“If a man on the sabbath day receive circumcision, that the law of Moses should not be broken; are ye angry at me, because I have made a man every whit whole on the sabbath day?”
The full verse · John 7:23 · KJV
a the sabbath , the of be ; are ye at , I have a every the sabbath ?
Asked by
Jesus: the Son of God and promised Messiah, who had healed a man at the pool of Bethesda on the Sabbath (John 5:8-9)
The Scene
In the temple at the feast, after the crowd says He has a devil, Jesus returns to the "one work" that angered them, His healing of a man on the Sabbath (John 7:20-21; John 5:9).
Why It Was Asked
The purpose behind the questionJesus reasons from their own practice. They circumcised baby boys on the Sabbath when the eighth day fell on it, so that the law would be kept. Barnes gives the argument in full: since they allowed that, "you ought also, for the same reason, to allow that a man should be completely restored to health." Gill notes that the Jews themselves had a saying that the danger of life, and "the preservation of the soul," drives away the Sabbath. Matthew Henry's concise notes say it plainly: "Surely it was as agreeable to the design of the sabbath to restore health to the afflicted, as to administer an outward rite." The question presses them to see that their anger was inconsistent.
The Response
What Scripture recordsThe text records no reply from the hearers. The answer is plain from Jesus' own argument, and He closes it with a command: "Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment" (John 7:24). The people of Jerusalem then begin to wonder aloud why the rulers say nothing to Him (John 7:25-26).
Historical Context
The world behind the wordsThe law required a boy to be circumcised on the eighth day (Leviticus 12:3), and the Jews did this even when that day fell on a Sabbath (John 7:22). Jesus notes that circumcision came "not because it is of Moses, but of the fathers" (John 7:22), since God first gave it to Abraham (Genesis 17:12). Barnes points to Leviticus 12:3 for the command.
The healed man had been sick "thirty and eight years" (John 5:5). Barnes explains that "every whit whole" means literally "I have restored the whole man to health," implying that his whole body had been diseased. Gill cites a rabbinic saying from the Talmud (the collection of Jewish law and commentary) that saving a life overrides the Sabbath.
The Bigger Picture
Where this fits in God's storyJesus' question shows the heart of God behind the Sabbath. God gave the Sabbath for the good of His people (Mark 2:27), and even their own practice showed that some works were not breaking it. If a rite could be done on the Sabbath, how much more could a man be made whole?
Jesus made the same kind of argument elsewhere, about lifting a sheep from a pit or watering an ox on the Sabbath (Matthew 12:11-12; Luke 13:15-16; Luke 14:5). In each case the point is the same: God's law is not against mercy. The real problem was not the healing but how they judged it (John 7:24).
Look Closer
What practice did Jesus point to in His defense?
Carry the question into prayer and conversation.
Father, where am I judging by appearance instead of seeing the good You are doing?
A prayer to carry into the day.
- The people allowed one Sabbath work but were angry at another. Why is it easy to excuse something in ourselves that we criticize in others?
- Tell about a time God's kindness showed up in a way that did not fit someone's expectations.
For you, a small group, a friend, or the dinner table.
Jesus' question asks you to be consistent. Barnes draws the lesson: "it would be happy for all if they would not condemn others in that thing which they allow." Before you criticize how someone else serves God, ask whether you allow yourself the same thing in another form.
This doesn't mean God's commands don't matter. Jesus did not dismiss the law of Moses; He appealed to it. His point was that mercy fits within God's law, and that right judgment looks past appearances to what God is doing (John 7:24).
Built from the biblical text and checked against trusted commentaries and lexicons. References & Sources
Keep questioning
“Did not Moses give you the law, and yet none of you keepeth the law? Why go ye about to kill me?”
“Who goeth about to kill thee?”
“How knoweth this man letters, having never learned?”
“Wilt thou be made whole?”