On a sabbath Jesus went to dine at the home of one of the leading Pharisees, and the people there were observing him carefully. In front of him there was a man suffering from dropsy.
I sometimes read scripture and stumble on words or phrases.
What does that mean?
What is the significance of a Biblical custom that I am not familiar?
When I search further the passage becomes more alive. I often feel as if I am in an Anthropology course. In a way we are.
So when I read the word “dropsy”, I asked my wife, Anna, what it was. She basically said it was congestive heart failure characterized by edema. A good brother in Christ, Dennis, died of this disease at 45. That brought the passage home to me. I knew what now in 21st Century terms what issue the man was suffering . We also know that the man who was ill must have been a Pharisee or a noble person who was a friend. We usually invite people to dine with us who are in our social community.
Jesus is fighting with the mindset that the Law is supreme and reason should take a back seat. I think all of us try to follow the commandment to make holy the Lord’s Day. However, Nurses and Doctors work on Sunday. Priests work on Sunday. I don’t like having the meetings on Sunday but even my Knights of Columbus Assembly meeting is on Sunday night. Nonetheless, that is the point we have to do certain things. This week we had a sewer backup and all other plans stopped until it was fixed.
Think how lucky the man with dropsy was. The Pharisees we not interested in the healing of this man, but in judging Jesus. The man with the dropsy was not judging. He was looking for healing.
What is Jesus message?
Simple! We help others when we can. It doesn’t matter if they are for us or against. It doesn’t matter if it is on Sunday or any other day of the week. It may not be convenient. They may be immoral. Mostly, we cannot judge them if we help them.
God Love You Always
Bob Burford
PS: Pray for all those with Cancer. In addition I have a new request. Pray for my God Son, AJ. His parents are considering pulling the plug on this 24 year old young man. He has multiple medical problems. He has the mental capacity of a 5 year old. Most doctors would have given up on him at 15. He is alive today mostly because of his mom and dad (mostly his mom) . His blood oxygen is extremely low and the doctors have no solution. Pray for him and his parents.
Picture Credit :“124/365” by Kim Siever is marked with CC PDM 1.0
