How well do you know the laws in your state? In Minnesota, is it legal for nursing homes to play Bingo more than twice a week? Since 2015, the answer is yes! Before then, it wasn’t! In Minnesota, is it legal to cross the state line with a duck on your head? Surprisingly, it isn’t! That is against the law! In St. Cloud, is it legal to eat a hamburger on Sundays? Apparently, it isn’t, but this law isn’t enforced. While Minnesota has some good laws, it also has some weird ones, like these. For the second week in a row, Jesus asks a question, and it is similar to the ones we just asked. Today, He asks, “It is lawful to heal on the Sabbath, or not?” At a first glance, it hardly seems relevant, but the answer to that question reveals one’s heart and thoughts more than one thinks.
Luke begins by telling us that Jesus is invited to a dinner party. The occasion is the Sabbath Day, which is the day of rest that recalled God’s own rest after finishing His creation. Many Jews in Jesus’ day held to a strict and rigid interpretation of the Sabbath, and allowed no work whatsoever. They didn’t even allow what might be considered to be work. They put limits on the distance that could be walked, they permitted no cooking or food warming on the Sabbath, and helping someone was questionable at best. If it could be work, or might involve work, it was a “no!” They didn’t want to take a chance.
Luke also tells us the host of the party, too. He is a ruler of the Pharisees. Maybe he served on the Sanhedrin. Maybe he was a learned man of the Law. Either way, he was prominent because Israel had no regular rulers. And as a ruler of the Pharisees, he would know the ins-and-outs of the Sabbath Day. He would know how to please God by keeping it. So would his guests. The other guests were Pharisees, like the host, and lawyers; they were experts in the Law. Jesus, the Lord of the Sabbath, is here, too. If any group of people know how to keep the Sabbath, it would be the people at this party.
The last thing that Luke tells us about is the entertainment of the party: Jesus. They are watching Him closely, and carefully. They are analyzing each word He says, and critiquing each action He takes. Do you know how uncomfortable that is? Do you know how hard it is to speak when people do that? I remember doing a TV interview with WCCO, and an article for the Pioneer Press for when CLS was trying to stay open. It is incredibly hard to speak and focus when everything you say is written down, or when a camera is a foot from your face and you’re told not to look at it. It is hard to give the right answer when you are worried about framing it the right, or saying it in a certain light. It is hard to speak and act when people are watching you carefully, and that is even when they are trying to help! I can’t imagine how hard it is when someone wants to trap you. These guys want to kill Jesus. These guys want to discredit Him and His ministry at the slightest misspeak or misstep. They want to make a mountain out of an ant hill. With all the lawyers, Pharisees, and rulers, certainly someone can catch Him in something!
And their opportunity arises. Luke tells us of one more guest that appears uninvited. Or, maybe, he was! He is a man with dropsy. Dropsy is the abnormal swelling of the body when it retains water. It is often the underlying cause for something serious, like the malfunction of kidneys, liver, lungs, or heart (which are all vital organs!). This man is not in good shape! This poor man comes to this feast in pain, and with red, bulging, and swollen limbs.
What will the religious experts do? The Law is summarized with these two commands: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your mind, with all your soul, and with all your strength,” and “Love your neighbor as yourself.” They know that. But, what will become of their rigid Sabbath rules and interpretation? What love will win out? Sadly, their cold hearts are not warmed to compassion. No one offers him a seat. No one offers him some food, or a drink. No one even asks if they can do something. They just stare. They just look. Their mouths remain shut. No love felt, and no love lost.
Now, Jesus responds. But, who speaks? No one, at least, verbally. He knows and hears the attitude and thought of their hearts. So, He asks our question: “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath, or not?” In other words, is it okay to go against man-made traditions to honor God’s Law? Is okay to refrain from love when you are called to show it? Is it really a one or the other, as the Pharisees present it? That Jesus can either love God, or love the man, but that He cannot do both? Jesus will show their premise is false by keeping the Sabbath by healing the man. He will love God by loving the man. He will keep the Law by breaking their law.
And the Pharisees and lawyers respond in silence. Sometimes, it is better to say nothing, than to say something. You don’t want to dig that hole deeper, you don’t want to get in more trouble, you don’t want to look foolish. Their silence says it all, though. Someone among them has to know. The question isn’t that hard.
And so, Jesus takes the man, sets His hand on him, and heals him. Could you imagine the scene? Imagine seeing the swelling subside, the skin lighten, the eyes open with relief, and the chest breathe with relief. His posture straightens, and a smile emerges. They see the Lord of the Sabbath enact a glimpse of recreation as the man is healed, and then sent away.
However, Jesus isn’t done. He has some more questions to ask. He wants to expose their lack of love, their hypocrisy, and Sabbath misunderstanding. He wants to show where their theory doesn’t go into practice. He uses a scenario with a well.
In Israel, open wells were a common thing. They were not always how we might picture wells, with circles of stone, or wood, leveled on top of each other. Instead, they were sometimes big and deep holes in the ground. As a result, it wouldn’t be uncommon for people or things to fall inside of them. Jesus poses this question: “If your son fell into a well on a Sabbath Day, would you not immediately help him?” Would they really leave their child sitting in a deep pool of water for 24 hours, potentially having them die, or suffer a serious injury? No, of course not! Why? They love their son. Sabbath regulations can wait. They would help one they love.
Jesus then gives the fatal blow as He goes from the irreplaceable to the replaceable. He says, “If your ox fell in a well on the Sabbath Day, would you not immediately help it as well?” In a farming culture, an ox would be a very valuable asset. They would plow fields, help with the harvest, move heavy things, and assist with transportation. If their ox was stuck, would they leave it there? They could always get another one. But, they wouldn’t leave it stranded! They would get it out. The Law permitted help to even animals. They love the man less than an ox. Jesus shows them that it is okay to help. He shows it is lawful to heal. Their own practice and teaching allows it. Their silence confirms it.
They cannot reply or justify their interpretation. They cannot give an answer. Martin Luther explains their error well when he says, “For to sanctify the Sabbath means to hear God’s Word and to help our neighbor wherever possible. For God does not want the Sabbath kept so holy that we should on that account leave and forsake our neighbor in his trouble.” The Pharisees’ strict interpretation prevented them for showing the basic actions of love and care. Their actions in keeping the Sabbath might have shown love for God, but it certainly did not show love for their neighbor. Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath? Yes, it shows love to the neighbor!
The actions of the Pharisees can sound pretty cold to us, can’t they? Perhaps, though, it is because we don’t translate their actions to our lives. Speaking about the Sabbath to those who have no Sabbath is a difficult “translation.” However, asking whether we see those who need help as those that we love strikes closer to the target, and to the heart of the question. People pop into our lives all the time, like the man with dropsy. How do we respond? The Pharisees could care less about the man in our text. How do we respond to those in need?
When we see those around us with problems and difficulties, do we feel annoyance and emotional tiredness? Do we grow weary of the help and assistance that we give to others, especially to those who tell us their problems but don’t take our advice? Do we find ourselves rationalizing that we need to set boundaries on help, or, that, we must not be enablers, when the real issue, in fact, is that we simply lack love? In our text, Jesus slices through the Pharisees’ deception and our own, and He points to the true problem: a lack of love. When the Pharisees saw their son, their ox, they acted. If it were our ox, our loved one, we would not see a problem, would we? We would see a person we love and act!
Fortunately, though, Jesus sees someone He loves. He must immediately act and show this love. Jesus healed the man in our text and sent him on his way. He does not wait and does not delay. He acts because He loves. And Jesus sees another person that He loves, you! Jesus sees us and acts! He does not delay in helping us. He does not delay in restoring us. He does not delay in forgiving us. He does not put off our needs, our pain, and our problems until a later date. This is because He acts out of love on our behalf. In love, He humbled Himself to the point of death, death on a cross, to save you and me, and rose again so that we might never die! He sees you, and loves. He sees you, and He acts.
He sees you, and works in you. He works in us by His Word and Spirit to share His love with others, and He shows it through you. It doesn’t mean it is easy. It doesn’t mean it isn’t hard, or require sacrifice. It doesn’t mean that there won’t be changes. The other day, I read a great example of this. A woman had recently taken her mother into her home for hospice care. The daughter knew her Mom loved birds, and so when she took her in, she put the hospital bed in the living room, and turned it towards the big picture window. She put over 15 bird feeders and houses out front so her mother could watch the birds. Her love for mother changed things. It changed her home, her daily routine, her living room, and her yard. When people walk by her house, people can literally see how her home is a place of loving care.
God transforms our hearts, homes, and lives to places of love and people of love. By His Spirit and through His Word, He pours His love into us, which spills over to others. He does it by the service we give to others, that hand we offer, and the listening ear we give. He does it through the words of forgiveness we share, and the love He works in us. Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath, or not? It is.