One Sabbath, when he went to dine at the house of a ruler of the Pharisees, they were watching him carefully. 2 And behold, there was a man before him who had dropsy. 3 And Jesus responded to the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath, or not?” 4 But they remained silent. Then he took him and healed him and sent him away. 5 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?” 6 And they could not reply to these things. (Luke 14)
In our culture, we naturally interpret the word "dumb" as being stupid. They are more or less considered synonyms. But in reality most of us know that the word "dumb" especially means unable to speak. The person whom one describes as "dumb" may actually know the answer, and a lot more than we do, but is not able to physically express it. Both apply in this case, and more. These leaders refused to respond, even though mentally and physically able to do so. They "could not" reply because they would not be honest, nor were they willing to change. And they were dumb in there actions as well as their words - refusing to show faith by lifting a finger to help a brother in need. Before we join the jump-on-the-Pharisees bandwagon and criticize them, let us first examine ourselves for how we may be dumb: refusing to tell what we know about Jesus, refusing to give encouraging or exhorting words to a brother/sister seeking help, refusing to lift a finger to do something that needs to be done. Don't be dumb.
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