Luke 6:1-5
Dr.
Luke tells us it is a Sabbath day, Jesus and his disciples are going through
the grain fields. I hope you are asking
what is Jesus doing on the Sabbath in grain fields, why is He not at the Synagogue?
Has He already been to the synagogue
and it is late and His disciples are very hungry? Good questions, I like the fact you are not
just reading past these verses but are engaging your minds and yet the Holy
Spirit did not put it in Luke’s heart to give us those facts, but it is all
right to ask.
I
found it of interest that they did not stop and do dinner but because they were
hungry they plucked and ate some heads of grain, rubbing them in their hands,
according to Dr. Luke. The question in
my mind is this, why are the Pharisees walking in the grain fields on the
Sabbath? They had laws about how far
they could walk on the Sabbath, and it began with the Law of Moses given to the
Jewish people who were leaving Egypt, and they had to gather their bread from
heaven daily. This was the law, “See! The Lord has given you the Sabbath;
therefore on the sixth day he gives you bread for two days. Remain each of you
in his place; let no one go out of his place on the seventh day.” So the people rested
on the seventh day.” (Exodus
16:29-30) It took some time in fact,
years before the religious leaders found ways to increase the distance one
could walk. First, it was 2000 cubits
now a cubit is about 18 inches, and they based this on Joshua 3:4-5. But by the time of Jesus they were very good
at extending the rules or the distance.
They would put food or water or some possession at the 2000 cubits the
day or week before, and by doing so consider it their residence, now they could
go 4000 cubits and then it made sense to be able to also return home. (These
thoughts came from bible-history.com)
It seems clear that the Pharisees
were not searching for truth, so they must have been looking for any reason or
way to expose this new Rabbi, the one called Jesus. So when they saw the disciples eating the
grain they ask this question of Jesus; “Why are you doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath? That is cutting to the chase, it is
hitting the nail on the head; Jesus knows the rules, and He is also aware of
the add-on’s the ones that put burdens on its followers. Now in 2015 we do not do such things or do
we, and the answer is yes we do. Baptists
not so much today, but in the past no dancing, no adult beverages, Church of
Christ taught that only the people who attended and were baptized in their
waters were going to heaven, and the Catholics had to eat fish on Friday or
they were in big trouble. Yes, religion
is still in the rule keeping business.
Jesus is teaching the Sabbath is
made for man and not man for the Sabbath; “And he said to them, “The Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.” Now you will find this term in
Daniel 7:13, it is a messianic title and the Pharisees were well aware of
this. So Jesus is telling them, I am
Messiah, the one who instituted the Sabbath, and He had all rights to take
exception to how the day was observed.
From the Back Porch,
Bob Rice
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