Luke 14:5 - Printer Friendly

ESV: And he said to them, "Which of you, having a son or an ox that has fallen into a well on a Sabbath day, will not immediately pull him out?"

NIV: Then he asked them, "If one of you has a child or an ox that falls into a well on the Sabbath day, will you not immediately pull it out?"

NASB: And He said to them, 'Which one of you will have a son or an ox fall into a well, and will not immediately pull him out on a Sabbath day?'

CSB: And to them, he said, "Which of you whose son or ox falls into a well, will not immediately pull him out on the Sabbath day?"

NLT: Then he turned to them and said, 'Which of you doesn’t work on the Sabbath? If your son or your cow falls into a pit, don’t you rush to get him out?'

KJV: And answered them, saying, Which of you shall have an ass or an ox fallen into a pit, and will not straightway pull him out on the sabbath day

NKJV: Then He answered them, saying, “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 has asked His dinner host—a leader of the Pharisees—if it is lawful to heal on the Sabbath. The leader and the other religious authorities refuse to answer. If they say, "No," they contradict the purpose of God's day of rest. If they say, "Yes," they admit that their vendetta against Jesus is hypocritical (Luke 14:1–4).

Jesus' argument relates to His previous healing of a woman bent over due to demon oppression. The healing occurred in the synagogue on the Sabbath. When the synagogue ruler objected Jesus responded, "You hypocrites! Does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the manger and lead it away to water it?" (Luke 13:15).

This question about treating diseases, injuries, and other conditions was common enough that the discussion was included in the Babylonian Talmud. Pharisees followed the Oral Law, which scribes developed over the few hundred years before Jesus to try to keep the people from breaking the Mosaic law. The scribes—lawyers—claimed that God gave Moses the Oral Law but that Moses didn't write it down. That left a lot of opportunity for scholars to debate over the content and meaning. After Rome destroyed Jerusalem in AD 70 and the scholars were scattered, scribes wrote down the Oral Law and the arguments surrounding it. The Babylonian Talmud, which was completed in AD 500, is the most comprehensive version. The Talmud includes the Mishnah—the Oral Law—and the Gemara—the debate about the interpretation of the law.

Shabbat 128b.4–6 includes an involved discussion about if an animal falls into a pit on the Sabbath: Is it okay to throw blankets and cushions into the pit in hopes the animal can climb back out? Or does the fact that the blankets and cushions then become unusable for the Sabbath break the law? The final answer seems to be that it is the rabbinical law—the Oral Law—that prohibits soiling the bedding, but the Mosaic law, which says not to let an animal suffer, supersedes the rabbinical law. Other discussions, especially in more modern times, affirm it is okay to save a life on the Sabbath.

Despite the Pharisees' continued attempts to manipulate Jesus so they can justify killing Him, He continues to call them back to love.

Luke 14:1–6 begins a section discussing who can enter the kingdom of God, and how they must do so. God's kingdom isn't just about salvation. It's also about the blessings of God's sovereignty and character. While arriving at the home of a Pharisee for a formal banquet on the Sabbath, Jesus heals a man. The other guests remain silent while Jesus indirectly explains that the kingdom of God is about kindness for all God's creatures. It is not a matter of blindly following man-made laws. Jesus follows with three parables about humility, generosity, and the importance of accepting God's invitation to His kingdom (Luke 14:7—15:24).

Luke 14 continues Jesus' doctrinal march to Jerusalem and the cross. Luke 14 and 15 contain the second grouping of one miracle and a series of discussions about the kingdom of God and salvation; Luke 13:10–35 is the first. Next will be a collection of warnings about rejecting God's kingdom (Luke 16:1—17:10) and two more sets of lessons about the kingdom and salvation, each beginning with a single miracle (Luke 17:11—18:34; 18:35—19:27). After this comes Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem.

Luke was a traveling companion of Paul (Acts 16:10) and a physician (Colossians 4:14). Unlike Matthew, Mark, and John, Luke writes his gospel as an historian, rather than as a first-hand eyewitness. His extensive writings also include the book of Acts (Acts 1:1–3). These are deliberately organized, carefully researched accounts of those events. The gospel of Luke focuses on the earthly ministry of Jesus Christ. Luke's Gentile perspective presents Christ as a Savior for all people, offering both forgiveness and direction to those who follow Him.