What we need is to be healed of our own Pharisaical heart. Turn from it and find in Christ the healing you need. Like this man with dropsy, our bodies have become swollen, not with water, as was his case; rather, we are swollen with pride and self-righteousness. Repent of these; believe the Gospel. And find mercy in the One who gave His life into death and shed His sacred blood so that we might gain healing and find mercy in Him, who says, “Come unto Me and find rest.” So let us find our Sabbath rest in Christ. And now, coming to Him, do not see yourself anymore in the Pharisees, although you have sinned as much as they have; rather, see yourself as one who knows and acknowledges this. And then, see yourself in the poor man whom Jesus healed and let go. He lets you go so that you may live a new life in which you now have a new way of understanding and using the Law. It now serves to guide you in the way of love: the love of God, that is, trusting Him, and love of your neighbor, whom He fearfully and wonderfully made, knitting them together in their mother’s womb. This was what the Law was meant to do from the start, and thus, this is how we live: by faith, in love.
Readings:
Old Testament: Proverbs 25:6-14
Epistle: Ephesians 4:1-6
Holy Gospel: Luke 14:1-11
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