We are called to love courageously. Jesus sees this man with dropsy and decides to heal him. But he knows that there are people watching who will judge him for this act of love. It is the sabbath and they prefer to keep strictly to the law rather than letting compassion guide them. They need "knowledge and every kind of perception, to discern what is of value". They value the letter of the law but miss the spirit behind it.
Jesus wants to help them (and us) see what has the most value in God's eyes. They are unable to recognize the value of this man with dropsy so Jesus puts it in other terms that they do understand:
“Who among you, if your son or ox falls into a cistern,
would not immediately pull him out on the sabbath day?”
The Pharisees and scholars of law imagine that Jesus can wait a day to heal this man without any harm. But Jesus teaches them that his compassion is too great to wait. He loves this man like a son whom he won't suffer to wait a day in a cistern of darkness, suffering, and despair.
Jesus gets in the face of the Pharisees and scholars. His love is bold. It is fearless. He confronts them about their issue with sabbath before they even mention it this time. It isn't just this time though. His insistent love is always challenging. His intolerance for excuses and lesser goods is challenging. We aren't often as good at this as the Philippians. We aren't even consistent in our love during the good times. On the other hand are the Philippians who, Paul says "are all partners with me in grace, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the Gospel." When Paul is in a cistern of imprisonment the Philippians continue to show their love. They don't make excuses.
So we are called to let love be our overriding priority. We are called to not make excuses or choose lesser goods. This love is already at work in us. It does express itself, even heroically at times. Yet at other times we know we fail. If we aren't quite to the level of the Philipians yet, we don't need to worry. It is a process.
I am confident of this,
that the one who began a good work in you
will continue to complete it
until the day of Christ Jesus.
This is happening inside of us because God began to work in us. He is the one that provokes the desire to love in us. He won't stop working unless we force him to stop. And he won't ever be happy about stopping. He is raising us out of the cisterns of sin and suffering. He does so because we are his sons and daughters through Jesus by virtue of our baptism. He wants us to be filled with all the fruit that should entail.
so that you may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ,
filled with the fruit of righteousness
that comes through Jesus Christ
for the glory and praise of God.
We are made for the praise of his glory (cf. Eph. 1:6). He wants to hallow his name in our hearts. He wants to remove from us any reluctance we have in praising him, any doubt as to his goodness. The cistern that doubts God's love is dark indeed. Yet we all fall into this trap occasionally. But as we are experience his own unconditional love, and as this love manifests in our own lives through the choices we make, the doubts fall away and we are left with only praise.
Hallelujah!
I will praise the LORD with all my heart
in the assembled congregation of the upright.
Great are the works of the LORD,
studied by all who delight in them.
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