#126 Lu. 14:1-6 THE HEALING OF A MAN WITH DROPSY

Introduction:

    Jesus was traveling south from Galilee through Perea on His
way to Jerusalem to be crucified.  Perea was located over on the
eastern side of the River Jordan and was under the rule of Herod,
who also ruled Galilee.  A certain group of Pharisees came to Him
and told Him that Herod intended to kill Him and that He should
leave Herod's domain.
    Jesus sent word by them to Herod that He would be in Perea
three more days as He slowly made His way to Jerusalem where He
would be killed.
    In our text today Jesus encounters more Pharisees.  These are
not the same men who had warned Him to leave the country.  He was
invited into a home of one of these Pharisees on the sabbath day
where He healed a man who had congestive heart failure.

I.  Jesus invited into the home of a Pharisee for dinner

    V. 1, "And it came to pass, as he went into the house of one
of the chief Pharisees to eat bread on the sabbath day..."  It was
the custom of Jesus on the sabbath day to attend the worship
services at the synagogue in whatever city or village where He
happened go be at the time.  Luke says nothing about Him attending
the synagogue on this occasion, but we can be sure that He did.
    In all likelihood, Jesus had been invited to speak in the
synagogue services.  He was very popular with the common people
because of His miracles and whenever He visited in one of the
synagogues He was almost always asked to be the speaker.
    After the synagogue service was over one of the chief
Pharisees invited Jesus and His apostles to His home for dinner.
We will see down in verse three that he also invited several
lawyers and Pharisees to this same dinner.
    It was a common practice among the Jews to have such large
dinners on the sabbath day.  They did all the necessary cooking
and preparation on the previous day.  They were not allowed to go
to work on the sabbath day.  This was a very convenient time for
them to get together after the synagogue worship service and enjoy
the company of one another.  This Pharisee invited Jesus and His
disciples to attend a feast that he already had planned at his
home.
    Luke says that he was a chief Pharisee.  This could refer
either to the rank of his office among the Pharisees or to his
reputation and influence.  Some think that it means that he was
the ruler of the local synagogue in the city or village.  Others
think it means that he was a member of the Sanhedrin Council at
Jerusalem.  Still others think that it has no reference to his
rank at all, but rather to his reputation and influence among the
Pharisees.  It could refer to both his office and his reputation.
At any rate, being a chief Pharisee, he would know about the plans
of the Sanhedrin to kill Jesus and he was in sympathy with that
plan.  No doubt he invited Jesus and others to his home for
dinner for the purpose of aiding in carrying out that plan.

II.  The watchful eyes of the critics

    (V. 1), "...that they watched him."  Luke says that after
Jesus arrived at the Pharisees home that they watched Him.  That
is, the lawyers and Pharisees who were present watched Him.  That
was why He had been invited so that they could watch Him and maybe
find something that they could use to bring charges against Him
and put Him to death.  At the very least, they hoped to damage His
popularity with the common people.  So they watched Him very
closely.  They watched Him like a hawk.  They watched Him like a
snake watches its intended victim.  They watched His very move and
they listened closely to His every word.
    What a shame!  Here was their only hope of heaven and they had
the opportunity of hear the words of salvation, but all they were
interested in was finding something that they could use against
Him.  They had opportunity to stay out of hell, but all they were
interested in was finding something they could use against Him.
Did you know that virtually the same thing happens today in
churches throughout the land.  Some attend church, not because
they want to find out how to be saved, but because they are
interested in finding something which they can criticize.  God
gives them opportunity to stay out of hell and go to heaven, but
all they do is look for something to criticize.  What a shame!
    V. 2, "And, behold, there was a certain man before him which
had the dropsy."  A man with dropsy was present?  This is not the
kind of man that the Pharisees would invite to their feasts.
Dropsy is a heart disease.  It is caused by congestive heart
failure.  It is an accumulation of water or body fluids in various
parts of the body.  It causes the arms and especially the legs to
get very large by the accumulation of fluids.  It was an
especially serious ailment in those days because there was little
that could be done for it medically.  Even today there is no
medical cure, but they can do a lot to control it and let the
victim live a fairly normal life.  But the Pharisees were not
accustomed to inviting people with such physical afflictions to
their feasts.  Yet here this man shows up.  Apparently he is not a
guest, but he shows up.
    I wonder why?  Why would this man show up at this feast in the
home of one of the chief Pharisees?  They were watching Jesus very
closely because they apparently knew this man with the dropsy
would show up.  They had planned it that way.  They knew that if
this man showed up in the presence of Jesus on the sabbath day
that Jesus would heal him on the sabbath day.  Then they would
accuse Him of breaking the law of the sabbath and they would be
able to put Him to death.  That is why they were watching Him so
closely.
    This raises a question in our minds:  Why would Jesus accept
an invitation when He knew He was being set up?  Why would He take
such a risk?  The answer is that He was not taking a risk.  He
knew that He was in no danger from these men.  He had everything
well in control.  The real reason that He accepted the invitation
is that it would give Him opportunity to demonstrate that He is,
indeed, Deity God dwelling in human flesh.  He is the Savior of
men.

III.  The question which Jesus asked His critics

    V. 3, "And Jesus answering spake unto the lawyers and
Pharisees, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath day?"
Before Jesus healed the man, He first turned to the lawyers and
Pharisees and asked them a question.  He asked, "Is it lawful to
heal on the sabbath day?"
    Now keep in mind that these men were lawyers.  That is, they
were experts in the law of Moses.  This was their line of work.
They studied the law constantly.  They knew the law forward and
backward, inside and out.  They were experts in the law.  If there
was a law which forbids healing on the sabbath day, they would
know about it.  So Jesus put them on the spot publicly right there
before all present.  If it is against the law to heal on the
sabbath they are going to have to say so right now or keep quiet
when the man is healed.  To fail to say so now was to acknowledge
that no such law exists.
    V. 4, "And they held their peace..."  They answered not a
word.  They thought they had Jesus over a barrel by bringing in
the man with the dropsy, but instead Jesus has them over a barrel.
They could not say publicly that it is unlawful to heal on the
sabbath day because if they did, Jesus would ask them which
Scripture they referred to.  If they knew of a Scripture which
forbids healing on the sabbath they would surely say so, but they
did not know of such a Scripture.  There was no such Scripture and
they knew that.  But on the other hand they could not afford to
say publicly that healing on the sabbath was lawful.  If they did,
every Pharisee in the land would be down their collar.  They could
not afford to answer either way.  So they just kept silent, but by
their silence they acknowledged to all present that there is no
law which forbids healing on the sabbath day.

IV.  The healing of the dropsy man

    (V. 4), "...And he took him, and healed him, and let him go."
Now that His opponents were effectively silenced, Jesus reached
out and took hold of the man with the dropsy and healed him.  The
fact that He caught hold of him at the same time that He healed
him made it evident to all present that Jesus was the one who did
the healing.  There could be no mistake about that.  Nobody could
say that the man got well from any other cause.  He got well
instantly when Jesus caught hold of him.
    Luke said that then Jesus let him go.  That is, He let him
leave.  He was not a guest at the dinner or he would have stayed.
He had been brought in here just for the purpose of having
something whereof to accuse Jesus, but their scheme had failed.
The man with the dropsy apparently was not aware of their scheme.
He was innocent of wrongdoing in the matter, but it had all worked
out to his good and also to the glory of God.  He was healed and
the power of God gave evidence that Jesus is the Son of God.

V.  A second question by Jesus

    Jesus then directed  another question of the lawyers and
Pharisees.  V.  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?" He said, "If you had an ass or
an ox that fell in a pit on the sabbath day, would you not go
ahead on the sabbath and get him out of the pit?"
    Again Jesus had them over a barrel.  Again they could not
afford to answer the question publicly.  If they should say that
they would not get the animal out of the pit on the sabbath,
everybody would know that they were lying.  If they should
acknowledge that they would get an animal out of the pit on the
sabbath, then it would be obvious that it is permissible to help a
human on the sabbath.  If it is lawful to help an animal on the
sabbath, then surely it is lawful to heal a sick man on the
sabbath.  V.  6, "And they could not answer him again to these
things."

VI.  The real motive of Jesus

    Now let me point out to you that there is a sharp contrast
between the love and compassion which Jesus showed for the man
with dropsy and the cold, hard, indifferent attitude which the
scribes and Pharisees showed.  But Jesus did not heal this man
just for the purpose of correcting the condition of his physical
heart.  Jesus healed the man so that He could demonstrate that He
is who He claims to be.  He is Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the
Savior of men.  He is not just the healer of the physical ills of
men.  Jesus is the Savior of men.  He did not come to this world
to heal men.  He came to this world to save men.  Jesus wanted
men, women, boys and girls to see that He is the Christ.
    Even so, that is what He wants today.  Jesus wants us to be
able to look into the Biblical record and say in our hearts that
He is the Son of God.  He wants us to see our own need of His as
Savior.  That man had dropsy.  He had congestive heart failure.
But today there are thousands upon thousands who have a much worse
heart problem than that.  Every unsaved person has a heart
condition that goes beyond the mere physical condition of the
heart.  The unsaved have a heart condition that reaches to the
innermost part of man.  It is not congestive heart failure that is
the problem.  It is a matter of sin in the spiritual heart that is
the problem.  Every unsaved person needs his heart cleansed from
sin in order that he might be saved.  He needs to be cleansed from
sin in order that he can stay out of the fires of hell.  He needs
to be cleansed from his sin in order that he can go to heaven.
That dropsy man needed to be healed or pretty soon he would be in
the grave.  The unsaved needs to be saved or pretty soon he will
be in the fires of hell.

Conclusion:

    I may be speaking to someone here today who is lost in sin and
headed straight for hell.  If that person is you then I am calling
on you right now to come and trust in Jesus Christ and trust in
Him to save your soul.
    What a joy it must have been for that dropsy man when he was
healed.  What a joy it was to me the night I was saved!  What a
joy it will be this morning to anyone who will come and trust in
Jesus Christ and be saved!
    If you have been saved and you have never made a public
profession of your faith in Him, then I am going to ask you to
come today and publicly confess that Jesus is your Savior.  Come
and by your coming you will testify to others who are still lost
that Jesus Christ is able to save them and that you recommend to
them that they should come to Him and be saved.  Come and commit
yourself to serve the Lord who gave Himself to suffer and die for
you.
    If there are Christians who should come today and unite with
this church, I am asking you to come.  Come and get to work for
the Lord.