There are numerous accounts of Jesus engaging in conflict with the Pharisees over the observance of the Sabbath. Whereas the Pharisees were willing to allow a man to bear the burden of suffering from sickness for the duration of the Sabbath to keep the healer from healing upon the day of rest, Jesus Christ sought to show compassion in restoring the man to wholeness of health. But the goodness in extending compassion to the suffering is the moral imperative of greater incumbency than rest upon the Sabbath.
Luke tells us that “one Sabbath, when [Jesus] went to dine at the house of a ruler of the Pharisees, they were watching him carefully” (Lk. 14:1). [1] Here we witness the love of God for all humanity. The Son of God comes to dine even when He is among those who never fully appreciate His company. In fact, the Pharisees “were watching him carefully.” They were scrutinizing Jesus’ words and deeds to catch a fault (cf. Mk. 3:2; Lk. 20:20). William Hendriksen indicates “The purpose of inviting Jesus was that they—the host plus the fellow Pharisees and law-experts he had invited—by closely watching Jesus, might discover a ground for an accusation against him.”[2] God is now behind enemy lines working out the plan of redemption to rescue those taken captive by sin.
Skeptical objections to Christianity are legion. All sorts of apparent contradictions are raised against the faith from the impossibility of God’s existence to God of the Bible being morally reprehensible. Their criticisms are at best flimsy and merely distracting but irrational objections to the reality of Christ and Christianity.[3] Yet, Christ sets the example of loving one’s enemies (Lk. 6:27, 35). It is in the showing of compassion in word and deed that the Christian reflects the glory of God shining forth from the Christ.
“And behold, there was a man before him who had dropsy” (Lk:14:2). Dropsy is akin to edema, which “involves swelling due to excess fluids building up in tissues and cavities.” [4] Knowing the hearts of those around him and perhaps anticipating the opportunity to challenge their legalistic interpretations, Jesus poses a question to the Pharisees and experts in the law present: “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not?” (Lk. 14:3). No reply at all. The silence is significant, as “Jewish legal experts debated proper sabbath laws among themselves; if one side was silenced and unable to reply, they would be presumed wrong or at best too ignorant of the law to defend their position.”[5]
But this is not an isolated incident. Luke knows of two other occasions where Christ performed miracles inside the synagogue upon the Sabbath —The exorcism of a demoniac (Lk. 4:31-37), and the healing of a man’s withered hand (Lk. 6:6-11).
Jesus’ question on whether it is permissible to do good on the Sabbath cuts to the core of the issue: the Pharisees were so intent upon discrediting the Christ by catching Him in the act of violating one of their numerous regulations on Sabbath keeping that they would even frown upon extending compassion to others in need. They had lost sight of the true purpose of the Sabbath – to honor God and to show love and kindness to others.
The Lord then poses a second question to the Pharisees and lawyers: “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?” (Lk. 14:5).[6] Jesus draws a parallel between the act of healing and the act of rescuing a child or animal in distress. He makes a case based upon the lesser to the greater. A way to assist an ox fallen into a pit upon the Sabbath was a good thing to do with little objection from the Rabbis (c.f. Shabbat 128b).[7] To assist a child out of a pit would be an even greater good. None could then object to an act of divine healing to restore a sick man to wholeness of heath be done upon the Sabbath. But for a second time the law experts and Pharisees “could not reply to these things” (Lk. 14: 6). The opposition remined silent without verbalizing approval even on a matter they would have basically agreed upon — namely the rescue of an animal fallen into a ditch upon the Sabbath.
Jesus then took the man with dropsy “healed him and sent him away” (Lk. 14:4b). Sickness had ravaged the man’s body. Sick and swollen, he was in a sense fallen into a ditch of despair. The Lord extended compassion in restoring the man to wholeness of health. Rest upon the Sabbath was a good thing. “God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation” (Gen. 2:3). Yet, to restore a body ravaged by disease back to optimal health is a good of greater incumbency, which makes it right and permissible for the healer to heal upon the Sabbath to bring rest to the weary.
The divine healing of the man with dropsy signified the fulfillment of Old Testament messianic prophecy concerning God’s arrival to save His people (Isa. 35:5-6; cf. Lk. 7:18-23). Yet, this restoration of the man with dropsy to health serves mainly as a prelude to the ultimate hope of resurrection. This healing in Luke’s Gospel takes us one step closer to the apex of God’s unfolding plan of redemption, which is the death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ of Nazareth the incarnation of the Son of God. It is in Christ that we have the blessed hope of being raised immortal, imperishable, incorruptible. It is alongside Christ that we enter the New Covenant’s eternal Sabbath rest of God (Heb. 3:1-4:10).
Jesus’ healing of the man with dropsy moreover illustrates the folly of legalism. The legalists are seen wasting their time and effort trying to observe a long and complex list of ridged social standards while fighting against God on doing a truly righteous at, i.e., miraculously healing a sick man.
All this bears witness to God’s love and mercy for fallen people. God’s sanctified day of rest could never be desecrated by acts of compassion to alleviate the suffering of others. Even to those Pharisees and lawyers who persistently opposed His good works, Christ still feasts with them, and makes time to call them into a true evaluation. We also experience God’s unfolding plan of redemption displayed in the miraculous healing of a man stricken with dropsy and restoring him to wholeness of physical health. This is but one step closer to the apex of redemptive history witnessed at the resurrection of Christ.
— WGN
Notes:
[1] All Scripture cited from The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), unless noted.
[2] William Hendriksen and Simon J. Kistemaker, Exposition of the Gospel According to Luke, vol. 11, New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1953–2001), 717–719.
[3] For related reading, see Clay Jones, “The Folly of Answering Distracting Atheistic Arguments,” Christian Research Jorunal,36, 4 [2013]: https://www.equip.org/articles/folly-answering-distracting-atheistic-arguments/
[4] Gary M. Burge and Andrew E. Hill, eds., The Baker Illustrated Bible Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2012), 1089–1090.
[5] Craig S. Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1993), Lk 14:3–6.
[6] Some extant ancient Greek manuscripts read “donkey” instead of “child,” but the latter is a superior reading (Thomas Schreiner, Gary M. Burge and Andrew E. Hill, eds., The Baker Illustrated Bible Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2012), 1089).
[7] Note also the Essenes forbade rescuing a beast on the Sabbath: “Let no beast be helped to give birth on the Sabbath day; and if it fall into a cistern or into a pit, let it not be lifted out on the Sabbath” (Damascus Document 11:13–14, as Cited in Schreiner).
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