It has been a day of diligence, Father, but much was accomplished in getting ready for the beginning of the school year. Thank You, for the progress I made.
Luke 14:1-6 (<<click here to read the passage)
Did you ever hear the story about the pastor who was invited to have dinner with one of his church families? There were several older children in the home and the mother had laid out a wonderful spread of delicious foods. The main course was broiled pork chops and they were out of this world! Things were wrapping up and there just happened to be one pork chop left on the platter. The pastor was eyeing it but was hesitant to take it. All of a sudden the lights when out and the room went dark! Out of the darkness, there arose a blood-curdling scream and then the lights popped back on. There sat the pastor in excruciating pain with his hand over the pork chop and a half dozen forks protruding from his hand!
Now the pastor wasn’t deliberately set up for this situation, but he definitely became the victim of the circumstances!
In today’s passage, Jesus was invited to a leading Pharisee’s home for a meal. And their goal was nefarious! The Amplified Bible states,
“…they were watching Him closely and carefully [hoping to entrap Him].” v1
First of all, to me, that just sounds nasty! They really didn’t care who He was. They had no intention of learning anything from Him. The just wanted to get rid of Him…so they set Him up.
Strategically placed right “in front of Him was a man who had dropsy (extreme swelling).” v2 AMP
Today this poor man may have been diagnosed with edema (retention of fluid). Many people struggle with it. This condition usually occurs in your feet, legs, or ankles. However, it can also occur in your hands, your face, or any other part of the body.
It can be attributed to heart failure, kidney disease, liver issues, such as cirrhosis, thyroid disorders – to name just a few serious illnesses with which an individual could be dealing.
That’s serious stuff! But that was of no concern to the “religious” leadership. That poor man was just a tool to be used to meet the desired end.
Of course, Jesus knew what they were up to. So, He flat out asked them,
“Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath, or not?” v3
The rats that they were, were caught in their own trap. What were they to say? They wanted to yell, “No!” but they knew Jesus’ take on it so “they kept silent.”
Jesus not thwarted in the least, “took hold of the man and healed him, and sent him on his way.” v4
Then Jesus turned to those ne’er-do-wells and said, and the New Living Translation puts it so well,
“Which of you doesn’t work on the Sabbath? If your son or your cow falls into a pit, don’t you rush to get him out?” v5
It is easy to wonder how their vision could have become so skewed! The purveyors of the Law were totally out of touch with the Law. Sure, they could rattle off all kinds of questions and answers, but it was all in their heads, and very little, if any, had trickled down to their hearts.
Deuteronomy 9:10 tells us that the core of the Law, the Ten Commandments, were given to Moses on “two tablets of stone written with the finger of God.” AMP The problem was our hearts became stone. That was not God’s intent.
Eventually, through the words of Ezekiel the prophet, God said,
“I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart.” Ezekiel 36:26b NLT
Lord Jesus, we need a heart transplant! Write Your words on our hearts so that we may not just know them but that we may live them! Amen!
Sept 1st, 2020, Tues, 7:28 pm
