“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?” (Luke 14: 1-5).
The Living Bible offers this paraphrase of today’s verses. “One Sabbath as he (Jesus) was in the home of a member of the Jewish Council, the Pharisees were watching him like hawks to see if he would heal a man who was suffering from dropsy (edema or fluid build up in the body.) Jesus said to the Pharisees and legal experts standing around, ‘Well, is it within the Law to heal a man on the Sabbath or not?’ And when they refused to answer, Jesus took the sick man by the hand and healed him and sent him away. Then he turned to them: ‘Which of you doesn’t work on the Sabbath?’ he asked. ‘If your cow falls into a pit, don’t you proceed at once to get it out?'”
According to verse Luke 14:6, Jesus left those Pharisees speechless. Jesus knew He was being set up by the Pharisees. They were so eager to catch Him doing wrong. But that was never going to happen, no matter how much they opposed Him.
Sue Winchester
Missouri
PRAY TOGETHER: Pray that home missionaries Brian and Emily Williams (Buffalo, New York) can quickly sell their house in North Carolina. Unable to find a buyer before they moved to New York, the Williams rented it out until recently, when their renter passed away. The house goes back on the market soon.
