He left that place and entered their synagogue; a man was there with a withered hand, and they asked him, "Is it lawful to cure on the Sabbath?" so that they might accuse him.  He said to them, "Suppose one of you has only one sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath; will you not lay hold of it and lift it out?  How much more valuable is a human being than a sheep!  So it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath."  Then he said to the man, "Stretch out your hand."  He stretched it out, and it was restored, as sound as the other.  But the Pharisees went out and conspired against him, how to destroy him.

"How long will you all attack one man to break him down, as though he were a tottering wall, or a tumbling fence?" (Psalm 62.3)

There is so much fruit for meditation in this passage:

* Accusing others participates in the work of Satan himself, for Satan is the "great Accuser" (Revelation 12.10)

* Asking questions merely for the sake of trapping others instead of desiring truth is evil

* Jesus does not fear being their prey, and does not withhold performing a healing miracle for the man simply because he knows they are setting a trap for him

* Jesus restores the correct meaning of the Sabbath once again (see Matthew 12.1-8) and frees us from a slavish interpretation of it, telling us it is lawful to perform good deeds on the Sabbath

* Jesus sets the relationship straight between the value of man and the value of animals: a correction that may not have been needed then but in many ways is needed today

* A healthy body is clearly a good and is a worthy subject of prayer

* The zeal of the Pharisees in strictly interpreting the law did not stop them from plotting the very death of Jesus

* Finally, what is the source of such intense hatred of Jesus?  That is the food for meditation where my mind stops in this reading of the passage.  For those who hate a brother and are seeking a way out, have even struggled to not hate (and if the word is not palatable: "strongly dislike") a brother or who will be tempted to do so in the future, much can be learned from the Pharisees.

Perhaps the Pharisees were clinging to the control they wielded over others, a lustful, perverse control which would seek to own the very conscience of others.  Jesus presented a threat to that control, for he brought liberation and so had to be destroyed.  Have we ever sought to wield control over the conscience of others?  Have we ever built a comfortable world for ourselves by manipulating guilt in others?

Perhaps the Pharisees were envious of the crowds great attraction to others.  In just a few months he drew popularity down on himself that far exceeded anything they had ever garnered for themselves.  Sadly, instead of participating in that joy they closed in on  themselves and let the evil in their hearts fester.  Have we ever been jealous of the good which God performs through others?  Wanted the attention of others for our very human need of believing we are doing good?

Let us meditate deeply on how the Pharisees act toward Jesus and then move through the landscape of our own heart and leave no stone unturned in our search for dark soil in ourselves so that the Spirit's light may shine on it, sweeten it, and make it good soil so the seed of the Word may take root there.