Words of Grace – April 21, 2016

It was on the Sabbath, and Jesus had been invited to the home of one of the chief Pharisees of Jerusalem.  As he went into the house to eat a meal, he was being watched.

There was a man there who had the dropsy, a medical condition that is caused by the accumulation of fluid in the body.  Jesus asked the religious Pharisees if it was lawful to heal on the Sabbath.

According to Exodus 31:15, the Sabbath day was to be a day of rest, holy unto the Lord.  No work was to be done on that day.  The penalty for breaking this law was death.

The people held their peace, refusing to answer Jesus’ question.  It was then that Jesus healed the sick man and sent him on his way.

To those who would not answer his question, Jesus had a question for them.  He asked if any of them, having an ox that fell into a ditch on the Sabbath, would not then pull him out.  Again, they could not answer.

A noted preacher was once asked if it was alright to work on Sunday.  He answered:

“It should not detract from a man’s reverence to do what is required.  Even Jesus spoke about the ox in the ditch on the Sabbath.  But if your ox gets in the ditch every Sabbath, you should either get rid of the ox or fill up the ditch.”