NOTES for Luk 14:1-6

It is striking that the Pharisees are silent in response to Christ's question whether it is lawful to heal on the Sabbath. In fact, deep down they thought that doing this was not lawful. Whether healing is work, "doing one's own work," forbidden on the Sabbath, is a big question. The Pharisees thought that it was work, but their opinion was far from obvious. More importantly, the Pharisees believed that a person who had been sick for a long time could wait until the next day, so that no troubling situation would arise. After all, perhaps the Almighty would still consider healing to be work and, consequently, a violation of the commandment.

The Lord does not agree with this point of view. He compares the sick man who at last, at the cost of tremendous effort, has reached Him with an ox fallen into a pit, which must be pulled out immediately so that it does not die. Theological doubts and ritual recede into the background before the suffering of a person who has finally come before the face of God. This is exactly what makes Christian faith for us an answer to the question of life and death, not to the question of more or less sinful behavior.