1 On a day of rest—a holy day Jesus went to eat at the home of a prominent Pharisee. The guests were watching Jesus very closely.
2 A man whose body was swollen with fluid was there. 3 Jesus reacted by asking the Pharisees and the experts in Moses’ Teachings, “Is it right to heal on the day of rest—a holy day, or not?” 4 But they didn’t say a thing.
So Jesus took hold of the man, healed him, and sent him away. 5 Jesus asked them, “If your son or your ox falls into a well on a day of rest—a holy day, wouldn’t you pull him out immediately?” 6 They couldn’t argue with him about this.
Read Luke 14:1-6 in context and/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!
As I read through the gospels and specifically about the miracles Jesus did, I am surprised at the places where Jesus heals someone while also knowing that it would bother others. One such example is when Jesus healed the man who was swollen with fluid while visiting a Pharisee’s home. In this event, we see plenty of evidence that the whole situation was set up to catch Jesus doing something that these religious men could use as evidence to claim Jesus worked on the Sabbath.
The question that comes to my mind when I read events like this why would Jesus knowingly place Himself in situations like this knowing that it is a trap. Perhaps Jesus didn’t know this situation was a trap when He arrived, but since He was so connected with the Holy Spirit and the Father in everything He did and said, I would be very surprised if Jesus simply walked unknowingly into this trap.
In contrast, if Jesus knew everything about this trap beforehand, and He chose to walk into it, the only two reasons for this that I can see are (1) healing someone who needed help and (2) pushing these religious leaders past their legalistic view of Sabbath observance.
We can see both reasons being present in this passage, and this teaches us that God has called us to love and help others regardless of the day of the week we are in, and while His Sabbath day is holy and special, it should never be an excuse to not help someone in need!
This thought was inspired by studying the Walking With Jesus “Reflective Bible Study” package. To discover insights like this in your own study time, click here and give Reflective Bible Study a try today!
Subscribe to this blog and never miss an insight.