LUKE 14:1-6
PLOTTING PLOTTERS PROVIDE PERSONAL PITFALLS
I. THE PLOT: LUKE 14:1, 2
A. Premeditated.
B. Participants.
C. Plant.
II. THE PRAGMATISM: LUKE 14:3, 4
A. Proposition.
B. Procedure.
C. Parting.
III. THE PETULANCE: LUKE 14:5, 6
A. Probing.
B. Perplexity.
C. Perturbation.
Jesus is invited once more to come home with a Pharisee to eat a Sabbath meal with him. Jesus went and no doubt did eat something there. However, Luke devotes a good deal of this chapter (verses 1 to 24) to the messages that Jesus gave at the home of one of the chief Pharisees. It is probable that this learned man and his guests did not have any intention of hearing these messages from Jesus, but once inside the home, and seeing what was awaiting Him, the Master delivered some startling words of rebuke to those who had gathered there for one special reason-to try and trap Jesus in seeing if He would disobey the Law of Moses.
Luke does not reveal the name of this very important person, but it becomes apparent that this Pharisee was not interested in becoming a believer of Jesus; he just wanted to trap the Master to see if he could prove that Jesus was a fraud. This Pharisee knew he could not better Jesus in an open forum so he did the next “best” thing-invite Jesus to his home for a meal. Besides serving a meal to Jesus, this man invited a sick person to be in the house when Jesus arrived. Evidently, this Pharisee wanted to watch and see what Jesus would do on this sacred day.
In keeping with the times, it is highly likely that this Pharisee was rich or at least well to do, and he spared little expenses in preparing this meal for Jesus. If his heart really were intent on becoming a believer in Jesus, he would not have done what he did. From the context of the Scriptures, it appears that this Pharisee set a trap for Jesus and he actively plotted to embarrass Jesus or to prove Him to be a fraud. The opposite came to the forefront and Jesus proved that His host was the one who was a charlatan.
The entire parts of verses one through six, center on a man who was ill-he had the “dropsy.” This infirmity has since been given a medical name-edema. The condition arises in a person who is not able to discharge the water from one’s system in a normal manner. As a result, the body retains a lot of the bodily fluid and over a period of time, the swelling of the legs becomes evident making walking and standing very painful. Slowly, the weight of the excess bodily fluid weakens the internal organs especially the heart and the kidneys causing death-sometimes a painful death.
This was the condition of the man who was sitting inside this chief Pharisee’s home when Jesus arrived to eat with His new host. It appears that the poor man was situated in such a place in the home that it was impossible not to know of his presence. Jesus certainly saw this man and the rest of the guests did likewise. When Jesus entered the home, the trap was sprung and the self-righteous people waited to see what Jesus would do especially since this was a Sabbath. Would Jesus “work” on the Sabbath thus breaking the Law of Moses? Alternatively, would Jesus not help this man and thus prove that Jesus could not perform miracles as was being reported. With the scene set, the people waited and wondered.
As I look at these first six verses of Luke 14, I see three things. The first thing I notice is the PLOT, which was set by the antagonistic Pharisee. The next thing I notice is the PRAGMATISM of Jesus. Then, I see the PETULANCE of these ones who set out to embarrass Jesus and the results that followed.
I. THE PLOT: It had to be a sad day in the life of some people who set out to embarrass Jesus at the expense of an infirmed man. We do not know if the ill person was cognizant of what was about to unfold. What we do know from the Scriptures is that there was a foolish PLOT to snare Jesus and to prove to all that He was not who He claimed to be-the Son of God.
The first thing I note regarding this scheme is the fact that it was Premeditated. Why do devilish people design ways and methods to prove Jesus as being a charlatan? If this action was confined to the time of Jesus and not to His lifetime only the issue would have died a natural death. That is not the case. All through history, people have planed to supplant Jesus and to prove Him to be a fake, a charlatan, etc. Many have devised plans to prove their ideas as being better than the Master’s. History has verified that people have planned, schemed, and devised ways to overthrow Jesus and His teachings and have come shy of their goal. Just like the people in this story, they devised a plan; they thought about it for a good time. Yet, like so many devilish schemes and their Premeditated plans to destroy Jesus, all went awry.
People such as Mahomet, Voltaire, Stalin, Mao Tse Tung, and Adolf Hitler, to name a few of the notorious people have deliberately devised their own scheme to do away with Jesus and with His church. They thought a lot about what they wanted to do and their Premeditated plans and ideas have proved fruitless-just as fruitless as this carefully thought out plan to embarrass Jesus happened.
The schemers in this dreadful PLOT had set the trap well; yet they did not succeed. I notice the ones mentioned by Luke who were in on this plan to trip Jesus. There was the chief protagonist, one of the “Chief Pharisee.” Besides him, there were other “Pharisees” and certain “lawyers.” Added to this “distinguish list of this meal’s attendees, there was, of course, the man who had the infirmity. The time of the invite to the home for a delicious repast was on a Sabbath, and the meal was being served after the meeting time in the local Synagogue. It is highly unlikely that the man with the “dropsy” would have ever been invited to eat with such a group of high-powered leaders in the local area, except this one time. Nevertheless, he was there, seated in a seat where all could see him and then in came Jesus. The Participants were ready to see just what Christ would do with this most unfortunate man who was invited to this house. These Participants were guilty-save the ill man-in a Premeditated PLOT to destroy Jesus’ claim as being divine and they were anxious to see what was going to unfold before the meal was to be eaten.
I have written about the plotters in this diabolical scheme and I now would like to speak a brief moment about this infirmed man who was used as a Plant in this nefarious conspiracy against Christ. As I read the words of Luke, I cannot but help to feel that this man was just a ruse to be used against Christ. I do not know if he was paid any money or not, but what I do know is that this man came into the house that day long ago suffering with every step he took and left a healed man walking out with no pain in his legs or feet. I wonder if he was ever able to tell Jesus, “Thanks for not holding me responsible for what happened in that house were we met.” I notice that this man never said any word to Jesus. As far as we know, he never asked for a healing touch upon him. Maybe he was too embarrassed to ask, but when he did meet Jesus, he was healed and that upset the Premeditated PLOT as was set by some reprehensible Plotters. People seem never to learn the truth-that it is wrong to try to dethrone Jesus. He always wins. I am glad to be serving such a God as is Jesus.
II. THE PRAGMATISM: Once inside the house of this important Pharisee, Jesus saw what was awaiting Him. I do not doubt for one minute that Jesus knew what was at hand due to His omniscience, but the plotters did not know that He knew. He was always one-step ahead of everyone. However, as He scanned the surroundings, He saw a man in desperate need of physical help and He turned the tables on His opposition by asking them a direct question, “Was it proper to heal on the Sabbath?”
I notice the Proposition of the Master in asking them this question. The motley crowd had assembled in the house bringing in an infirmed man on the Sabbath. These self-righteous people had no qualms about laboring to get this infirmed one inside the house on a sacred day and now what were they going to do about him, if Jesus refused to help? Hence the question, the pointed barb at these men, “Is it okay to do well on the Sabbath or not?” Because of being put on the spot, these men could not answer Him at all and they sat there dumbfounded. They were not counting on Him to put them on the spot. The reverse was the opposite-they wanted to put Him on the hot seat, but He skillfully turned the tables against them.
I then notice what happened next. As the room grew silent and filled with tension, Jesus simply turned to the man, touched him, and healed him. There was no struggle, no laboring on the Sabbath, no combativeness: nothing but simple peace and tranquility occurred as Jesus touched him and the illness simply vanished before the eyes of all in attendance. The Procedure was extremely simple, straightforward and instantly executed. The man was healed in front of the eyes of all the on lookers. As good as this was, there is something different about this healing and some other healings, which Jesus did. Jesus never said to the man, “Go and sin no more.” Could this man have already been a believer in Christ and an unwilling participant in this whole debacle? We are not told these details, but the man was healed and the audience was stunned.
The last part of the pragmatism of Jesus comes in verse four, where it says that Jesus let the man go. The man Parted with the permission of Jesus. This is a complete turnaround as to how this poor man arrived. We are not told under what conditions this man was brought into the house; we are told that Jesus dismissed him. If there were extenuating circumstances regarding the bringing this man into the house, Jesus cut through all bonds and let him go. This is so much like our Lord. Satan has bound all of us in one way or another and then when we met Jesus, He did the forgiving and the setting of us all free to leave the home of hopelessness. Jesus heals, forgives, and then lets us go out into the Son shine of a new life.
III. THE PETULANCE: Seeing the backside of this healed man walking out of the house on his own strength had to be something to behold. As he departed, Jesus turned His verbal onslaught to the self-righteous people who stayed behind. They had just seen their hopes of entrapping Jesus fade away with the disappearance of this cured man and now they had little else to do or say to Jesus or to anyone else. They would have liked to have Jesus depart with the cured man, but He stayed and bought out some good truths about their hypocrisy.
Reading their minds concerning the miracle He had just preformed, Jesus set about to do some deep heart felt Probing of these plotters. He simply asked them in verse five what any of them would do if one of their valued animals fell into a ditch on the Sabbath. We have to remember, that Israel was an agrarian society and these work animals represented a great deal of monetary investment on the part of the owner.
The connection Jesus was using was not lost on these learned men. If, by chance, one of the beast of burdens owned by anyone in that room would accidentally fall into a ditch on the Sabbath, who would not go and try to rescue that stranded animal? Furthermore, the secondary implication was expounded to these lawyers and Pharisees in a most subtle manner. The issue, which Jesus raised, would imply in most circumstances to the fact that the animal in need would probably be at a distance from the farm or the home. Going to and from that stranded animal would necessitate walking more than was allowed on the Sabbath and hence their set rules of distance to be covered on a Sabbath would be violated. Furthermore, it would take hard work to retrieve the animal from the ditch, which would entail work on the Sabbath. Carefully, Jesus wove together at least three points of Sabbath rule breaking by discussing what to do if a dumb animal fell into a ditch on the Sabbath. The Perplexity of the entire situation was more than what they had bargained by setting up the previous scenario. Dumbfounded, they could not or would not answer Him.
The only “work” Jesus did that day was to touch the sick man, pronounce him to be clean, and permit him to go. Compare what He did with what any in that room would do on a Sabbath to rescue an animal and the equation was stacked in favor of Jesus.
To add insult to injury, Jesus chided these men in an indirect manner that they valued the life of an animal to be of more value than a fellow human being. The Law of Moses, which was revered, sacredly by these lawyers and Pharisees certainly placed a greater value on humanity as compared with any animals. The sanctity of the human being was one of the hallmarks of Judaism in a time when the Romans were degrading human beings and practically all other cultures. Yet, here these wise men sat and could not respond to Jesus because He knew what had just transpired and the intent of the lot of the people in that house was to debase Jesus and to see if He regarded the Sabbath as sacred. By doing what He did and by asking the question He did, He exposed their carnal hearts and they would not answer Him. They were too ashamed and to disturbed by their failure to offer any response to Him. They were very Perturbed to offer up a valid response.
The gospel that Jesus preached then and still does is that man is made in the image of God and man is ranked a bit lower than the angels, but still in need of His help. Today, the opposite seems to be acceptable. Man is greater than God. Man also seems to have misplaced man’s place of importance in the eyes of God by the way many people seem to dote on themselves and on their pets. In today’s world, man stands supreme with the animals next in line and God is either non-important to many or He is relegated somewhere down the line of Someone to obey. Man has turned the created order of beings upside down-much like these Pharisees and lawyers did in that home of one of the chief Pharisees.
Millions of unnecessary dollars are being spent on the vanity of human beings in our culture, while there are millions of people in the world going hungry every day. Proud and misguided people are spending lavishly on pet food, pet toys, air-conditioned doghouses, and even pet psychiatrists while millions of children are starving to death around the world. Something is wrong with modern man and this will not go unpunished by God.
Jesus set forth a clear dictum at that house that day: that human beings need Him-all else is secondary. That was why the learned men in that house could not answer Him. The same truth is still valid for today. We can think of Christ what we want to think of Him, but He will not change. I am glad of this fact. He came to save, heal and help humankind and will do so whenever man calls upon Him for this help. All other concerns take a back seat to this task of Jesus.
