Jesus brings healing and raises the humble

Luke 14:1-6

Proper 17C August 30, 2025

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Dinner party conversation can be awkward. When you’re meeting new people, it can take a little bit of time to find something to talk about. There’s a delicate dance of wanting to learn about the person you’re talking to without being invasive or awkward. Meanwhile, they are trying to learn about you and they are trying not to be awkward either. Sometimes, social mixers and get togethers can be weird based on who’s there.

Jesus was at a gathering on a Sabbath. Many Pharisees were there, feeling out Jesus and they were watching Him carefully. That sounds awkward and slightly uncomfortable, like Jesus is being interviewed and examined by the Pharisees and like they are trying to trip Him up. There was a sick man at the meal. Was he a Pharisee? Was he invited to see what Jesus would do? That question isn’t answered, but Luke does tell us that the man had dropsy. That’s not a medical diagnosis we use today. Dropsy refers to someone retaining fluid in their body. For us, it could be heart disease or kidney or liver disease, or edema (when fluid builds up in tissue or muscle). Today, medicine is used to treat those conditions, and in addition to medicine, people suffering with too much fluid might wear compression stockings and limiting how much sodium you consume. Dropsy could indicate that something was wrong in the body, and somebody with dropsy could die.

Jesus didn’t give this man a prescription or compression stockings. What would Jesus do for this man? The whole room wanted to know. But there was something going on to complicate things. It was Saturday, the Sabbath. This isn’t just a case where businesses are closed for a weekend or a federal holiday. The Old Testament law said that no work was supposed to be done on the Sabbath day, on Saturdays. Yet, in front of Jesus was a sick man, a man who could die because of his disease. What should Jesus, who had the authority to perform miracles, do for this man? What would Jesus do for this man, even though work wasn’t supposed to be done on the Sabbath?

All eyes were fixed on Jesus. In the middle of an awkward silence, Jesus asked the experts on the law if is was lawful to heal on the Sabbath. Nobody answered, so Jesus healed the man and then asked if their son or an ox fell into a well on a Sabbath, would they work to save their son or their livestock? They didn’t answer that either.

Jesus healed the sick man on the Sabbath. What’s more important - a man’s life, or the Sabbath day? When Jesus had to choose between these things, He chose the life of the man. Jesus saved Him by valuing this life. Life is valuable. Jesus shows how much He prioritizes life.

That’s why it’s tragic when life is de-valued among us. When children are attacked in a school chapel service, like happened in Minnesota this week, we are horrified. Life is valuable, and these lives were attacked and lives were lost. Our prayers of “Lord, have mercy!” is a fitting response to such a tragedy. Jesus values life, and yet, lives are brought to an end. Sadly, that’s one example of how lives are devalued among us. In so many ways, lives are shown as being cheap and dispensable. When lives are ended through abortion, it’s tragic and de-valuing. When life is ended with violence, it is devaluing. When a blind eye is turned to poverty or inequality, it shows the lack of value on life. When sickness isn’t seen as tragedy, it makes life look cheap. Even when sicknesses and age run their course and people die, it seems like life isn’t important. In so many ways, life looks small and insignificant. It’s tragic and horrific.

But life isn’t worthless, cheap, wasted, or insignificant. Not only does Jesus say so, but Jesus shows that life is important. He healed the man with dropsy at the Sabbath meal. If one of the men there would have rescued a son or an ox from falling into a hole in the ground, how much more would God in the flesh heal a diseased man? Jesus valued the life of the sick man in front of the whole crowd of Pharisees.

That’s what Jesus does. He lifts up the lowly and shows the value that God places on people. The man with dropsy is just one example. More personally, Jesus has come to you today and shown you the value that you have to Him. He entered this room of sinners and forgave your sins, which are many. Your sin makes you look and feel worthless, but Jesus has valued you enough to forgive you. Jesus has come to you in the waters of baptism and said, “You are mine!” and He rescued you from sin, from death, and from the power of the devil. Jesus went to the cross where He was not only humbled but humiliated. His life looked cheap and worthless as His life was ended on the cross. Why did the Lord of life submit to death, even death on a cross? He did it for you.

By His death and His resurrection, He has exalted you and saved you. He has made you a child of God, an heir of eternal life, and He has shown that you are someone who matters to God. Jesus Christ values life - your life - so much that He died for you. Healing a man with dropsy is transformative and gracious. Rescuing you by His own death and resurrection is much greater! Tee Lord has moved you up from the low place of condemnation for your sin to the much higher place of being a child of God, saved by His grace. Jesus has valued you and your life by shedding His own blood for you.

That’s what “brotherly love” looks like. Jesus died for you as a brother. Jesus, your brotherly Savior, instructs you to love others, not trading favors with your equals, but exalting the injured, the lowly, the poor, and the crippled. Jesus calls you to value life like He values life. The author to the Hebrews says, “Let brotherly love continue.” Jesus doesn’t call you to simply “be nice to people” but He calls you to value the lives of people that He loves.

It’s not easy, but Jesus calls you to value the people that He loves. Jesus calls you to value the people that He died for. Jesus calls you to pray for your enemies, and yet the names of the people that annoy you stop up in your throat during your prayers. Sometimes, it’s hard for you to set aside your anger long enough to ask for God to care for those who get on your nerves. Treating those who mistreat you with love and respect is uncomfortable. When you think of people who frustrate you, who mistreat you, and who irritate you - those are people that Jesus calls you to love. But Jesus doesn’t call you to love them because of how good or kind or nice you are. Jesus calls you to love those people because He loves those people. Jesus has made them valuable because He shed His blood for them. If those people are loved by Jesus, why shouldn’t they also be loved by you?

Dear children of God - Jesus loves you. Jesus values you. Jesus moves you into the important place of being His redeemed, beloved saints. He has rescued you, not from dropsy, but from sin and condemnation. The value has given to you, He gives to others. Treat them with the value that He has given to them. Rejoice in the value that your Savior has given you - because He has covered you with His grace. Amen.