The Pharisees and the teachers of the law were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they watched him closely to see if he would heal on the Sabbath. But Jesus knew what they were thinking and said to the man with the shriveled hand, “Get up and stand in front of everyone.” So he got up and stood there.

Then Jesus said to them, “I ask you, which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy it?”

He looked around at them all, and then said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He did so, and his hand was completely restored. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law were furious and began to discuss with one another what they might do to Jesus. 
Luke 6:7-11

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I was listening to a podcast recently about a student who believed it was ethically permissible to use AI to complete his homework assignments. His argument was that, though he wasn’t creating the responses himself, he was learning to utilize the tools available at his disposal to arrive at a solution to the assignment at hand. While the interviewer (and myself as a listener) understood how he arrived at that conclusion, the reality is that the student missed the point of the assignment altogether: it wasn’t about the accuracy of the answer, it was about what happened in the working out of the assignment—the discovery, the growing, the critical thinking, and understanding are all central components to the learning process. This student was willing to die on the hill of a technically accurate conclusion but missed the heart of the assignment altogether. 

Isn’t that a fight we all contend with in our own way? In the day-to-day, we can find ourselves dying on the hill of what is technically accurate but completely miss the heart of the situation. 

In the book of Luke, Jesus confronts a group of very technically accurate Pharisees. These leaders and teachers knew every letter of the law when it came to the religious laws and traditions of Israel. There were finite rules and commands around the sabbath that these leaders would die on the hill of rightness to uphold. 

Yet when God gave these laws to the people, it was to bless and care for them, protect them, and teach them how to be a model and light for the world of what it meant to exist in shalom. They were designed to bring justice, grace, and equity to all God’s people—to heal the sick, protect the vulnerable, and comfort the hurting. 

So why, then, when someone was clearly hurting, sick, or experiencing injustice, did they use these laws to prevent this man’s blessing rather than allow him to be healed? Would the God who loves people and provides laws to protect them not desire for this man to experience the goodness of a full, healthy, redeemed life? Certainly Jesus thought so. 

When we stop seeing people inside our conflicts and begin to hold correctness over compassion, we die on the hill of our own rightness. We miss the person altogether, and we miss the miracle that stands before us—a life redeemed, a heart set free, and a hand uncurled.

Next Steps

Are there aspects of social justice that are difficult for you? Are there things that you think are technically right that might be causing others to continue in their hurting? Pray for opportunities to see those around you and for the humility to challenge your own rightness on their behalf.