Christ the Lord of the Sabbath

Scripture Reading

Luke 6:1–11 NIV84

1 One 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. 2 Some of the Pharisees asked, “Why are you doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?” 3 Jesus answered them, “Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? 4 He 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.” 5 Then Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.” 6 On another Sabbath he went into the synagogue and was teaching, and a man was there whose right hand was shriveled. 7 The 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. 8 But 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. 9 Then 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?” 10 He looked around at them all, and then said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He did so, and his hand was completely restored. 11 But they were furious and began to discuss with one another what they might do to Jesus.

Introduction

As we work our way through the book of Luke, we are at the point where Jesus has started to receive a good measure of confrontation from the religious leaders of his day. They have come to hear about what is teaching, and also the miracles that he was performing, and they now are following him around, watching him as he lives his life. But there is no desire on their part to learn from him, to grow in their own understanding. Rather, they want to defend and protect their own religious convictions and man-made laws that they have established, all of course in the name of God.

Today’s passage takes us to consider just another event / occassion where Jesus is confronted by these relgious leaders. As this takes place, we will find that the confrontation takes place surrounding what may and may not be done on the Sabbath Day.

For the Jewish people, the Sabbath Day was a very important day to be kept holy, and on which no work was allowed to be done.

The fourth commandment given by God through Moses was this...

Exodus 20:8–11 NIV84

8 “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates. 11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

But as we will see, the primary command given by God through Moses for the Israelites was extensively expanded upon by the Pharisees, so that they developed detailed and very specific rules and regulations regarding what would constitute work. Their motivation was certainly to put measures in place in order to ensure that the people did not in any way go against the commands of God. Their intentions were good. But they failed to see many of the more important aspects of God and his commands. And in doing what they did, they ended up playing God themselves… albeit inadvertantly.

With that in mind, let us turn our attention to this text. Notice firstly with me, the account of...

1. Picking Grain on the Sabbath (vv.1-5)

As we consider this event, along with the one to follow, I’m going to do so under the sub-headings, “The Context,” “The Confrontation,” and “The Response.”

So for the first account, look firstly at...

1.1. The Context (v.1)

Luke 6:1 NIV84

1 One 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.

None of the Gospel accounts gives a more specific time-frame for this account as it happened. We don’t know exactly when it was, around which time. What we do know is that it took place on the Sabbath. And this is the critical factor when considering this event.

We find then on this particular Sabbath day that Jesus was walking with his disciples through the grainfields that belonged to someone.

There have been all kinds of suggestions with regards to what they were doing, and where they were going. Some have tried to suggest that the disciples were clearing a road for Jesus, and thus picking the grain. There’s no evidence for this, and in fact, it wouldn’t make any sense, because they weren’t chopping down the grain, but merely eating it (and in fact later on in his response, Jesus clearly demonstrates that they were hungry, and this is the reason for them picking the grain).

Others have tried to give this account a kingdom orientation by suggesting that the disciples were going on some missionary journey, and had become hungry along the way, and thus they were led to eat. There is no evidence of this either.

In all likelihood, this was a Sabbath afternoon, after they had visited the Synagogue, and they were now simply strolling through the grain fields as a group together. Very clearly, they were not alone as they did this, because the Pharisees were there to witness what was unfolding, and so to confront Jesus and the disciples.

But here they are, walking through the grain fields, and while they walked, picking some grain to feed themselves.

Now, to our modern minds, and particularly within our context here in South Africa, you are not supposed to walk through someone else’s field and pick the grain - the grain belongs to them!! That would be considered theft!

But this was not the case in the Israelite way of life. In fact, the law that was given by God to the Israelites, specifically made provisions for those who were hungry to be able to help themselves to grain under certain circumstances.

An example of this is in...

Leviticus 23:22 NIV84

22 “ ‘When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Leave them for the poor and the alien. I am the Lord your God.’ ”

This was a very gracious allowance by God in order to help provide food for those who were needy.

More specific to our context in this passage in Luke is Deuteronomy 23:24-25...

Deuteronomy 23:24–25 NIV84

24 If you enter your neighbor’s vineyard, you may eat all the grapes you want, but do not put any in your basket. 25 If you enter your neighbor’s grainfield, you may pick kernels with your hands, but you must not put a sickle to his standing grain.

In other words, the people were allowed to eat the grapes and the grain in order to feed themselves - in other words to fulfil their hunger, or at the very least to put some nourishment into their system in order to strengthen them. They were just not allowed to harvest larger quantities and so go and sell it off and make a profit. And they weren’t allowed to take large volumes to go and feed their own families etc.

But just as a general principle, this was a wonderful demonstration of grace and mercy within the law of God. It really was concerned to care for people and to seek their good.

So within the context here, on surface level, the disciples were doing something that in general was allowed - picking grain in order to feed themselves.

But this leads us to then consider...

1.2. The Confrontation (v.2)

In verse 2 we read...

Luke 6:2 NIV84

2 Some of the Pharisees asked, “Why are you doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?”

We see here that the Pharisees were present with Jesus and his disciples. By this time, it seems that they were following Jesus around, keeping a watchful eye on what he and his disciples were doing.

And the problem that they pick up within this context is not the fact that the disciples were picking grain, but rather that they were doing this on the Sabbath Day. In their minds, the Sabbath Day was to be kept completely holy, and no work whatsoever was to be done on the Sabbath.

Now, before we move on and consider this further, we must recognise the importance and significance of the Sabbath Day command within the Israelite context. We must understand something of the reasoning why the Pharisees stressed this so much (certainly too much, but at least let us understand why).

We have already considered briefly the fourth commandment in the law - keep the Sabbath holy. But perhaps we must consider a particular event that took place when a man did not keep the Sabbath holy as he was supposed to.

Turn with me to Numbers 15...

This passage contains an account of a man who went out to collect firewood in the wilderness while the Israelites were on their journey to the promised land. In that account, we see something of the severe consequences in the event of a person failing to obey the Sabbath command of God.

Numbers 15:32–36 NIV84

32 While the Israelites were in the desert, a man was found gathering wood on the Sabbath day. 33 Those who found him gathering wood brought him to Moses and Aaron and the whole assembly, 34 and they kept him in custody, because it was not clear what should be done to him. 35 Then the Lord said to Moses, “The man must die. The whole assembly must stone him outside the camp.” 36 So the assembly took him outside the camp and stoned him to death, as the Lord commanded Moses.

The punishment for this man was death. Now this was clearly a man who was doing physical work on the Sabbath Day when he was not supposed to be doing it. God had made it clear that the Israelites were not to do any work on the Sabbath Day. They were not even allowed to cook a meal on the Sabbath Day.

Keep in mind that this was the very first violation of the Sabbath command, and the extreme measure of punishment that was handed down by God to this man was a demonstration to the Israelites of how seriously God viewed their obedience to His commands. And so, the Pharisees saw this as very important.

Take this a step further. We find that account in the book of Exodus where the Israelites were commanded to collect manna in the wilderness. This was the food that God provided for them in order to sustain them. But he gave them a very specific command in terms of how they were to collect this manna in the wilderness, particularly with regard to the Sabbath Day.

Exodus 16:4–5 NIV84

4 Then the Lord said to Moses, “I will rain down bread from heaven for you. The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day. In this way I will test them and see whether they will follow my instructions. 5 On the sixth day they are to prepare what they bring in, and that is to be twice as much as they gather on the other days.”

What is very striking about this passage was that when the Israelites collected too much, and kept some of the manna for the morning on any day other than the sixth day - going onto the Sabbath Day, the manna went bad over night, and stank and was full of maggots in the morning.

But when they collected extra on the sixth day, so that they would have enough for the Sabbath Day, the manna was perfectly fine for the next day. Clearly, God was at work in this scenario, and He was teaching the Israelites the importance of not only obedience to Him, but also that He was their provider. He was showing them that even though they did not work on the Sabbath, He would be the one that would provide for them. There was a time to rest, and they should take that rest, not thinking that they would somehow suffer loss as a result of that rest.

Now, this was just some of the Old Testament law regarding the Sabbath. But by the time of the Pharisees, that law was expanded to something that was far more extensive and cumbersome and burdensome. All kinds of rules and regulations had been put in place. The Pharisees wanted to make sure that they didn’t disobey the Sabbath, so they carefully tried to use their own ideas of rules and regulations in order to prevent people from breaking the Sabbath.

To get a sense of this, and even to put it into modern context, we can consider how orthodox Jews today hold to the Sabbath…

Just in order to set the context here… The Mishnah is the oral law in Judaism. Much of the teaching of the Jews concerning the Sabbath was handed down by oral tradition, and was then eventually included in the Mishnah, which was collected and committed to writing about AD 200.

One modern Jewish website, comments about the Sabbath commands in this way...

The Shabbat laws are quite complex, requiring careful study and a qualified teacher. At first, it's often overwhelming and seems like an impossible number of restrictions. But spending shabbat with others who are shabbat observant will show you that eventually, you, too, will become comfortable with the Shabbat laws, as long as you realize that becoming shomer shabbat (shabbat observant) is a gradual process rather than an overnight transformation. You will also recognize that the wealth off details provides for a lifetime of scholarship—even those who have been keeping Shabbat for years find that there is always more to learn on this subject.

Following is a brief summary of some of the Shabbat laws you are most likely to encounter.

Let's start with some basic activities from which we refrain on Shabbat:

writing, erasing, and tearing;

business transactions;

driving or riding in cars or other vehicles;

shopping;

using the telephone;

turning on or off anything which uses electricity, including lights, radios, television, computer, air-conditioners and alarm clocks;

cooking, baking or kindling a fire;

gardening and grass-mowing;

doing laundry;

.......

For example: Lights which will be needed on Shabbat are turned on before Shabbat. Automatic timers may be used for lights and some appliances as long as they have been set before Shabbat. The refrigerator may be used, but again, we have to ensure that it's use does not engender any of the forbidden Shabbat activities. Thus, the fridge light should be disconnected before Shabbat by unscrewing the bulb slightly and a freezer whose fan is activated when the door is opened may not be used.

These are the kinds of rules and regulations that had become common place. Certainly, the Pharisees had gone above and beyond in terms of ensuring that it was impossible to not only not break the Sabbath command, but to ensure that you didn’t engage in any activity that may perhaps look like it breaks the Sabbath command.

Suffice to say, life had become particularly burdensome for the people.

This is the context into which Christ entered, and within which he was confronted. Having considered this, we must consider...

1.3. The Response (vv.3-5)

How did Jesus respond to the Pharisees of his day? He begins in verses 3 and 4 by giving the Pharisees an example from their own Jewish history - that they would have been well familiar with.

Luke 6:3–4 NIV84

3 Jesus answered them, “Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? 4 He 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.”

The major question that arises from this particular response of Jesus is, why precisely did Jesus use this argument? Why did he go to this example in order to demonstrate that what the disciples were doing was good and acceptable?

The basic argument of Jesus here is that although a law had been put in place, there was an appropriate time to override that rule for the benefit of people in need.

The show bread that is spoken of here was 12 loaves of bread, one for each of the tribes of Israel, that were placed in the holy place on the table that was overlayed with gold. That bread pictured that Israel was, as it were, seated at the table with God, in fellowship with Him. But every week on the Sabbath, the bread would be changed - the previous week’s bread would be removed, and new bread placed.

But the law said of this bread...

Leviticus 24:9 NIV84

9 It belongs to Aaron and his sons, who are to eat it in a holy place, because it is a most holy part of their regular share of the offerings made to the Lord by fire.”

The law specifically stated that this bread belonged to Aaron and his sons. But in the instance that Jesus refers to, David and his men were fleeing away from Saul, who had in his heart to put David to death. And they were tired and hungry, and asked for some food. But there was nothing available except for this showbread…

1 Samuel 21:6 NIV84

6 So the priest gave him the consecrated bread, since there was no bread there except the bread of the Presence that had been removed from before the Lord and replaced by hot bread on the day it was taken away.

Jesus says to these teachers, you know your Scriptures so well, but you fail to recognise that within your own Scriptures is recorded this event of king David breaking that law for the purpose of feeding a man in need. How much more so should the true King not be able to and allowed to take food and eat food as they are in need.

God truly desires mercy, not sacrifice.

Luke 6:5 NIV84

5 Then Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”

This is a very striking statement. We must firstly recognise that when Jesus refers to himself here as “the Son of Man,” he was not merely referring to himself as a human - the son of a person. His reference here hearkens back to Daniel 7:13-14, which refers to the Son of Man as the one given “authority, glory and sovereign power.” It says further that “His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.”

Even as Christ referred to himself as the Son of Man, he was making a declaration of His own power and authority!

And in this particular instance, Jesus here is saying that this son of man - the one who has all authority - is Lord of the Sabbath.

In fact, what Jesus is doing here is he is telling the Pharisees that they have no place telling Him what may or may not be done on the Sabbath Day. He is the very Lord of the Sabbath. In other words, He is the one that governs what may or may not be done on the Sabbath Day.

This was a striking statement by Jesus. God was the one that had instituted the Sabbath Day, and truly had authority over it. But here, Jesus says that He has authority over it. This was a bold and profound statement being made. And Luke was here conveying to His reader the grand authority of Jesus.

This leads us to consider the second encounter concerning the Sabbath...

2. Healing on the Sabbath (vv.6-11)

Again, we must begin by considering the context, which we find in verse 6...

2.1. The Context (v.6)

Luke 6:6 NIV84

6 On another Sabbath he went into the synagogue and was teaching, and a man was there whose right hand was shriveled.

Again, the important remark concerning the time is that this took place on the Sabbath Day.

It was another occassion for Jesus to be teaching the people, and this is what Jesus was doing. He was in the synagogue - either at his missions home town of Capernaum, or at another synagogue in the region.

But there was also a man present that had a right hand that was shriveled. We cannot speculate on the cause of the man’s shriveled hand, but it is easy to see that this man was in a place that he would have been severely hindered from working. Luke mentions that it was the right hand that was shriveled. Evidently this was his hand that was stronger, that he would have used for his day to day work. And so, here was a man with a genuine need of help in order that he might do his basic day-to-day work.

This leads us to consider...

2.2. The Confrontation (v.7)

In this account, the confrontation is not an overt attack. In fact, the situation shows that the Pharisees were discreetly attempting to find fault with Jesus. Verse 7 tells us...

Luke 6:7 NIV84

7 The 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.

Notice in this verse that the Pharisees and Teachers of the Law “were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus...”

There is a pre-disposed wish on the part of the Pharisees and teachers of the law to find fault with Jesus and so to find a reason to accuse him.

This is where the heart of man goes when it is set against others. They had murderous hearts. There was no desire to reason carefully based on what actually was being done. They did not want to consider things with a mind and heart that demonstrated genuine love and was concerned for that which was right, but open to learn and see their own shortcomings.

Rather, they were a people filled with pride, that had determined in their hearts that they saw things truly and correctly. What they wanted now was to put an end to this man who was doing things contrary to their own perceived notions of right and wrong.

Dear friends, how quickly the heart of man can be drawn away into prideful self-righteousness. Humility is so important in our own thinking, and even in our own evaluations of circumstances and teachings. That doesn’t mean that we blindly accept everything that anyone says as true. We test according to the Scriptures. But we are to do so with a deep humility before God that was evidenced in Christ Himself.

Humility will protect us from similar ways of thinking and acting.

Because the Pharisees and Teachers of the Law had determined in their own hearts that they wanted to accuse him, they were now watching him closely. They wanted to see if he would heal.

In their minds, to heal someone was to do work. In their way of thinking, the only healing or medical treatment that would be allowed would be in the case of imminent threat of death. In other words, if this person’s life was at it’s end, and there was no hope of the person surviving for another day, then you could do work. But if it was merely a medical assistance for something not life-threatening, it was work, and it was expressly forbidde in their minds.

With that in mind, we must consider....

2.3. The Response (v.8-11)

We see in our text two responses - firstly from Jesus, as he responds to their thinking, and then the response of the Pharisees to his own response to them...

2.3.1. The Response of Jesus (vv.8-10)

We read in verse 8...

Luke 6:8 NIV84

8 But 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.

This verse immediately hightens the tension of the scene. Jesus knows precisely the game that these Pharisees are playing. He knows the thoughts in their hearts. He knows that they’re watching him closely, and that they are looking to find fault with him. An in light of this, he calls this man to stand up in front of everyone gathered.

In verse 9 we then read...

Luke 6:9 NIV84

9 Then 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?”

Notice how Christ immediately directs the attention of the Pharisees and teachers of the law to the law itself. He asks them what is lawful on the Sabbath. But instead of allowing them to dictate that which is lawful according to their own complex development of rules and regulations that were entirely devoid of any thought and care for a person, he simply asks them - is it lawful to do good, or to do evil? To save life or to destroy it?

The right answer is clear. No one in their right mind would have answered that it is right to do evil, or to destory life. They knew that at its root, that which was lawful was to do good, and to save life.

Verse 10 goes on...

Luke 6:10 NIV84

10 He looked around at them all, and then said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He did so, and his hand was completely restored.

Jesus was bold before these religious elites. In front of all of them, he’s prepared to confront them with their own pride and man-made relgious requirements. And he graciously, and compassionately, lovingly heals the hand of this man who was in need.

Christ saw the need of the man. He understood the predicament of the man, and cared for that need by helping.

We must then note...

2.3.2. The Response of the Pharisees (v.11)

One would think that they would have been overjoyed, perhaps greatly encouraged by the work that Jesus had done. He had just performed an amazing miracle in front of all of the people that would bring great help and benefit to this man who previously was unable to even work properly to provide for himself and his family.

But this was not the case...

Luke 6:11 NIV84

11 But they were furious and began to discuss with one another what they might do to Jesus.

How sad is this response. How far had their hearts drifted away from a deep love for people. They had no love. They had no genuine care for the good and wellbeing of the people around them. They made rules and regulations that burdened people, that hurt people, that weighed people down and made life extremely difficult, simply because they thought that this obedience would please God.

But God desired genuine love and compassion for the needy.

The religious leaders were furious. Their anger was boiling inside of them. They had been confronted by this man Jesus in a place where they were supposed to be respected and held in honour… their pride was dented. Their rules were overruled. And they were furious.

And so they began to discuss with one another that they might do to Jesus. In Mark’s Gospel, it says...

Mark 3:6 NIV84

6 Then the Pharisees went out and began to plot with the Herodians how they might kill Jesus.

The Pharisees wanted this man Jesus put to death.

Application / Conclusion

This event is a grand encounter between Jesus and the religious leaders of His day. What I want us to note from this passage is the emphasis that Jesus places on kindness, the benefit of people, on what was the Sabbath Day. As God had instituted the Sabbath Laws, His purpose was that His people may have a time of rest and recognise their reliance upon Him. He would demonstrate to them, even as they rested, that He was their great provider, and He was the one upon they ought to depend.

As Christ enters the scene here, and confronts the religious leaders on their Sabbath Day, he does two very important things.

Firstly, he seeks to bring perspective on the original intent of the day. God never intended the Sabbath to be a burden. He never intended it to be about the rules and regulations made by man that ought to be followed. He created the Sabbath as wonderful day to rest from work, as God Himself had rested from work. Instead, they took the Sabbath and made it about keeping rules that burdened men! Even rules that prevented good from being done.

Love for God and love for neighbour had become secondary… Christ confronted the religious leaders according to their own blindness and hardness of heart.

Let us be sure to live lives of love towards God and our neighbour. We are to care for other people, and hold their wellbeing at the forefront of our hearts and minds as Christians in this world.

But very importantly, Christ also demonstrated His great authority. The declaration here by Jesus that He was the Lord of the Sabbath was startling. He was claiming nothing less to have the authority to declare what truly could and could not be done on the Sabbath Day. He had full right over the Sabbath, as the second person of the Trinity.

But He also came to give a greater demonstration of the Sabbath’s implication, and that is the true significance of rest from work. That is a rest from works of the law, and to rest in Christ Himself.

Hebrews 4:9–11 NIV84

9 There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; 10 for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his. 11 Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following their example of disobedience.

That truth is brought through with startling clarity in the present event. The Pharisees were demonstrating the extent of their reliance on the works of the law. They relied entirely on obedience to the law in order to be right with God.

But Christ would be the one to show that you cannot possibly earn the favour of God through obedience to the law, no matter how rigorous you seek to be in your application of that law to life. Your rest is found in Jesus Christ.

Dear friends, as we gather on the Lord’s Day today, this is the day on which Christ arose from the grave. We may rest on this day, even knowing that Christ is our rest.

I see in this a beautiful picture, a wonderful opportunity to celebrate the freedom and the rest that we have in Christ. To gather as the people of God on a Lord’s Day should not be seen as a burden, but as a joy. To rest from our weekly labours is not a burden, but a great opportunity to give a picture of the rest that we have in Christ.

The world sees Sunday as Fun-Day. It’s a day for self-indulgence and pleasing the self. Doing whatever makes me happy. It’s my off day focused on myself. For my pleasures.

But the Christian sees Sunday as an opportunity to worship the one in whom they find their rest. It is a day for expressing our love for the Lord Jesus Christ through our unified worship of Him. It is a day that we celebrate the freedom that we have in Christ, even the freedom to give praise to His name as His people.

Our lives are never about us… they are about the worship of the King of kings and Lord of lords.

Do we have a rule book to tell us no turning on TV’s; make sure you set your light timers before the Sabbath starts; make sure you don’t drive in a vehicle… etc.? No we don’t. We love the Lord Jesus and the freedom He has given us. We love the rest that he has given us from our work.

The Lord’s Day remains a day that we may rest from our earthly labours - and we thank God for that. But the picture is so much greater - it’s a rest from our labours to obey laws and regulations. It’s a rest in Jesus.

Let us thank God for Christ, the Lord of the Sabbath!