Luke 14:1-6 Take Care of Your Ox
Format for Your Devotions
Instructions: Do not read my example devotion until you have completed your own devotional time in the scriptures. Reading my thoughts first may limit your own understanding. Let the Holy Spirit speak to you alone before looking to see what anyone else has to say, whether it is me, a Bible commentary, or a friend. Let God speak to you before you let another person speak to you. I have provided a format, but modify it to fit your needs. For example, I usually combine my application and prayer together talking to God about the application to my own life. You can go through this devotion process mentally, speaking out loud, or in writing as you wish. Don’t worry if you are not following this process exactly. Sometimes, I add extra information and sometimes I emphasize one part more than others. However, you should always think about what you learn about God from this passage.
Step 1: Pray–Ask for the Holy Spirit’s guidance first of all and that God may reveal the lessons that He wants you to have that day. Request that God protect you from Satan’s distractions (and the devil will try to distract you whether it is pinching the baby or putting you to sleep). Ask to see God more clearly as you read and think about the passage.
Step 2: Read the passage–Read to get an overview of the information first. Then start looking at specific parts after the first reading. You may read a larger or smaller section than I have here because you do not have to follow my organization at all.
Step 3: Understand the passage–You can summarize, ask and answer your own questions about the passage, visualize the story, analyze the characters, and relate this passage to other scriptures and personal experiences.
Step 4: What does this reveal about God?–What do you learn about the Father, Son, and/or Holy Spirit from this passage?
Step 5: Apply this to your own life.
Step 6: Prayer
My Example Devotion: September 23, 2018 Luke 14:1-6
Note: In the devotion examples, I leave my questions and thought processes in the text because I am trying to demonstrate that a devotional time is a dialogue with God about what you are reading from His word. As such, any questions or ideas that you have should be explored by talking it out with God. These example devotions are not my attempts to teach you what the meaning of a particular scripture is. They are an attempt to teach you the process of devotions, which is a combination of prayer and Bible study where you explore ideas with God as you read His word.
One Sabbath, when he went to dine at the house of a ruler of the Pharisees, they were watching him carefully. And behold, there was a man before him who had dropsy. And Jesus responded to the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath, or not?” But they remained silent. Then he took him and healed him and sent him away. And he said to them, “Which of you, having a son or an ox that has fallen into a well on a Sabbath day, will not immediately pull him out?” And they could not reply to these things.
(Understanding the Text) This is another time when Jesus was eating as a guest of a Pharisee. This Pharisee was wealthy and influential. The SDA commentary says that it MAY have taken place in Peraea sometime after the Feast of Dedication in the winter of A.D. 30-31 and before the spring Passover. It says that the text infers that the healing took place prior to the time they sat down to eat the meal. Jesus did not leave after he sent away the man with dropsy. Instead, he sat down with the Pharisees to eat.
The SDA commentary speaks of the custom of having guests over for Sabbath afternoon lunch. “It seems to have been fairly common among the Jews of Christ’s time to entertain on the Sabbath. The food was, no doubt, prepared the day before and kept warm, or possibly eaten cold. It was considered unlawful to light a fire on the Sabbath (see on Ex. 16:23; 35:3); hence, all food was to be prepared on the day preceding the Sabbath (see on Ex. 16:23). A feast to which friends were invited was commonly viewed as a type of the blessings of eternal life (see on Luke 14:15; cf. COL 219).”
According to the SDA commentary, dropsy is a condition where too much fluid is retained in the system. My guess would be that this would result in a swollen body. The pictures on the internet indicate that I am correct. The modern term is edema. Thus, this man would have been obviously swollen up. How did the man with dropsy get there? This was a private dinner, so not just anybody could wander in. Was he a relative of the Pharisee? Was he planted there by the Pharisees to see what Jesus would do? Was he one of the Pharisees? Did He crash the party in search of healing? It says Jesus sent him on his way, so he evidently did not live in the house where he was dining. On the other hand, that kind of condition would negate traveling for a long period of time.
If I try to picture it, I see them in either the outside courtyard or inside in the front room. Jesus is being introduced to various people and the man with dropsy is sitting down somewhere. Other people are chatting with each other, but when the man with dropsy is introduced to Jesus, some of the guests suddenly stop talking and listen intently to what is said. They know that Jesus has healed on the Sabbath before and want to see if He will do so again. Jesus says hello to the man with dropsy and asks him how he is feeling. Then He looks up at the staring faces and asks whether it is lawful to heal. There is total silence as all the conversations stop. Some are thinking of the best answer and decide not to answer at all. Others are waiting to see what the silent accusers will say. Then, Jesus looks back at the man with dropsy and touches him gently. The crowd is amazed as the swelling goes down and the misshapen man appears healthy and robust with his face no longer a caricature of a human. The man is grateful, but he is also aware of the accusing stares of his fellow guests. Jesus smiles gently at him and tells him to go home. Then as the man exits the area Jesus draws the attention of the other guests away from the man and to Himself by asking if they would leave an animal or a child in a well on the Sabbath. This silences Jesus’ would-be accusers and keeps them from making a big deal over the miracle. I think the man was also a Pharisee; maybe a respected member of the local group. I think to have protested would have meant that they valued an animal over their respected colleague and “friend.” The host, anxious to not have his dinner ruined, quickly asks his guests to go to be seated at the table. Thus, the next part of the drama begins.
(Revelation of God) Jesus had also eaten with a Pharisee in Luke 11:37. In addition, he ate with Simon the Pharisee who had been cured of leprosy. It seems that eating with Pharisees was never without controversy, and it was more relaxing to eat with sinners. I guess it is like commenting on a Facebook post where you know that you are going to get a rain of accusers for your comment, but you feel that you need to put forth a rebuttal to what they say. You go in knowing that you think it’s necessary, but you are not looking forward to the process that will follow. Jesus had to know that when He went into these situations that He would be under fire, yet He went anyway. Why? I understand why with Simon the Leper, but why with the other two situations? Maybe, the Luke 11 situation was because He had something important to tell the leaders who were in charge of His people. This time, maybe it was because there was a man who needed healing and a lesson about the Sabbath to give. The SDA commentary says “There is no Scripture record that Jesus ever refused an invitation, whether it was from Pharisee or publican (see on Mark 2:15-17).” Maybe, He went simply because He was invited, and He used every opportunity He had to interact with all of His people.
(Understanding the Text) “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath, or not?” This was my young friend’s question on Saturday in an altered form. When is it not lawful to heal on the Sabbath? How great does the healing need to be to say that it should be done on the Sabbath? Jesus made the point of routine care being necessary in Luke 13:10-17. Here, Jesus makes the point of emergency help. In both healings, there was nothing life threatening that could not wait, yet Jesus healed the two people on the Sabbath anyway. I guess the emergency situation that Jesus uses as an example was not necessarily life threatening either. The SDA commentary says that Jesus healed people on the Sabbath a total of seven times and that this time was chronologically last. It lists the following verses: Luke 4:33-36, 38, 39; 6:6-10; 13:10-17; 14:2-4; John 5:5-10; 9:1-14.
(Prayer / Application) What does this mean for health care workers who work in non-Adventist healthcare situations? I don’t know the answer, and my friend needs it, so please give her the answers. In both cases, the healing was complete and was a one-time situation; however, it could be argued that there would always be more one-time situations. Pay or no pay? That is also a question. I would solve it for myself as my friend did by saying that I would come in for no pay on that day, but in our Adventist institutions our healthcare workers are paid for the Sabbaths that they work. Also, is it fair to say that other health care workers will have to work on Sabbath because an Adventist refuses to even though other Adventist healthcare workers do? I know that there is not a one-size-fits-all answer for this, but I am not even sure of the principles involved.
My application for myself is to not judge people for how they keep the Sabbath. There are a lot of cases where there are gray areas, and each person must do as the Holy Spirit directs them. My other application is that I would have a hard time going into the situations that Jesus went into. I am socially awkward with small talk and too empathetic about others’ feelings so that it stresses me out. How do I follow where You direct me to go? I need Your help to not mess things up. I would rather walk by myself in the Flint Hills park than socialize, but I know that You want me to interact with others.