“This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.” – Matthew 15:8
Curiously, Jesus was willing to eat dinner in the home of a religious leader who was a critic and an enemy. The entire reason He was invited over was so they could keep an eye on Him, hopefully finding a reason to condemn Him to death. Their pride, control, and jealousy are on full display in this scene.
Somehow, a man with dropsy appeared in the private residence of a powerful religious leader. It makes you wonder if this was a trap set for Jesus, as this was a Sabbath day, and they considered healing on the Sabbath to be a sinful violation of their religious rules outside of the Bible.
Nonetheless, Jesus is no coward and does not back down from the battle. To understand the suffering man’s condition, “The condition known as dropsy was one of the maladies of Jesus’ day. It is edema, a disease characterized by fluid retention and swelling. Dropsy is a symptom of disease of the heart, liver, kidneys, or brain. The condition involves the accumulation of water fluid in the body cavities or in the limbs.” (1)
In healing the man, Jesus was stepping right into a public fight with religious leaders. He does this over and over by healing on the Sabbath because He abhors religious people who add their rules to God’s Word and treat both with equal authority.
They dare to argue with Jesus. This same religious spirit continues today with those who use religious rules to control people rather than unburden people and help the hurting as Jesus does.
How can you unburden or help someone today?
(1) Trent C. Butler, Luke, vol. 3, Holman New Testament Commentary (Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2000), 241.
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