Luke 6

When we read the New Testament gospels it is hard to miss that the Sabbath was an issue of great contention between Jesus and those who stood against Him. It is easy to get the wrong impression that the Pharisees were great defenders of the Sabbath, and that Jesus was very much against the Sabbath. Both of these ideas are misguided. The Pharisees were only great defenders of their mistaken traditions that marked a certain way of Sabbath observance, and Jesus was only against these wrong traditions and not the Sabbath itself. It may help us to remember that Jesus used His title of “Son of Man” in order to say that He was the Lord of the Sabbath. As King David of old, Jesus was aware of the needs of those who were with Him, and He knew that mercy toward them was an important obligation that in no way conflicted with the will of God. He brings up the thorny legal situation of King David and the consecrated bread in order to assert that He, Jesus, the Son of Man, is able to navigate such challenging questions. Concerning the point of their attack, He knows well what it really means to remember the Sabbath and to keep it holy.

The true lover of Sabbath knows that God is going to bring the fullest rest and wholeness to His children. He sees them in their need, and He has no objection to doing good on His holy day. The true lover of the Sabbath sees this as a wonderful day to save life, since the whole day is pointing to the coming age of life. On the other hand, those who pretend to love the Sabbath, but see no problem with doing harm and destroying people are no lovers of the Sabbath at all. Jesus healed a man in front of the faces of these great Sabbatarians, and they proved who they were when they were filled with fury and began to discuss what they might do to Him on account of His unpardonable act of powerful kindness.

Even now, Jesus is calling to Himself those who will proclaim His understanding of true resurrection Sabbath. After a night in prayer He chose the twelve, one of whom became a traitor. Even the remaining eleven were not chosen because they had the highest scores on the resurrection awareness test. They would become the men God had for them to be through their three years of time with the Son of God, but then especially through the gifting and empowerment of this same Jesus who lives forever to intercede for us. It is this Jesus who performed great healings, not only of Jews, but also of Gentiles, and who taught them about His Kingdom.

In this teaching He proclaimed the blessing of God upon those who would be willing to suffer for His sake now. He also spoke of God’s curse upon those who would live their lives in comfort and ease with no care for others. The disciples of the Kingdom of God would need to be ready to face the hatred of men and to respond with love. They would face the power of men who would use the sword of civil authority to kill the righteous, and they would need to turn away from even inner bitterness towards those who brought only their brutal indignation to the children of God. We are called by our Savior to a life of unusual mercy, a life of giving that goes far beyond customary acts of kindness in any culture. This is the life of one for whom the beauty of heaven is real, where God is more than able to return great things to those who give of themselves to others.

While many flatter themselves that they already have such a life of unbounded generosity, they combine their acts of charity with strains of bitterness. They are easily disappointed with those they try to help. They often are overcome with self-pity and regret over their own condition. They easily give in to self-righteous judgment of others who do not measure up to their standards, and show evidence of many other unattractive motions of the heart that betray the truth that they have something rotten at the root that is preventing the bearing of the best fruitfulness. We are poor judges of such situations, but God is not.

In particular, Pharisee-like religionists who are convinced that their right standing with God has come through their own law-keeping need to examine the cross again to see the true source of gospel motivations and life. It is the love and righteousness of Christ that have saved us and not our acts of charity or imagined obedience. If we have made any progress in love, it is all due to the fact that we have become disciples of the best Teacher of love. Jesus has lived out the fullness of Sabbath for our sake, though others became indignant at what they considered his ill-timed miracles. If we are to bear good fruit at all, He must be at the root of what motivates our life.

It will not be enough to call Him “Lord.” We need to be known by Him as His beloved, and do what He tells us to do. This Rock of the true Christ is the only safe center of our spirituality. He insists that we hear His Word, consider it in the light of what the God of glory has revealed in the Scriptures, and submit ourselves to the whole counsel of the God who has saved us. This is the only spirituality that can stand, since Christ alone is our sure hope in every day of trouble.