Thoughts for the Day

On one occasion when Jesus was going to the house of a leader of the Pharisees to eat a meal on the sabbath, they were watching him closely. Just then, in front of him, there was a man who had dropsy. And Jesus asked the lawyers and Pharisees, ‘Is it lawful to cure people on the sabbath, or not?’ But they were silent. So Jesus took him and healed him, and sent him away. Then he said to them, ‘If one of you has a child or an ox that has fallen into a well, will you not immediately pull it out on a sabbath day?’ And they could not reply to this.

(Lectionary, New Revised Standard Version)

Thoughts

There are seven different accounts in the Gospels of when Jesus healed someone on the Sabbath. So far Luke, the Greek physician, has recounted three and he now adds a fourth story, that is the healing of the man with 'dropsy'. The symptoms of what used to be called dropsy are the swelling of an arm or leg, from fluid retention, with the skin feeling tight. It can be caused by a number of things, including heart or kidney disease, or deep vein thrombosis, or an infection. Today the problem is always dealt with promptly since if it's the last two it can get worse very quickly.

The Pharisees see Jesus as a law breaker. He healed on the Sabbath, therefore he worked, and therefore he broke the law. This was their mantra. The definition of 'work' was the problem. There were some crazy notions of what was work (my favourite is a ban on spitting in the street because it disturbed the dust, and was therefore was considered work), and Jesus highlights one such absurdity. If a child or an ox fell into an open well on the Sabbath they could be rescued - this was not considered work - but healing on the Sabbath was work! Having said that, touching a sick person made one ritually unclean, so no-one wanted to touch a man with dropsy on any day of the week, but particularly on the Sabbath. The Pharisees had managed to banish sickness to the edges of society, as if it didn't occur and when it did then it was the concern of those who were ritually unclean anyway or who were gentiles!

But Jesus places the man with dropsy at the centre of their ordered lives; he brings sickness into their midst and challenges their perceptions of what Yahweh wants. He does not want them to find clever ways to avoid dealing with the sick, the poor, and the marginalised, they are to love all God's children whenever or wherever they are found and whatever day of the week it may be. Love does not discriminate.

Lord Jesus Christ,
we too sometimes find ways to ignore
those in need in our own society.
We can be too busy to stop and talk
to the lonely;
too nervous to approach what looks
like a difficult situation and offer help;
too tired to listen to someone in distress;
or too wrapped up in our own concerns
to notice the needs of others.
Help us to be more compassionate
and loving this day.
Amen.