Dropsy

Today I read Chapter 14 of the book of Luke. The chapter starts with a description of the healing of a man with dropsy.  This is why I love Study Bibles.  The notes in my Bible (The New Interpreters' Study Bible) tell me that dropsy was the swelling of the body due to an excess of fluid --what we would call generalized edema.  In that time, it was used as a "metaphorical label for the greedy."  A person with dropsy would crave water in spite of the fact that their bodies were filled with fluid.  In this opening passage, Jesus heals a man with dropsy.

Luke is a wonderful writer.  In the sections that follow, he tells us about Jesus counseling dinner attendees to choose a place of low honor at a banquet instead of lusting after (my words) the places of honor and prestige at the table.  Jesus tells those gathered to invite the poor and marginalized to meals rather than those who can "return the favor."  He tells a story of a person having a great dinner.  All those he invited turned him down, so he angrily sends his servant to gather the outcast and bring them to the meal.  The chapter ends with Jesus discussing the cost of discipleship.

Are we like the man with dropsy?  Are we swollen with our need for prestige and power, and yet we crave it with an insatiable desire?  I think one of the messages of this passage is that Jesus stands ready to heal us -- to make us whole and well.  At the same time, he points to those who have nothing, and tells us to minister to them.  To take it even a step further, perhaps in this service, we will find our healing from Christ.