Luke 6: Part 1 (1)

Pray Psalm 92.1-4.
It is good to give thanks to the LORD,
And to sing praises to Your name, O Most High;
To declare Your lovingkindness in the morning,
And Your faithfulness every night,
On an instrument of ten strings,
On the lute,
And on the harp,
With harmonious sound.
For You, LORD, have made me glad through Your work;
I will triumph in the works of Your hands.

Sing Psalm 92.1-4.
(Sweet Hour: Sweet Hour of Prayer)
How good it is to thank the Lord and praise to God Most High accord;
by day to let His kindness ring, His faithfulness by night to sing.
With ten-stringed lute, resounding lyre, and sweetest harp we’ll lift You higher.
For You have made our souls rejoice; we sing Your praise with blended voice!

Read and meditate on Luke 6.1-5.

Preparation
1. What were Jesus’ disciples doing?

2. How did Jesus defend their actions?

Meditation
The Sabbath was the part of the Law where the religious leaders of Jesus’ day exercised greatest control and oppression. They had so narrowed what was allowed on the Sabbath that anyone outside their home on that day might be liable for judgment.

So here are Jesus and His disciples, strolling through a wheat field, and His disciples are helping themselves to a bit of nourishment. This act was not unlawful: “When you come into your neighbor’s standing grain, you may pluck the heads with your hand, but you shall not use a sickle on your neighbor’s standing grain” (Deut. 23.25). The disciples were simply keeping the Law, and Jesus consented to it.

But they were doing this on the Sabbath, and the Pharisees – out on Sabbath patrol, no doubt – considered this a violation of the Law at their most precious point of authority (v. 2). As they saw the matter, Jesus’ disciples were “working” on the Sabbath, and Jesus wasn’t troubled by it. (Can you hear them: “Aha!”).

But Jesus answered by recalling David’s action on the Sabbath, when he ate the bread reserved only for priests because he and his men were hungry (vv. 3-5; cf. 1 Sam. 21.3-6). The priests who gave that bread to David did not consider that they were violating the Sabbath. Works of mercy and necessity are never out of place on the Lord’s Day.

Jesus exposed the real issue at question here: Who rules the Sabbath? The Pharisees and their petty attempts to control the people? No. Jesus, the Son of Man, is Lord of the Sabbath. We look to Him, not some rulebook of do’s and don’ts, to show us how to keep the Lord’s Day and all the Law of God.

Treasures Old and New: Matthew 13.52; Psalm 119.162.
Really? For all the things that were going on in Judea at that time, the Pharisees were distressed about plucking grain, rubbing it in one’s hands, and eating it? A minor snack at best that was not too labor intensive. And yet, they judged and complained (Lk. 6.2).

For our part, we are busy watching Jesus and how He comports Himself in all these situations. Up to this point He has been more than generous and kind with the Pharisees. But on this second Sabbath day after the first, He was firm and to the point. Just like His encounter with Satan in the wilderness, He brought up Scripture to support His meaning. Here he recalls for them the story of hungry David and his fellow soldiers (I Sam. 21.6), giving them a pass for eating the holy bread saved for the priests’ use. They were, after all, in need. And this bread would meet that need in their lives. Then Jesus throws down a huge truth at the feet of the Pharisees: “The Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath” (Lk. 6.5). I AM the Lord of the Sabbath. Back off!

“A whip for the horse, a bridle for the donkey, and a rod for the fool’s back.
Do not answer a fool according to his folly, lest you also be like him.
Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own eyes” (Prov. 26.3-5).

Jesus always got it right!

“Let Your mercies come also to me, O LORD—Your salvation according to Your word.
So shall I have an answer for him who reproaches me, for I trust in Your word” (Ps. 119.41, 42).
“A man has joy by the answer of his mouth, and a word spoken in due season, how good it is! (Prov. 15.23).

Lord, help me to get it right.

Our outspoken brother in Christ, Peter, wrote good words of instruction for us as we contemplate being more like Jesus: “Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, ‘Be holy, for I am holy’” (1 Pet. 1.13-16). Only through the Holy Spirit (Acts 1.8).

As we imitate the Son of Man and Lord of the Sabbath (1 Cor. 11.1), working out our salvation with fear and trembling (Phil. 2.12), we will become more attuned to speaking the truth in love. So that we “may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ…” (Eph. 4.15). The Holy Spirit’s goal for us (Jn. 16.13).

For reflection
1. Why is it important that we, like Jesus, have a ready store of Scripture to share with those in our Personal Mission Field?

2. How does a good grounding in the Word prepare us to answer those who challenge our faith?

3. Whom will you encourage today with a good word from the Scriptures?

Christ justifies his disciples in a work of necessity for themselves on the Sabbath day, and that was plucking the ears of corn when they were hungry. But we must take heed that we mistake not this liberty for leave to commit sin. Christ will have us to know and remember that it is his day, therefore to be spent in his service, and to his honor. Matthew Henry (1662-1714), Commentary on Luke 6.1-5

Pray Psalm 92.5-15.
Praise the Lord Who rules not only the Lord’s Day but all of creation! Call on Him to give you courage for this day’s struggles, to allow you to flourish in spiritual fruit and gifts, and to have an opportunity to talk with someone about the Lord today.

Sing Psalm 92.5-15.
(Sweet Hour: Sweet Hour of Prayer)
How sweet Your works, Your thoughts how deep: The fool cannot such knowledge keep.
Like grass the wicked rise each day; in judgment they are swept away.
But You, O Lord, abide on high; Your enemies shall fall and die.
All those who sin shall scattered be, but, Lord, You have exalted me!

My eye my vanquished foe shall see; my ears hear those who threaten me.
Yet in God’s house, where he belongs, the righteous like a tree grows strong.
Then let us green and fruitful be and flourish like a mighty tree,
to tell God’s righteousness abroad: He is our Rock, our sovereign God!

T. M. and Susie Moore

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Except as indicated, all Scriptures are taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. For sources of all quotations, see the weekly PDF of this study. All psalms for singing are from The Ailbe Psalter (Williston: Waxed Tablet Publications, 2006), available by clicking here.