Now it happened on the second Sabbath after the first that He went through the grain fields. And His disciples plucked the heads of grains and ate them, rubbing them in their hands and some of the Pharisees said to them “why are you doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath?”(Luke 6:1)
How did Jesus respond?Jesus said: Have you not read what David did when he was hungry.? he entered the house of God and taking the consecrated bread, he ate what is lawful only for priests to eat. And he also gave some to his companions. Then Jesus said to them : “The Son of man is also the Lord of the Sabbath.” (Luke 6:3-5)
What did the law say about the picking grain?When you come into your neighbor’s vineyard, you may eat your fill of grapes at your pleasure, but you shall not put any in your container. When you come into your neighbor’s standing grain, you may pluck the heads with your hand, but you shall use a sickle on your neighbor standing grain. (Deuteronomy 23:24-25)
Pause & Reflect
- Why did the disciple pluck the grains? (Matthew 12:1)
- Do you think the disciples disregard the religious law?
Jesus prioritizes the immediate need of his disciples over following the law.He did what was right at the right time to bring glory to God as oppose to adhering to right rules. On the Lord’s Day, the disciples were hunger and the Lord fed them to alleviate their hunger and give them rest. And my God shall supply all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:19).
Pause & Reflect
- What was the incident from David life? (1 Samuel 21:1-6)
- What is the bread of presence?(Exodus 25:30, 39:36, 40:23, Lev. 24:5-7, 8-9, Number 4)
- How did the priest Ahimelech’s action honor God? (Psalm 103:8)
- What things do we do that draw men to or push them away from Christ.
Jesus used the incident in David’s life to demonstrate that God is compassionate and gracious. As a loving Father, He empathize with us in every circumstance of life. Even though, David an anointed priest (Psalm 110:4) unto the Lord, whom God Himself, testify that he was a man after His own heart, did not fully comply to the lawful practice of the sacrament of the show-bread -he share the bread with those who were not priest. But God, who is rich in mercy, demonstrated His love through Ahimelech by allowing David and his men to partake of the show-bread on the Lord’s Day when they were hungry to signify people’s need come first before rules. Knowing the heart of God does not to give us excuse to disobey His word but should compel us to respond as He did in this incident
If David was granted mercy and grace to share that, which was holy unto the Lord with others, to show the love of God to his children, how much more, would the Lord of the Sabbath gave bread to his disciples.
Jesus said: “I am the bread of life, whoever comes to me will never hunger and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.” (John 6:35)
Which one of you, if your son ask bread will give him stone?Or if he ask for fish, will give him serpent. If you then, being evil know how to give good gift to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask him! (Matthew 7:9-11)
Pause &Reflect
- What did David do when his men were hungry?
- What did Jesus do when His disciple were hungry?
- In what way did Ahimelech demonstrate the love of God
- How did Jesus response demonstrate the love of God.
The Pharisee took couple of verses from the law “Remember the Sabbath day and keep it Holy” and use these verses to consider the act of picking the grains “work “rather than being sensitive to the needs of the disciples.
What does God says about the Sabbath & Work? :Deuteronomy 5:12-15: Observe the Sabbath by keeping it Holy as the Lord your God commanded you. Six day you shall labor and do all your work. But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work; you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your make, servant, nor your female servant, nor your ox, nor your donkey, nor your stranger, who is within your gates, so that your male and female servant may rest as you do. Remember that you were slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out of there by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm; therefore the Lord your God command you to keep the Sabbath.
Physical Rest
You are the workmanship of God created in Christ Jesus for good work you, which God prepared before hand that you should walk in them. God expects you to rest from work, to disconnect for your daily activities, and reconnect with Him to enjoy all the things He has given you, including His creation.
The Lord’s Day – the day of rest- predates the law. “And on the seventh day, God ended His work, and He rested on the seventh day from all the work, which He had done. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because on it He rested from all His work of creating that he had done. (Genesis 2:2-3). The rest day is the 4th of the 10th commandment is celebrated by God himself. God demonstrated the idea of rest, knowing that we will labor on the earth using the gifts He give us to bring Him glory and delight. God does not grow weary nor weak, He neither sleeps nor slumber, however, He rested on the seventh day, established a Sabbath covenant (Exodus 31:12-17) to demonstrate the importance of rest for our physical body.
The Sabbath came by Moses to teach the children of Israel to set a day aside to cease from labor to rest. “And remember that you were slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out from there by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm; therefore the Lord your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.”(Deuteronomy 5:15)
Jesus did not abolish the Sabbath; rather He demonstrated the purpose of the Sabbath in what He did in it. On the Sabbath, he graciously provided for the need of those around him to give them rest. The purpose of the Sabbath is for men to rest- “The Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath “. Jesus corrected the Pharisee in their application of scripture. Knowledge puffs up but love edifies. The issue at stake was the hearts of the Pharisees were hardened; as a result, they were in- sensitive to need of the hungry. Jesus the Son of Man did good on the Lord’s Day. He fed His disciples when they were hungry and He did not condemn their act of picking grains as work, to the Father’s delight.
“Do not withhold good from those whom it is due- when it is in your power to do so. Do not say to our neighbor- go and come back and tomorrow I will give it, when you have it with you.” (Proverbs 3:27)
“Blessed is the man who does this, and the son of man who lays hold on it. Who keeps from defiling the Sabbath, and keeps his hand from doing evil”(Isaiah 56:2, 58:13)
Spiritual Rest
Jesus, Lord of the Sabbath,meets the greatest need of humanity by saving us from sin and death. The son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing: God delivered the children of Israel from slavery in Egypt with a mighty hand and outstretched arm so that they could keep the Sabbath day– a day Holy to those who observe it. Similarly, God redeemed us from slavery of sin and the dominion of death by delivering us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, so that in Him, we have redemption, the forgiveness of sin and in Him we are reconcile to God. So let us put our faith in God and obey His word – because the Sabbath day Holy to the Lord, to enter His rest through Jesus Christ Our Lord and Savior.
Jesus said “Come to me all you who are weary and heavy burden and I will give you rest. ” He also said cast all your cares upon me , for I care for you.” And again, He said “Do not let your heart be trouble, believe in God and also believe in me.”As He assure us His presence is always with us, when he said: “Low I am with you always to the end of the age.”
It is believing in the word of God, believing on His promises, trusting His faithfulness and obedience to God’s word that gives us rest when we face trails, test, temptation and tribulation in every situation. Remember, He said: “Be Still and Know I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth” (Psalm 46:10)
“There remain,then, a rest for the people of God. For anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their work, just as God did from His.
“Let us be diligent to enter that rest, lest any one fall according to the same disobedience. Knowing that all the promises of God in Him are Yes and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us.”(Hebrews 4:9-11)
“So let no one judge you in food or drink or regarding a festival or a new moon or Sabbaths, which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is Christ.“(Colossians 2:16-17)
Pause & Reflect
- When is the Sabbath day – Saturday, Sunday, or one day of the week?
- How is the Sabbath relevant to a believer ?
- In what sense did God rest?
- How do you enter His rest?
- What is the difference between Sabbath Day and sabbath rest
Now it happened on another Sabbath, also that He entered the synagogue and was teaching. And a man was there whose right hand was withered. The Pharisees and teachers of the law were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they watched him closely to see if He would heal on the Sabbath.But Jesus know what they were thinking and said to the man with shriveled hand, “Get up and stand in front of everyone.” So he got up and stood there.(Luke 6:6-11)
The of Son Man, who is the Lord of the Sabbath, restore the man’s hand as good as the other hand, to show the love and compassion of God. Jesus taught the word of God first to signify the importance of seeking God first. “The word of God is life to those who find them and health to their bone” The man went to the synagogue to hear the word of God. Jesus being sensitive to the need of those around him saw the invisible suffering wounds in the man’s life and healed him, particularly, in the presence of the Pharisee and the scribe. Christ restored what was destroyed in this man’s life, the anxieties he experienced from suffering in the shadow, perhaps, by rumor that he must have committed sin or some transgression as a result he was disabled, which was how the society view the disabled at that time. The Pharisee and scribe considered “healing” work. Jesus discerned their thought and said to them” I will ask you one thing: is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil to save life or to destroy it? “ They did not respond knowing that it is actually lawful to do good on the Sabbath (Matthew 12:12) .On the hand, the man with the withered hand heard the word, obey the word and took steps of faith. Jesus said “Stretch our your hand” and he did so and his hand was restored as whose as the other.
Pause & Reflect
- Examine what Christ did on the Sabbath or things done on the Sabbath in scripture?
- How can we foster a non-condemning environment for growth in Christ?
- What is the Sabbath – then and now?
Acts of Faith
- May you show compassion and mercy to those around you
- May the holy spirit empower you to discern unspoken needs.
- May we adhere to God’s call to rest on His term!
- May the Lord shine light on any shadow you walk through.
- In Jesus name, stretch out your hands to be restore.