On a sabbath he went to dine at the home of one of the leading Pharisees, and the people there were observing him carefully. 2 In front of him there was a man suffering from dropsy. 3 Jesus spoke to the scholars of the law and Pharisees in reply, asking, “Is it lawful to cure on the sabbath or not?” 4 But they kept silent; so he took the man and, after he had healed him, dismissed him. 5 Then he said to them, “Who among you, if your son or ox falls into a cistern, would not immediately pull him out on the sabbath day?” 6 But they were unable to answer his question.
Jesus went to the home of a leading Pharisee and scholars of the law (v. 3) were also in attendance. One can expect that they set a trap to test Jesus and catch him in violation of the Mosaic law. They sat a man with dropsy in front of him. Dropsy is edema, where the body is abnormally swollen because it retains serous fluid. Aware of the trap, Jesus asked them, “Is it lawful to cure on the sabbath or not (v. 3; Lk. 6:9)?” They would not answer but waited to see what Jesus would do. Jesus healed the man and released him (Lk. 13:10-17). Jesus asked them if they would pull their son or ox out of the water in a cistern (Dt. 22:4) on the Sabbath why should he not save the man from “water” on the Sabbath? They had no reply.
Almighty God, you offer us freedom from slavery to sin and from all that turns us away from you. Strengthen us in our infirmities so that we may continue to serve you in accordance with your will. This we pray through Christ our Lord. Amen!
__________________________________
References
Chiu, José Enrique Aguilar, et al. The Paulist Biblical Commentary. Paulist Press, 2018.
Brown, Raymond Edward, et al. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Upper Saddle River, NJ, United States, Prentice Hall, 1990.
Chiu, José Enrique Aguilar, et al. The Paulist Biblical Commentary. Paulist Press, 2018.
Brown, Raymond Edward, et al. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Upper Saddle River, NJ, United States, Prentice Hall, 1990.
Comments