Friday in the 30th Week of Ordinary Time, October 30, 2020

Luke 14:1-6

On a sabbath Jesus went to dine at the home of one of the leading Pharisees, and the people there were observing him carefully. In front of him there was a man suffering from dropsy. Jesus spoke to the scholars of the law and Pharisees in reply, asking, “Is it lawful to cure on the sabbath or not?” But they kept silent; so he took the man and, after he had healed him, dismissed him. 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?” But they were unable to answer his question.

We read and study the Holy Gospels in order to learn about Jesus so that we can love him the more.  The writers of the Gospels write in order to tell us about the One whom they love above even themselves.  We study the laws Jesus gives us in the Gospels so that we may know them, but more essentially, we learn about them because of what they tell us about him.  Likewise, we study his miracles in order to learn about the One who performed them.

In the Gospel reading for today’s Mass we see the Lord perform a miracle, and then hear him talk about it, reacting to the people who witnessed it.  The Lord Jesus has been invited by a “leading Pharisee” to dinner on the Sabbath at his house.  This dinner was attended by a large number of scribes and Pharisees.  The translation here tells us that “the people there were observing him carefully”, but this is not quite correct.  It is better to say, simply, They were watching him.  They were paying attention to him, but not staring at him and taking notes.  Now, we are also told that a man “in front of him” suffered from dropsy.  “Dropsy”, derived from the Greek hydrōpikos, is a mostly obsolete name for a buildup of fluid (hence the “hydro” in the Greek word) in the arms or legs resulting from poor circulation, or heart, liver, or kidney problems.  Stiffening of the limbs and difficulty of movement comes from this swelling.  The condition itself may not be life threatening but the problems it indicates could be.  Jesus was also watching the people around him, paying attention to them.  Perhaps the stiff and labored movements of this man, whoever he was, attracted his attention.  The man himself may have wanted to attract the Lord’s attention to his plight, without saying anything.  The problem he faced was that he wanted to be cured, but it was the Sabbath.  On the other hand, he did not know if he would ever see Jesus again after this opportunity had passed.

Jesus asked a question of the gathering of Pharisees and scholars of the law: “Is it lawful to cure on the sabbath or not?”  He brings up a good theological question, one not addressed by the Torah.  The Pharisees taught that there existed an “oral Torah”, laws, judgments, and interpretations of the written Torah which were handed down from one generation to the next.  Until it was written down after the destruction of the Temple in 70 A.D., there was room for debate about how it applied to different situations not addressed by the written Torah.  Jesus asked his question, but the scholars of the law, the Pharisees present, and the “leading Pharisee” “kept silent”.  No discussion hummed, no requests for clarification of the question, no words at all.  This is truly worth pondering.  Were these highly educated men stumped?  Or were they afraid that Jesus was leading them into a trap?  But no one dared to answer him.

We can imagine that Jesus looked around at the men gathered around him.  Did any of them look him in the eye or did they avert their gazes?  At first they were all watching him, but now they are watched by him.  Some little time must have passed.  As an answer to his own question, “he took the man and, after he had healed him, dismissed him.”  The healing would have happened instantaneously and the man would have left at once, the swelling gone and the underlying cause cured.  Still, none of the guests responded.  

The Lord looked around him again and explained, “Who among you, if your son or ox falls into a cistern, would not immediately pull him out on the sabbath day?”  That is, it would be cruel to withhold aid in an emergency, when one could provide it.  Jesus looks at the problem from the sick man’s point of view: for the very ill, those suffering from a serious injury, those who are without food or shelter, every moment is an emergency.  These do not get a day off.  Jesus does not see the law as restricting movement but as making it possible.  Not only is curing a sick man allowable on the Sabbath, but the Sabbath is the perfect day for doing so.  The law of the Sabbath, properly understood, frees a person from regular responsibilities precisely so that he can perform good works and serve God more directly and generously than possible during the workday.  

“But they were unable to answer his question.”  We see starkly displayed before us the very different way Jesus had of looking at the world and how the Jewish leaders did, and how we often do as well.  Where we see reasons not to do something, Jesus sees opportunities for service.  Where we see the need to cling to power and prerogative, Jesus sees surrendering to the will of the Father.  Where we reel from the demands of obedience, Jesus readily obeys.  Where we see the only answer to our personal problem as the death of an innocent person, Jesus sees a life as precious as his own, and worth dying for.  Where we see the greatest good for the greatest number, Jesus sees how each person should be treated with the dignity to be accorded to one created by God in his image and likeness.  

How can we see as Jesus sees?  We read the Scriptures, we meditate on them, and we pray for his grace.  He will see the sinner watching him in good faith, and transform him into a saint.