Luke 14:1-6

Butler's Comments

SECTION 1

Good (Luke 14:1-6)

14One sabbath when he went to dine at the house of a ruler who belonged to the Pharisees, they were watching him.2 And behold, there was a man before him who had dropsy. 3And Jesus spoke to the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath, or not? 4But they were silent. Then he took him and healed him, and let him go. 5And he said to them, Which of you, having a son or an ox that has fallen into a well, will not immediately pull him out on a sabbath day? 6And they could not reply to this.

Luke 14:1-2 Cordiality: Apparently Jesus received numerous invitations to dine in the homes of Pharisees. Earlier, in the Later Judean ministry, in the fall of A.D. 29, he was invited to a Pharisee's home for a meal (cf. Luke 11:37 ff.). That invitation was after the Feast of Tabernacles (September) and before the Feast of Dedication (December). This dinner invitation is in the Later Perean ministry, probably in January or February, A.D. 30. Jesus was cordial to all meneven to Pharisees and when invited always accepted and made the most of every situation for God.

A study of Jewish meal customs of the first century furnishes interesting background for this dinner invitation to Jesus. Plutarch, the Greek historian (46-119 A.D.) wrote: The Hebrews honor the Sabbath chiefly by inviting each other to drinking and intoxication. Not all Hebrews were this self-indulgent, but many of them were, especially the Pharisees who indulged themselves privately and pretended publicly to be very religious men.
Jews of the first century usually ate only twice daily. The first meal was anytime from early morning to noon, depending on the occupation of the head of the house and the social rank of the family. The evening meal came usually at sunset when the working day had ended and was the principal meal. The Hebrew diet was more varied than one might expect in light of so many dietary laws. Vegetables such as beans, cucumbers, onions, garlic, leeks, lentils (peas), carob pods, wild gourds, squash and others were served. Varieties of fruits, such as grapes, figs, olives, mulberries, pomegranates, oranges, lemons, melons, dates, almonds and walnuts were also common. Bread made from wheat, often leavened (except on Sabbath), was usually eaten warm and served with sour wine or meat gravy. Kosher meat for the more affluent tables might be mutton, goat, fish, beef, and sometimes wild game. Milk, cheese, butter and some eggs (fish and locust) were included in some meals.

The rich (Pharisees and others) usually reclined upon dining couches in imitation of Greek and Roman ways of dining. A triclinium is a long couch, large enough for three people to recline on as they ate. The ruler of the feast in John 2:9 is called in Greek, architriklinos, literally, the ruling triclinium person. Knives, forks and spoons were not used to eat withknives were used to prepare the meals. Contents of the meat and gravy bowl were taken either with the fingers or placed on a piece of bread (sopped or dipped) and carried to the mouth. The houses of the rich were large and it was customary for the poor and curious to come into the dining room to stand and watch the rich indulge. Pharisees enjoyed such ostentation. There was always a pecking order or seating arrangement at formal dinners according to importance or popularity and places of honor were rigidly observed.

The man who invited Jesus to dine was a ruler who belonged to the Pharisees. Not all the Jewish rulers were Pharisees, and not all Pharisees were rulers. This man must have been a member of the local Sanhedrin. Each city and village had its local Sanhedrin or ruling body to settle religious and civil affairs. There was the Great Sanhedrin in Jerusalem (like our Supreme Court and Congress all in one body). There were other Pharisees present at this dinner where Jesus was a guest. The invitation extended to Jesus was not out of cordiality or hospitality. They were watching Him. The Greek word is parateroumenoi. The prepositional prefix, para, intensifies the participle, meaning they were watching intently with a sinister motive, or watching Him like a hawk hoping to find something in His behavior or teaching by which they might accuse Him as a lawbreaker.

These Pharisees were watching Jesus because they saw a man there with dropsy and they knew Jesus-' reputation for healingeven on the sabbath. This man was not one of the invited guests, but one of the onlookers. It was a custom of those days to allow the poor and curious to enter the courtyards of the rich and be spectators at formal dinners and feasts. The Greek word hydropikos is translated dropsy and is related to the Greek word hydor which means, water. Dropsy, in modern medical language called edema, is a condition in which the tissues retain too much fluid. It may be caused by heart disease, kidney disease, or other infections, and may be fatal. In those days it was incurable. The Pharisees saw to it that this afflicted man was placed right in front of Jesus (Gr. emprosthen) so He would be forced into some choice. Would He ignore the man?, That would contradict His reputation for compassion. Would He heal the man on the sabbath? That would add to the accusations the Pharisees already had against Him. Perhaps the Pharisees doubted that Jesus could cure the man and they would have evidence once for all that He was an imposter.

Luke 14:3-6 Compassion: All their conniving was to no avail. Jesus destroyed any possibility that they could represent Him as a lawbreaker or an inconsiderate pretender. He knew exactly what they intended, so He put the onus on them by asking the question, Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath, or not? It is always lawful to do good on the sabbath (see comments Luke 13:10-17). The Greek word exestin is an impersonal verb meaning, it is permitted, or, it is possible. As we have pointed out in Luke 13:10-17, even their own traditions permitted care and the practice of medicine on the seriously ill on the sabbath. There is Jewish legend that Hillel (famous rabbi), before he became a rabbi, was found once half-frozen under masses of snow in the lecture room of certain teachers where he had hidden himself to profit by their great wisdom. He had to hide because he had been unable to earn the fee for entrance as a pupil. These teachers found him and rubbed and resuscitated him, even though it was the sabbath day. They are reported to have said that such a dedicated student was one for whose sake it was well worth while to break the sabbath.

His antagonists could not answer the righteousness of the question. They were silent because they knew if they denied the lawfulness of healing on the sabbath they would be exposed for the hypocrites they were and, of course, they did not want to say it was lawful to heal on the sabbath and contradict their own traditions. Jesus took hold of the man (Gr. epilabomenos), to demonstrate the power was from Him. After He had healed the man, Jesus dismissed him from the room (Gr. apelusen, loosed him from) to prevent the Pharisees from persecuting him as they sometimes did to those Jesus healed (cf. John 9:1 ff.), Then Jesus exposed their inhumanness with His reminder that when they had a son or an ox fall into a well they would go immediately, even on the sabbath, and pull him out. The ancient manuscripts are about equally divided over which is the proper wordingwhether it should be son or ass. The Alexandriunus, Vaticanus, Bezae and other lesser manuscripts have the Greek huios or son. The Sinaiticus, Cyprius, Freerianus and others have the Greek onos or ass. Jesus is demanding that what ever the Pharisees permitted themselves to do on the sabbath for their own benefit, they must ethically and lawfully allow the Son of God to do for the benefit of others!

So here in the midst of the Lord's last three months of evangelism, the Pharisees give Him an opportunity to display unequivocally the way to please God. Jesus exposes the graphic contrast between the hypocrisy and inhumanity of the Pharisees (who considered themselves the only people pleasing to God) and His own compassion and truthfulness. Jesus made so plain the essence of God's will no one could contradict it. The true disciple will follow Jesus-' teaching.

Applebury's Comments

Jesus Healed a Man With Dropsy
Scripture

Luke 14:1-6 And it came to pass, when he went into the house of one of the rulers of the Pharisees on a sabbath to eat bread, that they were watching him. 2 And behold, there was before him a certain man that had the dropsy. 3 And Jesus answering spake unto the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath, or not? 4 But they held their peace. And he took him, and healed him, and let him go. 5 And he said unto them, Which of you shall have an ass or an ox fallen into a well, and will not straightway draw him up on a sabbath day? 6 And they could not answer again unto these things.

Comments

when he went into the house.He had gone into the house of a ruler of the Pharisees on the sabbath to have a meal. The Pharisee could have been a ruler of the synagogue or he could have held some other position of authority among the Jews.

there was before him a certain man.This sick man was in the immediate presence of Jesus. Had he been invited or was heas in the case of the woman of the city (Luke 8:37-38)one of the poor who had come in uninvited? The fact that Jesus sent him away after the miracle may suggest that he had come in of his own accord. On the other hand, it is possible that he had been invited for the very purpose of baiting a trap for Jesus. The Pharisees were looking for an excuse to destroy Him. Had they heard how He had discredited the Pharisees and lawyers on other occasions (Luke 6:7-11)? Were they aware that Jesus had put His adversaries to shame when He healed the woman with a spirit of infirmity?

Luke says they were watching Him closely. See also Mark 3:2. Other had tried and failed; perhaps they were hoping that they would succeed in embarrassing Him before their own group.

And Jesus answering.A question was implied by the presence of the sick man. In the minds of those watching, the question was this: What will He do? Jesus spoke in answer to the implied question.

Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath, or not?The lawyers, no doubt, who were present had debated the question on many occasions. They should have known the answer. But they were unwilling to risk an answer at this time, so they entered a state of silence and left the issue up to Jesus.

And he took him and healed him.This is evidently what they were hoping He would do. But before they could launch their attack, He fired a question at them that they could not or would not answer.

Which of you shall have an ox or ass fall.When you have an ox or an ass fall into a well, what do you do, even if it is on the sabbath? The answer was clear; they would pull it out. A human being was in distress; Jesus had extended a helping hand, even though it was on the Sabbath.

Some texts add the word son to the list, but there is some question as to the correctness of the text in this matter. The comparison is stronger when it is between the man with dropsy and animals. And they could not answer.He had easily answered the question implied by the presence of the sick man, but they could not refute His logic when He drew the comparison between man and animal. They had to admit that He was right or keep still.