Breaking the Word

On a sabbath he went to dine at the home of one of the leading Pharisees, and the people there were observing him carefully. In front of him there was a man suffering from dropsy. Jesus spoke to the scholars of the law and Pharisees in reply, asking, "Is it lawful to cure on the sabbath or not?" But they kept silent; so he took the man and, after he had healed him, dismissed him. Then he said to them, "Who among you, if your son or ox falls into a cistern, would not immediately pull him out on the sabbath day?"  But they were unable to answer his question. (Lk 14:1-6)

Sabbath controversy seems to have been one of the main point on which Jesus had to deal with Pharisees and the scholars of the law. The scholars were giving the various explanations and telling the people how to observe the law. They were making the law more and more strict and difficult for the people and in turn making the people less human but more legalistic.

The Pharisees were the ones who practiced the law to the minute details and made it possible to be lived in every way. They became models of those who practiced and models for those who want to practice or those who have to practice. They were the visible signs of the ‘lived rules’.

In the story there was man suffering from dropsy. Nothing is said about his attitude to Sabbath laws. He was a suffering man. Immediately Jesus takes his side and argues for him. Jesus does not take the law for argument or the legal side to plead for the cause of the suffering man. He makes use of the human condition as an argument to prove his point. (if your son or ox falls into a cistern, would not immediately pull him out on the sabbath day?)    

In those days he departed to the mountain to pray, and he spent the night in prayer to God. When day came, he called his disciples to himself, and from them he chose Twelve, whom he also named apostles: Simon, whom he named Peter, and his brother Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, Simon who was called a Zealot, and Judas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor. (Lk 6:12-16)

Mountains were considered to be the places where God resided. Many temples were built on top of the mountains. “Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain; but you people say that the place to worship is in Jerusalem. Jesus said to her, Believe me, woman, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.” Though Jesus went up the mountain to pray yet he was aware that God should be worshipped in truth and Spirit. Yes, Jesus spent time in prayer.

Prayer forms the foundation of his activities. After prayer he went about choosing his disciples. The disciples were the ones who continued his mission. He had chosen twelve to signify the twelve tribes of Israel. Gospels themselves did not say much about these disciples. Some of the disciples were only names in the Gospels. But certainly they had done their part in fulfilling the mission of Jesus.

He named them apostles. The name also suggests their mission. These twelve are sent. They do not go on their own. They cannot do anything for themselves or by themselves. Whatever they do must be done in the name of the one who sends them.