The Banquet. Ronald James Mahler

“work.” No wonder Luke makes a point of noting that Jesus is being “carefully watched” by His detractors (Luke 14:1; Mark 3 records Jesus as being in a similar situation while worshipping in the synagogue).

      Previously in Luke’s Gospel, the Pharisees also endeavour to entrap Jesus (11:53–54). Clearly, there are those among the sect who seek to bring Him down.8 Being the prime ringleaders in the “Never Jesus” movement, the Pharisees are using their numerous failures to terminate His ministry as motivation for catching a red-handed Jesus finally doing something—anything—that will inconvertibly convict Him of being a lawbreaker.

      The Gospel narratives, however, show a divinely forewarned and forearmed Jesus continuously tripping up the Pharisees’ best laid plans to get the better of Him. The Lord will not let the contingent of colluders in His midst off the hook of His accountability. They poked the Lion of Judah, and now they’ll hear the sound of His righteous roar. For starters, Jesus poses a question to the crowd at the feast: “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not?” (Luke 14:3). Notice here that the Lord isn’t asking if work is permitted on the Sabbath but rather if healing is.

      Cue the proverbial sound of a pin dropping in an otherwise deathly silent room. No one is willing to give a response to the moral gauntlet the Saviour has just thrown down by asking a question that has only one possible answer. There is neither a flicker of mercy nor a pinch of compassion to be found among the feast’s attendees for the plight of the infirm man in their company. Rabbis, as part of their man-made regulations, prohibit healing on the Sabbath unless it is feared that the infirm person could die the next day. Nonetheless, if “love” is to do “no harm to a neighbor,” then the Pharisees who preside over the Law are the ones especially guilty this day of breaking the Law (Romans 13:10; see Leviticus 19:18)!

      The Lord surveys the hearts of those assembled around the room, an observation that undoubtedly leaves Him deeply grieved and angry. Unlike humans, God is able to get angry by the right amount, at the right time, at the right people, and for the right reasons. He always responds righteously whenever He is angered. The same proves to be true of our Lord whenever He is put on the spot, as is the case when He attends the esteemed Pharisee’s dinner party.

      Jesus proceeds to touch the dropsy-inflicted man in front of Him (an offensive act to Jews all on its own) and heal him. After the healing takes place, the Lord promptly sends “him on his way” (Luke 14:4). Perhaps Jesus wants to spare the man from having to remain at a gathering that he (as well as the Saviour) may have been invited to under false pretenses.

      In true rabbi fashion, the Lord volleys a subsequent question into the guests’ court relating to lawful actions on the Sabbath. This inquiry is designed to answer the Lord’s initial question in Luke 14:3. “If one of you has a child or an ox that falls into a well on the Sabbath day, will you not immediately pull him out?” (Luke 14:5).