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Luke 6a: HG Bishop Youssef

Introduction

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  • St Luke is carefully presenting the Lord's authority in interpreting the Law. There was a dispute about one of the 10 Commandments - Sabbath and how to interpret it
  • He's also drawing our attention to the growing opposition of the Religious leaders and the Lord
  • In Luke 4:31-37, the Lord healed a person on the Sabbath but without opposition. After the news spread to Judea, some Scribes and Pharisees came to Galilee to see
  • In this chapter, the Lord heals on the Sabbath but this time the opposition of the Pharisees intensifies. They conspire to present formal charges by the end of these encounters

Outline of the Chapter

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  •  1-5: Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath
  • 6-11: Healing on the Sabbath
  • 12-16: Appointing the 12 Apostles
  • 17-19: Jesus heals great multitude
  • 20-23: Beatitudes
  • 24-26: Woes
  • 27-36: Love your enemies
  • 37-42: Judge Not
  • 43-45: Tree is known by its fruit
  • 46-49: Build on the Rock

Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath

004:55

1 Now it happened on the second Sabbath after the first that He went through the grainfields. And His disciples plucked the heads of grain and ate them, rubbing them in their hands. 2 And some of the Pharisees said to them, “Why are you doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath?”

3 But Jesus answering them said, “Have you not even read this, what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him: 4 how he went into the house of God, took and ate the showbread, and also gave some to those with him, which is not lawful for any but the priests to eat?” 5 And He said to them, “The Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath.”

  • In these five verses, we see the response to the Pharisees and Scribes' criticism of His disciples. The Lord asserts His claim of authority over the Sabbath
  • Second Sabbath after the First
    • St Luke is a Historian and he is collecting all of the data in a very precise way
    • What is it?
      • Some scholars say that this probably means it was the Sabbath after one of the three major Feasts: Passover, Unleavened Bread, Pentecost
      • Some say it was the second Sabbath in the new year (Nisan)
  • Is it considered stealing to pluck the heads of grain and eat them? No!
    • "When you come into your neighbor’s standing grain, you may pluck the heads with your hand, but you shall not use a sickle on your neighbor’s standing grain." (Deuteronomy 23:25)
  • What bothered the Pharisees? That it's on the Sabbath
    • The Pharisees had come up with lists of interpretations of what is okay and not okay on the Sabbath
    • When the disciples did this simple act, they became guilty of reaping, threshing, winnowing, and preparing food... all of which are violations of the Sabbath according to the Pharisees
  • The Lord's Response
    • 1 Samuel 21: David and his men came to the city of the priests, and they were hungry, and it was the Sabbath...
      • He ate what was only allowed to the priests to eat
      • He did it on the Sabbath
    • The Lord challenges them: "Have you not read?" as if challenging their knowledge of the Law
    • The Law was not meant to be so rigid as they make it
    • "The Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath" - He is claiming Divine Authority to determine what is a Sabbath violation and what is not
  • In the Gospel of St Matthew 12, the Lord adds: "5 Or have you not read in the law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath, and are blameless? 6 Yet I say to you that in this place there is One greater than the temple. 7 But if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless. 8 For the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.”
    • He is referring to Himself and His mission as "greater than the temple"
    • He is not removing the Sabbath, but rather redefining the prohibitions

Healing on the Sabbath

 14:28

6 Now it happened on another Sabbath, also, that He entered the synagogue and taught. And a man was there whose right hand was withered. 7 So the scribes and Pharisees watched Him closely, whether He would heal on the Sabbath, that they might find an accusation against Him. 8 But He knew their thoughts, and said to the man who had the withered hand, “Arise and stand here.” And he arose and stood. 9 Then Jesus said to them, “I will ask you one thing: Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy?” 10 And when He had looked around at them all, He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And he did so, and his hand was restored as whole as the other. 11 But they were filled with rage, and discussed with one another what they might do to Jesus.

  • Another Sabbath: not certain when
  • St Luke (and all of the evangelist) inserts this scene here because it completes the teaching of the Lord on the ceremonial law that we saw in the story prior
  • The Pharisees admitted that Jesus had the power of God to work miracles when they "watched Him closely" - yet they sought to "find an accusation against Him"
  • The controversy surrounding Sabbath healing increases
    • The man did not even ask to be healed, but the Lord invited him and asked the Pharisees a question to challenge them
    • Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil?
      • The Lord intends to do good on the Sabbath by healing the man
      • The Pharisees intend to do evil on the Sabbath by lying in wait to try and accuse Him
    • They cannot say that it is lawful to do evil... and if they said it is lawful to do good then they'd be giving Him permission
  • St Mark adds in Chapter 2: But they kept silent. 5 And when He had looked around at them with anger, being grieved by the hardness of their hearts, He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored as whole as the other. 6 Then the Pharisees went out and immediately plotted with the Herodians against Him, how they might destroy Him.
    • He looks at them with indignation!
  • St Matthew adds in Chapter 12: 11 Then He said to them, “What man is there among you who has one sheep, and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not lay hold of it and lift it out? 12 Of how much more value then is a man than a sheep? Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.”
  • When the Lord gives a commandment, He gives power to do it
    • When the Lord told this man to "stretch out your hand" he could have said "My hand is withered and I can't stretch it... why should I even try" - but he tried
    • This applies to spiritual commandments:
      • Love your enemy
      • Pray for those who persecute you
    • Sometimes we say "I can't do it" - but just try!

The Twelve Apostles

 

12 Now it came to pass in those days that He went out to the mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God. 13 And when it was day, He called His disciples to Himself; and from them He chose twelve whom He also named apostles: 14 Simon, whom He also named Peter, and Andrew his brother; James and John; Philip and Bartholomew; 15 Matthew and Thomas; James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon called the Zealot; 16 Judas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot who also became a traitor.

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Jesus Heals a Great Multitude

 

17 And He came down with them and stood on a level place with a crowd of His disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea and Jerusalem, and from the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon, who came to hear Him and be healed of their diseases, 18 as well as those who were tormented with unclean spirits. And they were healed. 19 And the whole multitude sought to touch Him, for power went out from Him and healed them all.

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The Beatitudes

 

20 Then He lifted up His eyes toward His disciples, and said:

“Blessed are you poor,
For yours is the kingdom of God.
21 Blessed are you who hunger now,
For you shall be filled.
Blessed are you who weep now,
For you shall laugh.
22 Blessed are you when men hate you,
And when they exclude you,
And revile you, and cast out your name as evil,
For the Son of Man’s sake.
23 Rejoice in that day and leap for joy!
For indeed your reward is great in heaven,
For in like manner their fathers did to the prophets.

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The Woes

 

24 “But woe to you who are rich,
For you have received your consolation.
25 Woe to you who are full,
For you shall hunger.
Woe to you who laugh now,
For you shall mourn and weep.
26 Woe to you when all men speak well of you,
For so did their fathers to the false prophets.

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