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✠ In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit ✠
It was the Sabbath day. Jesus had been invited to eat at the house of one of the religious leaders. But the invitation was not necessarily extended to honor Jesus. The Gospel says that they were watching Jesus closely, scrutinizing Him to see if they might be able to find some problem with Him.
Now there was a particular man at this meal who had what the Scriptures call “dropsy.” Today we would call it “edema” a condition where fluid collects in the joints and the tissues causing severe swelling. Some of you have had to deal with something like that with the swelling of your feet or legs or arms. We can take water pills for it nowadays. Of course, back then, there was no such thing. And this man’s condition was probably worse than mere water retention. It was something that would’ve caused a good deal of suffering, both because of the physical pain and because of the outward disfigurement that resulted.
And so Jesus, knowing the thoughts of those at the table with Him, answers their thinking by asking them a question. “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?” You see, the religious leaders had taken God’s command not to work on the Sabbath and had made up all sorts of additional rules about what was permissible and what was not. For instance, they said you could only travel so far on the Sabbath, and if you went beyond a certain number of steps, you were sinning. And oddly enough, one of the things they considered inappropriate work was healing on the Sabbath. They thought Jesus should do that on the other six days of the week. And so Jesus asks, “Is it allowed, do I have permission and authority to heal on the Sabbath?”
The religious leaders were non-committal and kept silent. In their silence Jesus took the man and healed him and released him. The translation in our Gospel says that Jesus “let him go,” giving the impression that the man then left the meal. But the Greek word here literally means “released.” What the Gospel is saying is that Jesus released this man from his ailment. He set him free from that which had held him in bondage. Jesus took away one of the effects of sin for this man. For He came for that very purpose of overcoming the curse by the cross. Jesus still has that authority among His people today, to release you from the bondage of sin and Satan and the grave, to set you free by His forgiveness.
Jesus asks those at the table another question. “Which of you, having a donkey or an ox that has fallen into a pit, will not immediately pull him out on the Sabbath day?” “That’s work. And yet you’d do that. How much more should I heal this human being who is in the pit of a bodily ailment and pain.” And they couldn’t answer Him back or come up with any coherent response.
The religious leaders were wrong about the Sabbath for two reasons. First of all, they failed to recognize what Jesus said on a different occasion, namely, that the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. The Sabbath was a day to rest the body and especially to hear of what God had done for His people, to meditate on His Word. It was meant for the good of His people, not as something to enslave them. The Pharisees had made man the servant of the Sabbath rather than the other way around as it was supposed to be. It is always lawful to do good and to show mercy on the Sabbath. No law supercedes the law of love.
And secondly, the religious leaders were also wrong about the Sabbath because they failed to see that in Christ God was the one doing the work here. And He is the Lord of the Sabbath. For Christ to heal on the Sabbath is perfectly in keeping with the intent of the day, since the Sabbath is all about people stopping their work to focus on God’s work. That’s what the Sabbath was about in the Old Testament, and that’s what it’s still about today in the New Testament: You stop your work so that you may receive God’s work for you in Christ.
Now it is true that in the Old Testament the day of rest had to be the 7th day of the week, namely, Saturday. But with Christ’s coming the Law was fulfilled so that the requirement to worship on a particular day no longer applies. Colossians 2 says, “Sabbaths are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ.” The Old Testament day of rest pointed us forward to Him who is Himself our rest and our peace, namely, Jesus. Why focus on all the Old Testament shadows when the One who is casting the shadow has come! Now we may worship on any day of the week, as long as the center of that worship is the Word of the Savior who said, “Come to me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” The Sabbath is all about Jesus. The church has chosen Sunday as its primary day of worship because that is the day of our Lord’s resurrection by which He won for us eternal rest and peace in heaven.
Perhaps you’ve noticed that the meaning to the third commandment in the catechism doesn’t mention anything about a day of the week, but rather states, “We should fear and love God so that we do not despise preaching and His Word, but hold it sacred and gladly hear and learn it.” The Sabbath day is about you stopping your work and letting God do His work on you and for you. And God’s work is to preach His words of repentance and forgiveness, to lead you to see your sin and to bring you to faith in Christ who died to make full payment for your sin. Coming to church is not your opportunity to do something for God; it’s God’s opportunity to do something for you.
The fact of the matter is that when it comes to spiritual and eternal things, you cannot do anything for God anyway. You are like that donkey or that ox that has fallen into the pit and cannot get out. You are in bondage to sin and death, and not matter how much you paw at the sides, you can’t get up over the edge and free. But Christ comes along on the Sabbath and by the power of His suffering and His resurrection, He pulls you out of the pit, releasing you, giving you new life through the preaching of His Word of forgiveness and through the supper of His living body and blood.
That’s why it’s so important for every one of you to be here in divine service every week–not because it’s some burdensome requirement as the Pharisees made it, but because Jesus is still exercising His authority to heal and restore you on the Sabbath. This is for your spiritual and eternal good, not only that you may rest your bodies by taking a day off from work, but so that in resting you may receive God’s work for you in Christ His Son. It’s no wonder that so many people find it so hard to find rest and peace when they cut themselves off from the source of their rest and peace by staying away from preaching and the supper. If they’re not working on the Lord’s day, they sleep in, or they take part in various sorts of recreation and relaxation. But all of that is only temporary. When it’s over they’re back to the same restless, peaceless way of life and daily grind that they had before. They don’t yet know the peace and the rest which passes all understanding and which transcends all the daily troubles of this life. There is no greater calm that one’s conscience can have than in hearing and believing that your sins are forgiven through the shedding of Christ’s blood, that you are reconciled to God in Jesus. He is on your side. He is with you every day that you must yet live in this troubled and fallen world, and He will surely bring you to Himself to share in the fullness of His life in heaven. That’s the sure word of Christ to you today. That is your Sabbath rest, the work of Jesus for you.
Since the Sabbath is all about God’s work, what Jesus is doing, it is necessary that we come before Him with an attitude of humility. It’s not about us and our works. This is His show, His teaching, His meal. Our place at the table is not something for us to take but for Him to give. We all come before God as beggars, without any right to exalt ourselves in His presence. No one here is greater or lesser than another. Whatever we are is a gift of His grace.
So instead of jockeying for the places of honor at the table and in this world, Jesus says, “When you are invited, go and sit down in the lowest place, so that when he who invited you comes he may say to you, ‘Friend, go up higher.’ Then you will have glory in the presence of those who sit at the table with you.” Humble yourself before God. Acknowledge your sin in true repentance, trusting in His mercy. Do not come to assert your spiritual rights, but come recognizing that it is the Lord’s place to bestow honor and glory, and it your place simply to receive what His good and gracious will gives. Those who love and honor the Lord in humble faith will be exalted by Him and brought to everlasting glory in the presence of the whole creation.
Jesus put Himself in the lowest place, the place of death, in order to save you. He bore your shame on the cross to restore your honor. And now Jesus is exalted to the highest place at the right hand of the Father. And the good news is that He has raised you up with Himself. By your baptismal faith you are united with Him in such a way that you share in His exaltation as members of His body. Remember, this is a wedding feast that Jesus speaks of. It is the celebration of His holy union with the Church, His bride. And if He is honored, then she also is honored with Him.
Even now Jesus is here among us at the head of the table. To every penitent heart He says, “Friend, go up higher.” “Come, ascend these steps to this holy place. Share in My honor by receiving My own body and blood. Be filled with My forgiveness and My life. Here is your Sabbath rest and healing. Here is the foretaste of that Last Day when in the resurrection you will go up higher forever.”
✠ In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit ✠