In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
God’s Word for us today from the Book of Proverbs said: “Do not put yourself forward in the king’s presence or stand in the place of the great, for it is better to be told, “Come up here,” than to be put lower in the presence of a noble.” This has a direct parallel in what Jesus said in today’s Gospel reading: “Everyone who exalts himself will be humbled.”

Today’s reading from St. Luke’s Gospel tells us how Jesus dealt with the sinful pride and the self-promoting behavior of the Pharisees. Sadly, we’re all inclined to such pride and self-promotion … thinking that we’re so much better than the next person. On this occasion, Jesus saw how everyone was trying to show how important they thought they were by trying to sit in the most honored places for this Sabbath feast. Jesus also knew that the Pharisees were keeping a close eye on Him … hoping to discover some error in His teaching that they could use against Him.

There was also a man at this feast who was afflicted with dropsy – what we call edema – which results in fluid retention, painful swelling, and even disfigurement. It’s likely this man was seated in one of the lowest positions at this gathering. But in spite of this man’s humbling condition and lowly place, Jesus comes to him. And in spite of how He knows the Pharisees will feel about this, Jesus asks “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”

Of course, the Pharisees didn’t think that it was lawful to heal on the Sabbath since healing was work and no one was supposed to work on the Sabbath, right? The Pharisees had formulated all sorts of detailed regulations as to how they thought they should truly keep the Sabbath and in doing so, they turned God’s gift of a day of rest into a test to see which of them was better and thus more deserving of the honored place at the table.

Of course, Jesus isn’t overly concerned with how the Pharisees might feel and instead – out of His divine grace and mercy – He heals the man. Then He goes on to give some corrective instruction to the Pharisees by asking them a leading question: “Which of you, having a donkey or an ox that has fallen into a pit, will not immediately pull him out on the Sabbath day?” Jesus knew that the Pharisees wouldn’t have a problem with helping to pull an ox or a donkey out of a pit on the Sabbath even though they would think it a great scandal that someone would heal a sick man on the Sabbath: rather inconsistent on their part.

In reality, Jesus perfectly kept the Sabbath by healing this man. Remember your catechism? “We should fear and love God so that we do not despise preaching and His Word but hold it sacred and gladly hear and learn it.” In other words, the Sabbath is a day of rest from our work to focus instead on God’s work for us. It’s like when we come together on Sunday for the Divine Service where the Divine (our Lord Jesus Christ) serves us in Word and Sacrament … not where we work our way to the higher place by our own efforts. It’s all about Christ and the blessèd truth that He is gracious and merciful to us even if we’re sitting in the lowest place because our bodies and souls that are swollen and inflamed by sin.

That should be the greatest comfort and consolation to each and every one of you. In spite of your faults … in spite of your failures … in spite of your weaknesses and sins; Christ comes to forgive and heal you.

St. Paul writes that, “[Sabbaths] are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ” (Col 2:17). And Jesus says, “Come to me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matt 11:28). Truly keeping the Sabbath is holding fast to Christ: hearing and believing His Word. It’s all about Christ’s work for you. And Christ works in you by the preaching of His Word so that you see and repent of your sins, receive His full and free forgiveness, and learn to trust in Him who went to the cross to redeem you from sin, death, and hell.

The fact of the matter is that all too many people think that the reason we go to church is to do something for Jesus by praising and worshipping Him. But while it’s true that the faithful people of God rightly pray, praise, and give thanks for Christ’s many blessings, those things are only our inferior response to Christ’s perfect gifts. The primary reason for us to come together is to receive Him who comes to us in His Word, and in His Body and Blood shed for you for the forgiveness of all your sins. We’re the ones who need to have something done for us … just like that ox or donkey that can’t get itself out of a pit (except we’re trapped in a pit of sin and death, and completely incapable of getting ourselves out.)

But Christ comes along, dies for your sins, descends into the pit of hell – on the Sabbath no less – and pulls you out of that pit by His glorious resurrection into which you are baptized.

So, this weekly Sabbath rest here at church is not a burdensome task to work your way to a higher seat at the Lord’s table, but is instead a gift from Christ – the Lord of the Sabbath – to heal you, restore you, and prepare you for your eternal Sabbath rest at His heavenly feast. To receive Christ and His forgiveness is to receive the peace of God which passes all understanding, and which comforts our weary souls in times of trial and temptation.

We can have no greater peace and consolation for our troubled souls than knowing that Christ shed His blood to cleanse us of our sins: reconciling us to God the Father. And that’s what Christ – your true Sabbath rest – promises and delivers to you in Word and Sacrament.

The Pharisees were full of themselves and lacking in godly humility. In our Epistle Reading, St. Paul admonishes us to “to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love.” But true humility is only found outside of ourselves and in Christ. Only in Christ have we been freed to bear with one another in self-sacrificial love that puts the care of others before ourselves and seeks to be of service without wanting something in return.

In the Parable of the Great Banquet that comes right after our text today, Jesus says: “when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you“ (Lk 14:13-14). In other words, don’t concern yourself with what you’ll get out of it, simply serve God by serving your neighbor. God has blessed you with the gifts of faith, life, salvation, and His providential care without any requirement on your part. And out of Christian love, you likewise have the privilege of sharing God’s gifts with your neighbor without expecting anything in return.

So, the heart of the matter is this: none of us – in and of ourselves – could ever be worthy of sitting even in the lowest place at the Lord’s table, but Christ “humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Phil 2:8) and risen from the dead, God the Father has “highly exalted Him” (Phil 2:9). Moreover – by baptism and faith – you share in Christ’s exaltation. “You are the body of Christ and individually members of it” (1 Cor 12:27) and as His body, His exaltation is your exaltation.

The places of honor at Christ’s table don’t belong to those who try to get them by self-promoting works, but to those to whom Christ says: “Friend, move up higher.”

We enter the feast simply rejoicing that we’ve been invited, and giving thanks for Christ’s abundant, grace, and mercy.

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

Pr. Jon Holst