Scripture
During the last few months of Jesus’ life, opposition to him grew. Herod wanted to kill Jesus (Luke 13:13), and the scribes and Pharisees were “lying in wait for him, to catch him in something he might say” (Luke 11:54) or do. In their desire to get rid of Jesus, the Pharisees set up a man with an illness on a Sabbath day to see what Jesus would do so that they could “catch him” breaking their misinterpretation of God’s law.
Let’s read about Jesus’ healing of a man on the Sabbath in Luke 14:1-6:
1 One Sabbath, when he went to dine at the house of a ruler of the Pharisees, they were watching him carefully. 2 And behold, there was a man before him who had dropsy. 3 And Jesus responded to the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath, or not?” 4 But they remained silent. Then he took him and healed him and sent him away. 5 And he said to them, “Which of you, having a son or an ox that has fallen into a well on a Sabbath day, will not immediately pull him out?” 6 And they could not reply to these things. (Luke 14:1-6)
Introduction
Luke was the author of The Gospel of Luke. We know that Luke was a physician (cf. Colossians 4:14), and so it is not surprising that he records many miraculous healings performed by Jesus. For example, Luke said that when Jesus was in the city of Capernaum, “all those who had any who were sick with various diseases brought them to him, and he laid his hands on every one of them and healed them” (4:40). Later, “a great multitude of people from all Judea and Jerusalem and the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon . . . came to hear him and to be healed of their diseases . . . . And all the crowd sought to touch him, for power came out from him and healed them all” (6:17-19). Jesus healed countless numbers of people in a miraculous manner.
One would think that Jesus would be enormously popular because he healed so many people. However, Jesus encountered a problem because he did not heal on just six days of the week; he healed on all seven days of the week.
William Barclay notes in his commentary on The Gospel of Luke:
In the gospel story there are seven incidents in which Jesus healed on the Sabbath day. In Luke we have already studied the story of the healing of Simon’s mother-in-law (4:38); of the man with the withered hand (6:6); and of the woman who was bent for eighteen years (13:13). To these John adds the story of the healing of the paralytic at the pool of Bethesda (John 5:9); and of the man born blind (John 9:14). Mark adds one more – the healing of the demon-possessed man in the synagogue at Capernaum (Mark 1:21).
The problem Jesus encountered was that every miraculous healing he performed on the Sabbath day only made the scribes (i.e., lawyers) and Pharisees more certain that Jesus was a law-breaker. According to their misunderstanding of the law, Jesus “healed on the Sabbath; therefore he worked on the Sabbath; therefore he broke the law.”
So, in today’s lesson Luke gives us the fourth incident he recorded (cf. Luke 4:38; 6:6; 13:13; 14:1-6), as well as the seventh incident in the Gospels, in which Jesus healed someone on the Sabbath day.
Lesson
The analysis of Jesus’ healing of a man on the Sabbath as set forth in Luke 14:1-6 teaches us several truths about Jesus.
Let’s use the following outline, which is borrowed from Bishop J. C. Ryle:
1. Jesus Accepted Every Invitation of Hospitality (14:1a)
2. Jesus Was Watched By His Enemies (14:1b)
3. Jesus Asserted the Lawfulness of Doing Works of Mercy on the Sabbath (14:2-6)
I. Jesus Accepted Every Invitation of Hospitality (14:1a)
First, Jesus accepted every invitation of hospitality.
Luke said that one Sabbath, Jesus went to dine at the house of a ruler of the Pharisees (14:1a). It was common for a visiting rabbi to be invited to a meal. It is likely that this ruler of the Pharisees noticed Jesus at the synagogue. Luke did not state whether or not Jesus taught that day. Nevertheless, Jesus went to dine at the house of a ruler of the Pharisees on that particular Sabbath day.
Although there were some Pharisees who became disciples of Jesus (one thinks of Nicodemus), it is likely – because of what transpired – that this ruler of the Pharisees was no friend to Jesus. Nevertheless, Jesus accepted the invitation.
If we want to know how Jesus interacted with his host, the ruler of the Pharisees, we simply have to read the first twenty-four verses of chapter 14. We find Jesus – as he always did – going about his heavenly Father’s business. We see him defending the true purpose of the Sabbath day. We then see Jesus expounding the nature of true humility. Then Jesus taught his host about true hospitality. Finally, Jesus taught about the invitation to the Great Banquet. And all of his teaching was done in a wise, calm, gracious, and dignified manner. As was the case on every other occasion, Jesus always “said the right thing, at the right time, and in the right way. He never forgot, for a moment, who he was and where he was.”
The example of Jesus in this passage deserves our attention. Jesus accepted every invitation of hospitality. Many of you have heard me say something like, “Jesus never turned down an invitation to a meal.” I heard that as a young Christian, and it has stuck with me. Jesus used every possible opportunity to interact with unbelievers. He wanted to develop a relationship so that he could communicate the gospel with them.
But I want you to notice that Jesus did not accept the invitation of hospitality just to develop a friendship. He talked to people about spiritual matters. He showed them their sin and their need of a Savior. Bishop J. C. Ryle offers the following advice: “There are two questions which we should often put to ourselves, in reference to this subject. ‘Do I, in company, spend all my time in light and worldly conversation? Or do I endeavor to follow, however feebly, the example of Christ?’ ”
Some Christians completely isolate themselves from unbelievers and have virtually no meaningful contact with them. That will not go very far in reaching them for Christ. We see from Jesus’ example that he constantly interacted with unbelievers. He accepted invitations of hospitality so that he could share the good news of the gospel with them.
Let us do the same.
II. Jesus Was Watched By His Enemies (14:1b)
Second, Jesus was watched by his enemies.
When Jesus went to dine at the house of a ruler of the Pharisees, they were watching him carefully (14:1b).
I don’t think that any of us live in the media spotlight so that our every move is under surveillance. We are aware of some people who are mobbed every time they appear in public. They live with tremendous pressure as crowds mob them for photos and autographs and who knows what else?
Jesus lived his entire ministry mobbed by people. He could barely get any rest without people disturbing his rest. The massive crowds that mobbed Jesus mostly wanted to see him perform miracles. Some wanted to hear his teaching. And a few, such as Herod and the scribes and Pharisees, wanted to get rid of him. So, here was another occasion when they were watching him carefully.
What were they looking for? Well, in this instance, they wanted to see if Jesus did something wrong. They wanted to see if he violated the law of God. They wanted to find something in him so that they could call him a fraud and charlatan.
Did they find anything? No. Nothing. It did not matter how closely they watched Jesus. They never ever found him doing or saying anything wrong. Jesus’s lips and life were in perfect synchrony with the law of God.
If you are a Christian, you must be aware that you will also be watched, just as Jesus was watched. The world watches you. The people around you who are not Christians are watching you. You may not think they are watching you, but they are. They are watching to see whether you live a consistent Christian life. They want to see whether your conduct matches your profession of faith. And if they see an inconsistency, they will call you on it.
When I was in Israel, more than thirty years ago, I was on a tour bus that stopped at the ruins of Jericho. When I got off the bus there was a vendor who engaged me in conversation, and tried to sell me a keffiyeh (a head covering similar to the one worn by Yasser Arafat) for about $20. During the course of the conversation I told him I was a Christian on my way to the United States to study to become a minister. The vendor was bartering and trying very hard to get me to buy the keffiyeh. His sale price was down to $10. I really did not want to buy it and, finally, in an attempt to get rid of him I said that I could buy one in Jerusalem for $5. The vendor immediately shouted at me, “You lie! You cannot buy it in Jerusalem for $5. And you call yourself a Christian?” That stung. But he was right. I lied to get rid of him. And he called me on my inconsistency and sin.
If you are a Christian, you are being watched, just as Jesus was watched. But, far more important than the unbelievers watching you, remember that your Father in heaven is watching you too. Our goal is, as Bishop J. C. Ryle said, “to live daily as in the sight of a holy God. So living, it will matter little how much we are ‘watched’ by an ill-natured and malicious world.”
III. Jesus Asserted the Lawfulness of Doing Works of Mercy on the Sabbath (14:2-6)
And third, Jesus asserted the lawfulness of doing works of mercy on the Sabbath.
There was a man before Jesus who had dropsy (14:2). The symptoms of dropsy “are swollen limbs and tissue resulting from excess body fluids.”
Many commentators believe that the man was intentionally placed there before Jesus to see what he would do. The Pharisee would have had a large house. People ate on low tables that were arranged in the shape of a U. Guests were seated on the outer edges with the host in the center. Apparently, it was permissible for neighbors to wander in and stand at the edges of the courtyard or room to listen in on the conversation. So, it is possible that the Pharisees arranged for the man who had dropsy to come in to the same room with Jesus.
Interestingly, Jesus read the minds (and actions) of the lawyers and Pharisees because without them saying anything Jesus responded to them, saying, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath, or not?” (14:3). Jesus, as he always did, posed an excellent question. Commentator Darrell Bock clarifies the dilemma Jesus posed the lawyers and Pharisees:
If they say that healing is permitted, it raises problems about their tradition and their view of the law. If they say that it is not permitted, they will be seen as standing against doing good and showing compassion on the Sabbath. In addition, if they have invited the man and now desire to prevent Jesus from acting, it will raise questions about their motive in inviting the man to the meal.
Rather than answer Jesus, the lawyers and Pharisees remained silent (14:4a). There was nothing that they could say.
Then Jesus took the man with dropsy and healed him and sent him away (14:4b). Jesus was so kind and compassionate. He touched the man and healed him. And instead of keeping the man in front of the lawyers and Pharisees, Jesus sent him home to tell his family the good news of his healing.
And then Jesus said to the lawyers and Pharisees, “Which of you, having a son or an ox that has fallen into a well on a Sabbath day, will not immediately pull him out?” (14:5). Here was Jesus’ checkmate move. Of course they would immediately relieve the suffering of their own son or even an animal that had fallen into a pit on a Sabbath day. They would be considered cruel not to do so. And that was Jesus’ point. It was cruel not to help a person in need on a Sabbath day. Luke then noted that they could not reply to these things (14:6).
So, Jesus asserted the lawfulness of doing works of mercy on the Sabbath.
But some may wonder how the Sabbath applies to us today. The word Sabbath refers to the seventh day of the week (which is Saturday). Christians no longer worship God on the seventh day of the week. We worship God on the first day of the week (which is Sunday). When Paul gave the Corinthian Church instructions about taking a collection for God’s people in about 53 AD, he wrote in 1 Corinthians 16:2a, “On the first day of every week, each of you is to put something aside and store it up, as he may prosper.” The collection was taken on the first day of every week because that was the day that Christians gathered to worship God.
Christians worshiped God on the first day of every week because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. In fact, Christians stopped calling the day of worship and rest the Sabbath. Instead, they called it “the Lord’s Day.” The apostle John recorded the revelation he had on the island of Patmos when he wrote in Revelation 1:10, “I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day.”
But how should Christians keep the Lord’s Day holy?
First, Christians should worship on the Lord’s Day. Every Sunday we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus. We celebrate God’s victory over sin and death, and we renew our covenant with God who loved us and gave his Son to die in our place.
Christians sometimes complain that they do not have enough time to pray or to study their Bibles or to read Christian books. The Lord’s Day is a wonderful day given to the people of God for public as well as private worship.
Second, Christians should rest on the Lord’s Day. People were not made to work seven days a week. The rhythm of six days of work followed by one day of rest was established by God at the creation of the world, as the writer to the Hebrews put it in Hebrews 4:10, “For whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from his.”
And third, Christians should do works of mercy on the Lord’s Day. This is what Jesus consistently showed the Pharisees when he healed people on the Sabbath day. The Pharisees misinterpreted the law of God. They were more concerned with what people could not do on the Sabbath day than what they could do. Jesus showed us what Christians can do to bring God glory on the Lord’s Day.
The Lord’s Day is a day for mercy. The Westminster Shorter Catechism says that in addition to public and private worship, the Lord’s Day “is to be taken up in the works of necessity and mercy.” Commentator Philip Ryken fleshes out how works of mercy may be done on the Lord’s Day:
Poverty, illness, depression, and brokenness are all around us, especially in our cities. The Lord’s Day is a day for mercy. It is a wonderful day to visit older members of the church who are unable to come to worship with God’s family. It is a wonderful day to visit a nursing home to share the love of Christ. It is a wonderful day to invite the poor and the needy into your home for a meal, especially those who do not know Christ. It is a wonderful day to feed the hungry and house the homeless. To do mercy on the Lord’s Day is to be like the Lord Jesus himself.
Christians no longer observe the Sabbath. However, God has given us the Lord’s Day for worship, rest, and doing acts of mercy. Let us think carefully about how we make the Lord’s Day holy. Let us intentionally set the Lord’s Day aside to worship our God. Let us take time away from our ordinary vocations and rest on the Lord’s Day. And let us glorify God by engaging in deeds of mercy on the Lord’s Day.
Conclusion
Therefore, having analyzed Jesus’ healing of a man on the Sabbath as set forth in Luke 14:1-6, we should conform our practice to Jesus’ teaching.
In our LAMP class on “The Deacon” I have listened to some outstanding lectures on mercy ministry. One speaker told the story about Lillian, who was a nursing home resident in Philadelphia. For years she attended worship services at Tenth Presbyterian Church. One day, however, her arthritis was so bad that she could not get dressed and go to worship. She missed the worship service. After the worship service she heard the believers walking by her building. She saw one of the worship leaders and asked him to come in.
“Lillian, where were you today? You always come to worship,” said the leader.
Lillian told him about her arthritis. And then she asked him to summarize the sermon. He said that he would give her the entire sermon, which he did.
When he was finished, Lillian said, “I think I am ready. No, I know I am ready.”
And she prayed right then and there to receive Jesus Christ as her Lord and Savior.
After a little while, the worship leader then said that it was time for him to go. He agreed to see Lillian next week and said goodbye to her.
That night Lillian died.
And yet she lives. She lives because a Christian was used by God to extend the mercy of Jesus to her just before she stepped into eternity. He was conforming his practice to Jesus’ teaching.
Let us conform our practice to Jesus’ teaching. Amen.
