In Luke 14; 1-6, Jesus heals a man on the Sabbath while dining at a Pharisee’s house, knowing full well they’re watching to see if He’ll “break” the law. But Jesus exposes their hypocrisy by asking if they wouldn’t rescue their own child or ox that fell into a well on the Sabbath. Of course they would. He reminds them—and us—that the heart of the law is mercy, not rigid rule-keeping. The Pharisees had become so focused on legalism that they missed God’s compassion. Jesus didn’t come to destroy the law but to fulfill it, showing that true obedience flows from love, not pride. It’s easy for us, too, to slip into thinking holiness is about getting everything right. But the imperfect life that clings to grace is closer to God than the perfect life convinced of its own righteousness. So today, let’s lean on grace, love others well, and remember that God desires hearts of mercy more than mere rule-following.

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Good morning! It’s good to be with you on this Wednesday morning as we continue our time together in God’s Word. It’s always such a blessing to open the Bible with you.

We’ve been walking through the Gospel of Luke for a while now, and you know how I like to go—slow and steady. I’ve said it for years: I’d rather you read one verse of Scripture well, really listening for God’s voice, than a thousand verses badly. It’s not about reading a lot; it’s about reading well—reading consistently, reading with a listening ear, paying attention to what God might want to say to us. So take time to digest it. Take time to ruminate on it.

Today we’re starting Luke 14, and before we jump in, a quick reminder: when we read the Bible, we break it into chapters and sections, which is helpful—but that’s not how it was written. The chapters and verses were added later. So sometimes when we read slowly, we can lose track of the bigger story.

Chapter 14 actually begins a long section that continues into chapter 15—some of Jesus’ greatest parables show up there—and even on into chapters 16 and 17. The next few chapters all happen around a dinner at a Pharisee’s house. Today we’re reading the first thing that happens at that dinner.

Here’s Luke 14:1-6 from the NRSVUE:

On one occasion when Jesus was going to the house of a leader of the Pharisees to eat a meal on the Sabbath, they were watching him closely.
Just then, in front of him, there was a man who had edema. And Jesus asked the experts in the law and Pharisees, “Is it lawful to cure people on the Sabbath or not?”
But they were silent. So Jesus took him and healed him and sent him away.
Then he said to them, “If one of you has a child or an ox that has fallen into a well, will you not immediately pull it out on a Sabbath day?”
And they could not reply to this.

This is one of those moments that comes up again and again in the Gospels—Jesus “working” on the Sabbath. It’s one of the main things people criticized him for. The Pharisees saw it as a violation of the Law, a breaking of the commandment to rest.

Now, Jesus isn’t actually breaking the Ten Commandments here. What’s happening is this: during the exile, when God’s people lost their homeland, the religious leaders promised, “If we ever get back home, we’re going to keep the Law. We’re going to make sure we define exactly what it means to obey it.” So they created all these extra layers of rules—trying to build a fence around the Law so no one would even come close to breaking it.

So Jesus isn’t violating the Law itself—he’s violating their interpretation of it. And honestly, sometimes he seems to do it just to make a point. It’s like he knows they’re watching to see if he’ll heal on the Sabbath, so he says, “Alright, let’s talk about that.”

And he gives them a simple example: “If your child or your ox fell into a well on the Sabbath, would you pull it out?” Of course they would! That’s just common sense. Life is precious. Mercy matters.

So if they’d do that for a child—or even for an animal—how much more should we care for a person made in the image of God?

They can’t argue with him. They know he’s right.

What Jesus is doing here is showing them (and us) that God’s Law isn’t meant to trap us—it’s meant to lead us toward love. Jesus says in Matthew’s Gospel, “I didn’t come to destroy the Law but to fulfill it.” He’s showing what the heart of the Law truly looks like in action.

But it’s so easy to slip into legalism, isn’t it? Legalism makes sense—it’s simple. Just give me a list: do this, don’t do that, and I’ll be good. The problem is, it can lead to hardness of heart. We can get so focused on the rules that we forget whywe follow them in the first place.

The prophets said, “You honor me with your lips, but your hearts are far from me.” God doesn’t just want sacrifice—he wants a “broken and contrite heart.”

Paul said it too: “If I speak in the tongues of angels but have not love, I’m just a clanging cymbal.” It’s not enough to dothe right things; we have to do them with the right heart.

Because when we get caught up in legalism, we can start thinking we’ve got it all figured out—that we’re strong enough, good enough, smart enough to handle it on our own. But that’s when we’re furthest from grace.

I think an imperfect life that depends completely on grace is actually closer to holiness than a so-called “perfect” life that depends on its own goodness.

So today, let’s cling to grace. Let’s be careful not to get too confident in our own righteousness. Let’s lean on God’s mercy and strength, knowing that grace is what holds us together—and that grace is really what it’s all about.

Those Pharisees missed it that day. They were so focused on keeping the rules, they missed the heart of God’s love right in front of them. Let’s not make the same mistake. Let’s live with grace today.

Thanks for joining me. Hope you have a great rest of your day.