The Pharisees called the disciples on harvesting on a Sabbath day. Jesus had a different take. This daily devotional looks at how Jesus’ response could seem contradictory to the law.
Nuggets
- Even when we go about our daily business, some may question our actions contradicting our relationship with God.
- Jesus is Lord of all.
- We have to do good for others regardless of the day.
Isn’t that the way it is? We are walking along – everything is going fine.
Then it falls apart.
I bet that is what the disciples thought when the Pharisees accused them of harvesting.
The Pharisees’ Accusation of Breaking the Sabbath
“On a Sabbath, he passed through the grainfields. His disciples were picking heads of grain, rubbing them in their hands, and eating them. But some of the Pharisees said, “Why are you doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?” (Lk. 6: 1-2 CSB)
Even when we go about our daily business, some may question our actions contradicting our relationship with God.
There is a whole big explanation of what Sabbath this was that I decided to cut because of length.
Verse Commentary
Whenever it occurred for whatever reason, Luke’s point was that this Sabbath day was a holy day. It wasn’t a run-of-the-mill Sabbath. In the Pharisees’ eyes, that would have made the offense that much worse.
The setting was, according to the King James Version, a cornfield. All the modern versions translate it as a grain field.
Jesus and the disciples were traveling from Point A to Point B within a larger group. The disciples just reached down and grabbed some grain.
It appears that the Pharisees were part of the traveling companions. Throughout the gospels, it is evident that they kept a close eye on Jesus. It shouldn’t be too much of a shock that they stuck with Him, even in transit.
Persons of Interest
It is also evident that the Pharisees were out to get Jesus. They were cunning and malicious, according to Exell.
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The problem the Pharisees had with what the disciples did was — whatever the grain was — it was protected by part of the plant. The disciples would have to get the kernel or the seed out to eat it.
That was harvesting. That was forbidden.
God must have felt it was very important to keep the Sabbath. Not only was it one of the Ten Commandments, but it also was the first one to have any kind of explanation (Ex. 20: 8-11).
Jesus probably got right on the disciples for disrespecting God, right?
Jesus’ Response to the Pharisees’ Accusation
“Jesus answered them, “Haven’t you read what David and those who were with him did when he was hungry — how he entered the house of God and took and ate the bread of the Presence, which is not lawful for any but the priests to eat? He even gave some to those who were with him.’ Then he told them, ‘The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath’ (Lk. 6: 3-5 CSB)
Jesus is Lord of all.
Hmmmm. Jesus defended the disciples!
Thomson described Jesus’ argument with the Pharisees. He thought His argument was unanswerable. Unanswerable? I bet the worldview people would say Jesus’ rebuttal is contradictory.
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Laws Are Made to be Broken
Jesus’ first point of argument was that David had broken the law, too. We’ve talked about this before. David, on the run, asked the priests for food and was given the Bread of the Presence. Unfortunately, that can only be eaten by the priests.
To read a related devotion, click the button below.
Thomson argued that David broke God’s law while the disciples did not. I can only assume here that God specifically earmarked the bread for the priests. The argument for the disciples is rolled up into the next argument.
No Law Can be Kept 100% of the Time
Jesus’ second argument, according to Thomson, was that it was impossible for all not to labor on the Sabbath. The priests were technically working when they conducted the Sabbath service. God did not hold that against them.
If we substitute the disciples here, we would say that the disciples had to live while they were on their ministerial tour with Jesus. They were traveling and not at home, where they had readily-available food. So, God allowed them to get what they need to sustain themselves.
God Can Pick and Choose When He Will be Merciful
The third argument Thomson brought up was that God is a merciful God. He felt that “God prefers the duties of humanity to positive commandments, when it is impossible to observe both these.”
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One way to interpret that is, when there is a dilemma regarding which law to follow, God will overlook some offenses. In fact, it makes it look like the do’s are more important than the don’ts.
Jesus Is Lord of the Sabbath
While I think Thomson’s other arguments may be implied or interpreted, the fourth one was recorded by Luke.
Jesus informed the Pharisees that He was Lord of the Sabbath. That meant He got to say what act was or wasn’t a law breaker.
Thomson explained it this way. He wrote, “The fourth argument was, that the Sabbath was made for man; therefore it was lawful to do good on the Sabbath.”
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I think the operative word here is good. I don’t see Jesus telling us we can just scrap the laws. He told us point-blank that the laws wouldn’t change until they were fulfilled (Mt. 5: 18).
Doing Good on the Sabbath Day
“On another Sabbath he entered the synagogue and was teaching. A man was there whose right hand was shriveled. The scribes and Pharisees were watching him closely, to see if he would heal on the Sabbath, so that they could find a charge against him. But he knew their thoughts and told the man with the shriveled hand, ‘Get up and stand here.’ So he got up and stood there. Then Jesus said to them, ‘I ask you: Is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath or to do evil, to save life or to destroy it?’ After looking around at them all, he told him, ‘Stretch out your hand.’ He did, and his hand was restored. They, however, were filled with rage and started discussing with one another what they might do to Jesus” (Lk. 6: 6-11 CSB)
We have to do good for others regardless of the day.
Luke offered another example of Jesus healing on the Sabbath. This one was in the synagogue.
The Significance of the Withered Hand
According to Exell, the withered hand represents our withered souls. Our intellect as well as our morals are withered. The withered morals lead to withered compassion.
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Goulburn got me thinking. We put a lot of stock in the saying, “seeing is believing.” But a close second is touching something and holding it in our hands.
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This man, even if he was able to reach out, wasn’t able to touch anything.
Jesus Can Read Our Minds
We talked about Jesus’ ability to know what people were thinking. He knew the Pharisees wanted to catch Him in breaking their law.
To read a related devotion, click the button below.
Jesus was not falling into the Pharisee’s line of thinking. All they saw was that He was doing something at the wrong time. They didn’t focus on the cure, just the procedure.
Jesus Healed the Man
Whatever is withered within us, Jesus can heal us.
Jesus told the man to stretch out his hand. Even if the withered hand wouldn’t allow the man to reach out, he did when Jesus told him to do so. He did, and he was healed.
Parkhurst made a great observation. He wrote, “All Christ’s commands to you are in the present tense, which means that the command is issued without any allowance of time for comprehending the mysteries of salvation, or for acquiring power to become a saved man.”
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Jesus doesn’t make us wait for salvation. Salvation is deliverance from evil and the consequences of sins to replace them with good and eternal life.
All Jesus has to do is say the word — and we are restored to spiritual health.
Yes, Jesus could have healed the man by just saying the words. He required more.
Salvation is a free gift from God, but we have to make the decision as to whether or not we are going to accept it.
Jesus required the man to have the faith to believe He could and would heal him. Goulburn noted that “… God demands exertion and energy on our parts before He will consent to put forth that healing power, which alone can recover us from our soul’s infirmity.”
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I bet Satan tried to plant the but-what-good-is-that-going-to-do thought in the man’s mind. I am sure he didn’t understand how Jesus was going to pull that off.
It didn’t matter. Parkhurst wrote, “Giving ourselves to Christ is not a matter of understanding what we are doing, but a matter of doing.”
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That is what faith is all about — not understanding but believing anyway. Faith is the conviction that the doctrines revealed in God’s Word are true, even if we do not understand all aspects of them, a belief which impacts our lives.
There is a lot riding on that decision. What we are actually deciding is whether or not we are going to submit our lives to the Sovereign God. If that isn’t part of our decision-making process, we aren’t making a true confession.
Did you see how quickly the man’s hand was healed? That is how quickly we are changed from being spiritually dead to spiritually alive.
Spiritual death is the separation from God that occurred as a consequence of Adam and Eve’s original sin. The spiritually alive are those who have ABCDed, so they are no longer separated from God.
Glossary
The ABCDs of Salvation
If you have not become a believer in Christ, please read through the
Plan of Salvation and prayerfully consider what God is asking you to do.
A – admit our sins
B – believe His Son Jesus is our Redeemer
C – confess God as Sovereign Lord
D – demonstrate that commitment by making any changes needed in our lives to
live the way in which God has called us
The Disciple’s Job Description
Making the Connections
At times, it may seem like others are out to get us, too. If we are walking in step with Jesus, we have nothing to fear.
The Pharisees were the religious leaders of Jesus’ day. But here on the Sabbath, they were not worshiping God.
They were doing the exact opposite. They were plotting murder.
Exell pointed out that the Pharisees, for all their cunning and maliciousness, didn’t really put a dent in Jesus’ ministry. From day one, He was moving toward His death. Between birth and ascension, Jesus completed everything He had on His docket.
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Robertson believed that, if we have the mind of Christ, we, too, can sort of become lord of the Sabbath. He argued that if we truly love and honor God, we can let go of the trappings. His justification of this is “… ‘Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners’” (Mk. 2: 17 ESV).
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I think that is a dangerous way of thinking. We are to worship God. He has set aside the Sabbath on which we are to do that. If we are start thinking we are the lord of the Sabbath, we may think we don’t need God.
We do.
How Do We Apply This?
We need to keep our focus on God. He will tell us what is right and what is wrong. It isn’t our call. It definitely isn’t the worldview call.
Our motivation has to be that we are pursuing godliness. We have to be pursuing fulfilling the greatest commandments.
Glossary
Parkhurst made one last statement that resonated with me. He wrote, “All the way through Scripture God was continually commanding men to do more than they in themselves had the means to do, exactly as in our verse.”
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How many times did I tell myself, “I can’t write devotions for other people to read. They are good enough for me, but not for others to read.” I thought God had given me abilities to do something totally different.
God is calling me to do more than I can do because they are His words, not mine. How is He calling you to do more?
When God says, “stretch out your hand,” we should do it. When He says do something different, we should do it.
Gracious Heavenly Father. We want to keep Your laws and commandments. More importantly, we want to have Your character so that, when we have a dilemma, we can choose the way You want us to choose. Amen.
What do you think?
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