And it came to pass, when He went into the house of one of the chief Pharisees to eat bread on the Sabbath day, they were watching Him closely.
And there in front of Him was a man suffering from dropsy.
And Jesus answered and spoke to the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath, or not?
But they kept silent. And He took hold of him and healed him, and sent him away.
And He said to them, Which one of you will have a donkey or an ox fall into a well, and not immediately pull him out on a Sabbath day?
And they could make no reply to this.
Jesus was invited to have a meal at the home of this prominent Pharisee on a Sabbath day, and they set Him up putting this sick man in front of Him. They were trying to trip Him up so they would have an accusation against Him.
But Jesus knew what they were up to. He even asked them if they thought it was lawful, but they didn't answer.
So He did what He knew was right to do, then allowed this man to go home before He called these lawyers to task.
Then He gave the example of an animal slipping into a well, and that they would immediately pull it out, even if it was a Sabbath day; and a person is worth so much more than an animal, even a valuable animal used to earn a living to support the family.
Jesus acted like He had authority over the Sabbath, because He did. He said in another place,
The Sabbath was made for Man, and not Man for the Sabbath; therefore the Son of Man is Lord also of the Sabbath. (Mark 2:27)So God gave the Sabbath days for our benefit, so that we would have a day to rest and relax from the daily grind. He knows that we need respite because we are vulnerable to burning out. For our good health, God wants us to take a day off each week, and to take vacations, and to break up the monotony so we can accomplish all the work He planned out for us to do.
So all the extra rules the Jewish leaders added to the Sabbath law only made it a burden, instead of the blessing it was intended to be.
And since Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath, He could tell them this, and trip them up instead, so that they had no answer.
O my Father, thank You for giving us an opportunity to take a day off each week, and that our culture respects that. Thank You for all Your rules and precepts to guide us in our attitudes, to teach us how to love You and ourselves and one another.
Thank You, Father, that we can take a Sunday to go to church, and worship with others of like precious faith. I pray for Your church, Your children: Help us to be able to get to church, to set our schedules to be able to attend services, and Bible studies, and whatever meetings we can; to get to know one another so we can learn how to share and encourage and help one another where needed.
O Father, You have lavished Your Love upon us so generously! You have given us more than everything we need, so we can enjoy this life, and have good health, and healthy relationships, and grow Your family, and promote Your Kingdom so that Your will will be done here on this Earth as it is in Heaven.
And I look for the Glorious Appearing of my King, to bring Heaven's rule down to us and give this World its Golden Age.
And every eye shall see, every knee shall bow, every tongue shall confess in every language, that Christ Jesus is our Lord God over all, to the glory of God the Father.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
