Visiting the sick – Vayyera
Quoting the Talmud (Sotah 14a, BM 86b), Rashi tells us (Gen. 18:1) that on the third day after Abraham’s circumcision, the patriarch had a visit from God.
From this we learn that visiting the sick must not be too early (or too late). It must be at a point at which the visit will be of the most use, psychologically and spiritually.
The idea of the third day links up with the Akedah. On the third day Abraham “saw the place from afar” (Gen. 22:4). Abraham knew that the place he saw was the one God was directing him to. On the third day a patient is at a crucial stage and needs strengthening from God.
