Luke 6-A “Sabbath Trail-mix”

S = Luke 6:1-2, 5 “On a Sabbath, while he was going through the grain fields, his disciples plucked and ate some heads of grain, rubbing them in their hands. 2 But some of the Pharisees said, “Why are you doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath?” … And he said to them, “The Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.”

     Mark 2:27-28 “And he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath.”

O = Jesus and his disciples were walking through grain fields and the disciples became hungry. The Pharisees accused them of breaking the law. (So we must observe that they were also there… hmmm…so why were the Pharisees walking through grain fields on the Sabbath?) The issue here was not the eating of the grain, the rubbing of the grain in their hands was considered “threshing” and thus working on the Sabbath. Jesus defended the actions of his disciples (though I note he did not appear to be eating) with a story from the life of David and a “sin” they would have considered worse…that of eating the bread from “the house of God.” In Matthew 12:6 Jesus says, “…something greater than the temple is here!” It just seems to be an object lesson to reinforce the “new wine/new wineskins” pericope just stated in Luke 5. Jesus is telling them to get a new bag, to put on a new garment—The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.
      The Pharisees tried to make Jesus disciples fit into their own ideas of what was the “right” way to do things. In the process any new wine they may have received from Jesus was spilled on the ground of their hard hearts, like so much blood, as it soon literally would be.

A = Do I put my rules, my sense of the way things should be above the needs of people? Do I oppress others by my rash vows like Saul did to his army by imposing a fast? Jesus seems to think that the Sabbath was for man—what does this teach me about the heart of God? He wants what is best for us, but do I want what is best for others?

P = O Lord, let me see your heart for people…let me not heap legalistic burdens on those whose heart is simply to be with you and learn from you. May I be one of those disciples in relationship with you, rather than one of those Pharisees always finding fault and looking to bring the hammer of the law down on your followers. May I follow you wholeheartedly, innocently, lovingly, thankfully…doing good, giving life…Amen.