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Chapter 2 - Dinner - Compassion
Dinner - Compassion
Luke 14:1-2
1 And [kai] it came to pass [ginomai] , as [en] he [autos] went [erchomai] into [eis] the house [oikos] of one [tis] of the chief [archon] Pharisees [Pharisaios] to eat [phago] bread [artos] on the sabbath [sabbaton] day, that [kai] they [autos] watched [en] [paratereo] him [autos] .
2 And [kai] , behold [idou] , there was [en] a certain [tis] man [anthropos] before [emprosthen] him [autos] which had the dropsy [hudropikos] . KJV-Interlinear
1 And it came about when He went into the house of one of the leaders of the Pharisees on the Sabbath to eat bread, that they were watching Him closely. 2 And there, in front of Him was a certain man suffering from dropsy. NASB
Chapter 14 of Luke begins a series of parables which will cover deceit vs. compassion, the arrogance of seeking a higher honor than one is entitled to, and the inevitable bias's and prejudices that people live by generally without thinking about their affect on others who are less fortunate. If we are smarter, prettier, more fortunate than others, then we assume that we are the blessed and the honored for a reason, and such is not the case.
Dinner parties on the Sabbath were vary rare. But now Jesus is invited to one of the more prominent Pharisees homes along with many other invited guests. Typically the Pharisees were very particular as to whom they would allow into their homes, and especially particular as to whom they would allow to dine with them.
Here we see a dinner, and before anyone has seated themselves, the Pharisees are watching Jesus, not because they are interested in what He has to say, but because they have conspired to set Him up with a test.
The Sabbath was a holy day, and no work was to be performed on that day. Such were the regulations restricting work, that they had, over the centuries, become so burdensome that it was nearly impossible for anyone to obey them. Consequently many exceptions to the rule were made, but these exceptions were generally restricted to those men in leadership positions and if a commoner were to violate the Sabbath, then the Pharisee to whom the charge was brought concerning someone's violation, might opt to apply or not apply the exception.
Here the Pharisees had ulterior motives for inviting Jesus to dinner. A man who had an incurable disease was also allowed (not invited) into the dinner. He was not an invited guest, but was placed in a conspicuous place such that Jesus could not help but to see Him. The mans condition was obvious to all.
The objective here? That Jesus would either simply cure the man and thus be in violation of the Law for working on the Sabbath, or He would try to cure him and fail, and that would mean violation as well as embarrassment for Him. In either case the Pharisees thought sure that they had Him cornered.
The man had dropsy. The original word here describes a condition of excessive water or fluid buildup. It is a condition where the man had all of the appearances of water buildup, a distortion or bloating of the face and extremities such that in those days, this condition was virtually incurrable. Even in our current day a person has to go on water retention medication which also generally serves to control to some extent the blood pressure. It isn't really a curable state, but with modern medicines, one can live a better life.
This then is the scheme. Jesus is invited as an honored guest, but not to be honored, but to be entrapped into violating the law so that the Pharisees would have a basis for bring charges against Him. Charges which could be used to discredit Him and thus reestablish their prominent role in society.
The crowds following Jesus are huge and growing daily. The leadership of Judea is worried that this carpenter would come onto the scene and take from them, that which they believed was their rightful place in society. They held the positions of honor and power, and they intended to keep them no matter what the cost.
The impact on the people was inconsequential. After all, what do they know?
End of Lesson
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