Proverbs 25:6-14/Ephesians 4:1-6/St Luke 14:1-11
In the Name + of JESUS. Amen.
When a man falls into a pit, you help him. That’s the Law. When a man falls into a pit, God helps him. That’s the Gospel.
Jesus is at a dinner on the Sabbath, a day on which work was prohibited. The other guests at the Sabbath dinner, especially the Pharisees, are watching Jesus close, to see what He will do when confronted with a sick man. If Jesus denies him, He is not compassionate. If He heals him, He breaks the Sabbath law by working when He should not. Or so the allegation goes.
But the charge is really a trumped up one. The Rabbis had already death with such problems. For example, the laws seemed to conflict when it came to circumcision. Circumcision had to be done on the eighth day after birth. But what if that day fell on the Sabbath? The circumcision took priority. The same was reasoned for other medical or rescue work. The Talmud, that Rabbinic commentary on the Torah, reasons: “We know that the duty of saving life annuls the Sabbath.”
If an ox falls into a pit on the Sabbath do you not pull him out? And not only you, but you gather your friends and neighbors, perhaps employ the labor of another ox, dig and pull, and rescue the ox from the pit. By the end of the Sabbath you’ve done more work than a normal day, but still haven’t violated the Sabbath.
So when Jesus says, Which of you having a son or an ox that has fallen into a pit on a Sabbath day, will not immediately pull him out? they have no answer because Jesus is following rabbinic reasoning: this man’s needs annul the Sabbath law. Only Jesus adds the caveat of “a son,” not a donkey. Not a beast, but a man. Not an animal, but a child. Who would leave him in the pit? This is how Jesus cares for His creation; how He loves the man with dropsy, but also the Pharisees who are sadly blinded by their pride.
You see, there is a symbolism going on that runs through all of Jesus’ teaching: this sick man is a symbol of the human race. The theme comes up again and again: the Prodigal Son wandered away, squandered his inheritance, became enslaves and starving. He is all mankind. The Good Samaritan must rescue the man who was robbed, beaten, and left to die in the ditch.
That’s you. No matter how strong you are now, no matter how wealthy you are now, no matter how happy or successful you are now, you end up in a pit. You end up in a grave.
But along with that there is a contagion within you, the sickness that fills you with anxiety and dread, a slave to your lust, a slave to your hunger, the passions that drive you to drink too much, get too close to that woman not your wife, the passions that expel unwholesome words from your mouth, making you impatient with your husband or your children.
When you act selfishly, when you give in to your anger, regard yourself higher than others, that is when you are doing precisely what Jesus identifies in the Pharisees. Even the small thing like their choice of seat at the dinner table reflected the condition of their heart, and yours, full of pride, wanting the praise and respect of others. Every one of us is the creature at the bottom of the pit.
Our only hope of rescue is One who will come into our pit, come breath our poisoned air, come enter our hell to effect our rescue. That is the work of our Lord Jesus. The only One who can help. The only one who has compassion on His poor creatures as His dear children; as sons in the pit on the Sabbath. He humbles Himself to exult us. He stoops and makes you to sit with kings. A man falls into a pit and God helps him. That is the Gospel.
So what was the Sabbath for? Well the first Sabbath, the seventh day of creation, indicated the perfection of creation. Even the closing of each day with It was good was an indication of the perfection of God’s handiwork according to His Word and will. Not only was it good as opposed to bad, but is was good for it was in harmony with God’s will.
But once death was introduced into the creation, and with it sin, the Sabbath was given not as rule for pleasing God, but as a blessing. A day off from work is not a burden to be kept, but a gift to be received.
But there is something deeper in the blessing of the Sabbath: God works where you cannot. God supplies what you lack. He works on the Sabbath. Thus we have these events where people are commanded not to gather food on the Sabbath day with the promise that God would feed them. On those days, when people gathered anyway, the sin was not in working, the sin was in not trusting that God would do what He said. The sin was in not recognizing that God is the worker. God is the Creator. Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. And the Lord of the Sabbath works on the Sabbath.
He works for you and in you today, as He gathers you here to the wedding feast. Which seat do you chose? Its not about which pews in which we habitually sit. Its about how you approach the king. In humility? Or pride?
Pride seeks everything - including heaven and God Himself - on one’s own terms. Humility seek everything, especially heaven and God Himself on His terms. Pride glorifies the self; the rugged individual, the achiever, the self-made man, the independent woman. Humility glorifies God and abandons every personal claim to self-righteousness.
The confession of sins puts you in the right place. You naturally want to put yourself up higher, but the confession puts you in the pit, right where we belong, poor, miserable sinners. You cannot pull yourself out. But God does. He bends down low in the absolution, extends His arm, and raises you, dear children, out of the pit on the Sabbath day. This is not only the work of Jesus, this is the work of the Blessed Holy Trinity, even as you are forgiven all your sins in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Coming to the Divine Service is us shouting together from the bottom of the pit: Lord, have mercy! Jesus help! And the Word spoken here is a mysterious, miraculous Word unknown to the world stuck in the pit. Thus do you pray for those still stuck in the pit, trapped in sin and death, you pray for them and for the world. Because if a man falls into a pit and you pull him out, that is the Law. Our message to a world in death is not “Be better!” but, “There is a Better One, the Good One, who joined us in this pit, Himself suffered here, and raised up now invites you to join Him saying, Friend, go up higher.
Come forward, then, dear children, move up higher to the wedding feast of the Son of the King who feeds you on Himself, His flesh and blood, out of the pit, out of death, raised to eternal life, never to die again. Watch and listen closely. He bestows this immortal gift to you. For when a man falls into a pit, God helps him. That’s the Gospel. It is for you.
In the Name of the Father and + of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
In the Name + of JESUS. Amen.
When a man falls into a pit, you help him. That’s the Law. When a man falls into a pit, God helps him. That’s the Gospel.
Jesus is at a dinner on the Sabbath, a day on which work was prohibited. The other guests at the Sabbath dinner, especially the Pharisees, are watching Jesus close, to see what He will do when confronted with a sick man. If Jesus denies him, He is not compassionate. If He heals him, He breaks the Sabbath law by working when He should not. Or so the allegation goes.
But the charge is really a trumped up one. The Rabbis had already death with such problems. For example, the laws seemed to conflict when it came to circumcision. Circumcision had to be done on the eighth day after birth. But what if that day fell on the Sabbath? The circumcision took priority. The same was reasoned for other medical or rescue work. The Talmud, that Rabbinic commentary on the Torah, reasons: “We know that the duty of saving life annuls the Sabbath.”
If an ox falls into a pit on the Sabbath do you not pull him out? And not only you, but you gather your friends and neighbors, perhaps employ the labor of another ox, dig and pull, and rescue the ox from the pit. By the end of the Sabbath you’ve done more work than a normal day, but still haven’t violated the Sabbath.
So when Jesus says, Which of you having a son or an ox that has fallen into a pit on a Sabbath day, will not immediately pull him out? they have no answer because Jesus is following rabbinic reasoning: this man’s needs annul the Sabbath law. Only Jesus adds the caveat of “a son,” not a donkey. Not a beast, but a man. Not an animal, but a child. Who would leave him in the pit? This is how Jesus cares for His creation; how He loves the man with dropsy, but also the Pharisees who are sadly blinded by their pride.
You see, there is a symbolism going on that runs through all of Jesus’ teaching: this sick man is a symbol of the human race. The theme comes up again and again: the Prodigal Son wandered away, squandered his inheritance, became enslaves and starving. He is all mankind. The Good Samaritan must rescue the man who was robbed, beaten, and left to die in the ditch.
That’s you. No matter how strong you are now, no matter how wealthy you are now, no matter how happy or successful you are now, you end up in a pit. You end up in a grave.
But along with that there is a contagion within you, the sickness that fills you with anxiety and dread, a slave to your lust, a slave to your hunger, the passions that drive you to drink too much, get too close to that woman not your wife, the passions that expel unwholesome words from your mouth, making you impatient with your husband or your children.
When you act selfishly, when you give in to your anger, regard yourself higher than others, that is when you are doing precisely what Jesus identifies in the Pharisees. Even the small thing like their choice of seat at the dinner table reflected the condition of their heart, and yours, full of pride, wanting the praise and respect of others. Every one of us is the creature at the bottom of the pit.
Our only hope of rescue is One who will come into our pit, come breath our poisoned air, come enter our hell to effect our rescue. That is the work of our Lord Jesus. The only One who can help. The only one who has compassion on His poor creatures as His dear children; as sons in the pit on the Sabbath. He humbles Himself to exult us. He stoops and makes you to sit with kings. A man falls into a pit and God helps him. That is the Gospel.
So what was the Sabbath for? Well the first Sabbath, the seventh day of creation, indicated the perfection of creation. Even the closing of each day with It was good was an indication of the perfection of God’s handiwork according to His Word and will. Not only was it good as opposed to bad, but is was good for it was in harmony with God’s will.
But once death was introduced into the creation, and with it sin, the Sabbath was given not as rule for pleasing God, but as a blessing. A day off from work is not a burden to be kept, but a gift to be received.
But there is something deeper in the blessing of the Sabbath: God works where you cannot. God supplies what you lack. He works on the Sabbath. Thus we have these events where people are commanded not to gather food on the Sabbath day with the promise that God would feed them. On those days, when people gathered anyway, the sin was not in working, the sin was in not trusting that God would do what He said. The sin was in not recognizing that God is the worker. God is the Creator. Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. And the Lord of the Sabbath works on the Sabbath.
He works for you and in you today, as He gathers you here to the wedding feast. Which seat do you chose? Its not about which pews in which we habitually sit. Its about how you approach the king. In humility? Or pride?
Pride seeks everything - including heaven and God Himself - on one’s own terms. Humility seek everything, especially heaven and God Himself on His terms. Pride glorifies the self; the rugged individual, the achiever, the self-made man, the independent woman. Humility glorifies God and abandons every personal claim to self-righteousness.
The confession of sins puts you in the right place. You naturally want to put yourself up higher, but the confession puts you in the pit, right where we belong, poor, miserable sinners. You cannot pull yourself out. But God does. He bends down low in the absolution, extends His arm, and raises you, dear children, out of the pit on the Sabbath day. This is not only the work of Jesus, this is the work of the Blessed Holy Trinity, even as you are forgiven all your sins in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Coming to the Divine Service is us shouting together from the bottom of the pit: Lord, have mercy! Jesus help! And the Word spoken here is a mysterious, miraculous Word unknown to the world stuck in the pit. Thus do you pray for those still stuck in the pit, trapped in sin and death, you pray for them and for the world. Because if a man falls into a pit and you pull him out, that is the Law. Our message to a world in death is not “Be better!” but, “There is a Better One, the Good One, who joined us in this pit, Himself suffered here, and raised up now invites you to join Him saying, Friend, go up higher.
Come forward, then, dear children, move up higher to the wedding feast of the Son of the King who feeds you on Himself, His flesh and blood, out of the pit, out of death, raised to eternal life, never to die again. Watch and listen closely. He bestows this immortal gift to you. For when a man falls into a pit, God helps him. That’s the Gospel. It is for you.
In the Name of the Father and + of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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