharisees were thinking of their petty rule that would be violated; Jesus was directing their attention to the fundamental principle involved. Not to save a life would be to take it; not to do that which would enhance life would be to diminish it (see James 4:17). This was an extension of the principle of the sixth commandment, as illuminated by Christ in the Sermon on the Mount (see on Matt. 5:21-24), and the sixth commandment was in no way in conflict with the fourth. The Sabbath, Jesus said, was “made for man” (Mark 2:27), and acts of mercy and necessity were entirely in keeping with its objectives.

The scribes and Pharisees had murder in their hearts. Their accusation was part of the plot to take Jesus’ life (see on Luke 6:11; cf. Acts 3:15), and Jesus, knowing “their thoughts,” knew that they were plotting to destroy Him (see Luke 6:8). Probably Jesus had this in mind when He spoke about destroying life, and sought to direct their attention to the fact that their malice made them the real Sabbathbreakers.

Matthew adds the significant illustration by which Christ called attention to the fact that they would do for a dumb animal that which they would be unwilling to do for a human being (see Matt. 12:11, 12). Some of them would let a man suffer, but would save an animal from sufferingâ€”lest, of course, financial loss result to the owner. Only a false concept of God could lead to any Sabbath regulation that places a lower value on human life than on the life of dumb brutes.

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Ellen G. White
Selected Messages Book 3, 106.4

The other article was upon Christ going through the cornfield, plucking the ears of corn, and healing the withered hand—twelve pages. If I can, with Mary's help, get out these subjects of such intense interest, I could say, “Lord, now lettest Thou Thy servant depart in peace.” These writings are all I can see now.... 3SM 106.4

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Ellen G. White
Selected Messages Book 3, 259.2

We told our friends that in the matter of keeping the Sabbath, we studied the example and teachings of Christ whose Sabbaths were often spent in earnest effort to heal and to teach; that we believed that one of our sisters who was nursing a sick family was keeping the Sabbath as much as the one who was leading a division in the Sabbath school; that Christ could not please the Pharisees of His day, and that we did not expect that our efforts to serve the Lord would satisfy the Pharisees of our day.—The Review and Herald, October 18, 1898. 3SM 259.2

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Ellen G. White
The Desire of Ages, 286-9

Again Christ reiterated the truth that the sacrifices were in themselves of no value. They were a means, and not an end. Their object was to direct men to the Saviour, and thus to bring them into harmony with God. It is the service of love that God values. When this is lacking, the mere round of ceremony is an offense to Him. So with the Sabbath. It was designed to bring men into communion with God; but when the mind was absorbed with wearisome rites, the object of the Sabbath was thwarted. Its mere outward observance was a mockery. DA 286.1

Upon another Sabbath, as Jesus entered a synagogue, He saw there a man who had a withered hand. The Pharisees watched Him, eager to see what He would do. The Saviour well knew that in healing on the Sabbath He would be regarded as a transgressor, but He did not hesitate to break down the wall of traditional requirements that barricaded the Sabbath. Jesus bade the afflicted man stand forth, and then asked, “Is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath days, or to do evil? to save life, or to kill?” It was a maxim among the Jews that a failure to do good, when one had opportunity, was to do evil; to neglect to save life was to kill. Thus Jesus met the rabbis on their own ground. “But they held their peace. And when He had looked round about on them with anger, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts, He saith unto the man, Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it out: and his hand was restored whole as the other.” Mark 3:4, 5. DA 286.2

When questioned, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath days?” Jesus answered, “What man shall there be among you, that shall have one sheep, and if it fall into a pit on the Sabbath day, will he not lay hold on it, and lift it out? How much then is a man better than a sheep? Wherefore it is lawful to do well on the Sabbath days.” Matthew 12:10-12. DA 286.3

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Ellen G. White
The Desire of Ages, 395

This chapter is based on Matthew 15:1-20; Mark 7:1-23.

The scribes and Pharisees, expecting to see Jesus at the Passover, had laid a trap for Him. But Jesus, knowing their purpose, had absented Himself from this gathering. “Then came together unto Him the Pharisees, and certain of the scribes.” As He did not go to them, they came to Him. For a time it had seemed that the people of Galilee would receive Jesus as the Messiah, and that the power of the hierarchy in that region would be broken. The mission of the twelve, indicating the extension of Christ's work, and bringing the disciples more directly into conflict with the rabbis, had excited anew the jealousy of the leaders at Jerusalem. The spies they sent to Capernaum in the early part of His ministry, who had tried to fix on Him the charge of Sabbathbreaking, had been put to confusion; but the rabbis were bent on carrying out their purpose. Now another deputation was sent to watch His movements, and find some accusation against Him. DA 395.1

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Ellen G. White
Prophets and Kings, 183

Christ, during His earthly ministry, emphasized the binding claims of the Sabbath; in all His teaching He showed reverence for the institution He Himself had given. In His days the Sabbath had become so perverted that its observance reflected the character of selfish and arbitrary men rather than the character of God. Christ set aside the false teaching by which those who claimed to know God had misrepresented Him. Although followed with merciless hostility by the rabbis, He did not even appear to conform to their requirements, but went straight forward keeping the Sabbath according to the law of God. PK 183.1

In unmistakable language He testified to His regard for the law of Jehovah. “Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets,” He said; “I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 5:17-19. PK 183.2

During the Christian dispensation, the great enemy of man's happiness has made the Sabbath of the fourth commandment an object of special attack. Satan says, “I will work at cross purposes with God. I will empower my followers to set aside God's memorial, the seventh-day Sabbath. Thus I will show the world that the day sanctified and blessed by God has been changed. That day shall not live in the minds of the people. I will obliterate the memory of it. I will place in its stead a day that does not bear the credentials of God, a day that cannot be a sign between God and His people. I will lead those who accept this day to place upon it the sanctity that God placed upon the seventh day. PK 183.3

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