Albert Barnes Commentary Luke 14:3

"And Jesus answering spake unto the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath, or not?" — Luke 14:3 (ASV)

Jesus, answering. To answer, in the Scriptures, does not always imply, as it does for us, that anything had been said before. It often means merely to begin or to take up a subject, or, as here, to remark on the case that was present.

Is it lawful, etc. He knew that they were watching him. If he healed the man at once, they would accuse him. He therefore proposed the question to them, and when it was asked, they could not say that it was not lawful.