Sabbath for Whom?

Gospel: Luke 14: 1-6

Consider this scene on the Sabbath.  Pharisees invite Jesus to dinner and an ill person comes upon the scene.  Will Jesus perform work on the Sabbath and heal the person or not, the prohibition against work being in the forefront of their minds?  But for whom is this prohibition for? Who benefits from this leisure?  Surely it is not the women and slaves preparing meals and cleaning up.  Apparently such a law and leisure is only for the Jewish menfolk.

No doubt it is a good deed to feed someone at table, to provide hospitality and food for another.  Surely it is a good deed to heal someone of their ailments as Jesus does time and again on the Sabbath and on every other day of the week.  Certainly it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath, for the Sabbath day is our reminder of the good that God has done for us, and a reminder of the good we are to do for others.  Jesus provides Sabbath rest for the ill person who labored under the burden of illness for so long.

The mission of Jesus in every place he went was to provide healing, liberation from demons, and nourishment to people at table.  That work never ceases, for it is the work of Sabbath.  The Sabbath was given for healing, liberation, and nourishment of body and soul.  Let everyday be a Sabbath in carrying out the work of the Lord Jesus for those burdened by illness, possession, hunger, and thirst.  Let our good works never cease for those in need of mercy and love.