With such amazing miracles, you might think that Jesus was popular. Not with the religious leaders! Jesus had authority and power which they lacked; He could heal, cast out demons and preach in such a way that people knew that God was speaking to them. So the religious establishment was bitterly envious to the point of wanting to kill Him (Matthew 27:18).
 
One Sabbath, it seems as though they had planted a man whose hand had been paralysed for some time; the muscles had withered through lack of use. They wanted to see what Jesus would do. Would he heal the man on the Sabbath and so break one of their petty rules (which were not in the Old Testament Law)? If so they could accuse Him of defying God. Jesus did not fall into their trap; He chose to heal the man so that he could expose the legalists and equip his disciples for the challenges of gospel ministry.
 
Jesus explained that God wanted to heal and to do good to people, but the religious leaders did not care about people's welfare. If an animal needed help on the Sabbath, of course they would rescue the creature (not least because all farm animals were valuable cash investments). So, should a person not be healed? People are worth much more than people (Matthew 6:26) because they are made in the image of God (Genesis 1:26). However the healing and explanation did not convince them. They had already made up their minds that if they were to hold their power over the people, Jesus had to go.
 
The powerful presence of Jesus always challenges proud and power-hungry people. They do not want to honour all His wonderful acts of kindness to people. To admit that He is God with full authority will mean that they cannot run their lives the way they want. Although He has shown that people are valuable to Him, most people want to be of value to themselves. That 'value-conflict' is the challenge of the gospel, the call to salvation, the cause of falling away and of persecution. It is the daily struggle for every believer and the reason for proclaiming the gospel. It is always costly (Luke 14:26-33) but those who follow Jesus to the end will receive His great reward (Matthew 10:22).