"Is it lawful to cure on the sabbath or not?"

 

Scripture readings for this reflection can be found at Friday of the Thirtieth Week in Ordinary Time | USCCB

In our gospel we see another confrontation between the Pharisees and Jesus. There he was having dinner in one of their homes, and yet they were looking for ways to jump on him and accuse him of breaking the Jewish laws. We hear in the gospel, “…the people were observing him carefully.”  (Luke 14:1) It’s as if Jesus is being put on the spot.

For the Jewish people, the most important thing in their relationship with God is to make sure they meticulously keep the laws out of fear of being condemned by God. They failed to see that the laws did not prevent them from doing good on the Sabbath. They fell silent when Jesus asked them, “Is it lawful to cure on the sabbath or not?” (Luke 14:3) The Pharisees' silence reveals their unwillingness to answer, as they know their own beliefs are flawed. They value their traditions more than the man's suffering.

Jesus goes on to heal the man with dropsy and then teaches that helping those in need doesn’t break the Sabbath laws but instead fulfills the laws of Love that comes from God. Further, the Lord is teaching us that we are to move beyond being legalistic and to remember that, while it’s important to keep the commandments of God, we should not ignore the needs of those around us as we attempt to keep God’s laws. 

This gospel is a call to prioritize mercy over legalism. It challenges us to examine our own lives and see where we might be putting rules and regulations ahead of people. 

This gospel is another example of what the Lord teaches us elsewhere in the gospels: we are to not only love God with our whole mind, heart and soul, but we are to love our neighbors as ourselves. This includes even giving them help when it might not be convenient. It’s not always easy, but we need to see the Lord in all people we meet and reach out to them in their need, as the Lord reached out to this man with dropsy. In this way, the Lord can work through us to bring healing to those we encounter each day. In doing so, we will be bringing the Love of God to those in most need of receiving God’s love and healing.