And it came to pass, as he went into the
house of one of the chief Pharisees to eat bread on the sabbath day, that they
watched him. 2 And, behold, there was a certain man before him which had the
dropsy. 3 And Jesus
answering spake unto the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath day? 4 And they held their peace. And he took
him, and healed him, and let him go; 5 And answered them, saying, Which of you
shall have an ass or an ox fallen into a pit, and will not straightway pull him
out on the sabbath day? 6 And they could not answer him again to these things. 7 And he put forth a parable to those which
were bidden, when he marked how they chose out the chief rooms; saying unto
them, 8 When thou art bidden of any man to a wedding, sit not
down in the highest room; lest a more honourable man than thou be bidden of
him; 9 And he that bade thee and him come and say to
thee, Give this man place; and thou begin with shame to take the lowest room. 10 But when thou art
bidden, go and sit down in the lowest room; that when he that bade thee cometh,
he may say unto thee, Friend, go up higher: then shalt thou have worship in the
presence of them that sit at meat with thee. 11 For whosoever exalteth
himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted. (Luke 14:1-11)
It was the Sabbath Day.
“We have been thinking and speaking of a
miracle done on the Sabbath. It is evident that our Saviour had a preference
for the Sabbath as a time for working miracles. How, then, is it with respect
to ourselves — we who, many of us, would be glad to have a miracle wrought on
our behalf, and yet have no right whatever to expect one? It is just thus — we
are waiting for the Sabbath. In other words, it was intended, no doubt, to be
taught us by our Saviour’s practice, that there is a special time of rest
coming, when all the various troubles that hamper and injure us will be utterly
removed — our burdens unbound; our fevers cooled for ever; our weakness changed
to strength; all our heaviness lightened; our blind eyes made clear; our deaf
ears unstopped; our feet filled with vigorous leaping blood; and all that is
within us lighted up with joy, even as the house was lighted up, and music and
dancing sounded in it, when the prodigal came home. There is a Sabbath coming;
and as Christ wrought His cures upon the Sabbath, when He was upon earth, we
are taught to look on to a day of cure that is coming — that Sabbath, namely,
of rest, into which we hope to enter hereafter. It may be needful for our
perfection, and the perfection of our friends, that we should still be
burdened; but we are quite sure that, after the round of the six days, there
will come the seventh; we are quite sure, when the time of trial has ended, the
boon of health will be granted.” (the Rev T. T.
Lynch.)
Jesus has been invited to the house of a
prominent Pharisee one of the chief of them, we are told.
“And it came to pass, as he went into the
house of one of the chief Pharisees to eat bread on the sabbath day, that they
watched him.”
Many other of the Pharisees were doubtless
there for “they watched him.” How greatly would they have benefitted if
they had watched Him to learn instead of to find fault.
Why was Jesus invited by one of those who
hated Him and was constantly trying to destroy Him? They had invited Jesus to
dinner with the intention of catching Him in an act of disobedience of the Sabbath
– it was a ‘set up’ in the popular vernacular.
Why do you suppose Jesus accepted the
invitation? Jesus was no recluse – He came to help all who would hear
Him. He loved to be in social gatherings where men would listen – ALL
men…even Pharisees; and he knew that He would reveal truth even to unbelievers.
“And, behold, there was a certain man
before him which had the dropsy.”
The cunning mind of the Pharisee bypassed no
opportunity in providing a means of entrapment for Christ. Seemingly, just by coincidence,
a man with a grave and serious malady is present – a man who probably had not
been invited had it not fit comfortably in the plans of the Pharisees to
present Jesus with a temptation.
These men are ruthless. They will use even
the kindness and compassion of Jesus to try and condemn Him.
They have seated the man with the dropsy
(congestive heart failure) in a place BEFORE Jesus. They know that He loves to
heal and to do good regardless the occasion, but today is the Sabbath! They
will use this as an occasion to condemn Christ of violating the Sabbath by
doing healing works on this day.
But Jesus knows the heart of men, and He
knows the evil thoughts of the hearts of those who sit watching Him.
“And Jesus answering spake unto the
lawyers and Pharisees, saying, Is it lawful to heal
on the sabbath day?”
Jesus sets the circumstances to turn the
tables on these miscreants. The question restated might read: “Is it ever
unlawful to do good?” Did God provide man with the day of rest for the purpose
of omitting even deeds of kindness?
The Pharisees and priests of Jesus day had
added so many cumbersome proscriptions to the Sabbath observance and every
other aspect of the law, that men could not bear them without misery – just the
opposite of what God had intended.
Jesus was continually tempted in every way
that we are tempted, but Jesus never gave into temptation except in certain
cases.
What were those cases? When tempted to do
good, as in the present case, Christ could not resist the temptation to act out
of His compassion to heal and to comfort. This was not a temptation to sin, but
a temptation by sinful men of Christ to do good. He always did!
You and I are tempted, on the other hand, to
do bad things not pleasing to God. But in every temptation to do evil is found
an opportunity to, instead, do good. Jesus sets the example for us in every
case.
Because they have set their trap, the
Pharisees do not respond to the pointed question of Christ: “And they
held their peace.” Men will most often speak out when they can condemn
or hurt, but will less often speak out on the part of righteousness. Political
correctness restrains them from speaking righteousness but tends always to
wickedness.
So Jesus poses the simple question which
they decline to answer so as not to give away their plot. How many clergy, as
well as laity, remain silent on issues of great importance? I have
observed the silence, even on discussion groups of the church, remain stony
silent on matters on which they should have strong opinion. The silence of
those is like a scream in the night.
Those who are legalist often forget that the
Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath. (Mark 2:27)
The failure to accept the Sabbath in the
manner and purpose for which it was given nullifies its benefits. The Christian
Sabbath is not a once per week observance but a daily one. Christ has given us
an Eternal Sabbath (Rest).
“And he took him, and healed
him, and let him go.” The whole will of Christ was to heal the man and
not to make a spectacle of him. So Jesus, instead of having the man remain
standing by for show, releases him to go his way. How different from the
Pharisees who heartlessly brought the man to tempt Christ.
“And answered them, saying, Which of you shall have an ass or an ox fallen into a
pit, and will not straightway pull him out on the sabbath day?”
Had they forgotten the counsel of Proverbs
12:11 - “A righteous man regardeth the life of his beast: but the
tender mercies of the wicked are cruel.”
An ox or a donkey were precious to men who
depended on them to produce income. If one of the Pharisees own precious
animals fell into a ditch on the Sabbath, he would certainly have rescued the
animal, if not out of kindness, then out of greed.
He thus shuts them. Up to this startling
alternative: "Not to do good, when it is in the power of our hand to do
it, is to do evil; not to save life, when we can, is to kill"
“And they could not answer him again
to these things. 7 And he put forth
a parable to those which were bidden, when he marked how they chose out the
chief rooms; saying unto them,”
Righteous words will shut the mouth of the
wicked.
Jesus is an observer of men and women. He
watched as the poor widow cast her all into the Temple treasury, and He has
observed here how the guests of the Pharisee came into the room and chose the
best seats and provisions. They sought to have their seating lend them
honor when they should have allowed their honor to determine their seating.
They lacked humility and were filled with false pride.
So Jesus tells them a story (Parable) to
which they can relate in common life:
“When thou
art bidden of any man to a wedding, sit not down in the highest room; lest a
more honourable man than thou be bidden of him; And he that bade thee and him
come and say to thee, Give this man place; and thou begin with shame to take
the lowest room. But when thou art bidden, go and sit down in the lowest room;
that when he that bade thee cometh, he may say unto thee, Friend, go up higher:
then shalt thou have worship in the presence of them that sit at meat with
thee.”
All of the counsels of Christ are full of
spiritual and uplifting truths. This short Parable is no exception.
Jesus begins the story with a delicate
allusion to a type of gathering that would be different from that of his
present host of whom He has been invited. The venue is a wedding feast, but
still a feast so that the same principle will apply.
When we are invited to a special event, do
not exalt your importance by finding the highest place, or most visible place,
to stand or sit. We will inevitably to be embarrassed by our presumptive
pride when we are told, curtly, to move and surrender your place to one having
greater honor than you. The only place left at that time will be the place of
least honor – the lowest room. “And he that bade
thee and him come and say to thee, Give this man place; and thou begin with
shame to take the lowest room.”
He has given an example of how not to
behave, but He does not leave us in doubt as to how we should behave: “But when thou art bidden, go and sit down in the lowest
room; that when he that bade thee cometh, he may say unto thee, Friend, go up
higher: then shalt thou have worship in the presence of them that sit at meat
with thee.”
Notice the host refers to the man who is
humble and takes the very lowest place of honor as Friend. He did not refer to
the man who took the highest place as Friend. Men despise false pride and
arrogance in others. If we humble ourselves, men will always elevate us
in esteem. But greater is the reward in Heaven!
A college professor once hosted a tea for
his graduating students. When they all presented themselves at his home,
the professor had all the cups, in the right number, assembled on the table.
The cups were all of different kinds. One was of stone, one of crystal, one of
clay, and some were shaped curiously different from any before seen. When
the professor invited the students to take a cup, the first took the crystal,
the next the glass, the next the stone, the next the clay, and so forth.
As the professor watched them drink their
tea that he had poured for them, he observed that they had each chosen the best
cup at the table; but the purpose of a tea was not the kind of cup one drank
from, but the tea which the cup contained. The quality of the tea is not
changed by the quality of the cup which contains it. So with our worthiness
before God. It is not some superficial position or appearance that is
important, but what is inside.
What of you and me? Do we honor Christ in
all good works during our eternal Sabbath Rest in Him?
[1]
Edema (/ɪˈdimə/; from the Greek οἴδημα—oídēma, "swelling"[1]), formerly known as dropsy or
hydropsy, is an abnormal accumulation of fluid in the interstitium, which are
locations beneath the skin or in one or more cavities of the body. It is
clinically shown as swelling. Generally, the amount of interstitial fluid is
determined by the balance of fluid homeostasis, and increased secretion of fluid
into the interstitium or impaired removal of this fluid may cause edema
