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The Book of Luke, The Sabbath Controversy – Lesson 66
We will be in Luke Chapter Six today.
We will be discussing a matter of great importance to the Christian for it concerns outward actions versus the inward working of the heart.
While the believer is in this body of sin the believer still has an old nature but he or she also has a new nature.
The old nature is a nature of the flesh, that which can be seen and the new nature is a nature of the Spirit, that which cannot be seen
One is a nature that lives by sight and one is a nature that lives by faith.
One is a nature of the temporal and one is a nature of the eternal.
So there is a battle of the flesh versus the spirit.
Jesus in his discussion with the women at the well showed us what was the acceptable way to worship God and it did not involve worshipping God in the flesh.
We read of this in John 4:19-24:
The woman saith unto him, Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet. 20Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship. 21Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. 22Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews. 23But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
God is a Spirit—is better translated “God is Spirit.”
Since God is himself Spirit and Spirit is his nature, he must be worshiped in the realm that is of the same kind to his nature — namely, man’s spirit.
Since man is a sinner and his spirit is dead he cannot worship God without being quickened or being born again by God’s Spirit into the family of God.
The woman at the well, being a woman who was dead in trespasses and sins, could only attempt to worship God in the flesh.
Her argument concerning worship dwelt on that which could be seen, namely the acceptable location of worship, Samaria or Jerusalem.
It was not a matter of the heart but of location.
Jesus went right to the heart of the argument that worship must be done in the Spirit.
This is the crux of the problem in Israel for the religion of Israel had become simply a religion of the flesh, a religion of the outward and that is what we continue to find as we go through the book of Luke.
We find this very thing propagating in Israel as we witness the spies of the Pharisees gathering intelligence concerning the activities of the Lord Jesus and his disciples on the Sabbath day
Let us read in Luke 6:1-11
And it came to pass on the second sabbath after the first, that he went through the corn fields; and his disciples plucked the ears of corn, and did eat, rubbing them in their hands. 2And certain of the Pharisees said unto them, Why do ye that which is not lawful to do on the sabbath days? 3And 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; 4How 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? 5And he said unto them, That the Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath. On another Sabbath He entered the synagogue and was teaching; and there was a man there whose right hand was withered. 7The scribes and the Pharisees were watching Him closely to see if He healed on the Sabbath, so that they might find reason to accuse Him. 8But He knew what they were thinking, and He said to the man with the withered hand, “Get up and come forward!” And he got up and came forward. 9And Jesus said to them, “I ask you, is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the Sabbath, to save a life or to destroy it?” 10After looking around at them all, He said to him, “Stretch out your hand!” And he did so; and his hand was restored. 11But they themselves were filled with rage, and discussed together what they might do to Jesus.
Not being in the religious culture of Jesus day we may wonder as to how these Pharisees and scribes came to such a position as this as to be filled with rage because a man was healed of a withered hand on the Sabbath day.
What kind of ideology could bring them to this position?
We live in a world of ism’s which describe ideological systems that people hold to or have held to in the past.
And men will die for any of them because they are fully committed to them and they believe in them wholly.
This passage that we have just read describes one of these systems.
Just for a moment suppose you had two cows.
If you lived under socialism you would have to give one of your cows to your neighbor and keep the other.
If you lived under communism that government would require you to give both cows to the state, and occasionally you might be fortunate enough to get a little milk or butter.
If you lived under Nazism you would be shot and you would no longer need your cows.
In a Republic such as ours was founded to be, you would sell one cow and buy a bull.
Nowadays you would be paid by the government not to have two cows.
And in the religious realm that we find in our passage in Luke we could add one more ism, that of — Legalism
Now, would legalism do anything to help you keep your cows?
No! Legalism would lay down so many rules and regulations concerning the keeping of cows that nobody would want them anyway!
Two cows under all the rules of legalism would be way to much trouble!
In the Gospel of Luke we can easily see that legalism was the system which described the Pharisees of Jesus’ day.
It is a system which quenches the spirit for it dwells on the outward.
Jesus called the outward a painted sepulcher.
But legalism is a deadly system and we can see by many examples presented by Luke that the Lord Jesus Christ confronted this system head on.
He confronted this system at every opportunity and this confrontation resulted in the successful plot of the religious leaders to kill the Lord Jesus.
In this passage of Luke 6 we have just read that the legalism of the Pharisees was clearly evident in their rules pertaining to the keeping of the Sabbath.
Concerning the legalism of the Pharisees with regard to the Sabbath, J.W. Shepard writes in the book “The Christ of the Gospels:
“The Mishna says: ‘He that reapeth corn on the Sabbath to the quantity of a fig is guilty; and plucking corn is reaping.’ Rubbing the grain out was threshing. Even to walk on the grass on the Sabbath was forbidden because it was a species of threshing. Another Talmudic passage says: ‘In case a woman rolls wheat to remove the husks, it is considered sifting; if she rubs the head of wheat, it is regarded as threshing; if she cleans off the side-adherences, it is sifting out fruit; if she throws them up in her hand, it is winnowing’ [Jer. Shabt, page 10a]. The scrupulous-ness of these Jews about Sabbath was ridiculously extreme. A Jewish sailor caught in a storm after sunset on Friday refused to touch the helm though threatened with death. Thousands had suffered themselves to be butchered in the streets of Jerusalem by Antiochus Epiphanes rather than lift a weapon in self-defense on the Sabbath! To these purists, the act of the disciples was a gross desecration of the Sabbath law. The worst of all was that Jesus permitted and approved it.”
Mr. Shepard is referring to the Sabbath laws of Jesus’ day, but even in our day there still remains the legalistic practice of the Sabbath in the Jewish religion.
There is a book entitled, A Guide to the Practical Observance of Shabbath By Rav Neuwith.
This book goes into great detail concerning the interpretation and application of the Sabbath for modern Judaism.
The author tells us of the importance which Judaism has and continues to place on the keeping of the Sabbath:
Here are some of the instructions about the keeping of the Sabbath.
They are only but a few of the multitude of rules.
Cooking in most all forms (boiling, roasting, baking, frying, etc.) is forbidden on the Sabbath, in particular when the temperature is raised above 45 degrees centigrade (113 Farenheit). If the hot water tap is accidentally left on, it cannot be turned off on the Sabbath.
Escaping gas can be turned off, but not in the normal way. One must turn off the tap of a gas burner with the back of the hand or the elbow.
The preparation of food is greatly affected by the Sabbath.
One cannot squeeze a lemon into a glass of ice tea, but one can squeeze lemon on a piece of fish.
That one cannot light a fire on the Sabbath is taught in the Old Testament law (cf. Exod. 35:3). Strict Judaism views this to prohibit turning electric lights on or off on the Sabbath. The problem can be solved, however, by using a timer, which automatically handles this task.
So, too, an air conditioner cannot be turned on by a Jew on the Sabbath, although a Gentile might be persuaded to do so.
One cannot bathe with a bar of soap on the Sabbath, but liquid detergent is acceptable.
One is prohibited from transporting goods on the Sabbath.
This would prevent merchants conducting business on the Sabbath.
It has been so highly refined (defined?) that now one cannot carry something which he unknowingly took with him. If one is walking along on the Sabbath and discovers that he is carrying something in his pocket, he has several courses of action so as not to violate the Sabbath. He may, for example, drop the item out of his pocket, but not in the normal or usual fashion (by grasping it, removing it from the pocket, and dropping it on the floor). He can, however, reverse his pocket, expelling the object unnaturally and thus legitimately. If the item is valuable, and he does not wish to leave it on the ground, he can ask a Gentile to watch the item for him. Otherwise, the item could be carried, but not in the usual way.
He can carry it for a prescribed distance (just under four amoth), put it down, then take it up, and so on. Or, the man could relay it between himself and a fellow-Israelite, each one carrying the object for no more than the prescribed distance. If this is not advisable, the object can be carried in an unusual way, such as placing it in the shoe, tying it to his leg, or managing to suspend it between his clothing and his body.
These are some of the extremes that the Pharisees went to, to keep the Sabbath.
Knowing this gives us insight into the zealousness of the Pharisees in gathering intelligence as to what our Lord did with respect to their Sabbath regulations.
They were the Sabbath police and thought that they could please God be getting others to conform to their definition of holiness. But it was all outward. This is religion!
Legalism is a deadly system and it can creep into the church as we are seeing so clearly in the King James Only movement.
Talk about the trap that people who believe this are setting for themselves.
It is simply another form of legalism and will spawn all kinds of rules and regulations designed to ensnare and limit the believer’s liberty to worship God in the Spirit.
What happens when a man carries a non King James Version Bible into a King James only church?
Are there King James only police at the door to check?
Luke’s purpose by giving us these Sabbath accounts in Chapter six is to prepare us for the rejection, for the arrest, for the conviction, and for the execution of Jesus by his opponents.
He prepares the ground for the crucifixion.
He identifies the issues which made enemies of the Pharisees and the other Jewish leaders, as well as with the people.
We have seen hatred building up in previous chapters and this hatred continues to be revealed in our Chapter Six passage.
In Chapter four the people of Nazareth rejected Jesus because He would bring blessings on the Gentiles (Luke 4:16-30).
The Pharisees rejected Jesus because He claimed to be God (5:17-26), because He associated with sinners (5:27-39), and now, because He did not keep the Sabbath as they interpreted it (6:1-6).
These issues will govern the relationship between the Pharisees and Jesus; resulting in His crucifixion.
The book of Luke is like a pot that comes to a boil.
The events of past chapters show the water heating up in the pot as the Pharisees confront Jesus in various situations.
In this chapter where the Sabbath comes into play they are no longer looking for evidence of wrong doing but have come to a conclusion and now discuss together what they might do to Jesus.
Our passage in Luke Six tells us that the Lord Jesus and His disciples were passing through some grain fields on the Sabbath, followed by a delegation of Pharisees.
Just as a delegation of the press follows noted people, so was Jesus being followed by the Pharisees who were hoping something bad would take place, something that they could accuse him of.
Why were the Pharisees present?
The Pharisees knew that Jesus’ popularity was growing steadily.
They also were becoming alarmed at the realization that Jesus was not in their camp.
The fact was that he was often attacking them.
They were afraid to leave Jesus to Himself, unwatched and uncontrolled.
As the religious police, thay wanted to catch Jesus in some transgression of their rules, so that they could point their fingers at Him and accuse Him of being wrong.
One of the Pharisees may have been designated to even count the steps that Jesus was walking since they would only allow a limited amount of travel on the Sabbath.
Their diligent search was rewarded when they witnessed the disciples of Jesus begin to strip heads of grain from the field, rub them in their hands to separate the grain from the sheaf, and pop the grain into their mouths.
This simple act of eating was to the Pharisee harvesting and threshing grain, something which one could do on any other day, but not on the Sabbath according to their rules.
The Sabbath commandment is short and to the point:
Exodus 20:8, Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: 10But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: 11For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it. |