That God's law was not genuinely written in these Pharisees' hearts is clear from their hostile response to Jesus' violation of their tradition (vv. 10, 14). Blatant breaches of sabbath law were punishable by public execution (Ex 31:14; 35:2; Num 15:35), but Rome prohibited its subjects from executing criminals directly. Even the ultra-strict Essenes in practice punished even intentional sabbath infringements only with detention (see E. Sanders 1990:18-19).

Jewish teachers disagreed among themselves to what extent physicians might work on the sabbath if life was not in danger. But Jesus acted as a man of prayer, not a pharmacist, and this time he does not even lay hands on the man, which some might have considered work. Instead he simply orders the man to stretch forth his hand, an act that was not considered work; God alone performs "work" in this scene (v. 13). Even the strict majority Pharisaic school in this period, the Shammaites, would have violated their own standards of ethics to have punished Jesus harshly. Although they prohibited prayer for the sick on the sabbath, they never sought to kill the minority school at the time, Hillelite Pharisees, who permitted such prayer on the sabbath (t. Sabbat 16:22; see E. Sanders 1993:268). If these Pharisees are upset-contradicting their own sabbath beliefs-this says more about them than it does about Jesus.

Further, even if these Pharisees are sure that Jesus is wrong, his appeal to Scripture should convince them that his "transgression" is "unintentional." No sect in early Judaism had rules that would have mandated Jesus' death for his sabbath practices. Most would have agreed that plotting to kill someone who disagrees with you is premeditated murder, which the law forbids under penalty of death (Gen 9:5-6; Num 35:29-34; Deut 21:1-9). Thus these Pharisees are so enraged with Jesus that they resort to a heinous and obvious breach of the very law they purport to uphold (12:14). In the same vein, one can recollect numerous examples of religious people today who, defending dogmas true or false, display attitudes toward their opponents that hardly commend their faith in the Bible's law of love.

Perhaps the biggest problem with Jesus was that he was growing popular (9:33-34; 12:23-24)-a situation that might allow his teaching to attract some of the Pharisees' own populist base of support. Perhaps they were like some pious ministers today who grow jealous of others' ministries.

These Pharisees undoubtedly felt they had good reason to reject Jesus' claims. If someone were working miracles without God's approval-and how could he have God's approval if he disagreed with God's Word?-then they could only conclude that he was doing supernatural feats as a magician by the devil's power (12:24). Many Christians today defend doctrines or ideas that they insist are scriptural even though they have never seriously examined them in the Scriptures for themselves; they merely pass on what they have learned from others. Unlike those Christians, the Pharisees were at least biblically literate.