"The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath," replied Jesus. "The Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath."
The older Pharisee frowned and then flushed red. The muscles in his neck tightened as he looked at Jesus. "You dare to say such things!" he burst out. "You do not belong to us. You are an enemy of God!"
All the way back to Capernaum the disciples talked about what had happened in the wheat field. "They just keep watching us to see if we do anything wrong!" protested James.
"Personally, I don't think they even understand what we are doing," ventured Andrew. "They never listen to what we say. They act as though they knew everything about religion."
"Yes, their kind of religion," remarked James indignantly. "They won't even speak to a leper! Who is going to go out among the people of our towns and let them know that God cares for them? Their religion is just for themselves!"
"Jesus is the only one who cares about the outcasts," said Simon earnestly. "No one else does."
Symeon hoped that Jesus would do something that would prove to everyone that he did not believe in God. The thought that Jesus might win the people over to himself struck panic into Symeon's heart. If that should happen, something desperate might have to be done. Meanwhile, however, he and a few others who knew how dangerous Jesus was had decided to wait.
On the next Sabbath Day, the whole matter came out into the open. As usual, most of the Jews in Capernaum—common people and Pharisees, along with Jesus and the disciples—came to the synagogue at the hour of worship. The moment Simon and Andrew entered they saw that there would be trouble: there was a man present with an arm made lame from dropsy—and they knew Jesus would surely heal him if he asked. The synagogue was crowded. The people bowed respectfully as Symeon and the leading men of the town entered, but they smiled when they had passed: Jesus was there, and they too had seen the man with the lame arm.
"Do you think he would dare to heal him?" one of the Pharisees whispered to Symeon.
"I hardly believe he will," replied Symeon. "To break the Sabbath law right in the synagogue would be a direct attack on religion."