“And He said unto them, Have ye never read what David did, when he had need, and was an hungered, he, and they that were with him? how he went into the house of God in the days of Abiathar the high priest, and did eat the showbread, which is not lawful to eat but for the priests, and gave also to them which were with him? And He said unto them, _The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath_.” Verses 25-27. 12. Because of Christ’s healing a woman of an infirmity on the Sabbath, what did the ruler of a certain synagogue say? “And the ruler of the synagogue answered with indignation, because that Jesus had healed on the Sabbath day, and said unto the people, _There are six days in which men ought to work: in them therefore come and be healed, and not on the Sabbath day_.” Luke 13:14. 13. How did Christ answer him? “The Lord then answered him, and said, Thou hypocrite, doth not each one of you on the Sabbath loose his ox or his ass from the stall, and lead him away to watering? and ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan hath bound, lo, these eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath day?” Verses 15, 16. 14. What effect did Christ’s answers have upon the people? “And when He had said these things, _all His adversaries were ashamed: and all the people rejoiced for all the glorious things that were done by Him_.” Verse 17. 15. By what method of reasoning did Christ justify acts of mercy on the Sabbath day? “Which of you shall have an ass or an ox fallen into a pit, and will not straightway pull him out on the Sabbath day? And they could not answer Him again to these things.” Luke 14:5, 6. “What man shall there be among you, that shall have one sheep, and if it fall into a pit on the Sabbath day, will he not lay hold on it, and lift it out? How much then is a man better than a sheep? Wherefore it is lawful to do well on the Sabbath days.” Matt. 12:11, 12. [Illustration.] Healing Impotent Man On The Sabbath. "Therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus, and sought to slay Him, because He had done these things on the Sabbath day." John 5:16. 16. Into what perplexity did Christ’s working of miracles on the Sabbath throw the Pharisees? “Therefore said some of the Pharisees, _This man is not of God, because He keepeth not the Sabbath day_. Others said, _How can a man that is a sinner do such miracles?_ And _there was a division among them_.” John 9:16. NOTE.—The working of these wonderful, beneficent, and gracious miracles on the Sabbath was an evidence that Christ was from God, and that His views of Sabbath-keeping were right. By these miracles God was setting the seal of His approval to Christ’s views and teachings respecting the Sabbath, and to His manner of observing it, and thus condemning the narrow and false views of the Pharisees. Hence the division.