Jesus Works and Heals on the Sabbath

Topic: Legalism

Passage: Luke 6:1–11

February 3, 2022

Commentary

On the Sabbath day, possibly the next day after the feast at Matthew’s house, another problem is brought up by the Pharisees. Jesus and His disciples are passing through some grain fields and being hungry they pluck some of the grain and ate it (v. 1). These Pharisees who saw them did not raise any objection to the grain being taken from the field of another, for this was permitted by the law in such cases (Deuteronomy23:25). However, they condemned the disciples for doing it on the Sabbath day which they said was breaking the law (v.2).

Jesus did not argue with them but took them right to the Word of God (I Samuel 21:1-6). He shows them how David, who when fleeing from Saul, was permitted by the priests to eat of the show-bread in the tabernacle, and what Jew would condemn Israel’s great king? He tried to show them how they had misunderstood the purpose of the law and that God is more concerned about meeting human needs than He is in protecting religious rules (vv. 3-5).

He mentioned that it was the right hand of the man that was useless, a detail of particular interest to a doctor. This detail shows the seriousness of the man’s case (vv. 6-8). Most people are right-handed. Jesus consciously provoked conflict by calling the man forward for healing. We should not confuse the issue by calling Sunday the Sabbath. The Sabbath, Saturday, speaks of rest after work and of the completion of the creation, while Sunday, the Lord’s day, speaks of rest before work and commemorates our Lord’s finished work on the cross. Jesus’ question had two parts. He first asked if it was lawful to do good on the Sabbath or if it was lawful to do evil (vv. 9-10). The obvious answer was that doing good was lawful but doing evil was not lawful . Jesus humiliated the religious leaders and healed the man all at the same time without even breaking the Pharisees’ law. (v. 11).

Application

Sunday should be a wonderful day of rest and worshiping the Lord. It should not be controlled by a set of strict and oppressive rules that becomes a burden to me instead of a blessing.

Luke 6:1– 11 (NET)

¹ Jesus was going through the grain fields on a Sabbath, and his disciples picked some heads of wheat, rubbed them in their hands, and ate them. ² But some of the Pharisees said, “Why are you doing what is against the law on the Sabbath?” ³ Jesus answered them, “Haven’t you read what David did when he and his companions were hungry— ⁴ how he entered the house of God, took and ate the sacred bread, which is not lawful for any to eat but the priests alone, and gave it to his companions?” ⁵ Then he said to them, “The Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.”

⁶ On another Sabbath, Jesus entered the synagogue and was teaching. Now a man was there whose right hand was withered. ⁷ The experts in the law and the Pharisees watched Jesus closely to see if he would heal on the Sabbath, so that they could find a reason to accuse him. ⁸ But he knew their thoughts, and said to the man who had the withered hand, “Get up and stand here.” So he rose and stood there. ⁹ Then Jesus said to them, “I ask you, is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath or to do evil, to save a life or to destroy it?” ¹⁰ After looking around at them all, he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” The man did so, and his hand was restored. ¹¹ But they were filled with mindless rage and began debating with one another what they would do to Jesus.