On the topic of healing on the Sabbath, it seems as if healing was permitted by the Pharisees if a “life was in danger”, but even then there were serious limitations. The stricter Qumran community did not permit healing at all on the Sabbath. They did not even allow carrying medicine on the Sabbath, nor using a tool to save a life on Sabbath. Now Yeshua’s view on these issues seems to have been less strict than either of these. The man with a withered hand did not have his life in danger, or the blind man, nor even the woman with the issue of blood. What we are going to see in this weeks article is the rule Yeshua used to judge these issues. He used what we call “the first rule of Hillel”. It’s called Kol V’Khomer (light and heavy). It’s simply means an argument based on the weight or importance of the matter.

If x is true of y, then y must even be more true of z. It’s really much simplier than it sounds. Yeshua asks in Luke, which one of you if you had an ox fall in a pit on the Sabbath would not rescue it. Isn’t a person worth more than an ox? Even the Qumran Community allowed leading an animal to graze on the Sabbath, so long as the animal was not disciplined. Then the Pharisees allowed circumcision to be done on the Sabbath. So Yeshua says healing must be permitted on the Sabbath since these less weightier matters are allowed. He was using the light vs. heavy argument. That’s what we need to do as Torah observant followers. Is what you want to do on Shabbat truly an act of mercy on someone’s behalf, or is it something that you just have a desire to do? We all need to learn this first rule of Hillel better so we can judge light and heavy in our walk with the Lord!