Luke 14 1-6

(1) And it came to pass, as he went into the house of one of the chief Pharisees to eat bread on the sabbath day, that they watched him. (2) And, behold, there was a certain man before him which had the dropsy. (3) And Jesus answering spake unto the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath day? (4) And they held their peace. And he took him, and healed him, and let him go; (5) and answered them, saying, Which of you shall have an ass or an ox fallen into a pit, and will not straightway pull him out on the sabbath day? (6) And they could not answer him again to these things.

 Here I think Jesus is providing this healing to make a point. First let’s look at what dropsy is. Swelling of tissue usually due to accumulation of excess water. Though there are many illnesses that can cause this, some are pretty serious. None the less, another miracle is about to take place. Jesus goes into a house of one of the pharisees to eat on the sabbath. Jesus notices am man with the dropsy condition. I am sure Jesus already knows what is going though the pharisee’s minds, and that is why before He does anything he ask the question is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath. We do notice that a lot of the miracles do happen on the Sabbath, we will do a very in debt study on the sabbath, but not today. Jesus goes on to heal the man, and the pharisees had nothing to say.

 Notice Jesus is the one who notices the man. Just like the previous study, nothing suggests the man came to Jesus or was brought to Him by someone else. God’s love and God’s grace is always looking for everyone. It does not matter about the time, whereabouts, "laws’ etc. just as we spoke last week. What God is willing to do for us oversteps anything that man has put in place to be a roadblock. Jesus knew how the pharisees felt about the sabbath but was not going to allow His mercy to be denied. Jesus’s work is to be done every day, ministry is to be taken care of when needed at any moment. The man with the dropsy must have been friends with the pharisees to be there, but seems like they themselves had no interest in his healing. Can you imagine what the pharisees were thinking when Jesus heals him.

 One other thought. We should always be looking for those in need to be of help. We need to be more diligent of our surroundings. There are people we come across every day who are hurting in some form of fashion. Even saying, "good morning” can change a life. Fulfilling the needs of others isn’t always physical, but even a few kind words can go along way. What is on the "sabbath”, we did nothing to help our neighbors, not very Christlike according to the scriptures.

2 Corinthians 9:8  And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work

2 Corinthians 8:7  Therefore, as ye abound in every thing, in faith, and utterance, and knowledge, and in all diligence, and in your love to us, see that ye abound in this grace also.

Philippians 2:4  Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others

1 John 3:17  But whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?

Romans 15:1  We then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves.