“Then Jesus said to
them, “The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath” (Luke 6:5).
The current passage
(Luke 6:1-11) revolves around the observance of the Sabbath – an important day
in Jewish life.
Jesus answers the
Pharisees’ accusation (v.2) in a peculiar way…
The expected answer
would have been, “What actually are they doing wrong? In what way “picking grain and rubbing them in their
hands” is a transgression of the law? Come on, give them some slack!”
His answer brings into
focus the “reason” why the disciples were picking grain kernels. In other
words, “It is not the “what” that is important in this case – it is the “why”!
Why are they “picking
grain and rubbing them in their hands”?
Because they are hungry. “Do you have a problem with it?” “Oh…you do!”
Let me then remind you
of this. Remember David…(Luke 6:3, 4).
The encounter ends with
Jesus’ affirmation, “…The Son of Man is
Lord of the Sabbath” (Luke 6:5).
The second part of our
passage finds Jesus in a synagogue (Luke 6:6ff).
The Pharisees were there
too. Why were they there?
Why do you ask? To
worship God…that is why people go to places like that. Luke tells that,
actually, the Pharisees were there because:
–of Jesus – which
is an excellent reason, don’t you think?
–they wanted to see
if “…He would heal on the Sabbath”
(v.7). That is OK too. Another great reason…
– their “hidden”
motive for being there that particular day was that they “…were looking for a reason to accuse
Jesus…” to accuse Him of breaking the law. Jesus did not oblige. He
healed the man and gave them the reason for doing so.
Jesus continues to reveal the full extent of His authority. He was reading the Scriptures in a new way, focusing on the liberating aspect of God’s Word.