A man with dropsy is before Jesus. He has an edema that needs healing, but it’s the Sabbath. Jesus asks the Pharisees if it is lawful to heal the man on the Sabbath. The law is that no work should be done on the Sabbath, but there are still emergency situations when something needs to be done immediately and cannot wait until Sundown.
Yes, people should keep the Sabbath holy. Yes, people should get a day off. But people should also do what’s right, and that doesn’t always involve just following the rules. We are about following God’s rules, not necessarily man’s laws. And yes, keeping the Sabbath holy is one of God’s laws, but there’s a bigger picture to it. And it’s more about doing the right thing than about following the letter of the law.
People should definitely reserve time for God. We spend so much of our time on our own things and for our own purposes. Many people work for their own purposes and to make money for themselves. We should give up some portion of our time to God. But sometimes things do have to be done. Hospitals have to stay open all the time. There are always sick people who need care. Someone has to be working at the hospital on Sundays. Police departments, fire departments cannot close up on the weekends. There are emergencies that need to be dealt with in a timely manner. People who get sick on a weekend and need emergency care should not be told to come back on Monday (if they’re still alive) because doctors and nurses can’t work on the Sabbath. A house that catches fire on a Sunday will burn down if the fire truck can’t come until Monday.
Our lives are different now, and a lot of businesses are open every day that are not in the emergency business, but even in Jesus’ time, people knew that some things just need to be done and can’t wait. On the Sabbath, the farmers still feed and water their animals, and they take the animals out of their yokes. Animals would not be denied their exercise and food on the Sabbath. Jesus asks, “Who among you, if your son or ox falls into a cistern, would not immediately pull him out on the Sabbath day?” Sometimes things just have to be done. And sometimes it’s more important to do the right thing than to just follow the rules.
Tamora Whitney
I teach in the English department. I teach composition and literature and Critical Issues -- a class that has a component on Jesuit values.
I like writing these reflections because it makes me think more deeply about the scripture and think about how to integrate the ideas into my own life and how to share these ideas with others.
