History of the Sabbath and First Day of the Week - John N. Andrews

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. Then saith he to the man, Stretch forth thine
hand. And he stretched it forth; and it was restored
whole, like as the other. Then the Pharisees went
out and held a council against him, how they might
destroy him." (Matt. 12:9-14; Mark 3:1-6; Luke
6:6-11)
What was the act that caused this madness of
the Pharisees? On the part of the Saviour, it was a
word; on the part of the man, it was the act of
stretching out his arm. Did the law of the Sabbath
forbid either of these things? No one can affirm
such a thing. But the Saviour had publicly
transgressed that tradition of the Pharisees that
forbade the doing of anything whatever toward the
healing of the sick upon the Sabbath. And how
necessary that such a wicked tradition should be
swept away, if the Sabbath itself was to be
preserved for man. But the Pharisees were filled
with such madness that they went out of the
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