arcura - I agree that this is a matter of following the spirit of the law and not the "letter of the law."
There are many instances in the Old Testament where a tension between two laws takes place. Jesus even told the story of how David went into the temple and ate the showbread which was unlawful to do but he was not rebuked for it nor was God displeased with David. Why? Because there is a priority of laws in the Kingdom of God. Should David have observed the law, that eating the showbread was unlawful? He could have but he and his soldiers had nothing to eat. They could have died from starvation and in that case, it would most certainly appear absurd that when faced with the opportunity to eat the bread and live, David might have said "sorry, guys, I know there's bread right there but God said we can't have it." To almost anyone, that is completely irrational. At that moment, I think God's law that eating the showbread is unlawful is set aside for the sake of the more important thing, which is the preservation of human life.
Exactly the same point is being made with respect to the demon-afflicted woman. If the ruler of the synagogue really believed that working on the Sabbath was unlawful, he would let his donkey go without water for the duration of the Sabbath, not taking heed to the animal's need. But something inside of the man knows that it is absurd to understand the Sabbath that way, as commanding him to forsake the needs of man and creature. Jesus calls him a hyprocrite because he really doesn't believe in his own interpretation of the Sabbath. Moreover, if he really understood the nature of God and his character, when Jesus healed that woman, his response should have been one of joy and gladness and praise to God. But because his heart was evil, he totally missed the import of the miracle he saw.
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