Lord of the Sabbath

Hello everyone, today, I will begin exegesis of Luke 6, by looking at the first 5 verses. In it, the disciples are walking through the fields, picking heads of grain, rubbing the grain in their hands and eating it. The Pharisees, seeing this, say that what the disciples are doing is οὐκ ἔξεστιν (ouk exestin) which means "not lawful, not permissible" to do on the Sabbath.

Note, that Jesus is not mentioned to be doing this, but when they are are confronted, Jesus defends the actions of the disciples. What they are doing, violates the Sabbath regulations.  At the time these regulations were oral traditional, but were written down in the Mishnah in the late 2nd/early 3rd centuries. In this tradition there were 39 categories of work that were not permitted by law.  The work being committed by the disciples: First, reaping, they were plucking heads of grain. Then, threshing, rubbing in their hands. It is only by the strictest definition of 'work' that one could call what the disciples were doing work.  This thinking actually strains the definition of work. Even the writers of the Mishnah seemed to understand the tediousness of all of these rules.  Darrell Bock shares a quote from Mishnah Chagigah 1:8 “The rules about the Sabbath…are as mountains hanging by a hair, for the Scripture is scanty and the rules many.” (Bock, 523.) 

Over time these unwritten rules had become far from what God had intended the Sabbath to be. Sabbath-keeping was important, but it should be guided by common sense.  These rules had become so nonsensical that they were not  really providing for people what God had intended the Sabbath to provide. The Sabbath was created to be a holy day and a day of rest.  The idea was that the Sabbath was to be beneficial to people, but it had become a big burden. And it must have been exhausting to be a Pharisee on the Sabbath.  Not only did they have to keep all the rules, but they felt an obligation to watch everybody else and make sure that they were keeping the rules as well. 

Jesus, in defense of his disciples, uses the example of David in 1 Samuel 21:1-6.  Who better to use than one of Judaism’s greatest heroes.  David and his men were hungry and in need, and ate the sacred bread of the temple.  Jesus makes the point that the Sabbath was like the bread, it was supposed to be for people’s benefit, rather than a giant burden that people were unable to carry. While doesn't record the statement, in the parallel passage in Mark 2, Jesus says, "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath."  Jesus makes the point that the Sabbath had been created for people, not the other way around.  (Mark 2:27)  

This situation leads Jesus, the Son of Man, to declare himself to be Lord of the Sabbath.  It was not the place of the Pharisees to tell God what was permissible on the Sabbath. God had made the Sabbath. (Williams, 57-58)  Bock makes this point: Was Jesus arguing that the law was never meant to be interpreted so literally that compassion was excluded in a situation of basic need? (Bock, 525.) Do the ceremonial restrictions of the law give way to basic human need? 

The Scripture does not seem to condemn David for his action, nor does the priest who was there. Would the Pharisees condemn David to justify their position? Jesus, as he always did, outsmarted them, using the Scriptures to show them truth. 

Joel Williams sums up this story in  his Exegetical Guide to the Greek: Mark from the parallel passage in Mark 2.  From this story, we learn:

• Jesus has the power to declare the purpose and standards of God’s commands. 
• God’s commands have a good purpose. 
• God’s commands are best understood by listening to Jesus. 

In their attempts to be righteous, the Pharisees had created stumbling blocks for people.  Their intentions were good, but the result was far from what God had intended. Jesus was trying to correct this, and bring a better way to God.  We still need to be righteous, but without all of the trappings of legalism. Jesus was bringing freedom, not a new legalism, and following should bring joy and not burden. 

Tom