Lesson 16. Luke 6:1-16 The Lord, The Sabbath, and the 12

Lord of the Sabbath 6:1-5

English Standard Version (Chapter 6)

6 On a Sabbath, while he was going through the grainfields, his disciples plucked and ate some heads of grain, rubbing them in their hands. 2 But some of the Pharisees said, “Why are you doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath?” 3 And Jesus answered them, “Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him: 4 how he entered the house of God and took and ate the bread of the Presence, which is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to those with him?” 5 And he said to them, “The Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.”

As we read this today, we say, what were these Pharisees thinking. It sounds mad, even ridiculous. Imagine not being able to smash a few grains between your fingers or hands to remove the chaff. It was a time of harvest of grain and this act by Jesus disciples enraged the Pharisees. Needless to say He set them straight, but not just n an argumentative way, but authoritatively and by showing them they missed the point:

Luke: An Introduction and Commentary (G. The Right Use of the Sabbath (6:1–11))

All four Gospels make it clear that a chief point in the conflict between Jesus and the Jewish authorities concerned the right way to keep the sabbath. The Jews took the sabbath seriously. Many students of rabbinic practices hold that the sabbath was a delight, but the rules for keeping it were certainly elaborate and repressive. The interesting thing about Jesus’ approach is that he did not simply argue that repressive regulations should be relaxed and a more liberal attitude adopted; he said that his opponents had missed the whole point of this holy day. Had they understood it they would have seen that deeds of mercy like his were not merely permitted—they were obligatory.

They were so close on the surface, but not even close on the inside of the heart. It is interesting that in this discussion of the Sabbath, scholars can put an actual date on this event. though a date is not critical to our understanding what is happening. This is a direct challenge to the ministry and discipleship training that Jesus had been providing. In just a few sentences, Jesus is going the have a “drop the Mic” moment. He will do that when He tells them He is the maker or Lord of the Sabbath. I think it also is worth stating that if the Pharisees were monitoring the disciples actions so close that they could see them rubbing their hands together to get a little crunch to snack on, then they also were working on the Sabbath themselves to get some dirt of the disciples of Jesus (before there were the actual 12 disciples.)

The Lord did not remind them of their hypocrisy, but He does not let them down gently either. He reminds these guys of David’s taking from the bread of presence or showbread in the House of the Lord when he was hungry. Though it was not lawful, they were not judged by God for this. They were forgiven and Jesus could say this because He, The Son of Man was the actual LORD OF THE SABBATH. Boom. Mic drop right here.

The man with the Withered Hand. Luke 6:6- 11.

English Standard Version (Chapter 6)

6 On another Sabbath, he entered the synagogue and was teaching, and a man was there whose right hand was withered. 7 And the scribes and the Pharisees watched him, to see whether he would heal on the Sabbath, so that they might find a reason to accuse him. 8 But he knew their thoughts, and he said to the man with the withered hand, “Come and stand here.” And he rose and stood there. 9 And Jesus said to them, “I ask you, is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to destroy it?” 10 And after looking around at them all he said to him, “Stretch out your hand.” And he did so, and his hand was restored. 11 But they were filled with fury and discussed with one another what they might do to Jesus.

Once again there is a confrontation on a Sabbath. It was not necessarily the next Sabbath, it was probably another one in the near future. That is it was a different day and distinctively different from the grain picking day. There Pharisees thought the issue was working on the Sabbath and Jesus deserved death for healing right in front of them. Jesus was trying to get them to see the “hypocrisy side”of their thinking and reasoning.

The Savior was showing them that it was truly better to do good on the Sabbath than to do harm or nothing at all. And, He adds, “it is better to save a life then destroy it, or nothing at all.” The simple command to “stretch out your hand” is definitely not work by any way of thinking. Since the Pharisees were looking for ways to accuse Him, they were grasping at straws. Undercutting them by doing good only enraged them and they started thinking of ways to stop Jesus in His tracks. Their envy had consumed them and it led all the way to the Lord’s cross on Calvary.

The 12 are Chosen 6:12- 16

English Standard Version (Chapter 6)

12 In these days he went out to the mountain to pray, and all night he continued in prayer to God. 13 And when day came, he called his disciples and chose from them twelve, whom he named apostles: 14 Simon, whom he named Peter, and Andrew his brother, and James and John, and Philip, and Bartholomew, 15 and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon who was called the Zealot, 16 and Judas(Jude)the son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.

You can’t help but think that more than this may have reasoned they were worthy of being one of the 12. Many more than 12 hung around him on a regular basis but there was something about the commitment level of these guys. It all boils down to the fact that Jesus saw something in the 12 he saw in no one else. They walked away from Jobs, lifestyles, and maybe even families to serve the Son of God. They definitely led lives worth reading and writing about. They identified with him in their deaths except for Judas Iscariot. How can we not marvel at the vision they had of the Lord and their ability to follow through and cash it all in. Their fearlessness and bravery should be an inspiration to us all. It was these men of whom it was said, “turned thee world upside down.

We are going to list the apostles here for their names sake and for our edification. Better yet, let’s let Luke list them here:

English Standard Version (Chapter 6)

14 Simon, whom he named Peter, and Andrew his brother, and James and John, and Philip, and Bartholomew, 15 and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon who was called the Zealot, 16 and Judas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.

The men are called after a night of prayer. Not a quick nap or anything and they are brought together. Every man’s name is important, even Alphaeus, because he lives for ever in Scripture record. These are named apostles, or “sent ones” or messengers who were sent. Actually, they were all very ordinary men. There were a couple of sets of blood brothers and each was special enough to have gotten chosen.Can you guess which one was not a Galilean? that’s right it was the betrayer, Judas Iscariot. Luke tells us that Judas became a traitor. Apparently he started out strong before he went bust in the end. The 12 are set and now things are going to get even more interesting as we live and learn with these bold men, following the Savior. There is nothing finer, than a strong group of men who want nothing more than to give their all for the Savior and to learn at His feet.