He went into the house of one of the chief Pharisees
The gospel for the seventeenth Sunday after Trinity
I. WE HERE BEHOLD OUR SAVIOUR IN THE SOCIAL CIRCLE. Jesus was not a recluse. He had a kind and social heart. He came to instruct, benefit, and redeem men, and He took pleasure in mingling with them. With all His holiness, majesty, and glory, He was a meek and social being, worthy of all admiration and imitation.
II. WE HERE HAVE A REMARKABLE TESTIMONY TO CHRIST’S GOODNESS. There is reason to suspect that His invitation to this Pharisee’s house was for no friendly purpose. The Pharisees, as a class, hated Jesus, and were intent upon bringing Him into condemnation; and this man had distinguished friends with him on this occasion, who were no exception. This is proven from what occurred when they all got together in the house. Immediately in front of Christ, and in a manner thrust upon His notice, was “a certain man that had the dropsy.” How he got there is to be inferred. Evidently he was placed there to tempt our Lord to commit Himself. Yes, even their hard and bitter hearts were so assured of the Saviour’s goodness, that they felt warranted in building on it their plot to ruin Him. Sabbath day as it was, their convictions were deep and positive that He would not pass by the opportunity for exercising his marvellous power to cure the invalid they had stationed before Him. And that one incidental fact speaks volumes. It tells of the constant stream of healing power dispensed by the Saviour wheresoever He went. As the very cloud that would cover the sun with darkness bears the bow which the more beautifully reflects his glory, so the very wrath and malignity of these designing hypocrites did the more magnificently attest the gracious goodness of our Lord. Nor did they miscalculate. Knowing full well the nature and intent of the arrangement, and comprehending all the ill use the treacherous watchers around Him meant to make of it, He did not flinch from His wont, nor suffer His merciful power to be diverted or constrained.
III. BUT HOW BASE THE COWARDICE BROUGHT BEFORE US IN THE CONDUCT OF THESE MEN! To wish to unseat and injure one of whose goodness they were so thoroughly convinced, was in itself a self-contradictory wickedness almost beyond comprehension. Shame on a zeal that attaches sanctity to such hypocrisy, or honour to such cowardice!
IV. WE HERE BEHOLD THE TRUE SPIRIT OF THE LAW. The Sabbath was not ordained for itself and its own sake; nor as a mere arbitrary act of Divine sovereignty; but for the good of the living beings concerned in its observance.
V. WE LIKEWISE BEHOLD FROM THIS NARRATIVE, THAT AN UNCHARITABLE PUNCTILIOUSNESS ABOUT RELIGIOUS THINGS, IS APT TO HAVE, AS ITS ACCOMPANIMENT, IF NOT ITS ROOT, SOME HIDDEN SELFISHNESS AND SELFCONSEQUENCE. It was not that they so loved God’s appointments, or that they were so devoutly concerned to obey them; but anxiety for a bludgeon to break the head of Him whose pure teachings were undermining their falsehood and tyranny. It was not God, but greed; not righteousness, but honour, place, and dominion; not concern for Moses and the prophets, but for themselves and their own consequence. On the occasion before us, there was a marked concern about honours and place. This was the inspiration of their assumed sanctity, and all their superior orthodoxy was only a sham for pride and lust of power. And only too apt is this to be the case in every intolerant and uncharitable ado about the mere “mint, anise, and cummin” of the faith.
VI. BUT THE END OF THE WHOLE MATTER IS ALSO HERE SHOWN US. Such a spirit has no favour with God, and has nothing good to expect. (J. A.Seiss, D. D.)
They watched Him
What may be learnt from watching Christ
If we watch Christ also, we see how exalted piety instructs the worldly-minded.
1. He condescends to accept in friendly spirit the invitation that appeared to be friendly.
2. He explains and defends the right use of the Sabbath.
3. He rebukes pride by inculcating humility.
4. He unfolds to those around Him the nature of true humility.
5. From humility as His subject, in the presence of the proud, He proceeds to speak of hospitality in the presence of the selfish.
6. Our Lord distinguishes between the hospitality of ostentation, and the hospitality of true benevolence.
7. He deduces His instruction from passing events or from surrounding objects.
8. Seated at the supper, He utters to His host and the guests the parable of the Great Supper. (Van Doren.)
Healing on the Sabbath
Is it lawful to do anything but heal on the Sabbath day? Certainly not; that is the purpose of the day; it is a day of healing. If, therefore, in the very complex arrangements of our modern life, we are trying to interfere with anything that is customary on the Sabbath day, we should ask whether we are interfering with that which has a healing effect, or whether we are interfering with that which has an injurious effect; because there are many things that in their outward form are “works” that nevertheless in their general effects are healing. (T. T. Lynch.)
The coming Sabbath
We have been thinking and speaking of a miracle done on the Sabbath. It is evident that our Saviour had a preference for the Sabbath as a time for working miracles. How, then, is it with respect to ourselves--we who, many of us, would be glad to have a miracle wrought on our behalf, and yet have no right whatever to expect one? It is just thus--we are waiting for the Sabbath. In other words, it was intended, no doubt, to be taught us by our Saviour’s practice, that there is a special time of rest coming, when all the various troubles that hamper and injure us will be utterly removed--our burdens unbound; our fevers cooled for ever; our weakness changed to strength; all our heaviness lightened; our blind eyes made clear; our deaf ears unstopped; our feet filled with vigorous leaping blood; and all that is within us lighted up with joy, even as the house was lighted up, and music and dancing sounded in it, when the prodigal came home. There is a Sabbath coming; and as Christ wrought His cures upon the Sabbath, when He was upon earth, we are taught to look on to a day of cure that is coming--that Sabbath, namely, of rest, into which we hope to enter hereafter. It may be needful for our perfection, and the perfection of our friends, that we should still be burdened; but we are quite sure that, after the round of the six days, there will come the seventh; we are quite sure, when the time of trial has ended, the boon of health will be granted. (T. T. Lynch.)
The dropsy
Dropsy a figure of avarice
Dropsy is a disease which in general attacks only those of an advanced age. In a similar manner, from indifference to God and celestial things, and attachment to earthly goods, arises avarice--a vice to which many fall victims, especially in advanced years.
I. SIMILARITY BETWEEN DROPSY AND AVARICE.
1. In the thirst occasioned by both.
2. In the sufferings occasioned by both.
(1) Want of rest and joy.
(2) Pains throughout the whole body.
3. In the dangerous character of the respective diseases.
(1) Avarice is difficult of cure.
(2) Should the avaricious man be converted, there is the utmost danger of his relapsing into his former sins.
(3) Avarice frequently causes premature death.
(4) Avarice causes everlasting death.
II. DEATH THE DELIVERER FROM BOTH DISEASES.
1. Death and the grave warn us to despise earthly goods.
2. The judgment warns the avaricious to tremble on account of their possessions. For they provoke God--
(1) By their injustice and hard-heartedness, which are often the cause of sins crying to heaven.
(2) By the false confidence which they place in their goods.
3. Eternity teaches us to covet unfailing goods. (Venedien.)
Grief aiding thought
Here, then, stands the man that had the dropsy. Does he object to a miracle on the Sabbath day? It is surprising how our own necessities give an internal light to our principles. Many a thing that has been wholly dark to a man, so that he has said, “I cannot understand it,” becomes translucent to him as soon as God has lighted up a grief within him. Put a grief inside a thought, and it is astonishing how much clearer the thought is. This man had clear views of the Sabbath--very clear views. The dropsy had given him those views. (T. T. Lynch.)