29 OCTOBER 2021 LUKE 14:1-6
Friday of the 30th Week in Ordinary Time
SPIRITUAL DROPSY
Jesus asked the Pharisees and experts in the law, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not?” But they remained silent (Luke 14:3-4).
Dropsy or Edema is generally understood as painful swelling caused by the accumulation of fluids in body tissues. It was easy for Jesus to heal the Dropsical person. But Pharisees are affected by spiritual dropsy. Jesus could see the big swelling in their soul due to the accumulation of pride, self-righteousness and hypocrisy. That is a moral sickness affecting interior life.
Jesus takes the occasion of healing the dropsy man as an opportunity to heal them from ‘moral edema’ and asks them, “Is it lawful to cure on the Sabbath or not”? They know that there is no law that prohibits healing but they do not want to admit it. They try to oppose Jesus by defining healing as work, not as an act of love. It is hypocritical that they remained silent because they did not want to appear bad by opposing a healing which is a blessing.
Jesus conveys a message to them that all human laws shall be submissive to the divine law of love which protects, nourishes, and promotes life. A gesture of love cannot defy Lord’s Day but it only sanctifies the day. It does not desecrate any place, but only consecrate. Because God is good. Amen.