Silencing the False Narrative; Luke 14:1-6

Delivered during the Sunday Morning Worship Service, 4/7/2024. Nestled in between Jesus' lament for Jerusalem and another warning of eschatological judgment, Luke includes a "living parable" where Jesus draws the anger of the Pharisees and lawyers for healing a man on the Sabbath. And once again, we will see how Jesus masterfully responds to their false narrative. Jesus is invited to a luncheon, where His Pharisee-host has prepared a trap for Him, by putting a man with dropsy right in front of Him. His idea is to tempt Jesus to defile the Sabbath by healing a man he feels is under God's judgment. We will analyze these and other false narratives Jesus is presented with, designed to expose Him as a sinner and discredit His claims to be the Messiah. But even though Jesus boldly heals the man, He will make it clear that by doing so, He glorifies God rather than breaking His commandments. Ultimately we will learn Jesus' formula for silencing the false narratives that we face-- by refusing to be sucked into the falsehoods, while standing firm for the uncompromised truth.