On a Sabbath…going through the grain fields…plucked and ate some…grain…the Pharisees said, “Why are you doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath?” And Jesus answered…, “Have you not read what David did…he entered the house of God and…ate the bread…not lawful for any…And He said to them, “The Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.” On another Sabbath, He entered the synagogue…and a man was there whose…hand was withered…the Pharisees watched Him…He said to the man…Come and stand here……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?” And after…He said to him, “Stretch out your hand……and his hand was restored…they were filled with fury…
Luke 6:1-11
Jesus, on two different Sabbaths, was questioned about His doing forbidden acts on the Sabbath by the Pharisees. In His response, Jesus referred to a revered king, David, when he and his men, hiding from Saul, came to the temple, where Ahimelech was priest, and asked for something to eat for his men. Ahimelech only had the bread used for display in the temple and, it was considered holy to the Lord. So, David assured Ahimelech that his men met the qualifications of purity to eat the bread and Ahimelech gave them the bread to eat that was only lawful for the priests to eat. Jesus’ point to the Pharisees was that, if someone is starving, and the only bread available is holy, then, the right thing to do is give the food to the one who is starving. Then, Jesus said to the Pharisees, “The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.” Jesus’ statement is His declaration of deity, God Incarnate! While Scripture has no more to say about this incident, it was additional fuel for the Pharisees to accuse Jesus of blasphemy. At another Sabbath, Jesus, in the Temple teaching, sees a man with a crippled hand. It is written that the Pharisees were watching Jesus. Now, remember that Jesus knows the thoughts of all people. So, Jesus asked the crippled man to stand beside Him. Then, turning to the Pharisees, Jesus asked them if it was lawful, on the Sabbath, to do good or harm, save life or destroy it. They did not respond to His question. So, Jesus healed the crippled man’s hand. Then, Scripture says the Pharisees “…were filled with fury and discussed with one another what they might do to Jesus.” As Christians, we tend to wonder why the Pharisees and other religious leaders were so set against Jesus. We Christians benefit from hindsight, while the religious leaders of Jesus’ day had only the Scriptures and their traditions. Of course, the Scriptures should have been sufficient. But, the Jews, long ago, had believed that the Messiah would be their Messiah and that Messiah would come to restore them in their land God had given to them. So, when Jesus came onto the scene, He did not meet the expectations that had developed over the centuries plus, the Jews had corrupted their worship of God so much that they were completely apostate during Jesus’ day. All they could understand is this Jesus was claiming deity that required death and, that is what the Jews eventually did with the help of the Roman government. Our day is becoming more apostate and we must be mindful of the great many false teachers of our day. Let us find our hope and strength in our Savior and Lord and His Holy Word to comfort and grow us into His likeness until He returns or calls us to Him.
Source: S C Ball January 26, 2023
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