One day when I was young, my mother asked me a very interesting question…
If you had to lose either your sight or your hearing, and you had a choice about which to lose and which to keep, which would you choose?
As a sighted, hearing person, I cannot fully imagine what it would be like to lose either my sight or my hearing. And of course, this is something we seldom, if ever, have a choice about.
I don’t remember how I answered that question on the day my mother asked me, but I do know what my choice would be now. I would choose to give up my hearing before I would give up my vision.
Human vision is an amazing gift, as is human hearing. But in both cases, what we see and what we hear is in many ways determined by what we have in our hearts.
That is in evidence in our lectionary reading for today from Luke 14:1-14. Listen for God’s word to you…
On one occasion when Jesus was going to the house of a leader of the Pharisees to eat a meal on the sabbath, they were watching him closely. Just then, in front of him, there was a man who had dropsy. And Jesus asked the lawyers and Pharisees, “Is it lawful to cure people on the sabbath, or not?” But they were silent. So Jesus took him and healed him, and sent him away. Then he said to them, “If one of you has a child or an ox that has fallen into a well, will you not immediately pull it out on a sabbath day?” And they could not reply to this.
When he noticed how the guests chose the places of honor, he told them a parable. “When you are invited by someone to a wedding banquet, do not sit down at the place of honor, in case someone more distinguished than you has been invited by your host; and the host who invited both of you may come and say to you, ‘Give this person your place,’ and then in disgrace you would start to take the lowest place. But when you are invited, go and sit down at the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he may say to you, ‘Friend, move up higher’; then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at the table with you. For all who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”
He said also to the one who had invited him, “When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, in case they may invite you in return, and you would be repaid. But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you, for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”
Out of the 348 words in our English text for today, I would like to focus on 8 of these words.
Let’s take these five words first: “They were watching him closely.” Who is “they” and who is “him” in this sentence?
Since Luke tells us that Jesus went to the house of a leader of the Pharisees to eat a meal on the Sabbath, I think we can safely assume that “they” refers to the Pharisees. This is confirmed two sentences later when Luke tells us that Jesus asked the lawyers and the Pharisees a question.
So, “they” refers to the lawyers and the Pharisees, and “him” obviously refers to Jesus.
What does Luke mean when he says the lawyers and the Pharisees were watching Jesus closely?
“Watching closely” is one word in Greek: παρατηρούμενοι. The word means to “watch closely” or “observe scrupulously”.
The word is used only six times in the New Testament. It appears first in Mark 3 where we read…
Again he entered the synagogue, and a man was there who had a withered hand. They watched him to see whether he would cure him on the sabbath, so that they might accuse him.
In Luke 6 the same incident is reported…
On another sabbath he entered the synagogue and taught, and there was a man there whose right hand was withered. The scribes and the Pharisees watched him to see whether he would cure on the sabbath, so that they might find an accusation against him.
Then there is the use of the word in Luke 14, our passage for today. And there is a third time this word is used in Luke in chapter 20 verse 20…
So they watched him and sent spies who pretended to be honest, in order to trap him by what he said, so as to hand him over to the jurisdiction and authority of the governor.
From these four uses of the word you can see why some commentators say this word means to “watch insidiously” or with “interested and sinister espionage” (Barclay).
So, here is the key question… What do we see when we look at Jesus?
When the Pharisees looked at Jesus, they saw someone who was breaking the law, as they understood it. To the Pharisees’ way of thinking, Jesus was breaking the law by healing on the sabbath. Intriguingly, seven incidents in which Jesus healed on the sabbath are recorded in the Gospels. (Luke 4:38; 6:6; 13:13; John 5:9; 9:14; Mark 1:21) In Jewish numerology, seven is the number of completeness. Isn’t that ironic? What Jesus no doubt saw as completely right, the Pharisees saw as completely wrong.
That’s because the Pharisees were all bound up in the law, and in a particular interpretation and application of the Jewish law, handed down by the rabbis over the centuries.
In a way, it is totally natural that the Pharisees looked at Jesus this way. Their profession was the law, so they saw in Jesus a legal problem. I imagine it is the same way with dentists. When dentists look at people, they notice teeth. When a fashion designer looks at people, he or she notices clothes. When a minister looks at people, he or she ought to be concerned, ought to see, something of their soul.
The problem comes in when the way we have been brought up, when the way we have been conditioned, blinds us to the truth, especially when it blinds us to the full truth of who another human being is.
What do you see when you look at Jesus?
What I see when I look at Jesus in our passage for today, is someone who cared enough to heal someone that no one else seemed to care about.
The man with dropsy was suffering from edema, an abnormal accumulation of fluid in the connective tissues and/or cavities of his body. This would have been accompanied by swelling, distention, or defective circulation. I imagine that if this man’s case of dropsy was bad enough, and it probably was, others might be repulsed by the sight of him. But Jesus was not. Jesus was drawn to him. Jesus wanted to heal him. And he did heal him, despite what others in the gathering thought of Jesus’ action.
When I look at Jesus in this passage, I see someone who cared enough to heal. I also see someone who cared deeply about humility. That’s why Jesus told the little parable that he did. Jesus was concerned, not that he would be part of the “in group” at the party. Rather, Jesus was concerned about those who were being excluded. Who didn’t get to sit in the best spots at the table? Who didn’t even get invited to the party in the first place?
What do you see when you look at Jesus?
Mother Teresa once said, “Often a deep and fervent look at Christ is the best prayer: I look at Him and He looks at me.”
The last three words I want us to focus on from this passage are these: “When he noticed…”
Luke says that when Jesus noticed how the guests chose the places of honor, he told them a parable.
When Luke says Jesus “noticed” it means he “observed”, he “attended to”, he “gave his attention”, he “paid close attention”. Those are all ways of translating the Greek word that is used here.
I wonder: What does Jesus see when he looks at us?
When Jesus looked at the people who were attending the after-synagogue party, he saw first someone with a need for healing. And Jesus met that need.
Second, Jesus saw people jockeying for first place.
I don’t know about you, but when I was a child, and my parents had friends over for a party, I was taught to sit on the floor. Does anyone teach their children to do that anymore?
I was taught to take the lowest place. And that is what Jesus teaches us here. Be humble. Don’t put yourself first. Let someone else put you first.
Josh and I went to Westminster Abbey in London in 2013 when they had a special service to install a stone in memory of C. S. Lewis in Poet’s Corner. When we arrived and received our programs from an usher I asked where we could sit. The usher showed us where the reserved seating was. We weren’t allowed in there. But he also pointed out where the memorial stone was and told us we could sit in the empty seats right behind it. We took the lower place, but then that lowly place became the best place to sit when it came time for the unveiling. Sometimes, taking the lowest spot pays off!
What did Jesus see when he looked around at the party? Jesus saw people in need. He saw people jockeying for first place. He also saw the people who were being excluded. That is why he said,
When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, in case they may invite you in return, and you would be repaid. But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you, for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”
Jesus looked around at the party and he saw that the people there were family and friends of the Pharisee who had invited him. Jesus saw relatives and rich neighbors. But he also saw in his mind’s eye who was being excluded: the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind.
I wonder: who do we exclude from our nation, from our circles of friendship, and from our church? And who might we include if we just made a little more effort?
When I read this passage, I see three simple applications for us today:
1. Find a need and fill it.
2. Take the lowest place.
3. Include the excluded.
What does Jesus see when he looks at you, when he looks at me, today? I hope he sees us doing those three things. And when he doesn’t, I am glad that he forgives.
In Mark 10:21 we read about Jesus’ encounter with the rich young ruler, the man whom Jesus invited to give away all his wealth and follow him. The man chose not to give away his wealth or follow Jesus at that moment. But we also read that “Jesus, looking at him, loved him”. Those are words of hope for you and me. Jesus looking at you, loves you. Jesus looking at me, loves me. Thanks be to God. Amen.
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