Luke 6: Part 1 (2)

Pray Psalm 2.1, 2.
Why do the nations rage,
And the people plot a vain thing?
The kings of the earth set themselves,
And the rulers take counsel together,
Against the LORD and against His Anointed…

Sing Psalm 2.1, 2.
(Agincourt: O Love, How Deep, How Broad, How High)
Why do the nations vainly rage, conspiring together from age to age?
Earth’s kings and all of their counselors stand against the Lord and His Right Hand.

Read Luke 6.1-11; meditate on verses 6-11.

Preparation
1. What did Jesus do in the synagogue?

2. How did He justify His action?

Meditation
As if one good Sabbath tweaking wasn’t enough, Jesus adds a second “on another Sabbath” (v. 6).

He had already rebuked the Pharisees because they tried to forbid the disciples doing a work of necessity on the Sabbath (vv. 1-5). Now they became outraged when He did a work of mercy (v. 11). The point was not that Jesus was doing something wrong. He was not a Sabbath-breaker. Far from it. Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath. He determines what’s legitimate for His Day.

And that’s what ticked off the Pharisees and scribes. Sabbath-monitoring was their special bailiwick, and Jesus invaded it, more than once, to turn over the tables of their rigid and uncaring protocols. Before He healed the man with the withered hand, He gave His adversaries an opportunity to save face: “I ask you one thing: It is lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy?” (v. 9) The scribes and Pharisees should have said, “Well, when you put it that way, of course…” But they just sat there seething, “filled with rage”, to see Jesus trashing their presumed authority and winning the hearts of the people.

That’s often the fear that keeps people from coming to Jesus, that they’ll lose their autonomy, won’t be able to make their own choices, and will have to yield the rule of their lives to God. And in that, they’re mostly right, except that as followers of Christ we continue making our own choices. But in Jesus – with His understanding and patient love, and by the power of His Spirit and Word – we make better choices, choices that serve others and honor the Lord.

Treasures Old and New: Matthew 13.52; Psalm 119.162
Do you ever wonder why Jesus didn’t do most of His healings on a Tuesday?

I think He did much of His work on the Sabbath because He wanted to reach out to the scribes and Pharisees. He wanted for them what He wanted for the general population: to learn of and follow Him. And for the leaders of the synagogue, He longed for them to be good and well-trained shepherds of His flock. And for that they would need to observe the Good Shepherd at work.

Jesus also wanted to unseat those saints. He wanted them to know of their dire need of the Good Physician (Lk. 5.31, 32).

Yes, they were hypocritical, judgmental, hateful, jealous turf-protectors, but they needed a Savior, too. And God’s love reached out to them as well.

Do you ever wonder why God tests you at your most vulnerable point?

I think it is because we too need to know of our dire need of the Savior; and the complete necessity we have for living in His guiding Word through the power of the Holy Spirit. We are never tested in our strengths.

Look at the Ten Commandments (Ex. 20.1-17). God spoke them into being because those were the places He knew we would falter. They covered humanity’s weaknesses. Each one strikes at the heart of the matter. Is it easy to put God in charge of everything? To love Him more than anybody or anything? Is it an easy task to bear the Name of Christ without blundering? How about giving over a whole day to the worship of God? And getting some much-needed rest? How about honoring, respecting, and never getting upset with having to submit to human and sinful parents? What about murder? Or as Jesus put it, “whoever is angry with his brother without a cause” (Matt. 5.22). And what about adultery? Does that seem to be a weakness that needs to be dealt with? And then there is stealing, lying, and coveting. Anybody ever tempted there? See what I mean? God knows where we need to be reined in. He knows our weaknesses.

But on the upside, even though He knows us, like He knew the scribes and Pharisees, He has promised to strengthen us in our weakness. He told Paul, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness” (2 Cor. 12.9). And the truth is, as Jesus said, “without Me you can do nothing” (Jn. 15.5).

Jesus taught, healed, and loved on the Sabbath to teach, heal, and love the unlovable. I’m so glad He did.
“In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ…” (1 Pet. 1.6, 7).

His glorious Sabbath work reached down through history to us; after all, He knows our thoughts (Lk. 6.8), and knows we needed to learn this too.

For reflection
1. What would be some examples of works of necessity that we should feel free to do on the Lord’s Day?

2. How about works of mercy?

3. Jesus knows the places where you are vulnerable to temptation and sin. Do you?

Christ was neither ashamed nor afraid to own the purposes of his grace. He healed the poor man, though he knew that his enemies would take advantage against him for it. Let us not be drawn either from our duty or from our usefulness by any opposition. We may well be amazed, that the sons of men should be so wicked. Matthew Henry (1662-1714), Commentary on Luke 6.6-11

Pray Psalm 2.7-12.
Seek the Presence of the Lord in prayer, to see the glory in His face (2 Cor. 4.6) and to know the power of His Spirit at work within you, transforming you from glory to glory into the likeness of Jesus (2 Cor. 3.12-18). Pray that He will give you an opportunity to share Him with someone today.

Sing Psalm 2.7-12.
(Agincourt: O Love, How Deep, How Broad, How High)
Proclaim the message far and wide, that God has exalted the Crucified!
From heav’n He sent us His only Son, Who has for us salvation won!

To Christ the Lord be given all who humbly embrace Him and on Him call.
Be wise, be warned: His judgment comes to break the prideful, sinful ones.

Rejoice with fear in Jesus’ grace, and worship before His exalted face!
Beware His anger and judgment grim. How blessed are all who rest in Him!

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.