Rabbi Yeshua - Jesus was himself a pacifist......... but it seems that he was attempting to make it clear to the religious authorities of his time period that they could not condemn or look down on somebody who felt called into a career in the military or police.
IF........ the Machabees were correct in their judgment that it was necessary under their extreme conditions to fight back when attacked on the Sabbath then.......... this would make it clear that for the Scribes and Pharisees to condemn him for healing on the Sabbath was twisted reasoning.
The part of his question about "saving life on the Sabbath" is relevant to nurses and doctors.
Religious people should have a sense of hierarchy of law........ and put human life above the Sabbath.
But...... sometimes a police officer must take a life.... .even on the day that they regard as the Sabbath....... in order to protect many innocent people.
IF.... the Jewish rebels at Masada had had a few Machabees among them...... who felt it was OK to shoot a few arrows..... even on the Sabbath..... they might have been able to stop the Romans from building a bridge to their stronghold!
Religion....... if taken to an extreme...... tends to KILL WISDOM!
An apology to all members of the military and police!
I just want to say that I am truly sorry for all those years that I was close to believing in near total pacifism! Rabbi Jesus/Yehoshua once asked a question of the Scribes and Pharisees that should have made it obvious to me that an extreme situation can call for drastic action by a Christian or Jew who feels called into a life in the military or police!
Mark 3:4 "And he saith unto them, Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath days, or to do evil? to save life, or to kill? But they held their peace."I am almost certain that Rabbi Jesus/Yehoshua was referring to the situation faced by the Machabees when Greco - Syrian armies were attacking Jewish communities on the Sabbath.
One community had refused to fight back....but the Machabees....in my opinion correctly judged that this is a violation of an admonition by King Solomon:
Ecclesiastes 7:16 "Be not righteous over much; neither make thyself over wise: why shouldest thou destroy thyself?"
Douay-Rheims Catholic Bible, First Book Of Machabees Chapter 2
"So they gave them battle on the sabbath: and they were slain with their wives, and their children, and their cattle, to the number of a thousand persons. [39] And Mathathias and his friends heard of it, and they mourned for them exceedingly. [40] And every man said to his neighbour: If we shall all do as our brethren have done, and not fight against the heathens for our lives, and our justifications: they will now quickly root us out of the earth.
[41] And they determined in that day, saying: Whosoever shall come up against us to fight on the sabbath day, we will fight against him: and we will not all die, as our brethren that were slain in the secret places."
...