Breakin' the law

Luke 6:1-11 NASB

Now it happened that He was passing through  some  grainfields on a Sabbath; and His disciples were picking the heads of grain, rubbing them in their hands, and eating  the grain.   But some of the Pharisees said, "Why do you do what is not lawful on the Sabbath?"  And Jesus answering them said, "Have you not even read what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him,  how he entered the house of God, and took and ate the consecrated bread which is not lawful for any to eat except the priests alone, and gave it to his companions?"  And He was saying to them, "The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath."
 
On another Sabbath He entered the synagogue and was teaching; and there was a man there whose right hand was withered.  The 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.  But 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.  And 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?"  After looking around at them all, He said to him, "Stretch out your hand!" And he did  so;  and his hand was restored.  But they themselves were filled with rage, and discussed together what they might do to Jesus.

My thoughts -

What is work? If I'm coaching my son's baseball team, is that work? If I'm training for a long fundraising bike ride, is that work? Can I do these things on my day off and still consider myself to be off? Can I volunteer at the church and still be off? What about an emergency food agency?

God gave His people the Sabbath as a day off. They didn't have to work seven days a week. God rested on the seventh day and so should they. This seems like a pretty simple thing, right?

But there's this theology involved. We humans can't make anything simple when it comes to God. We have to make it so complicated. And this isn't all bad. Good theology prevents religious leaders from trampling and abusing their followers. But not all theology is good. Some of it is abusive.

Look at the first instance Jesus "violates" the Sabbath here. Jesus and his followers are hungry. So they get themselves something to eat. Unfortunately the way that Jesus and his disciples acquired food could be construed as work. That's a no-no. It's the Sabbath. They're breaking the law.

Now, they're not harvesting here. They just picked some wheat to eat as they were passing by. They're not laboring in the field. They're just getting lunch. They're hungry. To say this is work and they're violating the Sabbath is an example of abusive theology and Jesus calls the Pharisees on this.

In fact, Jesus shows them how David, their ideal king, a man after God's own heart, violated the law when it came to feeding his hungry followers. What's good and what's bad gets a little fuzzy when people are starving.

The second example is, in my opinion, even worse than the first. It's the Sabbath and Jesus is teaching in the synagogue. There is a man who is disabled there. The "good" religious people don't care about this man. They care about busting Jesus. They know that Jesus has the power and desire to heal this man, but it's the Sabbath. Can't work on the Sabbath. No, no, no. That would be breaking the law.

But Jesus knows what these "good" religious people are thinking. He knows their hearts. He knows they're trying to trap him. But he's not falling for it. He won't heal this guy. Not on the Sabbath. That would be bad.

Just kidding. Of course Jesus healed him. But not before rebuking the "good" religious people about this absurdity.

"I ask you, is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the Sabbath, to save a life or to destroy it?"

Jesus can not see good that should be done and is in his power to do and simply not do it because it's against the rules. He is not violating God's Sabbath. He is just violating the idea that humans have of God's Sabbath.
The "good" religious people here are calloused and evil. They don't care about a man who is suffering. They don't care about people who are hurting and starving. They care about the rules and about their power to wield the rules against God's people. They love power, not people.

Jesus was sent to reconcile us to God. He taught us to live God and love each other. These two go hand in hand. These "good" religious people hate Jesus. They don't love God or people, they love power and being in control.

They left the synagogue enraged. Jesus was not subject to their rules. Rather than being excited about the restoration of a broken man they were angry because Jesus was a rule breaker.

He broke the law.

How dare he.