Lurking Watch

I have this crazy idea that God gave us rules to help us not to harm us; to encourage growth not to stifle it. And when we focus so much on the rules that we miss what the rule is about, well, that is when the stifling harm happens. It is the church that thinks its prayers have to be just so and therefore they have a list of people who are not asked to lead prayer. I heard a speaker tell a story about his hometown church. It was a small rural church. One of the members was a mentally challenged young man. We’ll name him Rob. Rob loved church and wanted to participate. The church family loved Rob and they encouraged him to lead the closing prayers. These prayers were often a discussion of where Rob wanted to go eat and a menu of what he wanted to eat that day. Well, is that what the closing prayer is supposed to be about? Is this proper prayer etiquette? It is if corporate prayer is intended to be family approaching their God to commune with him. So, I think this small body of believers got it right.

              Luke 14:1-6 is yet another sabbath encounter. This time it takes place in the home of a certain leader among the Pharisees. Important people gathered for the sabbath meal. And at this particular meal the Pharisees in attendance are watching Jesus closely. The word used here has the idea of watching lurkingly; of watching in order to catch someone at something. Okay, this may imply that they had set a trap or that they were on heightened alert to catch Jesus at something, anything. So, this certain man that was there. We don’t know if he was an invited guest or if he wandered in to be healed by Jesus. He may have been invited as a trap for Jesus or it may have been a serendipitous moment for the Pharisees. The important thing is that this certain man had dropsy, what we call edema. This is a swelling of water in the tissue; usually in the extremities such as the legs or arms. It is not a disease but a symptom. The disease behind this malady can be heart, kidney, or liver failure. So, it can be quite serious and life threatening. The swelling itself can be painful and make it impossible to walk. This certain man may have been close to death and in a lot of pain.

              Jesus responds to the lawyers and Pharisees. These experts in the law of Moses are often grouped with the Pharisees. But what is Jesus responding to? It may be that he is responding to their lurking hearts. His response is a question, “Is it lawful or permitted to heal on the sabbath?” It seems like a straightforward question. Why don’t they just say “no”? Instead they respond with silence. The word Jesus used for healing is always used of miracles and it carries with it the idea of caring for, serving. There are some rabbinical sources that suggest that helping a person on the sabbath is permissible if it is a life and death situation. We don’t know if this certain man had a life-threatening condition. It seems likely that they became silent because Jesus question put them on the spot. Can you care for people on the sabbath? Whether this man was an invited trap or a happy coincidence, they clearly did not care about him or his pain. And even if they did, they could not heal the man anyway. But Jesus could.

              And he did. He took the man and healed him. And Luke used a different word for healing here. This word is more medical. It can refer to medicine. This may simply be rhetoric; using words of similar meaning to add variety to the text. But what if the word used here is more medical to emphasize Jesus’ question? He medically healed him, but it is about caring about this certain man. Jesus sends the man away. And again, the word used here is interesting. It is the same word used in 13:16 when Jesus talks about the woman who was all doubled over being released from her bondage. Jesus has the authority to release. He then wraps the whole thing up by posing another question: “which one of you leaves a donkey or an ox stuck in a pit on the sabbath?” The manuscript is divided between “son” and “donkey” in verse 5. Donkey makes more sense because Jesus’ point is that they care more about their animals than people. The animals did not represent pets. They represented livelihood. They were necessary tools.

              They missed the intent of the sabbath law. Their hearts became lurking because they cared more about the rules than the people the rules were intended to bless. It is the man who attends a conference to gather bullets to shoot at other people or groups. Watching not to learn; not to grow. But watching with a lurking heart hoping to discover faults. It is my prayer that you will be blessed by God’s rules. That your heart will be released from lurking. Jesus is the bondage breaker! Be set free. Grace and peace.