The reading from Luke 14 invites us to walk in the way and mission of Jesus. The narrative was arranged in the home of the ruler of the Pharisees to observe the Sabbath in a manner that would please God, and an invitation was extended to the teachers of the law. The Pharisees’ mission is not about Jesus’ mission and message of salvation, love, and inclusion, but a focus on their power and position to catch and discredit Jesus’ mission and authority in a legalistic error on the Sabbath. The Pharisees’ mission, ‘unchecked by the Holy Spirit, turns brothers to rivals. Jealousy replaces prayer. Greed replaces service. Competition replaces compassion.’

The appearance of ‘a man with dropsy’ revealed the trap, the pharisaical hypocrisy, and patterns of behaviour. The Pharisees’ mission intent of secretly bringing a man with dropsy to the meal was to trap Jesus into violating the Sabbath by healing him. The Pharisees were carefully watching Jesus’ actions, looking for any inconsistency or perceived violation of religious law that they could exploit. The Pharisees’ mission is about exploiting Jesus’ mission to promote their pride and maintain their worldly positions of power and status. Jesus’ mission directly challenged the established social structures and hierarchical systems that the Pharisees benefited from. Jesus’ mission of healing the man exposed the Pharisees’ mission of misplaced priorities and religious hypocrisy, who will always rescue their animal from a pit on the Sabbath.   

The mission of Jesus is not opposing our love of God to our actions toward others in the world, but letting our love for God be known in our mission and love for others. At the heart of God’s glory is not the Pharisees’ mission of observing their rules for the Sabbath. The heart of God’s glory is Jesus’ mission and healing of a man with dropsy (v. 2). The attention to the man with dropsy presents a challenge, highlighting how Jesus’ mission counters the Pharisees’ mission. Through the lens of Jesus’ mission, the Sabbath is no longer a time for the Pharisees’ mission and rules of rest but a time to express God’s power that sets the captives free.

The Pharisees’ mission is not only against Jesus’ mission, but they are also at odds with one another (vv. 7-11). The Pharisees’ mission is about choosing the best places, the places of honour, jockeying for position, and controlling others. In the Pharisees’ mission and practice, getting a particular position means ‘I am above you and I am below you, but that is okay because you are a bigger guy than I am, but you are not as valuable as I am.’ The Pharisees’ mission strives for glory from one another, competes with them, and seeks honour; hence, there is no peace or unity.

The Pharisees’ mission aimed to undermine Jesus’ mission and authority, as well as challenge His growing influence among the people.

Jesus’ mission counters the Pharisees’ mission, which proudly promotes themselves and their own interests in this life, with a warning that they will be put to shame in the life to come. Jesus’ mission shapes the honour that comes only through humility and servanthood (vv. 12-14), and by living in a way that honours God and receives the reward of ‘the honour that comes from God only’ (Jn 5:44).

Jesus’ mission is encapsulated in His response to the man with dropsy. Such a mission shaped by such mercy counters and changes the Pharisees’ mission routines and institutional hypocrisy. Jesus’ mission is about actions that manifest God’s love. Jesus’ mission is creative, confusing, disruptive, and counter to the Pharisees’ mission.

Jesus’ mission is faithful to the ministry and prophecy about Jesus as the Author and Finisher of faith, grace, salvation, and healing to all through His Spirit in the unfolding of His Kingdom. In Jesus’ mission, faith confers divinity on humanity, including healing on the Sabbath (Romans 1:16). Jesus’ mission not only recognises the man with dropsy, the lame, the poor, and the blind, but it is for everyone at the dinner and for us in the church today. Jesus’ mission invites us into a kingdom shaped not by the Pharisees’ laws and rules for honouring God, but by God’s loving response to a divided and hurting world and church. Jesus’ mission breaks expectations and despises the feasts of the Pharisees’ mission.

God hates rituals of mission, leadership, and worship where we gather with others and sing songs with great feeling, while inwardly our hearts, minds, and actions are far from God and His holiness. God said through His prophet Amos, “I hate, I despise your feasts … I take no delight in your solemn assemblies. Even though you offer me burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them… but let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream” (Amos 5:21-24).

God hates the religious hypocrisy of the Pharisees’ mission, their pretense and falsehood. God accepts worship and mission only from those whose hearts are devoted to Him in true love and gratitude and who make every effort to live in a way that honours Him. There is no neutrality in God’s mission. Accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour so as not to fall into the trap of the Pharisees’ mission ‘overseeing us,’ and eager to find fault. In Jesus’ mission, every invitation allows us to declare the whole Gospel of Jesus Christ.