JESUS IS LORD OF THE SABBATH
Luke 6:1-11
Key Verse: 6:5
“Then Jesus said to them, ‘The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.’”
In today’s passage there are two events related to the law of the Sabbath. God gave his laws to the people of Israel after he took them out of the slavery in Egypt with the promise that they would be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation if they obey him fully and keep his covenant. (Ex19:5) One of the commandments is this: “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work…”(Ex20:8-10a) In obedience to this command, even we all gather here today to worship God. Is being here physically the way to obey the command? Is it what means to keep the Sabbath holy? If you think so, please think it over. God does not want heartless, superficial, or hypocritical obedience. No matter how many animals we would sacrifices; such worship does not please God. In today’s passage, we may learn how to truly obey the laws of God from Jesus’ teaching. We may grow over legalistic religious leaders by loving God with all our hearts, minds, souls and strengths. We are not here just to obey the laws, but to love God and worship God with all our hearts. Accepting Jesus as the Lord of the Sabbath, we may worship God in Spirit and truth, and rest in Jesus.
First, the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath (1-5)
Look at verse 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.” Here, we need to understand Jesus’ disciples. Jesus always worked hard all day long from early morning to late night and frequently traveled from one village to another. Just once in a while, the disciples enjoyed delicious banquets, but often they missed meals and even slept on roads since there were no fast-food restaurants, or hotels, or inns.
For it was a Sabbath day, they could not cook, nor carried heavy lunch boxes. They missed breakfast and even lunch. They were so hungry that they were about to collapsed. Fortunately, they happened to pass the grain fields. Then the hungry disciples inadvertently picked the heads of grains, rubbed them in their hands to remove the husks and ate the kernels. It wasn’t tasty at all, but soothed their hunger a little bit. At this moment, some Pharisees popped up out of nowhere. Pointing their fingers at the disciples, they said, “Why are you doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?” It sounded like the disciples committed a very serious crime. The disciples might have been confused. Jewish law allowed travelers to eat what they could as they passed through another’s field. Then, what was their charge against the disciples? What was “unlawful” to do on the Sabbath? In essence, it was working on the Sabbath day. The Pharisees judged that the disciples worked on the Sabbath day.
To obey God’s command “On it you shall not do any work,” they made 4 major orders, 39 categories, and 1261 regulations which forbid specific activities on the Sabbath day such as flipping electric switches; pushing elevator buttons; opening oven doors; or sharpening a pencil. In upstate New York, one orthodox Jew did not call fire department even though his pillow and then his mattress were on fire. It was not to violate the Sabbath since he could not use the phone. The religious leaders strictly enforced the Sabbath law. According to their regulations, the disciples did work. By picking heads of grain, they harvested; by rubbing them in their hands, they threshed; by removing the husks, they winnowed. The disciples might have felt intimidated and become fearful.
Then, how did Jesus respond to the criticism? Look at verse 3-4. “Jesus answered them, ‘Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? 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.” Jesus told the story of David from 1 Samuel Ch21. King David was the most respected King in Israel who established Israel to be the kingdom. But, before he became King, he was a shepherd boy who received a lot of spiritual training. He was running for his life from King Saul, who wanted to kill him out of his jealousy. He and his men were hungry and desperate. At that moment, they went to the house of God and ask the priest Ahimelek for something to eat. Then, the priest gave him the consecrated bread which was only lawful for priests to eat. Obviously David knew the Levitical law, but he ate it and also gave some to his companions. Then, why did Jesus remind the Pharisees of this story? What did he want to teach them?
Fist of all, God who gave them the law is not legalistic, but merciful. From a legalistic point of views, David broke the Levitical law by eating the consecrated bread. He should be condemned to death just as Uzzah was struck down by God as soon as he reached out his hand and took hold of the ark of God.(2Sam6:6-7) However, God did not condemned him. Instead, God protected him and raised him to be the King of Israel. Why did David eat the bread and give it to his companions thought he knew it was against the law? And, why didn’t God punish him?
David is known as a man after God’s own heart (Ac 13:22). He deeply understood that “God desires mercy, not sacrifice.” He knew what the law really intended. God gave them the law out of compassion and mercy. It was to build them up to be God’s people, the kingdom of priests and a holy nation. It was not to judge nor condemn them, but to save them from eternal destruction. God who gave the law is not legalistic but merciful God who gave his son Jesus to save sinners. Following God’s heart, David practiced God’s mercy and compassion. If he did not give the bread his men, they would have been collapsed on a way and be killed by Soul.
However, the Pharisees became legalistic and lost God’s mercy and compassion. They did not think about God or about needy people. Rather, they thought about how to judge others by the law, how to criticize other by the law, how to destroy or cut them into pieces by their knowledge of the bible. In fact, who actually break the law of God? It was not the disciples of Jesus, but the Pharisees who condemned the innocent out of self-righteousness and legalistic mind. (Mt12:7)
This story serves us as a warning message. How easy it is to be critically minded, like the Pharisees, especially after we have accumulated some Bible knowledge. We study the Bible not to be self-righteous nor to look down others. Rather, we study the bible to be a shepherd like Jesus who laid down his life for sheep. May God help us to repent our critical or legalistic minds which make us like Pharisees. May God help us to follow God’s heart, so that we may use our Bible knowledge to build up others to be a kingdom of priests.
Second, through the story, Jesus taught that obedience to the law is not only that matter of actions, but also the matter of one’s heart, mind and soul. That is why God commanded his people to love him with their hearts, minds, souls and strength. (Dt6:5) In fact, it meant to obey the word of God with all our hearts, minds, souls and strengths. That is how one may truly obey the word of God. From God’s perspective of the law, David did not break the law. It is because David loved God with all his heart, mind, soul and strength. He did not pretend to obey the law before others. He truly and sincerely obeyed the law of God, by following God’s heart, by loving God with all his heart.
The religious leaders thought that they were righteous since they attended the Sunday worship service, prayed in public with beautiful words and motions, fasted regularly, and joined the Bible Studies. However, such obedience was nothing but pretentions before God. Later, Jesus rebuked them that they were like whitewashed tombs, which looked beautiful on the outside, but on the inside are full of the bones and everything unclean. (Mt23:27) If we are here without hearts, it would be nothing but meaningless sacrifices. God does not like such sacrifices. God does not accept such heartless obedience.
Some people might say that since I do not have heart or desires or willingness, I am not going to do anything. That is really childish or even wicked response like Cain who responded to God with anger after the kill his brother. It is like spitting out bitter medicine. Instead, we need to repent of our heartlessness; repent of our hypocrites; we may struggle to do even small one thing with all our hearts, minds, and strengthens.
Under the law of the world, people will be judged by their actions. But the law of God is much higher standard law. The law of God does not judge us by our actions only, but also our hearts -how much we put our hearts, minds, strengths, and even souls. God is pleased and accept our contrite heart rather than excellent religious performances. The law of the world might consider our actions, but the law of God is about our hearts and motives. In the Bible, obedience is love and love is obedience. We may obey the word of God with all our hearts, minds, and strengths.
After teaching the Pharisees to practice the law with the heart of God, Jesus now deals with another problem: they did not know who Jesus was. So, he declared that “The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.’” Look at verse 5. Jesus revealed his true identity. Jesus is the “Son of Man.” This means that Jesus is the Messiah who fulfills all of God’s promises made to his servants down through the generations. He is the Son promised to Adam and Eve who would crush Satan’s head (Ge 3:15). He is the Son promised to Abraham and David who would bless all nations and reign eternally on David’s throne (Gen 12:3; 2 Sa 7:12). Also, Jesus, the son of man, is Lord of the Sabbath. It means Jesus is the Creator God who made the heavens and the earth and all things, and who gave the Sabbath for Men. John 1:3 says, “Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.” So, Jesus cannot be bound by Sabbath legalism. Jesus is the Lord of the Sabbath.
The Pharisees had acted like they were the Lord of the Sabbath by enforcing people to obey all the regulations, seeking their glory, and satisfying their hidden desires to be honored and recognized. But, the Sabbath is made for the glory of Jesus. Therefore, on the Sabbath, we must honor and worship Jesus, the Creator God. When we think of the Sabbath, we should remain Jesus-centered. Without Jesus, we will miss the point of the meaning of the Sabbath.
The word “Sabbath” means “rest.” Jesus came to fulfill the true meaning of the Sabbath, which is to help men worship God and to find true rest for their souls. People think as if they could earn rest for themselves by hard working. But we cannot find rest for our souls by working hard, sleeping longer, drinking alcohol, playing games, going on trips and so on. It is because these things cannot solve our sins problems, which is our broken relationship with God. Men are restless because of their sins. However, Jesus can heal our broken relationship. To do this, Jesus became the Lamb of God who shed his blood on the cross. Jesus’ holy blood shed for sinners can cleanse our souls and take away restlessness. Jesus’ holy blood gives us true peace and true rest for our souls. Jesus said in Matthew 11:28, “Come to me all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest.” Praise and Thank God for giving us the Sabbath. Otherwise, we all get weary and tired from restless working in the world for 7 days a week. Taking away our restlessness, Jesus fills our souls with joy, wisdom. The Holy Spirit dwells in us and assures us of God’s love. This gives us true rest! As we gather here on Sunday, we praise and worship the Lord Jesus who gives us a true rest for our souls. Praise Jesus, the Lord of the Sabbath, who gives us true rests.
Second, Jesus heals a man on the Sabbath (6-11)
The second event also took place on a Sabbath. Look at verse 6. Jesus went into the synagogue and taught the word of God to people. Among those in the congregation was a man whose right hand was shriveled. His shriveled hand must have caused him great pain and sorrow and even made his heart shriveled also. As a child, he must have been ridiculed by his classmates
He must have been fatalistic and depressed since he could not do so many things with one hand, especially left hand. This shriveled hand must have become his fatal life problem. He might look so pitiful that the religious leaders picked him as a bait to trap Jesus. They were not interested in the man’s suffering at all. Rather, they watched Jesus closely to see if he would heal him on the Sabbath (7).
“Jesus knew what they were thinking…” (8a). To Jesus, this was a critical moment. To Jesus, to help the helpless even on the Sabbath was right. He also knew that he could be persecuted and even killed if he healed the man. What did Jesus do in this situation? Jesus said to him, “Get up and stand in front of everyone” (8). Even if the atmosphere was murderous, Jesus intentionally confronted the religious leaders. Purposefully Jesus offended and challenge their authority and pride, asking the question. Look at verse 9. “I ask you, which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy it?” This question must cut through the hearts of the religious leaders. it exposed the evil thoughts of the religious leaders. It exposed their realities that they were doing evil and they were destroying lives. According Mark’s gospel, Jesus was angry and deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts.
Look at verse 10. Jesus looked around at all of those gathered in the synagogue. He looked into the eyes of each and every one of the religious leaders. Then, he turned his attention back to the man with the shriveled hand. Jesus said to him, “Stretch out your hand.” He did so and his hand was completely restored. As the Lord of the Sabbath, Jesus did not yield to the legalistic criticism. Jesus did not avoid the conflicts. Rather, Jesus proclaimed that he is the Lord of the Sabbath by restoring his hand and giving him a new life at the cost of his own life. The religious leaders were furious. They gathered among themselves and began to plot what they might do to Jesus. We see here that Jesus is truly the Lord of the Sabbath who does good and saves one life. Jesus, the Lord of Sabbath, is full of compassion to save us and to restore us at any cost. It is lawful to do good and to save life on the Sabbath. What might be good to do on the Sabbath for us? First of all, it is shepherding one sheep just Jesus had done here by risking his own life. It is also to serve God, worship God with beautiful songs of praise and music. It is to worship God in spirit and truth by hearing and accepting the word of God. When a sinner comes to God with repentance, there will be great party in the kingdom of God. What a great privilege to have the Sabbath to rest, to serve, and to have relationship with God. Let us truly obey the word of God; let us have true rest in God.
In this passage, Jesus reveals that he is the Lord of the Sabbath. We must worship Jesus on the Sabbath. We must listen to Jesus on the Sabbath. We must also serve the needy on the Sabbath. May God help us to honor and glorify Jesus, the Lord of the Sabbath.
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