May 7, 2012
Luke 14
Jesus at a Pharisee's House
1 One Sabbath, when Jesus went to eat in the house of a prominent Pharisee, he was being carefully watched. 2 There in front of him was a man suffering from abnormal swelling of his body. 3 Jesus asked the Pharisees and experts in the law, "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not?" 4 But they remained silent. So taking hold of the man, he healed him and sent him on his way.
5 Then he asked them, "If one of you has a child or an ox that falls into a well on the Sabbath day, will you not immediately pull it out?" 6 And they had nothing to say.
Today's Insights Come from William Barclay, Noted Biblical Theologian
This passage shows us the serenity with which Jesus met life. There is nothing more trying than to be under constant and critical scrutiny. When that happens to most people, they lose their nerve and even more often lose their temper, become irritable. But even in things which would have broken most people's spirit, Jesus remained serene. If we live with him, he can make us like himself.
It is to be noted here that Jesus never refused anyone's invitation of hospitality. To the end, he never gave up on people. To hope to change them or even to appeal to them might be the forlornest of forlorn hopes, but he would never let a chance go. He would not refuse even an enemy's invitation. It is clear as daylight that we will never make our enemies our friends if we refuse to meet them and talk with them.
The most amazing thing about the scribes and Pharisees is their staggering lack of a sense of proportion. They would go to endless trouble to formulate and to obey their petty rules and regulations; and yet they counted it a sin to ease a sufferer's pain on the Sabbath day.
If we had only one prayer to pray we might well ask to be given a sense of proportion. The things which disturb the peace of congregations are often trifles. The things which come between individuals and which destroy friendships are often little things to which sensible people, in their saner moments, would never allow any importance. The little things can bulk so large
that they can fill the whole horizon. Only if we put things first will all things take their proper place - and love comes first.
