Matthew 12:12

"He said to them, “What man is there among you who has one sheep, and if this one falls into a pit on the Sabbath day, won’t he grab on to it and lift it out?"

Key Reflection

Jesus uses the image of a shepherd rescuing a single sheep to illustrate that even on the Sabbath, when other duties might be suspended, compassion and action are not. This highlights the continuity of God’s care and mercy, showing that such values should guide human actions always.

From the Scholars: Barnes' Notes

Verse 12. A man better than a sheep. Of more consequence, or value. If you would show an act of kindness to a brute beast on the Sabbath, how much more important is it to evince similar kindness to one made in the image of God! one for whom the Saviour came to die, and who may be raised up to everlasting life. It is lawful to do well. This was universally allowed by the Jews in the abstract; and Jesus only showed them that the principle on which they acted in other things applied with more force to the case before him, and that the act which he was about to perform was, by their own confession, lawful.

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