#41 Lu. 6:1-5 JESUS, LORD OF THE SABBATH

Introduction:

    The scribes and Pharisees are becoming increasingly antagonistic toward
Jesus.  They first criticized Him silently in their thoughts for claiming to
be able to forgive sin.  Secondly they criticized Him to His disciples for
eating with publicans and sinners.  Thirdly, they criticized Him to His face
for not teaching His disciples to fast often.  Now they accuse Him of
allowing His disciples to break the sabbath day.

I.  Passing through the grain fields on the sabbath

    V. 1, "And it came to pass on the second sabbath after the first, that
he went through the corn fields..."  The wording here concerning the time
element may seem rather strange to us.  Luke said that this took place on
the second sabbath after the first.  To be frank with you, I am not certain
just what Luke meant by the expression the second day after the first."
Some have suggested that this expression was intended to mean the second
sabbath after the Passover.  Others think that it refers to the second
sabbath after the first day of the new year.  Still others think that it has
to do with the Jewish counting of the years in a series of seven.  Thus they
think this refers to the second sabbath after the first year of the series
of seven has ended.
    At any rate, this is a sabbath day and we can be sure that Jesus and His
disciples attended the worship services at a Jewish synagogue.  The
Scriptures well establish that this was His custom every sabbath day.  I
We can also be almost certain that Jesus was asked to read the Scripture and
to explain the Scripture in that synagogue service.  This, too,  had become
the common practice in all the synagogue services where He attended.
    The common people loved to hear Jesus preach and teach the word of God.
However, the scribes and Pharisees were very displeased with His preaching
and teaching of the word of God and by this time they have become determined
to find some way of silencing His ministry.  They considered Him a threat to
their own leadership among the people and they were determined to stop Him.
Luke tells us that on this particular sabbath day Jesus and His disciples
passed through what Luke called "a corn field."  The word, corn, as it is
used in Scripture does not refer to the kind of corn that grows on a cob.
Rather the word, corn, here merely means "grain."  It refers to grain of any
kind.  We are told that the only kind of grain they grew in that part of the
world in that day was wheat, rye and barley.  Therefore, the kind of grain
field that they passed through was either wheat, rye, or barley.
    Apparently they were on their way back to their place of residence after
the closing of the synagogue service.  The route that took them back to
their place of residence took them right through some grain fields.  It was
then that the disciples' appetite got them all in trouble with the scribes
and Pharisees.
    (V. 1), "...and his disciples plucked the ears of corn, and did eat,
rubbing them in their hands."  The ears of corn that are spoken of in our
text are the heads of grain.  I have already told you that this does not
speak of corn that grows on a cob.
    The disciples plucked some of the heads of grain and then rubbed their
hands together so as to break the husks loose from the kernel inside.  They
would blow the husk away and eat the raw uncooked grain.  It was not much of
a meal to satisfy their hunger, but it was better than nothing.  It at least
took the edge off their hunger for awhile.
    Now would you believe that some of the Pharisees just happened to be
right their close by to witness this event?  You can be sure that it was not
by accident that they were there.  They were deliberately there.  They were
now fully determined to find some way of stopping the ministry of Jesus and
they were following Him just hoping that He would do something that they
could use against Him.
    In all probability they had followed Him to see if perhaps He just might
travel more than the law allowed on the sabbath day.  If He did they would
surely charge Him publicly of breaking the sabbath.  There was a death
penalty for breaking the sabbath and that was just what they wanted.
    However, they were not choicy about what they might find that would give
them an excuse to bring charges against Him.  Just anything that He would do
that would allow them to bring some kind of serious charge against would do.
    Therefore, the Pharisees must have almost shouted for glee when they saw
the disciples of Jesus pull those few heads of grain off the plants and rub
them in their hands.
    Technically they could not charge Jesus with anything.  It was not Jesus
who plucked the grain.  It was not Jesus who rubbed His hands together with
the grain inside.  It was not Jesus who ate the grain.  It was His
disciples.  But this was close enough for those who were determined to find
something of which to accuse Him.  They would seek to hold Him responsible
for the dastardly deeds of His disciples simply because He was their leader.
They would presume that He should have stopped them before they could do
such a heinous crime.

II.  An accusing question directed toward the disciples

    V. 2, "And certain of the Pharisees said unto them, Why do ye that which
is not lawful to do on the sabbath days?"  Now get this.  The disciples pull
a few heads of grain, they rub the grain in their hands, they eat the
uncooked grain and what do the Pharisees charge them with?  They accuse them
of breaking the sabbath day.  They accuse them of being guilty of a crime
that would bring the death penalty.
    Matthew says the question about the disciples was made directly to
Jesus.  Luke says that they direct the question to the disciples.  It is
certain that both these writers were correct. They directed the question
both to Jesus and to His disciples.
    It was Jesus who answered the question.  Jesus could not stand idly by
and watch His disciples be accused of committing a crime that could bring
the death penalty to them.  So Jesus speaks up and comes to the defense of
His disciples.
    The Pharisees accused them of breaking the law of the sabbath.  By the
way, you will note that they did not accuse them of eating grain from a
field which did not belong to them although that is apparently what they had
done.  The law of Moses specifically allowed a man to eat from another man's
field as he passed through.  He was not allowed to take more than what he
could eat.  He could not gather some and take it home with him to eat later.
That would be stealing.  But eating from the vine or plant or tree of
another man was not to be thought of as stealing under the law of Moses.
What the Pharisees charge them with is breaking the sabbath.
    Now let me clarify something right here.  The law of Moses did not
forbid anyone to eat grain on the sabbath.  It did not forbid them from
plucking the grain on the sabbath.  It did not forbid them to rub the husks
off the grain on the sabbath.  In other words, the disciples were not guilty
of breaking the law of Moses.  The law did forbid them to harvest grain on
the sabbath.  It forbid them to harvest any kind of crop on the sabbath.
Also, as we said earlier, it forbid them to gather enough to take home with
them.  The law did forbid them to cook a meal on the sabbath.  It forbid
them to do any kind of manual labor on the sabbath.
    However, the Pharisees would have hardly accepted such a simple answer
as that because with them it was a matter of interpretation of the law and
they would certainly interpret the law to mean that what the disciples had
done was equivalent to hard manual labor.

III.  The answer that Jesus gave the Pharisees

    So Jesus bypassed the simple answer that they had not committed any
manual labor and instead presented them with a case from the Old Testament
concerning their own great hero, King David when David and his men were
hungry.
    V. 3-4, "And Jesus answering them said, Have ye not read so much as
this, what David did, when himself was an hungered, and they which were with
him; How he went into the house of God, and did take and eat the showbread,
and gave also to them that were with him; which it is not lawful to eat but
for the priests alone?"  When David and his men were hungry they went to the
priest and asked him to give them food.  When the priest replied that no
food was available except bread from the table of showbread, then David
instructed the priest to give them the bread from the table of showbread and
they ate it.  The law of Moses did not specifically forbid them to eat this
bread, but neither did it say that they could.  The law had said only that
the priests and their families could eat of it.
    The point that Jesus was making to the Pharisees was that they law of
Moses was not as strict as they had interpreted it to be especially when it
concerned the need for food when one was hungry..  The law did not condemn
the deed of King David and his men.  Neither did the law condemn the
disciples of Jesus for what they had done.  The Pharisees were simply nit-
picking.  Under no reasonable argument could the Pharisees claim that the
disciples had been guilty of using manual labor on the sabbath.
    V. 5, "And he said unto them, That the Son of man is Lord also of the
sabbath."  Jesus here speaks of Himself as the Son of man and therefore as
the Lord of the sabbath.  Jesus is the One who started the sabbath day.  It
was He who had labored in six days of creative work in the book of Genesis.
It was He who had rested on the sabbath day, setting the example for all
mankind to follow in their work habits.  They were to work six days as He
had worked.  They were then to rest one day as He had rested.  It was He who
had hallowed the sabbath as a day that all mankind should observe.  It was
He who later had instructed Moses to include the observance of the sabbath
in the law which Moses would give to Israel.  If His disciples had broken
the law of the sabbath He would surely know it for He is the Lord of the
sabbath.  If they had broken the law of the sabbath, they would give account
to Him for He is the Lord of the sabbath.  They would not have to answer to
the Pharisees, for He alone is the Lord of the sabbath.
    I am not at all sure that Jesus convinced the Pharisees that they were
wrong and He is right.  But He did convince them of one thing.  He convinced
them not to pursue the charges against the disciples any further.  He
convinced them that if they should choose to bring formal accusations
against the Lord's disciples and demand the death penalty for them, that
Jesus would present the more convincing argument before the people and that
they themselves would be the ones to wind up looking like fools to the
masses of common people.  So they let the matter drop right there at least
for the time being.  After all, it was not really the disciples of Jesus
that they were really after.  The One whom they were after was Jesus and
they saw that they could not use this incident any further against Him at
this time.

IV.  Jesus as Lord of the sabbath

    Now let me come back to the statement that Jesus made about Himself in
verse 5.  Jesus said that He is the Lord of the sabbath.  There is but one
way that this could be so.  In order for Him to be the Lord of the sabbath,
He has to be Lord of all.  He has to be Creator God----and He is!  In the
gospel of John, John said that all things were made by Him and that without
Him there was not anything made that was made.  Let us read it for ourselves
in John 1:1-3, "In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and
the Word was God.  The same was in the beginning with God.  All things were
made by Him and without Him there was not anything made that was made."  In
verse 14 we are told that the Word was made flesh and dwelt right here on
earth among men.  It was He who spoke to the Pharisees.  He is indeed the
Lord of the sabbath, because He is the Lord of all.
    Since He is the Lord of the sabbath, He is to be worshipped on the
sabbath.  Even the Pharisees would acknowledge that the sabbath day was to
be dedicated to the worship of the Lord.  Jesus is that Lord whom all men
should worship on the sabbath day.
    Since He is the Lord of the sabbath, He is the Lord of every other day.
He is Lord seven days a week.  He is Lord every week of the year and year
after year.  Jesus is Lord all of the time.  Jesus is to be worshipped not
only on the sabbath, but He is to be worshipped on every other day.
    Since Jesus is the Lord of the sabbath and therefore the Lord of all,
then He is the One who is to be obeyed in all matters.  He is also the One
to whom men will give account.  We will all give account to Him for all that
we think, say and do.
    What is so very amazing to me is this.  This One who is Lord of all came
to this world and voluntarily gave Himself to die on the cross of Calvary
for lost sinners.  He died for the Pharisees who hated Him and who were
determined to eliminate Him.  He died for the best and He died for the worst
because all are sinners.  He died for the greatest and He died for the
least.  What is most wonderful to me is that He died for me.  He died for
you and me.  Thank God the Heavenly Father that Jesus Christ loved us enough
to die for us that we might be saved.
    I want to thank God that somebody preached to me the gospel message and
told me that I needed to trust Jesus Christ and be saved.  Thank God I did
trust Jesus and now I am saved.
    I want to ask you a very important question.  Have you ever decided that
you do not want to go to hell?  If you have, then when are you ever going
to do something about it?  Have you trusted in Jesus to save your soul?  If
you want to be saved and you have not already decided to do something about,
then here is what you are up against.  You are faced with the fact that you
are going to have to do something about it or else you are going to spend
eternity in the fires of hell.  It is up to you, but I'll be frank with you.
You do not have forever to make up your mind.  You do not have forever to
mess around.  You had better stop wasting time and get this matter settled
with God before it is too late.
    You need to turn to Jesus and trust in Him as your Savior and then yield
your life to Him for Jesus is Lord of all.