Lord of the Sabbath

Introduction

In college I worked a variety of jobs to help pay for expenses. One summer I worked for a sign company which was a subsidiary of Exxon. It required no expertise, just a willing spirit to do what you were told. One day I went to work, and my boss was busy trying to find work for me. There was a large metal roof building which housed all old and unrepairable gas pumps. Inside the building temperatures easily exceeded 120°F. My boss told me that what he needed done was for all these pumps to be moved from one side of the building to the other. Clean the floor, getting grease and oil off the concrete as best as one can. All day I sweated, toiled, and worked to do what was ordered. A couple of days later, the boss instructed me to reverse the procedure.

Some rules make no sense. The rules are given for the benefit of the person giving the rule and for those who are expected to keep those rules the reasons make no sense. Anyone who has been in the military has faced such rules. Commands are given which make little sense in the scheme of things; yet, you were expected to keep those rules. Some rules make no sense. But some rules are given so that even if they don’t make any sense to us, they are in place to protect us. Not all rules are bad. Some rules though make little sense.

The Pharisees wanted to keep God’s law. They were intent on keeping God’s law as perfectly as they could. In fact, in order to do this they would add rules around rules so as to make sure that the real rule didn’t get broken. And so the added rules were given to protect the real rule and in time the added rules became just as important to keep as the original rule. For instance, the Pharisees insisted that work on the Sabbath day was not allowed. God himself had said that work was not to be done. So then other rules were added to make sure that the rest rule was kept. One couldn’t walk too far or it was work. One couldn’t turn over while sleeping or it was work. And soon keeping the lesser rules became as important as keeping the original rule.

Luke 6 comes at the end of a section which began in 5:1. In this section, Luke weaves several different episodes together to make one point based on Luke 4. Jesus has the authority to fulfill Isaiah 61. The events in chapter 5 and the first part of chapter 6 point to Luke 4:18-19 and that Jesus is fulfilling what he came to do. In our section this morning, Jesus is going to demonstrate his authority to apply the Sabbath rules. He is going to demonstrate that he is Lord of the Sabbath. He will further demonstrate that the Pharisees have lost sight of the intent of the law about the Sabbath and instead have made little sense with their own rules and regulations. Some rules make little sense. Jesus will demonstrate what God’s true intent is.

Two Episodes

Jesus and his disciples are walking through a grain field. It is a Sabbath day. They are hungry. Deuteronomy 23:25 allows for picking grain to feed yourself. However, the rule was no work on the Sabbath day. Jesus and his disciples were seen picking the grain, rubbing them in their hands, and then eating them. They are accused of doing that which is unlawful. They are working on the Sabbath.

Jesus answers them with a question which expects a positive answer. Of course, they had read what David did at Nob when he and his men were hungry. They know that David and his men ate the special bread which only the priests were supposed to eat. David is not condemned for eating it. Nor is there any pronouncement of wrong against him for eating it. Thus, Jesus’s response in verse 5 does three things. He compares himself with David who was seen as the great king of Israel. He calls himself Lord which means he has the authority to explain the law. He calls himself the son of man which is a messianic designation.

This is not lost on his accusers. They are not perplexed. They understand what Jesus claims. They also understand that he has set himself in opposition to their interpretation of the law. They cannot deny that David broke the law, and yet the spirit of the law was not broken. Jesus says if you condemn me, then you condemn David and no one wants to do that. Jesus’s point is that there are times when law has to be set aside in order for compassion to reign. Ceremonial restrictions of law are to give way to human need.

Verses 6-11 happen sometime later. The point is that this event takes place on the Sabbath as well. Luke is setting up two events which demonstrate that Jesus has authority over the Sabbath. This event is also recorded in Matthew 12 and Mark 3. Jesus is teaching in the synagogue. The Pharisees are present, but they aren’t listening to his teaching. They are looking for a reason to accuse Jesus. The word means “to look out the corner of your eye” or “to spy.” The Pharisees have come with an attitude to find fault with Jesus. Jesus is aware of their intent. He also knows that a man with a deformity is in the audience.

Jesus asks in verse 9 if it is proper to do good on the Sabbath or to save a life on the Sabbath? The answer is of course yes, but the Pharisees believed that one who was not in a life threatening illness could wait a day for medical attention. Their rules surrounded God’s rule. And their rules were just as important as God’s rules. The intent of the Sabbath was to prevent people from working without rest, to provide a time of rejuvenation and to give time to contemplate God. It was never intended to prevent one from doing good. Jesus’s question is “why delay a healing when good can be done now?” Jesus is demonstrating that God wants good done at any time. Jesus heals the man. Was the Sabbath violated? Did he work? All he had done was speak the truth. The Pharisees filled with mindless rage discuss what they might do to Jesus.

So What?

Luke’s point must not be missed. Jesus has the authority to fulfill Luke 4:18-19. Remember Luke’s desire is to verify what the readers have already been taught. He is not trying to make new points, but to demonstrate that indeed Jesus is who he says he is. Luke is weaving these events together to show that Jesus has the authority over sin (5:23) and authority over the Sabbath (6:5). Then because he has such authority we are to follow him (6:12-16 & 5:1-11).

Second, because Jesus has authority we need to listen only to him. Ben Brown was my advanced algebra and trigonometry teacher in high school. Ben used to say 2 + 2 = 4 remember that truth and you don’t have to remember that 2 + 2 isn’t 3, 5, 7, or any other number. Ben was a wise man. If we learn the truth then false teaching has no place in our heart. We are to listen to Jesus. We are to follow him. We need to spend a lot of time with Jesus and learn what God’s rules are. God has some definite rules and we need to learn them. But when we add our own rules we assume authority which does not belong to us.

We need to look carefully at what rules we add to protect God’s rules. For in our effort to protect God we may burden people even more and keep them from God in the first place. This is what the Pharisees did. Good intentions to protect the truth, but the end result was they loved their rules more than they loved God. And people were burdened rather than helped. We must not burden people with more rules which in the end separate them from God rather than helping them draw near to him.

There have been numerous times in which talking with someone about their relationship with God the observation is made that they want nothing to do with religion. One of God’s rules is that togetherness is a part of his people. We call it fellowship, but in actuality what fellowship means is that God wants us to be together. He wants us to be strengthened by our association together. But whenever a group of folks get together we have to have some type of order so that we do not have chaos. But in the attempt to protect our order and fellowship, we may lose sight of the goal—to be together with God. Religion is too often man’s attempt to define how a group must be with God. And the rules associated with religion may indeed keep one away.

What clothes to wear. What type of music to sing. What version of the Bible must be used. How a sermon must be preached. Form for an assembly. Rituals. Methods. Forms. This is not new. Let us speak where the Bible speaks and be silent where the Bible is silent. Let us not add to God’s word nor take away from it. Let us not allow our rules to stand in the way of one’s relationship with God.

2 + 2 = 4. Here is the truth. Jesus has all authority. He came to bring people to God. Compassionate love is never to be set on a shelf for the sake of rules. Man’s rules inevitably serve as a barrier to God. God’s ways are much less complex. Our intent should be to encourage all to be in relationship with God in the way God directs, and in the meantime doing all we can to keep our relationship with God simple and direct. The Pharisees erected barriers. Jesus came to tear them down. Let’s not put any back up.

Jesus has all authority and it is to him that you are now encouraged to follow. Not any person. Not any religion. Not any organization. Follow only Jesus. This is what Luke records in 5:27 when Jesus calls Matthew to follow him. We are to learn not from men but from God’s representative. Jesus claims as much for himself in Luke 6:5. Will you follow him?

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