JESUS HEALS THE MAN WITH DROPSY

Luke 14:1-6 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. And, behold, there was a certain man before Him which had the dropsy. And Jesus answering spake unto the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath Day? And they held their peace. And He took him, and healed him, and let him go; 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? And they could not answer Him again to these things.

As the lesson text opens, we find Jesus being entertained on the Sabbath Day by dining with the host who was one of the chief Pharisees. With this designation of "chief," this Pharisee was reputable among his sect, had great influence among his Jewish brethren, and was more than likely a member of the ruling body of Israel - the Sanhedrin. Christ dining with others on this holy day does not set a precedent that all preachers should be invited to eat dinner in the home of brethren. On the contrary, Jesus was invited by this Jewish leader, not to demonstrate hospitality, but for the specific purpose of watching Him with the intent of finding sufficient accusations to condemn Him of blasphemy. Why was this trespass sought against Jesus? Blasphemy, under Jewish law, was a contemptuous sin of irreverence against God that was punishable by death (Lev. 24:15:16). These Jewish leaders wanted Jesus slain - to be rid of Him permanently. (See Matt. 12:14; Mark 3:6; John 5:16; 7:25).

While dining, behold, there was a certain man before Him which had the dropsy. We are not told who this man was, why he was there, or where he came from. Speculation says that it could possibly be a relative of the host family. However, since we know Jesus was invited so this chief Pharisee could find fault with Him, we have every reason to believe that the man was specifically invited so Jesus would have mercy on him and heal him of his disease on the Sabbath Day, giving opportunity for accusations that violate the Law of Moses. The disease, referred to here as dropsy, was very common during these biblical days, and was a very distressful condition, and was said to be caused by an abnormal accumulation of body fluids. Although many side effects can be caused by this disease, it occasionally is noticed as affecting one's face, arms, and legs. However its effects most often occur within one's body. It is generally caused by diseases of the heart, liver, kidneys, etc., that result in inflammation of the serous membranes that line most internal body cavities such as the abdomen. When these fluids collect, an extremely painful swelling takes place. It is said that the condition, at that time, could be temporarily relieved, but was almost impossible to cure.

Knowing that the introduction of the man was designed to find fault with Him, Jesus first asked this question of lawyers and Pharisees present on this occasion: Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath Day? Having been previously accused of healing on the Sabbath, Jesus knew their opinion was opposed to God's will and was derived from interpretations based on the human wisdom of zealous religious leaders. Jesus knew that if He had immediately healed the man they would bring immediate accusations. However, He also knew that if they remained silent, they could not condemn Him for healing on this holy day. This is exactly what took place - they held their peace. Had they been adamantly opposed to violating this man-made law, they would have undoubtedly spoken up and said such healing would be a violation of the laws of the Sabbath. Therefore Jesus took the man, which had the dropsy, healed him, and let him go.

Although there are other examples, two specifically come to mind where Jesus silenced the Jewish leaders from their false accusations of "working" on the Sabbath Day. When accused of healing the man with the withered hand on the Sabbath, Jesus silenced the Jews by asking, Is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath Days, or to do evil, to save life, or to kill? The result was that they held their peace (Mark 3:4). Jesus also defended His numerous healings on the Sabbath before a multitude of Jews when He entered and taught in the temple of Jerusalem. There he silenced the Jewish leaders by asking this rhetorical question, If a man on the Sabbath Day receive circumcision, that the law of Moses should not be broken; are ye angry at Me, because I have made a man every whit whole on the Sabbath Day (John 7:23)? The lesson here is that if we condemn others of violating a man-made law, we often condemns ourselves.