And…Jesus was healing on the day of religious observation and abstinence from work.

It would have been shorter to say Sabbath.

But the sabbath had become a tradition of the religious leaders.

Here is the point of this blog: Jesus was and is the reason for religion.

The Pharisees had long before forgotten. The commands of God had been exchanged for the traditions of religious leaders. These traditions only looked like religion.

The Pharisees were watching Jesus. They knew He didn’t go by their book.

“One Sabbath, when he went to dine at the house of a ruler of the Pharisees, they were watching him carefully. And behold, there was a man before him who had dropsy. And Jesus responded to the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath, or not?” But they remained silent. Then he took him and healed him and sent him away. And he said to them, “Which of you, having a son or an ox that has fallen into a well on a Sabbath day, will not immediately pull him out?” And they could not reply to these things.”

Luke 14:1-6

In study Bible footnotes we find the word “dropsy” explained as edema-excess fluid buildup-usually in the ankles and feet. Jesus knew the man’s discomfort and difficulties. More than that-Jesus loved the man.

What happened next? Jesus healed the man.

Then He addresses the traditions of religious leaders disguised as true religion. “Which of you having a son or an ox that has fallen into a well on a Sabbath day, will not immediately pull him out?”

At least, the Pharisees there that day had learned they could not out reason Jesus. They were silent.

Now for two summary thoughts-each with a question.

1. Do we attempt to out think Jesus? Jesus knows all things. Jesus has all power. He is everywhere present. (Don’t argue with Jesus-He is God-bow down and worship Him.)

2. Are our religious ideas formed from human minds or God’s? (Human “tradition,” and accepted norms of the culture are not true religion.) In another place in the Bible Jesus speaks about this:

“Jesus replied, “You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you, for he wrote, ‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship is a farce, for they teach man-made ideas as commands from God.’ For you ignore God’s law and substitute your own tradition.””

Mark 7:6-8

Substitute anything is less than satisfactory. There is nothing like the real thing. Substitute religion does not save…or satisfy. True religion is found in the One who healed the man on the Sabbath. Perhaps you’ve heard these words before: Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life.