Daily Exegesis

Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?

2013-05-24T10:25:00.003-07:00

Now it happened, as He went into the house of one of the rulers of the Pharisees to eat bread on the Sabbath, that they watched Him closely. And behold, there was a certain man before Him who had dropsy. And Jesus, answering, spoke to the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?" But they kept silent. And He took him and healed him, and let him go. Then He answered them, saying, "Which of you, having a donkey or an ox that has fallen into a pit, will not immediately pull him out on the Sabbath day?" And they could not answer Him regarding these things.

So He told a parable to those who were invited, when He noted how they chose the best places, saying to them: "When you are invited by anyone to a wedding feast, do not sit down in the best place, lest one more honorable than you be invited by him; and he who invited you and him come and say to you, 'Give place to this man,' and then you begin with shame to take the lowest place. But when you are invited, go and sit down in the lowest place, so that when he who invited you comes he may say to you, 'Friend, go up higher.' Then you will have glory in the presence of those who sit at the table with you. For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."

- Luke 14:1-11

In yesterday's reading, we were told that some Pharisees came, saying to Jesus, "Get out and depart from here, for Herod wants to kill You." And He said to them, "Go and tell that fox, 'Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I shall be perfected.' Nevertheless I must journey today, tomorrow, and the day following; for it cannot be that a prophet should perish outside of Jerusalem. O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her. How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, but you were not willing! See! Your house is left to you desolate, and assuredly, I say to you, you shall not see Me until the time comes when you say, 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!'"

Now it happened, as He went into the house of one of the rulers of the Pharisees to eat bread on the Sabbath, that they watched Him closely. My study bible says, "The Pharisees again exemplify a paradoxical, cunning combination of interest and suspicion. They receive Jesus for a meal and yet watch to catch Him as a lawbreaker." In yesterday's, reading, some Pharisees warned Jesus that Herod wanted to kill Him, and telling Him to therefore leave Galilee. It's not clear precisely what the intentions are; Jesus also responded by calling Herod, "that fox."

And behold, there was a certain man before Him who had dropsy. And Jesus, answering, spoke to the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?" But they kept silent. And He took him and healed him, and let him go. Then He answered them, saying, "Which of you, having a donkey or an ox that has fallen into a pit, will not immediately pull him out on the Sabbath day?" And they could not answer Him regarding these things. This question repeats itself again and again and again in Luke's Gospel: Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath? It takes us to the central question of the law, and our relationship to God: to what purpose is the Law? Earlier, in chapter 6, Jesus asked, "I s it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy?" In the previous chapter (chapter 13), we read of Jesus healing the woman bent over for eighteen years on the Sabbath in the synagogue. In that reading, He said, "Hypocrite! Does not each one of you on the Sabbath loose his ox or donkey from the stall, and lead it away to water it? So ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has bound -- think of it -- for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath?" Here we again get the comparison to the working animals, valuable because of the commodity and wealth they generate. We might also ask, "I s the Sabbath made for man or man for the Sabbath?"

So He told a parable to those who were invited, when He noted how they chose the best places, saying to them: "When you are invited by anyone to a wedding feast, do not sit down in the best place, lest one more honorable than you be invited by him; and he who invited you and him come and say to you, 'Give place to this man,' and then you begin with shame to take the lowest place. But when you are invited, go and sit down in the lowest place, so that when he who invited you comes he may say to you, 'Friend, go up higher.' Then you will have glory in the presence of those who sit at the table with you. For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted." My study bible tells us: "This parable of good manners, found only in Luke, contrasts the virtue of humility with the vice of self-exaltation. Compare James 4:6: 'God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.'" We can also read this as a veiled warning to the important people at the feast. He's at the house of one of the rulers of the Pharisees. Whose place is the lowest and Whose place is the highest? How does one know who might be at that feast? It's not just a plea for humility, but tying in to the healing -- in which the value of farm animals by practice is placed higher than that of a human being (and contrast this especially with the "daughter of Abraham" in the reading mentioned earlier from chapter 13) -- and we have both a veiled warning and a plea for the true measurement of the worth of human beings. In this light, humility is a kind of state of grace, a place of safety, a way to walk in real righteousness.

Again in today's reading, Jesus goes to the comparison: why is it lawful to save a farm animal, one that gives wealth and work, on the Sabbath, on not a human being? We have contrasted a sense of value: which one is worth more? Are we looking with God's sight or with man's? And how does the law of God come to be used and viewed this way? In Christ's plea for mercy for fellow human beings is also the plea for true sight, a way to see things as they are, a coming down to earth of what is real and what is not. In this light, His advice on humility or humbling oneself is also the light of wisdom. How do we know another's true worth? If we judge only by self-centered values, we're not seeing what's really there, who might be seated at the table with us. Therefore there' s a warning here to these men who would be great, in positions of authority: don't take for granted your own place. A humble attitude is more sure to provoke true sight and vision, and great honor, true wisdom. Those who are puffed up with authority come in for an awful beating in the Gospels. Jesus' doesn't tear down the offices and the structures of the time: rather it is the attitudes, the security in their places, this veil of smugness and certainty that He tears away. In all things, He teaches us to truly see, to value as things really are valued, to give the perspective that God reveals about what is worthwhile, and what is not. What is the value of a human being? For God so loved the world that He gave us His Son - that human beings might have eternal life through faith. This is how we must see real healing. When we forget our Creator, we lose our own true worth, the worth of human beings, and the sight with which we are capable of seeing the world.

How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, but you were not willing!

2013-05-23T08:54:00.002-07:00

On that very day some Pharisees came, saying to Him, "Get out and depart from here, for Herod wants to kill You." And He said to them, "Go and tell that fox, 'Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I shall be perfected.' Nevertheless I must journey today, tomorrow, and the day following; for it cannot be that a prophet should perish outside of Jerusalem. O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her. How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, but you were not willing! See! Your house is left to you desolate, and assuredly, I say to you, you shall not see Me until the time comes when you say, 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!'"

- Luke 13:31-35

In yesterday's reading, Jesus teaching, and He asked, "What is the kingdom of God like? And to what shall I compare it? It is like a mustard seed, which a man took and put in his garden and it grew and became a large tree, and the birds of the air nested in its branches." And again He said, "To what shall I liken the kingdom of God? It is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal till it was all leavened." And He went through the cities and villages, teaching, and journeying toward Jerusalem. Then one said to Him, "Lord, are there few who are saved?" And He said to them, "Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I say to you, will seek to enter and will not be able. When once the Master of the house has risen up and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock at the door, saying, 'Lord, Lord, open for us,' and He will answer and say to you, 'I do not know you, where you are from,' then you will begin to say, 'We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets.' But He will say, 'I tell you I do not know you, where you are from. Depart from Me, all you workers of iniquity.' There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, and yourselves thrust out. They will come from the east and the west, from the north and the south, and sit down in the kingdom of God. And indeed there are last who will be first, and there are first who will be last."

On that very day some Pharisees came, saying to Him, "Get out and depart from here, for Herod wants to kill You." My study bible tells us that "this warning of some Pharisees may well be sincere, or it could be a cunning way to get Jesus to Judea so they could enforce their authority against Him. Herod Antipas imprisoned and beheaded John the Baptist." Herod was the ruler of Galilee; Jerusalem is in Judea, governed by Pontius Pilate.

And He said to them, "Go and tell that fox, 'Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I shall be perfected.'" A note tells us that "Jesus does not mince words in calling Herod fox for his sly craftiness. Perfected refers to the completion of Jesus' mission through His Passion and Resurrection in Jerusalem. He has nothing to fear from Herod." This word for "perfected" in Greek has the meaning of perfected, but its root is "finish" or "fulfilled," meaning "to the end," "complete." Nothing will jeopardize Jesus' mission.

"Nevertheless I must journey today, tomorrow, and the day following; for it cannot be that a prophet should perish outside of Jerusalem." My study bible tells us, "Jerusalem, the center of religious authority, often was the site of the judgment and persecution of God's prophets. Jesus speaks with prophetic irony here."

"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her. How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, but you were not willing!" Of this verse my study bible says, "Jesus' tender lament and judgment over unrepentant Jerusalem show He loves His adversaries as we are to love ours." It's a statement about rejection, and yet a willing love on Jesus' part, a longing to care for those who are His children.

"See! Your house is left to you desolate, and assuredly, I say to you, you shall not see Me until the time comes when you say, 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!'" My study bible says that "the time referred to is Palm Sunday, when Jesus will be acclaimed at His Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem."

There is such a deep lament here in Jesus' words about Jerusalem. The implication is that He's been watching over Jerusalem for many years, for centuries -- that is, over the Jerusalem that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her. Who has sent them? Was it Christ who wanted so often to gather Jerusalem's children together, as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, they they were not willing? This is the implication in the verses. And desolate the city is left, and all Christ does is lament! Our choices are important; they may have devastating effects upon our lives, and yet it is our freedom that is the most absolute part of ourselves. Christ Himself does not interfere with this, but rather implores with love, and repeatedly sends prophets and saints, and those who tell us of God's word. The welcome, "Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!" is the one that will be shouted upon His welcome to Jerusalem, at the beginning of Holy Week, the start of His Passion, and death and Resurrection. This welcome is the welcome of the Messiah, and yet it is the end of His mission into this world. Those who would be His children now are those by adoption. In chapter 8, Luke tells us that Jesus teaches, "My mother and My brothers are these who hear the word of God and do it." So we may become children by adoption, through faith. Jesus' life, teaching, Passion, death and Resurrection are for this: that those who would be gathered under His wings may come from everywhere, simply by faith. Let us remember His great grace, this gift that reaches to all of us. Are we willing?

What is the kingdom of God like?

2013-05-22T10:10:00.000-07:00

Then He said, "What is the kingdom of God like? And to what shall I compare it? It is like a mustard seed, which a man took and put in his garden and it grew and became a large tree, and the birds of the air nested in its branches."

And again He said, "To what shall I liken the kingdom of God? It is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal till it was all leavened."

And He went through the cities and villages, teaching, and journeying toward Jerusalem. Then one said to Him, "Lord, are there few who are saved?" And He said to them, "Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I say to you, will seek to enter and will not be able. When once the Master of the house has risen up and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock at the door, saying, 'Lord, Lord, open for us,' and He will answer and say to you, 'I do not know you, where you are from,' then you will begin to say, 'We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets.' But He will say, 'I tell you I do not know you, where you are from. Depart from Me, all you workers of iniquity.' There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, and yourselves thrust out. They will come from the east and the west, from the north and the south, and sit down in the kingdom of God. And indeed there are last who will be first, and there are first who will be last."

- Luke 13:18-30

Yesterday, we read that Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. And behold, there was a woman who had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and was bent over and could in no way raise herself up. But when Jesus saw her, He called her to Him and said to her, "Woman, you are loosed from your infirmity." And He laid His hands on her and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God. But the ruler of the synagogue answered with indignation, because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath; and he said to the crowd, "There are six days on which men ought to work; therefore come and be healed on them, and not on the Sabbath day." The Lord then answered him and said, "Hypocrite! Does not each one of you on the Sabbath loose his ox or donkey from the stall, and lead it away to water it? So ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has bound -- think of it -- for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath?" And when He said these things, all His adversaries were put to shame; and all the multitude rejoiced for all the glorious things that were done by Him.

Then He said, "What is the kingdom of God like? And to what shall I compare it? It is like a mustard seed, which a man took and put in his garden and it grew and became a large tree, and the birds of the air nested in its branches." My study bible tells us that "the mustard seed is tiny, but the plant grows to a height of about 10 feet in Palestine." I truly love this parable of the mustard seed, for various reasons. If we examine it, we see that the word for birds is one that more or less means "winged." It gives us a kind of image of heavenly things, like angels, to speak of the birds of the air. The "air" is the same word for sky, οὐρανός, which is also the word, in Greek, for heaven. Finally, to "nest" is κατασκηνόω, to encamp -- or rather more literally to dwell under, to "pitch one's tent." It is the same root used in John's Gospel, when we are told that the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth (John 1:14). The word here for dwell is to "tent" or more clearly, to "tabernacle." So it is with the winged ones of the air in the parable of the mustard seed; the great tree that grows is the place under which they can tabernacle, find a place in its branches. So, in some sense, this tiny mustard seed becomes something which can grow and spread, with branches sturdy enough to shelter, to tabernacle, all the beautiful gifts of God and messengers of God in the world. A nest is also for producing offspring, in analogy, fruits of the Spirit. This is a timeless gift.

And again He said, "To what shall I liken the kingdom of God? It is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal till it was all leavened." My study bible says that "a small amount of leaven inevitably penetrates the entire dough. Such is the power of the Kingdom." In the first parable of the mustard seed, we're told of the explosive power of growth and continual "reproduction" in this Kingdom, the study branches under which good things can dwell, can "tabernacle." In this parable we're given to know the inward and powerful nature of this Kingdom: with one measure it can leaven the whole of the lump; its inward growth is complete and powerful. It's not only the "light shining in the darkness" (John 1:5), but with welcoming, with a little kneading, it illuminates the whole room. This is a leaven that pervades and changes and transforms the nature of the entire whole. As we know, leaven or yeast brings air, causes a rising and growth of the dough!

And He went through the cities and villages, teaching, and journeying toward Jerusalem. Then one said to Him, "Lord, are there few who are saved?" And He said to them, "Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I say to you, will seek to enter and will not be able." My study bible tells us that "the narrow gate is a path to salvation marked by Jesus' teaching on discipleship and its cost." A life of discipleship is a life of prayer, studying the Master through relationship.

"When once the Master of the house has risen up and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock at the door, saying, 'Lord, Lord, open for us,' and He will answer and say to you, 'I do not know you, where you are from,' then you will begin to say, 'We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets.' But He will say, 'I tell you I do not know you, where you are from. Depart from Me, all you workers of iniquity.'" My study bible teaches that "Jesus says I do not know you because they are workers of iniquity. If a person is not abiding in Christ, neither verbal confessions ("Lord, Lord") nor previous experiences with Christ will be of any avail at the Judgment." As Jesus journeys toward Jerusalem, and His "exodus" from this world (see the reading on the Transfiguration), He brings up Judgment more frequently in this Gospel, and gives us palpable and concrete ways in which we are to think about it and be aware of it. Familiarity is not enough. Now is the time to look to who we are and what we do, the quality of our discipleship.

"There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, and yourselves thrust out. They will come from the east and the west, from the north and the south, and sit down in the kingdom of God. And indeed there are last who will be first, and there are first who will be last." My study bible tells us that "people of humble faith from all parts of the earth will join together in God's consummated Kingdom. Those who vainly think themselves secure because of honored status will be last."

As Jesus journeys toward Jerusalem, we get so many warnings about the time of His departure, and warnings about His return. Many people would like to discard notions of judgment, thinking that in Christ's mercy all is forgiven. But the Gospels teach us something important about this notion of judgment and that is our personal responsibility for the gift we're given. It's not something to take for granted. Rather it's something to be aware of each and every moment of every day. We look to our own behavior. We can't take it for granted that we're "saved" because we're a part of the right group, because we've heard the teachings before. But how does this warning about Judgment tie up with His teachings on the Kingdom? Well, there's a very important emphasis here on the fruits of the Spirit, on the effects of what that Kingdom is and what it does. Elsewhere Jesus teaches that "by their fruits you shall know them" (Matthew 7:16). And earlier in Luke's Gospel, we've been told by Jesus, "A good tree does not bear bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. For every tree is known by its own fruit. For men do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they gather grapes from a bramble bush. A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks." And in that earlier reading, in Chapter 6, Jesus also makes mention of those who call Him "Lord, Lord" but who fail to do the things He says, and praises the one "who hears His sayings and does them" as one who builds his house upon a rock. The warnings about Judgment really teach us what it is to know Him, to really be disciples, to be His students. It is through relationship that we are capable of following what He teaches, of becoming ourselves like those great trees whose branches can shelter the birds of the air and their nests, of being like the woman who's willing to do the work of kneading the dough, and leavening its whole with air, the air that is another meaning of the word for Spirit. Let us take seriously His emphasis on humility, the last who will be first, and the first last; it's when we think of our positions too highly, when we take this gift for granted, that we are liable to forget who we are, and Who our Teacher is, how He humbled Himself for this Kingdom. Let us remember who we are, and Who He is. He was about His Father's business -- and so must we do likewise.