Mark 3:1-6 NIV
[1] “Another time Jesus went into the synagogue, and a man with a shriveled hand was there. [2] Some of them were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they watched him closely to see if he would heal him on the Sabbath. [3] Jesus said to the man with the shriveled hand, “Stand up in front of everyone.” [4] Then Jesus asked them, “Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?” But they remained silent. [5] He looked around at them in anger and, deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts, said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was completely restored. [6] Then the Pharisees went out and began to plot with the Herodians how they might kill Jesus.”

The Pharisees were incorrigible.
This means that they never gave up. Why were they so against Jesus? The bottom line was that they were in bondage to fear, the fear of breaking any of God’s laws, including those the ancient rabbis had added to the law of Moses to protect God’s people from violating any of God’s commandments.

The Sabbath was especially sacred because obedience to the Sabbath was a sign of the Covenant.

Exodus 31:12-13 NIV
[12] “Then the Lord said to Moses, [13] “Say to the Israelites, ‘You must observe my Sabbaths. This will be a sign between me and you for the generations to come, so you may know that I am the Lord, who makes you holy.”

Sabbath rest was a sequel to creation, not a new instruction given at Sinai. God rested from His work on the seventh day, not because He was tired but because His creative work was complete. So also was His redemptive work in Christ. He called His people into His rest through obedience to His Covenant, but they failed to believe His word.

Hebrews 3:18-19 NIV
[18] “And to whom did God swear that they would never enter his rest if not to those who disobeyed? [19] So we see that they were not able to enter because of their unbelief.”

God’s people failed to understand the message of God’s rest written into the Old Covenant.

Hebrews 4:3-6 NIV
[3] “Now we who have believed enter that rest, just as God has said, “So I declared on oath in my anger, ‘They shall never enter my rest.’ ” And yet his works have been finished since the creation of the world. [4] For somewhere he has spoken about the seventh day in these words: “On the seventh day God rested from all his works.” [5] And again, in the passage above, he says, “They shall never enter my rest.” [6] Therefore since it still remains for some to enter that rest, and since those who formerly had the good news proclaimed to them did not go in because of their disobedience…”

So, for the Pharisees, the Sabbath meant work! By not doing work of any kind, they were working for God’s approval. Jesus contradicted their belief by doing good works on the Sabbath, which they condemned along with any kind of activity they regarded as “work”. This violation, above every other, incensed them because they regarded Jesus as a deliberate law breaker and not, as He claimed, Lord of the Sabbath.

The stringent laws of the Old Covenant demanded death as the ultimate penalty for disobedience. The Pharisees were determined to carry out the death sentence when the opportunity arose to confirm that they were in charge because of their “obedience” to the law.

However, there was one thing they could not deny…Jesus’ authority. Despite their objection on this occasion, Jesus did nothing…He only spoke! In what way, then, did He break the Sabbath? Was speaking on the Sabbath also breaking the law? The fact that the man was healed confirmed Jesus’ claim to have authority from God himself.

How perverse the Pharisees were! No amount of confirmation would shake them from their determination to eliminate Jesus. This is the characteristic of the hypocrite. No matter how many facts contradict their stance, they are always right! What they do is irrelevant. What they say is what counts.

There is a denomination/cult that also holds tenaciously to the Sabbath as the be-all and end-all of their faith. They trach dalvation through faith in Jesus but they also teach the law as necessary for obedience. One has to question their salvation, despite their protests that they believe the gospel, when they insist on legalistic obedience to certain laws and prohibitions.

What is the yardstick by which to measure their claims?

Galatians 5:2-4 NIV
[2] “Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all. [3] Again, I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law. [4] You who are trying to be justified by the law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace.”

Circumcision… Sabbath observance…food laws…anything we add to the all-sufficiency of Jesus’ death and resurrection cancels grace. Faith is transferred from Jesus to what we do, and the work of Jesus becomes ineffective.

Paul has to rebuke Peter on this very issue.

Galatians 2:11-13, 16, 19-21 NIV
[11] When Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. [12] For before certain men came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles. But when they arrived, he began to draw back and separate himself from the Gentiles because he was afraid of those who belonged to the circumcision group. [13] The other Jews joined him in his hypocrisy, so that by their hypocrisy, even Barnabas was led astray…
[16] …we know that a person is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no one will be justified…
[19] “For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God. [20] I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. [21] I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!”

It’s no wonder, then, that Sabbath observance became the most contentious issue for the Pharisees. If they were right and Jesus was wrong, then He must die for His disobedience to the law and for His claim to have the right to disobey because He was God!

If only the Pharisees understood that real Sabbath observance included mercy, kindness, and compassion, regardless of the day.

Matthew 12:1-5, 7-8 NIV
[1] “At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick some heads of grain and eat them. [2] When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, “Look! Your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath.”…

Jesus’ reply was shocking and condemning…

[3] He answered, “Haven’t you read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? [4] He entered the house of God, and he and his companions ate the consecrated bread—which was not lawful for them to do, but only for the priests. [5] Or haven’t you read in the Law that the priests on Sabbath duty in the temple desecrate the Sabbath and yet are innocent?
[7] If you had known what these words mean, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the innocent. [8] For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”

His title, “Son of Man”, was Messianic, His claim, “Lord of the Sabbath”, a claim to deity. As far as the Pharisees were concerned, what could be worse for Him than that?