Luke 6:1-11 — Jesus, the Law-Breaker?!?

READ THIS: Luke 6:1-11

1 One Sabbath Jesus was going through the grain fields, and his disciples began to pick some heads of grain, rub them in their hands and eat the kernels. 2 Some of the Pharisees asked, “Why are you doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?” 3 Jesus answered them, “Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? 4 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.” 5 Then Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.” 

6 On another Sabbath he went into the synagogue and was teaching, and a man was there whose right hand was shriveled. 7 The Pharisees and the teachers of the law were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they watched him closely to see if he would heal on the Sabbath. 8 But Jesus knew what they were thinking and said to the man with the shriveled hand, “Get up and stand in front of everyone.” So he got up and stood there. 9 Then Jesus said to them, “I ask you, which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy it?” 10 He looked around at them all, and then said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He did so, and his hand was completely restored. 11 But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law were furious and began to discuss with one another what they might do to Jesus.

WHAT’S THIS MEAN, ANYWAY?

Ummm, hold up... did Jesus just sin? Twice? One of the 10 commandments in Exodus 20 literally says, "Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy." And Jesus was breaking the rules by grabbing food and healing someone... right? That's exactly what was going through the heads of the Pharisees here, but this passage teaches us a big difference between following God's law and following the Pharisees' law!

When God made the command to Israel wayyyy back when, He wanted His people to remember and honor the Sabbath day, making it special and set apart compared to the other days. Over time, more and more laws were written about the Sabbath in the law so that people could see a model of what it can look like to make the Sabbath holy. God's goal for Israel was to live their Sabbath days in a way that people could tell they followed Him!

The Pharisees memorized the law and knew every part of it, Jesus understood the real goal of the Sabbath better than anyone! Jesus saw His disciples were hungry, and He knew that God could be glorified most by helping them. He saw a person in need of healing, and He knew that God could be glorified the most through healing the man than by watching him suffer. Jesus even defends his arguments with history, showing how King David (who was really respected by the Pharisees) broke the rule because he saw people in need. 

But what about us? God calls us to take time each Sabbath to glorify Him by setting the day apart. Sometimes that can look like resting, and other times it can look like serving others around us. The big point here is that sometimes we can get caught up reading the logistics of God's Word that we miss the real goal: loving God and loving our neighbors the way God loves us!

THINK ABOUT IT:

1. Why do you think Jesus called Himself the "Lord of the Sabbath?" What does that mean to you?

2. What does a Sabbath day, or a set-apart day, look like to you? How can you glorify God on this day?

TRY THIS:

Actually try and take a Sabbath day this week, even if it looks like taking a few hours of one day to spend with Jesus! Let us know how it goes!

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