Luke 14:1-6 | Teachings at a Sabbath Feast: The Healing of the Dropsical Man

Luke 14:1–24 continues the theme from Luke 13:1–35 where Dr. Luke reminds us that there are Few Who Are Saved (Luke 13:22-30), which astounded the Jews of that time, who believed that just because they were the descendants of Abraham that meant they were going to be automatically included in the Kingdom of God. This also contradicts the man-centered preaching that you will hear in most churches today, espousing the false idea that the Kingdom of Heaven is about your happiness and that we can usher the return of Jesus by taking over the Seven Mountains and take dominion here on earth. Jesus tells us that the Kingdom of Heaven is through the narrow gate, “for many...will seek to enter and will not be able.” (Luke 13:24) The account that we are going to look at this morning is not recorded by any of the other three Gospel writers.

What we will study this morning in The Healing of the Dropsical Man…01. The Insidious Pharisees (Luke 14:1-2); 02. Healing on the Sabbath (Luke 14:3-5); and 03. Silence (Luke 14:6).

01. The Insidious Pharisees (Luke 14:1-2)

Here in Luke 14:1 we see the third time that Dr. Luke records for us where Jesus is invited to eat with a Pharisee (the other two being cf. Luke 7:36-50 | Anointing the Anointed One and Luke 11.33-54 | A Lamp, a Pharisee and a Lawyer). Even though He was invited to dine with the Pharisees and religious leaders of the day, He never catered to them, never backed down from telling the truth and pointed out that theirs was a false religious system made up of man-made traditions that created burdens too hard for the people to bear (cf. Luke 11:37-52), making their converts “twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.” (Matthew 23:15)

Luke 14:1 “one of the rulers of the Pharisees” Dr. Luke doesn’t identify who this “ruler of the Pharisees” is, but John in his Gospel tells us that Nicodemus was a ruler of the Pharisees as well (John 3:1). Later on in his Gospel, John points out that Nicodemus was a member of the Sanhedrin (John 7:45–52). According to the New Testament and Josephus, the Sanhedrin was closely related to chief priests, the Sadducees, and the Pharisees, the latter being probably a minority.^[1] In rabbinic Judaism, the Sanhedrin was the official assembly of the rabbis who made decisions on matters of Jewish law. This later Sanhedrin was dominated by the ideological descendants of the first-century Pharisees and appears to have been placed in charge of Jewish internal affairs by Rome.^[2] Whoever this “ruler of the Pharisees” (Luke 14:1) was, more than likely he was a member of the Sanhedrin and helped cast the vote to sentence Jesus to death (cf. Matthew 27:1; Mark 15:1; Luke 22:66-71).

Luke 14:1 “they watched Him closely.” In his excellent book, Word Pictures in the New Testament, A. T. Robertson writes that the Greek word for “they” is emphatic,^[3] showing us that all those who were at the feast were continuously watching Jesus insidiously, with evil intent.^[4]

Luke 14:2 A unique characteristic of Dr. Luke is that he points out medical details unlike any other Gospel writer.

Luke 14:2 “dropsy.” (G5203 ὑδρωπικός hudrōpikŏs, hoo-dro-pik-os´ ). Late and medical word from (G5204) ὑδωρ hudōr (water), one who has internal water (ὑδρωψ [hudrōps]). Here only in the N. T. and only example of the disease healed by Jesus and recorded.^[5] Dropsy today is known as edema today. Dropsy is an old term for the swelling of soft tissues due to the accumulation of excess water. In years gone by, a person might have been said to have dropsy. Today one would be more descriptive and specify the cause. Thus, the person might have edema due to congestive heart failure,[6] or perhaps by a type of cancer or possibly liver or kidney problems. Edema is often more prominent in the lower legs and feet toward the end of the day as a result of pooling of fluid from the upright position usually maintained during the day. Upon awakening from sleeping, people can have swelling around the eyes referred to as periorbital edema.[7] According to Leviticus 13:2, this man was considered unclean. The man was probably invited to the Pharisee’s house in order to see what Jesus would do.^[8]

02. Healing on the Sabbath (Luke 14:3-5)

Luke 14:3 “And Jesus, answering,” The way that this is written in the Greek, it is implied that He answered their thoughts.^[9] Another instance where we see the deity of Jesus, for only God can know the thoughts of man! Jesus immediately took the initiative in the situation and asked the host and other guests whether it would be lawful to heal the man on the Sabbath.^[10]

Luke 14:3 “spoke to the to the lawyers and Pharisees” The lawyer knew the Law of God, for he was an expert in the Mosaic Law[11], and was a member of the Pharisaic party that included teachers of the Torah (Luke 5:17; Acts 5:34) and the scribes. As a lawyer, he was “concerned about the administration and understanding of the law (cf. Matthew 22:35; Luke 7:30; Luke 14:3).”[12] A modern day equivalent of a lawyer would be a seminary professor, an Old Testament scholar. And specifically to the lawyers He pronounced three woes against them because as the seminary professors of the day, they made the Law a burden for the people. Then our LORD and Saviour asks the lawyers and Pharisees, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?” (Luke 14:3)

This reminds me of Luke 13:10-17 when Dr. Luke tells us the response of the indignant synagogue ruler after Jesus healed the woman who had some form of scoliosis for 18 years in Luke 13:14 when he said “There are six days on which men ought to work; therefore come and be healed on them, and not on the Sabbath day.” (cf. Exodus 20:9; Exodus 23:12; Leviticus 23:3; Deuteronomy 5:13). That word “ought” is important because in the original Greek (G1163 δει dei) that word means that its necessary, which is a direct hit at Jesus who had “worked” on the sabbath in healing this old woman.^[13] The Theological Dictionary of the New Testament states that this term denotes the element of necessity in an event especially regarding ethical or religious obligations backed by statute.^[14] When he says, “it is necessary,” the indignant ruler was saying that God commanded to work on the six days, and that healing should not be done on the Sabbath, thus equating the act of healing as work.^[15] The Law, as expounded in the schools of the rabbis, allowed physicians to act in cases of emergency, but not in chronic diseases^[16] such as this of the woman in Luke 13:10-17.

The fourth commandment, given by God to Moses and the children of Israel is about the Sabbath (Exodus 20:8-11). The word “Sabbath” means, “rest” and it begins at sundown Friday night and ends on sundown Saturday night. The Sabbath has its beginning in creation (Genesis 2:2-3). For the Jew’s, resting on the seventh day was not only a beneficial thing for their bodies, but also for their animals that did work (Exodus 20:10; Deuteronomy 5:14). There was to be absolutely no work done (Exodus 20:10; Leviticus 23:3), no could be bought or sold (Nehemiah 10:31; Nehemiah 13:15-17), and no burdens were to be carried (Nehemiah 13:19; Jeremiah 17:21). The idea of making the Sabbath a day of rest was so that God’s people would not have anything hindering them from worshipping God. The only work that God allowed His people to do on the Sabbath was anything that was associated with worshipping God (Numbers 28:9; Matthew 12:5; John 7:23). Worship and prayer were to be done (Ezekiel 46:3; Acts 16:13) as well as reading from the Scriptures (Acts 13:27; Acts 15:21) and teaching from the Word of God (Acts 13:14-15; Acts 13:44; Acts 17:2; Acts 18:4). Keeping the Sabbath was to be a great testimony to the surrounding pagan nations, for to them, it was just another day. Not working for one day can mean not making money, which can be scary, but as the people of God, they needed to trust in God for everything and that He will provide all that they need (Psalm 23:1; Philippians 4:19). Its trusting that He knows what is best for His people. Nehemiah dealt with this after he rebuilt the wall of Jerusalem (Nehemiah 10:31; Nehemiah 13:15-22). This is the only commandment that is not repeated in the New Testament as a commandment for us today. The writer of Hebrews tells us that the Sabbath was a foreshadowing of the rest that we find in Jesus (Hebrews 4:1-16). The reason that we now worship on Sunday is because Jesus rose from the dead on a Sunday (Matthew 28:1-8; Mark 16:1-11; Luke 24:1-12 John 20:1-10). Dr. Luke records for us in Acts 20:7 that the early church gathered “on the first day of the week”. Paul, writing to the Corinthian church encouraged the saints to take up a collection for the saints in need in Jerusalem when they gathered for worship “On the first day of the week” (1 Corinthians 16:1-4). Paul does state though that it really doesn’t matter what day we worship on (Romans 14:5-6; Colossians 2:16-17), for every day we ought to worship Jesus. By the time of this incident, the Pharisees had added their interpretations of the Law and actually onto the Law itself. Some of the restrictions that the Rabbis put on the people regarding the Sabbath: If you lifted something in a public place, you could only set it down in a private place, and vice versa. If you tossed something in the air and caught it with the other hand, this was prohibited, yet if you catch it with the same hand that tossed it, that was ok. If a person reached out to get some food just as the Sabbath started, you had to drop the food, and bring the arm back, because you were forbidden to carry anything on the Sabbath. It was not allowed to carry something heavier them a dried fig, but if the fig was divided into two pieces, you can carry them one at a time. You could not shake our your clothes before getting dresses because you might accidentally kill an insect. Warm water could not be poured into cold water, but cold water could be poured into warm water. You were not allowed to bathe on the Sabbath because if you spilled water on the floor, the floor would be cleaned and that was work. Moving a chair was not allowed since it might make a rut in the dirt floor, which is similar to plowing and thus not allowed. A lamp could not be lit or extinguished on the Sabbath. Women were forbidden to look into a mirror on the Sabbath because they might see that they have a white hair and try to pull it out! If a person had false teeth, they were not allowed to wear them because if the teeth fall out, that person will bend down to get them and carry them, and you are not allowed to bear a burden of the Sabbath. You couldn’t tie knots and untie knots; you couldn’t sweep dirt up and could not break up a clod of dirt. A radish may be dipped into salt, but not left in too long, since this would be to make pickle. If you break a bone on the Sabbath, it cannot be set, and there was to be no medical procedures done, unless it was a life-threatening situation. If a person had chickens for the purpose of getting eggs, and a hen laid an egg on the Sabbath, the egg was forbidden. But if the reason you had the hen was to fatten her up and eventually eat her, and she laid an egg on the Sabbath, the egg could be eaten because now it was a part of the chicken that had fallen off![17]

The Pharisees also taught that before you sat down to eat, the proper way to wash your hands was to wash all the way up to the elbow (Mark 7:1-5). To fail to do so was a grievous crime and inviting Shibta, an evil spirit to have permission to sit on the food of the one who failed to properly wash, and cause great harm to him.

In the book of Acts we are told about “a Sabbath day’s journey” (Acts 1:12), which the Pharisees declared to be 2,000 cubits, or 3,000 feet. This dictated that a person could not travel more than 3,000 feet from his home (Exodus 16:29), and they got this distance from Numbers 35:4-5 and Joshua 3:1-4. But, there was a couple of way around this. One of the ways was to take a piece of wood or a rope and strung it across the end of a narrow street or alley, it formed a doorway, thus making it your home. What a person could do before the start of the Sabbath was to take a plate of food and carry it 3,000 feet away from your house. Thus making that place where they put the food as another home![18]

Jesus addressed these traditions of men in Mark 7:7-9, stating: “And in vain they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ For laying aside the commandment of God, you hold the tradition of men—the washing of pitchers and cups, and many other such things you do.” He said to them, “All too well you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your tradition.”

So when Jesus looks at the lawyers and the Pharisees and asks, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?” (Luke 14:3), there is more to this question then we realize, for Jesus knew all about their traditions and additions to the Law that they placed on the people.

Luke 14:4 “But they kept silent.” The fact the Jesus answered their thoughts, and asked them if it is allowed by the Law to heal on the Sabbath kept them silent.

Luke 14:4 “And He took him and healed him,” It is not redundant use, “took and healed,” but “took hold of him and healed him.” Only instance in the N. T. of its use in a case of healing.^[19]

Luke 14:4 “and let him go.” (ἀπελυσεν [apelusen]). Probably, dismissed from the company to get him away from these critics.^[20] Jesus answered their condemning thoughts that healing on the Sabbath was not allowed.

Luke 14:5 “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?” The manuscripts are much divided between υἱος [huios] (son) and ὀνος [onos] (ass) which in the abbreviated uncials looked much alike (YC, OC) and were much alike. The sentence in the Greek reads literally thus: Whose ox or ass of you shall fall (πεσειται [peseitai], future middle of πιπτο [pipto]) into a well and he (the man) will not straightway draw him up (ἀνασπασει [anaspasei], future active of ἀνασπαω [anaspaō]) on the sabbath day? The very form of the question is a powerful argument and puts the lawyers and the Pharisees hopelessly on the defensive.^[21] Again we are brought back to the previous chapter, when Jesus responds the indignant ruler of the synagogue in Luke 13:15. What Jesus is saying here in our text this morning, as well as from Luke 13:15 is that if this is permissible for animals, surely the relief of human suffering is even more permissible.^[22] In Proverbs 12:10 Solomon wrote “A righteous man regards the life of his animal, But the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel.” The Mishnah presupposes that cattle may go out on a Sabbath—provided that they do not carry burdens (Shabbat 5:1–4). There was dispute as to what kinds of knots might be tied or untied on the Sabbath; despite the general prohibition (Shab. 7:2; 15:1), it was permissible to tie up cattle lest they stray (Shab. 15:2). Moreover, special provisions were made so that cattle might be watered at wells without transgressing the limits for Sabbath travel (Erub. 2:1–4); the Qumran sect limited to 2000 cubits the distance that cattle might be taken in order to pasture them (CD 11:5f.).^[23] Again, Jesus here is pointing out that a person is much more important than an animal, and His enemies saw nothing wrong in helping their animals on the Sabbath.^[24] It brings to mind what Jesus said after He healed the man with the withered hand at the second Sabbath controversy in Luke 6:1–11. “Then Jesus said to them, “I will ask you one thing: Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy?”” (Luke 6:9) What Jesus was saying there, as well as here in our text today, our Lord teaches the great ethical principle, that to neglect any opportunity of doing good is to incur the guilt of doing evil.^[25] For there is evidence that the Sabbath-law has become stricter than it had been, since, for instance, the practice of taking an ox or an ass out of a pit, to which our Saviour alludes (Luke 14:5) as uncontroverted, would now no longer be lawful, unless, indeed, the animal were in actual danger of life; otherwise, it is to receive food and water in the pit.[26]

03. Silence (Luke 14:6)

Luke 14:6 “And they could not answer Him regarding these things.” (οὐκ ἰσχυσαν ἀνταποκριθηναι [ouk ischusan antapokrithēnai]). In the Greek it is Did not have strength to answer back...They could not take up the argument and were helpless. They hated to admit that they cared more for an ox or ass or even a son than for this poor dropsical man.^[27] We saw this same silence from His adversaries after Jesus healed the woman in Luke 13:17, “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.” The Pharisee here in our account, by inviting Jesus over for the Sabbath feast feigned friendship and respect, for he did so to try to trap Jesus in some sin or breaking from the Traditions of men. As we have seen, the Kingdom of God is small (Cf. Luke 13:18-35), but there will be those in the church who are “certain men that have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men, who turn the grace of our God into lewdness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Jude 4) At the same time in our churches today you will find those who make the life of the church miserable, insisting on the outward appearances of religion and not concerned with the contextual teaching of the Word of God. That’s why Paul warned the Ephesian elders in Acts 20:28–30.

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^[1] Mangum, D., & Babota, V. (2016). Sanhedrin. In J. D. Barry, D. Bomar, D. R. Brown, R. Klippenstein, D. Mangum, C. Sinclair Wolcott, … W. Widder (Eds.), The Lexham Bible Dictionary. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.

^[2] Mangum, D., & Babota, V. (2016). Sanhedrin. In J. D. Barry, D. Bomar, D. R. Brown, R. Klippenstein, D. Mangum, C. Sinclair Wolcott, … W. Widder (Eds.), The Lexham Bible Dictionary. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.

^[3] Robertson, A. T. (1933). Word Pictures in the New Testament (Lk 14:1). Nashville, TN: Broadman Press.

^[4] Robertson, A. T. (1933). Word Pictures in the New Testament (Lk 14:1). Nashville, TN: Broadman Press.

^[5] Robertson, A. T. (1933). Word Pictures in the New Testament (Lk 14:2). Nashville, TN: Broadman Press.

[6] http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=13311

[7] http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=13311

^[8] Martin, J. A. (1985). Luke. In J. F. Walvoord & R. B. Zuck (Eds.), The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures (Vol. 2, p. 242). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.

^[9] Plummer, A. (1896). A critical and exegetical commentary on the Gospel according to S. Luke (p. 354). London: T&T Clark International.

^[10] Martin, J. A. (1985). Luke. In J. F. Walvoord & R. B. Zuck (Eds.), The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures (Vol. 2, p. 242). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.

[11] Strong, J. (2009). A Concise Dictionary of the Words in the Greek Testament and The Hebrew Bible (Vol. 1, p. 50). Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software

[12] Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, Abridged in One Volume (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1985 W. Gutbrod, nomikós, p655

^[13] Robertson, A. T. (1933). Word Pictures in the New Testament (Lk 13:14). Nashville, TN: Broadman Press.

^[14] Kittel, G., Friedrich, G., & Bromiley, G. W. (1985). Theological Dictionary of the New Testament (p. 140). Grand Rapids, MI: W.B. Eerdmans.

^[15] Lenski, R. C. H. (1961). The Interpretation of St. Luke’s Gospel (pp. 737–738). Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg Publishing House.

^[16] Spence-Jones, H. D. M. (Ed.). (1909). St Luke (Vol. 2, p. 3). London; New York: Funk & Wagnalls Company.

[17] cf. Alfred Edersheim, The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah [Peabody; Hendrickson, 1993], Appendix 17, p1046-56, 2.777-87

[18] Edersheim, Alfred. The Temple and its Services p56

^[19] Robertson, A. T. (1933). Word Pictures in the New Testament (Lk 14:4). Nashville, TN: Broadman Press.

^[20] Robertson, A. T. (1933). Word Pictures in the New Testament (Lk 14:4). Nashville, TN: Broadman Press.

^[21] Robertson, A. T. (1933). Word Pictures in the New Testament (Lk 14:5). Nashville, TN: Broadman Press.

^[22] Kittel, G., Friedrich, G., & Bromiley, G. W. (1985). Theological Dictionary of the New Testament (p. 1251). Grand Rapids, MI: W.B. Eerdmans.

^[23] Marshall, I. H. (1978). The Gospel of Luke: a commentary on the Greek text (pp. 558–559). Exeter: Paternoster Press.

^[24] Martin, J. A. (1985). Luke. In J. F. Walvoord & R. B. Zuck (Eds.), The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures (Vol. 2, p. 240). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.

^[25] Jamieson, R., Fausset, A. R., & Brown, D. (1997). Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (Vol. 2, p. 104). Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.

[26] Edersheim, Alfred. The Temple and its Services p56

^[27] Robertson, A. T. (1933). Word Pictures in the New Testament (Lk 14:6). Nashville, TN: Broadman Press.