First of all, we should notice how often the Gospels specifically tell us that Jesus healed people on the Sabbath (Mark 3:lff.; Luke 13:10–13; 14:1–4; John 5:1–10; 9:1–8). The frequency of healings might even suggest that Jesus very purposely chose to heal on the Sabbath. He did this not to shock people, not to break the law, not to show that the law was worn out and old-fashioned, but rather as a sign that the day of release had come. When Jesus healed the woman with the crooked back, he explained, “And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen years, be loosed
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