Sometimes we waste our time arguing with others, especially with those who can’t accept our arguments but instead just stubbornly push their own agenda. If someone can’t listen at all, there is no need to talk, and we have to admit that we won’t be able to change their stubborn heart. That’s what happens in the story in the Gospel for today. Jesus’s accusers were scandalized that He was about to heal a man on the sabbath day, and so He asks them: Is it lawful to do good and help others on the sabbath or not? And His accusers remained silenced. That’s why Jesus got angry, “Looking around at them with anger and grieved at their hardness of heart.” Finally, He did help that poor man, but He also stopped arguing with His accusers. We all at times get accused falsely by others because of our actions, but if we know in our hearts that we are doing good, we don’t need to argue. We don’t need to explain to those who would never understand.
Comments