Luke 6:1-11
Luke 6
Lord of the Sabbath
1One Sabbath Jesus was going through the grainfields, and his disciples began to pick some heads of grain, rub them in their hands and eat the kernels. 2Some of the Pharisees asked, "Why are you doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?"
3Jesus answered them, "Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? 4He entered the house of God, and taking the consecrated bread, he ate what is lawful only for priests to eat. And he also gave some to his companions." 5Then Jesus said to them, "The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath."
6On another Sabbath he went into the synagogue and was teaching, and a man was there whose right hand was shriveled. 7The Pharisees and the teachers of the law were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they watched him closely to see if he would heal on the Sabbath. 8But Jesus knew what they were thinking and said to the man with the shriveled hand, "Get up and stand in front of everyone." So he got up and stood there.
9Then Jesus said to them, "I ask you, which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy it?"
10He looked around at them all, and then said to the man, "Stretch out your hand." He did so, and his hand was completely restored. 11But they were furious and began to discuss with one another what they might do to Jesus.
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First of all, my apologies on the long lag between posts. Finding the time to get posts up on multiple blogs hasn't been as easy as I'd hoped. But the header even says that I'm rather lazy, so this should be expected, right?
I'm starting to learn quite a bit about the Jewish culture of Jesus' day by reading some NT Wright and Rob Bell. And of course Flutterby always has some interesting thoughts on the subject -- In fact, I believe it was in an earlier post that she pointed out that the Torah is not nearly as legalistic on its Sabbath teachings as the Pharisees themselves were. They twisted the Torah teachings and created laws of their own.
And that's what Jesus points out here. The Torah says to observe and honor the Sabbath, and to keep it holy. The Pharisees were looking for any way possible to catch Jesus in an unlawful act. In fact, it makes me wonder if they had little sneaky spies following Jesus around, in the hopes of catching him and his followers doing something awful.
People weren't supposed to work on the Sabbath. One has to really stretch to say that picking some pieces of grain while the disciples walked, and eating it, was dishonorable to the Sabbath. After all, one has to eat! Even moreso, Jesus heals a man on the Sabbath. He does it right in front of the Pharisees, knowing full well they are going to be rather pissed about it. He's healing a man, and he's making a point -- many of the man-made laws of the day had become so restrictive that they were no longer being used to glorify God.
From our 21st century standpoint, we look at these things (eating grain, healing a useless hand) as obviouslly "good" things. But to many Jews of the day, doing these things on the Sabbath was a pretty radical idea. A lot of people were so fixated on the rules and regulations that they forgot why the rules were there in the first place.
We do the same thing today. A lot of people in churches have a laundry list of "don'ts." It's Christianity by subtraction. We forget about WHY God gives us commands and instructions. And we forget about the DOs of scripture. Feed the poor, care for the fatherless and the widows. The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath, and should be the Lord of our actions.
This post turned into a sermon, and I didn't mean for that to happen. Does anyone else have any thoughts on this piece of scripture? It seems like I read some other interesting tidbits about it recently, but I can't recall what it was.
posted by FTN @ 7:40 AM
4 comments
4 Comments:
I believe that the problem wasn't the eating of the grain, it was the picking; that would be construed as work. Even today, many observant Jews prepare all their Sabbath meals in advance, so they don't have to do the work of cooking on the Sabbath.
A Messianic friend of mine often points out that, contrary to the common Christian stereotype of the Pharisees, they weren't wicked people - they were the religious zealots of their day; the pious, observant guys, who were trying to follow God as best they possibly could. But, in their zeal, they often 'missed the point', as in this case. If you'll let a sick person languish an extra day so as to keep the Sabbath, you're missing the point that the Sabbath is supposed to be a blessing.
So, the lesson I draw from Jesus' dealings with the Pharisees is not so much about 'man-made laws', as much as it is for me to ask myself if, in my own zeal, I'm 'missing the point' somehow. . .
And I wonder if we all wouldn't do well to take a bit more of a 'reverent' approach to the Lord's Day. When I was a kid, the only store that was open Sundays was the pharmacy. I realize that our culture has long since stopped being a 'Christian culture', but might Christians do well to resist the commercial culture for one day out of the week? It is an easy matter to go shopping on Sunday, just because the stores are open, but more and more, I wonder if that's a good thing. The Lord's Day is meant to be given to the Lord - a large part of the blessing of it is in taking the time apart from life's busy-ness to 'draw near to God'. And it's also, in a certain way, an expression of faith - I'll trust God for my provision; for one day, I'll sit out from scratching out my living. In her book, Mudhouse Sabbath, Lauren Winner has a really insightful chapter on the Sabbath.
And a pastor friend of mine likes to make the needling point that Sunday is supposed to be The Lord's Day, not the NFL's.
Of course, all this goes to an attitude of our hearts - we should want to draw near to God, and apart from the world; I'm not proposing a new round of 'pharisaic' regulations.
Quote:
"The Pharisees were looking for any way possible to catch Jesus in an unlawful act. In fact, it makes me wonder if they had little sneaky spies following Jesus around, in the hopes of catching him and his followers doing something awful."
Reference Luke 20:20... I know it happened later on, but no doubt there were stirrings amongst the religious leadership of the day about this Teacher even early on.
I agree with Desmond's observation about the Pharisees. I think that for the most part it was a zeal for Torah and rigorous vigilance that Israel not stray again that prompted many of the "Fence" rulings that were made. There was an element of control and power in there as well. And the Sadducees, who at that time had control and rule of the Temple, had largely become utterly corrupt. Yeshua has strong words for them later on, and the historical records of the day are far from favorable as to their vile conduct.
Truly, Yeshua's message was one of repentance. A return. Forsake the error of your ways and return.
For some time now, we have attempted to keep the Sabbath holy. Holy simply means "set-apart". So, very simply... for us... from Friday night candle lighting until sundown Saturday night, we try to make the Sabbath as different from every other regular day of the week as we can.
Some weeks we have greater success than others... :)
But, I try to make Friday night a special family night, saving our best meal for that night, setting the table with some little "extras" that aren't used every day. We pray and take part in a remembrance of Jesus' death and resurrection. The evening is spent with family and sometimes friends, relaxing and enjoying each other's company. And on Saturday, we meet with other believers to join in prayer and study the Scriptures. There's usually a lively discussion and a shared meal. The kids play and often there will be some dancing and celebration afterwards.
I'm really trying to delight in this day. What's not delightful about a day of REST???! It is not only a picture of the rest we have in Messiah's redemptive work, but also a foreshadowing of our future rest. It's not a day for accomplishing my own means. My shopping, my hobbies, my work and menial toil... these things can wait.
"If you keep you feet from breaking the Sabbath and from doing as you please on my holy day, if you call the Sabbath a delight and the LORD's holy day honorable, and if you honor it by not going your own way and not doing as you please or speaking idle words, then you will find your joy in the LORD, and I will cause you to ride on the heights of the land and to feast on the inheritance of you father Jacob." Isaiah 58:13
Sorry I'm so late replying to comments. I read them weeks ago -- thanks for the insight, both of you.
I've had talks with some of my friends about how the church has become singularly focused on Sunday morning services. And for many people, "the Sabbath" is an hour or two on a Sunday morning. It would be good for the church community to make it into something a bit longer and more substantial. Meals in each others' homes. Reading of scripture together. Talking and planning and finding ways to help each other. And, of course, resting!
I'm all for Sunday naps, coincidentally.
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