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Luke 
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Day 67

Luke 6:1-11 "A DEEPER UNDERSTANDING OF THE SABBATH ISSUE"

Day 67 – Luke 6

Text: Luke 6:1-11

A DEEPER UNDERSTANDING OF THE SABBATH ISSUE

Again and again, the question of keeping “The Sabbath” was the center of a battle between the Pharisees and the Lord Jesus Christ. The Pharisees were determined to pin Jesus down as a law-breaker. They were convinced that He did not understand nor did He keep the Sabbath. How right were they in their accusations? They thought they were right concerning the issue of the “fast”. They thought they were right again with reference to associating with “tax collectors and sinners”. They thought they were right on the subject of “forgiveness of sins”. They were convinced that they were right in charging Jesus with breaking the Sabbath law. Obviously, we would need to understand the subject of the Sabbath issue if we are to ever understand why the Pharisees were so insistent and emphatic on keeping the Sabbath law.

ALL THE COMMANDMENTS OF GOD!

The Pharisees kept emphasizing the Sabbath Law – as if it was the ONLY law! It must be remembered that God gave Israel 10 deictic commandments, not just one!

The Sabbath Law was the Fourth Commandment in the Decalogue given by God to Israel (Exodus 20:8). The Sinaitic Covenant (Cf. Exodus 24:7) was given to the first generation of Israelites who came out of Egypt.

The second generation of Israelites, the children of Israel who inherited Canaan were also taught the Decalogue (Deuteronomy 5).

However, the emphasis was NOT the Sabbath law. Moses highlighted the need to keep ALL that God had commanded! Consider the following statement in Deuteronomy 6:1-2,

“Now this is the commandment,
and these are the STATUTES and JUDGMENTS
which the LORD your God has commanded to teach you,
that you may observe them
in the land which you are crossing over to possess,
That you may FEAR the LORD your God,
To keep ALL His statutes and His COMMANDMENTS
Which I command you…”

It would seem obvious that the Pharisees had placed an undue emphasis on the Sabbath Law. Their focus on the Sabbath law downplayed the other laws! Their emphasis on the Sabbath issue would therefore cause them to be lopsided in their theology!

THE CRUX OF THE LAW OF GOD

However an even more important issue was at stake. What was the crux of the Covenant so graciously given by the Lord? Was it a slavish keeping of the Law?

Deuteronomy 6:4 answers this question very well. Moses emphasized that the whole point of keeping the law may be summed up in one thought. The keeping of the law of God would express the genuine LOVE of Israel for God!

Israel was to remember what God desired of the nation. Deuteronomy 6:4,5 was a portion of Scripture repeated by Jews morning and evening. This was called the “Shema” (meaning “Hear…”)

“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God the LORD is one!
You shall love the LORD your God with
All your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.”

The “fear of the Lord” mentioned in Deuteronomy 6:2 must be understood in the context of Israel’s love for God! Love for God was not sentimentality. A proper understanding of love for God is to be seen in the context of “fear” (“awe and reverence” and not “terror”) for God.

THE ERROR OF THE PHARISEES

The concern of the Pharisees was NOT whether Jesus loved God, and whether He feared the Lord, their concern was just the Sabbath law! Their emphasis was unjustified. Their fault-finding attitude and approach was completely erroneous.

We are reminded of a portion of Scripture in Isaiah 29:13-21,

“Inasmuch as these people draw near to Me with their mouths
and honour Me with their lips,
but have removed their hearts far from Me,
and their fear toward Me is taught
BY THE COMMANDMENT OF MEN…” Isaiah 29:13

This was the main problem. The Pharisees had come up with a theology that smacked of being “the commandment of men”. The commandments of men must be distinguished from the actual commandments of God! Their emphasis on the Sabbath law, at the exclusion of the other commandments of God was wrong.

The Pharisees found fault with the Disciples of the Lord Jesus concerning their action of plucking the heads of grain, rubbing them and eating them, they over-reached themselves (Luke 6:1-2; The Disciples did not do wrong when they plucked the heads of grain. This was allowed by an ancient Mosaic law found in Deuteronomy 23:25). The charge of the Pharisees was a commandment of their own making, and not a commandment of God! The Pharisees did not even take time to consider why the Disciples of the Lord Jesus did what they did! (They were simply very hungry. They were not out to violate the Sabbath law)!

A GLIMPSE OF HOW TOUGH IT MUST HAVE BEEN TO BE A DISCIPLE OF THE LORD JESUS

The Disciples could have been well provided for. However, in the Lord’s wisdom they were to be trained in a special way. They had to learn what it meant to “suffer want”. There were times when they went hungry! They were so hungry at this point of time that they plucked off the heads of grain and ate the grain raw!

These may have been tough moments, but what great lessons the Disciples must have learned through this experience!