Sabbath Stuff

 

Luke 6:1 On a Sabbath, while he was going through the grainfields, his disciples plucked and ate some heads of grain, rubbing them in their hands. 2 But some of the Pharisees said, “Why are you doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath?” 3 And Jesus answered them, “Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him: 4 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, and also gave it to those with him?” 5 And he said to them, “The Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.”

Early in His ministry, Jesus dealt with a major stumbling block in people understanding what He had been sent to do: misunderstandings about the Sabbath. It was not a day to instill fear, but to restore relationship. The next paragraph after the one above talks about another Sabbath when Jesus healed, which those who opposed Him classified as "work," thus violating the Sabbath. Again, Jesus came to restore broken people. His next step is choosing the Twelve, with whom He would live life in close relationship for the next few years. The rest of the chapter is Luke's account of the Sermon on the Plain, beginning with the Beatitudes. He again hits on restoring relationships: not living selfishly, loving your enemies, not judging others, and building a life based on faith, not trying to look good.  The Sabbath is simply renewing life for every day. 

Totally Different...

Luke 5:36 He also told them a parable: “No one tears a piece from a new garment and puts it on an old garment. If he does, he will tear the new, and the piece from the new will not match the old. 37 And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the new wine will burst the skins and it will be spilled, and the skins will be destroyed. 38 But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins. 39 And no one after drinking old wine desires new, for he says, ‘The old is good.’”

Having established His ministry well, Jesus began to call His first disciples, beginning with the fishermen in the boat, including Simon Peter, James, and John.  When he called, they dropped their nets, changed their whole life, including their work schedule, and followed Him.  Next, Jesus encountered a leper, whom He healed, changing his life from one of exclusion to one where he was free to go tell the priest and anyone else he wanted to.  This also changed Jesus' ministry, and the crowds increasingly pressed in upon Him.  He then healed a paralytic, but first announced the man's sins were forgiven. This changed the nature of His ministry to spiritual more than physical, though in reality that is what it was always about. Following this, Jesus called Levi(Matthew), the tax collector to come follow Him. This was a whole new way of living, both in the way he treated people, and in how much (less) money he had to live on.  Finally, Jesus told them that life with God was not what they had always pictured: long gowns with long faces, trying to suffer enough to please God.  Rather it is living with Joy and thanksgiving over all God has done.

Truth Twisting

Luke 4:31 And he went down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee. And he was teaching them on the Sabbath, 32 and they were astonished at his teaching, for his word possessed authority. 33 And in the synagogue there was a man who had the spirit of an unclean demon, and he cried out with a loud voice, 34 “Ha! What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God.” 

This chapter is full of accounts where those who encountered Christ tried to twist the truth. First, when he was out in the wilderness(desert area), Satan tried to tempt Jesus, using as justification Old Testament truths taken out of context and twisted to make sin sound good.  Next Jesus went to Nazareth, where He had been raised, and preached an amazing message.  People twisted the "fact" that Jesus was the son of Joseph to mean that He could NOT be a prophet, let alone the Messiah.  Finally, in the above passage, He came to what would become his headquarters for ministry, when he is taunted by this demon-possessed man.  The demon rightly identified Jesus as "the Holy One of God," but twisted Jesus' intentions, accusing Him of coming only to destroy.  But Jesus did not. Instead He healed many and proclaimed the news all around the region. Yes, Jesus is the Judge, but He also came to seek and save the Lost. The response to truth-twisting is important: Jesus could have chosen second-best; the people of Nazareth could have become the home-base for the ministry of the Messiah; Capernaum could have missed out on the same opportunity and many there would not have heard His message or received His miracles.  Beware of truth-twisting; you never know what you will miss by accepting it.