Does the Punishment Fit the Crime?

Published: 1-31-2026

There is a recurring moment in the Gospels that should sober every church that claims to honor the Word of God. Jesus heals a man on the Sabbath. A life is restored. Strength returns to a withered body. And instead of rejoicing, the religious leaders respond with outrage.

Scripture records it plainly: Mark 3:6 “And the Pharisees went forth, and straightway took counsel with the Herodians against him, how they might destroy him.” The severity of that response should not be overlooked. The act was mercy, yet the reaction was destruction. A man was made whole, and the penalty they pursued was death.

Another account reveals the same spirit at work. John 5:16 says, “And therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus, and sought to slay him, because he had done these things on the sabbath day.” Again, the issue was not the healing, but the technicality, the timing, and a refusal to submit to a fossilized interpretation that had drifted far from the heart of God. This forces a question every generation must be willing to ask honestly: does the punishment fit the crime?

When the Letter Is Preserved but the Heart Is Lost

Jesus did not violate the law of God, but He did confront what religion had turned the law into. The Sabbath was never meant to restrain mercy or make compassion suspicious; rather, it was given for man’s restoration. Yet over time, obedience became mechanical and tradition became immovable.

Jesus addressed this directly in Mark 2:27 when He said, “The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath.” God’s intent had been buried beneath religious formalities. The leaders could quote the law, but they no longer understood the Lawgiver. We learn then that when the letter is preserved while the spirit is lost, people will defend form even as they violate the heart of God.

Seeing Miracles While Remaining Blind

This condition is exposed again in the healing of the man born blind. John 9:14 tells us, “And it was the sabbath day when Jesus made the clay, and opened his eyes.” Here, a man receives sight, and yet the religious system responds with interrogation, intimidation, and exile. And how does Jesus respond? He delivers a piercing assessment in John 9:39 saying, “For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind.” The miracle could not be denied, but neither could their blindness. Fossilized religion can function smoothly, maintain structure, quote Scripture, and still be blind to what God is doing in plain sight.

When Tradition Makes the Word of None Effect

Jesus did not leave the diagnosis unclear. Mark 7:13 says, “Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things do ye.” The Word was still being read and the rituals were still being practiced, but the Word had lost its effect because tradition had taken the place of revelation. When that happens, the church begins to protect what is familiar rather than submit to what is true. And when God sends someone to restore original biblical order, the system often treats him as the offender rather than the answer.

Prophetic Vision and Fossilized Religion

This pattern did not end with Jesus. God still sends pastors, reformers, and prophetic voices into environments that have grown comfortable but misaligned. The issue is not that these men are trying to be controversial. The issue is that they are seeing through a different set of lenses.

The prophet hears the fresh voice of God and the heartbeat beneath the text, while the fossilized religious mind sees only technicalities and formalities. Relationship has been replaced with routine, and reverence has been replaced with regulation. As a result, the one sent to heal is treated as if he is the criminal for breaking rules that are assumed or wrongly taught to be God’s rules.

When the Church Punishes the Healer

Jesus warned His disciples that this resistance would come. John 15:18 says, “If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.” Hostility is not always evidence of error. Often, it is the cost of obedience. Many pastors today are not being penalized for sin but for faithfulness. Not for abandoning Scripture, but for challenging tradition. Criticism replaces discernment. Support is withdrawn. Isolation follows. Abandonment is justified. All of it is excused under the assumption that rules were broken. The question that must be asked, however, is simple and searching: whose rules?

Questions the Church Must Be Willing to Ask

When a church becomes hostile toward its pastor, there are questions that must be faced without defensiveness.

Are we responding to a violation of Scripture or to discomfort with change?
Are we defending God’s Word or protecting traditions we have never reexamined?
Does our response reflect the fruit of the Spirit or the fear of losing control?
Are we correcting rebellion or resisting reformation?
If Jesus Himself disrupted our systems today, would we worship Him or oppose Him?
Does the punishment we are imposing actually fit the alleged crime?

And ultimately, the hardest question may be the most necessary: could it be that the pastor is the one following the Word of God, and we are the ones who have drifted?

Repentance or Retaliation

Jesus was not crucified because He did evil, but because He exposed what religion had become. Churches still stand at that same crossroads today. Will we repent when God confronts us, or retaliate against the one He sends? Revival does not come through preserving comfort, but through restoring truth.

We must pray for God to open the hearts of people who have been sent a shepherd yet continue to metaphorically crucify him through criticism, lack of support, and abandonment. The question remains, and it demands an honest answer: does the punishment fit the crime, or is it time for the church to examine its ways, flip the script, and return to the heart of God?

~ Pastor Gary Caudill