He said to them, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath day to do good or to do harm? To save a life or to kill?” But they were silent.
ExplanationCommentary
Verse 4. A difficulty here arises, how to reconcile Saint Mark with Saint Matthew. Saint Mark puts the words into the mouth of Jesus Christ: Is it lawful? When Saint Matthew says, that they interrogated him: Is it lawful? To cut the knot of this apparent difficulty, we must understand that they first put the question to our Lord, whether it was lawful to heal on the sabbath-day or not: and that Jesus understanding their secret thoughts, that they wished to have some grounds of accusation against him, placed the sick man in the midst of them, and said what Saint Mark here relates of him: Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath-day, or to do evil? Saint Augustine