Sometimes, we know what is right, and those around us give us encouragement and support to do the right thing. Other times, we know what is right but we encounter resistance and opposition.

The first case is ideal, because we always hope that those who are close to us will help us to make good decisions and lead upright lives. The second case is a challenge because we have to struggle to confirm our values against peers who do not share our commitments. Yet, even in these instances, we can often strengthen our resolve by reexamining our values with fresh eyes.

But there is yet another possibility. Sometimes we know what is right. We know it is a hard thing to do. And we are met with only silence.

This is the situation in today’s gospel. Jesus knows that healing a person in need fulfills his mission more than a rigorous observance of Jewish law which would demand that he ignore this person’s needs or at least defer his healing to another day.

Jesus brings the man suffering from dropsy before the Pharisees and asks, “is it lawful to cure on the sabbath or not?” He knows that the Pharisees have tried to trap him on this point before. He knows he will be criticized again if he heals the man. And yet the Pharisees meet his question only with silence.

We live in a world that sometimes resists our moral commitments. But more often we find that the world answers our moral commitments with silence and indifference. Let us be like Jesus and do the right thing anyway.