John Calvin 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)

Is it lawful to cure on Sabbath? The meaning of this question is, ought the curing of a man to be considered among the works which violate the Sabbath? If they had said that the observance of the Sabbath is violated in this way, the reply was obvious: that it is a work of God. Now the law of the Sabbath goes no further than that men shall rest from their own works.

Christ first puts the question to them, and he does so for the purpose of guarding against offense. It would not have been necessary for him to pacify them, if they had not been instigated by hardened malice. Not that he always placed himself under this restriction; for in many cases he did what had been commanded him by the Father, without attending to the offense that might arise from it. But he intended to show by this example that he did not inconsiderately perform miracles on Sabbath, because he was prepared to give a reason for what he did.

They, on the other hand, make it evident by their silence that their desire to find fault is stronger than their zeal for the law; and therefore, Christ treats their opinion about his action with utter indifference, because it was evident that they intentionally sought an occasion for offense.