final answer?

I love Jesus' response in Mark 2 when the Pharisee's once again bother him about "working" on the Sabbath:

   "Then Jesus said to them, 'The Sabbath was made to meet the needs of people, and not people to meet the requirements of the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord, even over the Sabbath.'

   Jesus went into the synagogue again and noticed a man with a deformed hand.  Since it was the Sabbath, Jesus' enemies watched him closely.  If he healed the man's hand, they planned to accuse him of working on the Sabbath.  

   Jesus said to the man with the deformed hand, 'Come and stand in front of everyone'.  Then he turned to his critics and asked, 'Does the law permit good deeds on the Sabbath, or is it a day for doing evil?  Is this a day to save life or to destroy it?'  But they wouldn't answer him.

   He looked around at them angrily and was deeply saddened by their hard hearts.  Then he said to the man, 'Hold out your hand'.  So the man held out his hand and it was restored.  At once the Pharisees went away and met with the supporters of Herod to plot how to kill Jesus."

-Mark 2:27-3:6

I love Jesus!  He is direct and to the point, but he is so distressed over the state of the human heart at the same time.  Not only that, but after knowing that the Pharisees were going to use this against him he still healed the man.  It is so evident that Jesus' healing is such a part of him that he can't divorce it.  Truly that is what it means to look out for the needs of others over yourself.   He knew he would be plotted against if he did this and yet he does it anyway.  The best part is that this is not the only time that Jesus finds himself in this situation and his response is always to look out for others over himself.  

The way Jesus addresses the Sabbath in these verses is amazing:

"The Sabbath was made to meet the needs of the people, and not people to meet the requirements of the Sabbath"

His answer is always love and freedom.  Not hate and chains.

"Does the law permit good deeds on the Sabbath, OR IS IT A DAY FOR DOING EVIL?"

What a question.  With no response from the crowd, Jesus' final answer is to save life and not destroy it.

It breaks my heart when I read that Jesus was "deeply saddened", but a man with as large a heart as his who meets with rejection and hate on every corner must have known that feeling well.  What a God we serve!