Luke 6:6-11
Miracle:
BACKGROUND:
Jesus and His
Disciples were walking in the grain field and rubbing their hands and eating
the kernels. He was teaching about the Sabbath. He retells the story of David and the Show
Bread. He ended with a statement that
would have spoken volumes to the Jews 5 Then
Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man is Lord, even over the Sabbath.” Then, comes this story… “on another Sabbath…” Not the
next day—but some time later to have them think about it and the leaders were
not pleased.
6 On another Sabbath he
went into the synagogue and was teaching, and a man was there whose right hand
was shriveled. 7 The Pharisees and the 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. 8 But Jesus knew what they were
thinking and said to the man with the shriveled hand, “Get up and stand in front of everyone.”
So he got up and stood there.
9 Then Jesus said to
them, “I ask
you, which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or
to destroy it?”
10 He looked around at them all, and then
said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He did so, and his hand was completely restored. 11 But they were furious and began to discuss with one another
what they might do to Jesus. NIV
They wanted to trick or trap Jesus
and cause Him ruin. 7 The Pharisees and the 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.
Jesus knew what they were thinking… Kind
of makes you wonder. How does He do
that? Can He do that today? Is God actively involved with His Creation
today? I would say, “YES!” and
to prove it, look at a cherry blossom.
Look into the eyes of someone you love.
Take a deep breath and see that you have life. His word says that He is active in the world
He had created. Don’t you see Him?
As we have seen in our
lessons before, Jesus has command. He
has the command of nature: He calms the storm at sea. He has command over sickness: He heals the
sick child. He has power and authority
over demons: He sets a man free from the repressive imprisonment of being a
wild man.
Is the issue here Sabbath
control? Can we do work on the Sabbath
or not? I don’t think that is the
central message. Jesus is teaching about
how to show God’s love. Compassion for
the sick man. Healing the lady who has
bleed for 12 years. Compassion for the
daughter who died. Compassion for her
parents. Compassion for this man with
the shriveled right hand. Compassion for
me, too.
Jesus is talking about
the Law of Love. If the teaching is “So is the teacher, so is the disciple” than what we have here is a
game plan for how we function with the needs we see around us…not only on the Sabbath,
but also on all days.
Doctor Luke is giving
us a unit lesson on “How To Love.” He is teaching us what the lesson of Love
looks like and how to follow it. When
Jesus saw a need—even on the Sabbath…the law of Love DEMANDS He acts.
Later, Paul teaches us
from 1 Corinthians 9:21 about “Christ Law” To those not having the law I became like one not having the law
(though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law. And James, in his letter, in chapter 2:8, about
the “royal law”
If you really keep the royal
law found in Scripture, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing
right. There is
a higher way to live. A higher calling
we are directed to live out. Anything
short of that higher road is to be fought against. His Way of Love NEEDS to be the WAY we live. It did not matter then and it does not
matter now what day it was when a need needed to be cared for. It was never intended to restrict our ability
to show love and to meet the needs of those who are in need. We are
called to grow in our compassion.
The leaders—the
religious leaders were not being honest in their seeking truth. They were watching Jesus very closely to find
a way to trip Him up and to discredit Him. It was a very sinister
mode of living and they had become—over the years—pros at it. Their intense scrutiny was not there to build
up people’s Faith but to bring Jesus down.
To find fault in His life. They could not wait to catch Him!
I remember a time early in my walk of Faith when I worked
at a Candy Factory. All sorts of people
worked there. There were Foreign workers
from South American, Old Italian immigrants who worked there when my own mother
worked there as a teen and men of some social status. Among them was a man who we shall call
“Teddy”. He was a man with double
standards. He claimed to be a Christian
but his life showed one and all that he did not really believe in Jesus. His
life was checked with all sorts of—what I would call—evil action and works. One
day, he was watching me enter the boss’s office. He had been watching me to see if I would
fall or discredit my testimony. Once
inside the office, I noticed that the calendar was of a naked woman. I took one glance at it and turned my eyes
away. He only saw that I looked at it
and yelled to all in the shop that I was glaring at the photo. I had not but he said I had and much laugher
and words like “I
expected so” came from many of the men. I was horrified that he was making such a big
deal out of this. It seemed to be his
goal in life to try and trip me up. To
find fault in my testimony. Once when I
really hit my finger and needed to go to the hospital, he encouraged me to
swear and said that it would make me feel better. I did not and the pain still continued. I still have the scar from that accident and
it reminds me of the NEED to keep a clean testimony before my peers.
Jesus was open with
His life but the leaders were hiding behind their robes and office. They had much to hide yet Jesus saw right
through them and even heard their thoughts!
Once again, He put into words what they were thinking—must have been a little uncomfortable for
them—but it did not stop them. They
were hard-hearted people. Know anyone
like that in your circle of relationships?
Have you noticed that
our Lord Jesus said things at times that are biting—ironic—sometimes even hurtful? Does that bother you at all? I think it is amazing! He is able to put people in their places
without breaking the Law of Love. His Words are to instruct–to bring a change. His Words are to bring healing to brokenness. His Words are to bring change and direction
to those who are on the wrong path. All
we need to do is listen. To listen and
obey. Not try and pick and choose WHICH
of His Words we need to follow. Not how
much can I get away with or not do but still do enough to have Him be pleased
with me! IS God pleased with mediocre (平凡です)
living?
Are we kidding
ourselves? He knows our heart. He knows what is on our lips before they are even
spoken. I was in prayer and I tried to
say something before I would think it. Have
you tried that? Am I alone in that
experiment? I tried to say something to
God before I could verbalize it to Him.
No matter how fast I would say something, I had to think of it
first. He heard it before I even
spoke. He is NEVER surprised!
Here in this passage,
Jesus asked them “IS it right
(lawful) to do good on the Sabbath.” They were trying to find fault with Jesus and
to destroy Him—on the Sabbath and every other day of the week. They desired to destroy while He sought to
meet needs. Who is violating the
Sabbath? No wonder He called
them what He called them in John
8:43-45 (NIV1984) 43 Why is My language not clear to you? Because you are
unable to hear what I say. 44 You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to
carry out your father’s desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not
holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his
native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies. 45 Yet because I tell the truth, you do not believe Me!
46 Can any of you prove Me guilty of sin? If I am telling the truth, why don’t you
believe Me?
47 He who
belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do
not belong to God.”
Zeal often leads to
unrighteousness when it is unbalanced. The ends are to as to justify questionable
means. Sometimes in seeking to prevent
murder or unrighteousness, God's people engage and even justify acts that are
just as unacceptable. We must be careful.
A Christian leader once told of certain people were out to get him for
"doctrinal defection (flaw or imperfection)." They were watching his every move and
examining his every sentence. In their
attempt to get hard evidence they had broken into his office, searched his desk
and even tried to open his computer files. Apparently trespassing along with breaking and
entering was all right in the name of righteousness! The pursuit of righteousness should never
cause us to resort to tactics that reflect unrighteousness. God
has a way. Trust Him!
We are to be People of the Book. My friend lives and
works in Sorote,
Uganda. He has been there many
years helping to give the poor of that region a way of life, work and self
worth along with a clear teaching of the Gospel. He needed to drive into neighboring Kenya
with some local friends. Because of the
danger of armed men, sometimes it would be necessary to travel in small
groups. When a group of Islamic men saw
my friend leave, they agreed to drive behind them for a safer passage. While my friend was a little ahead of them,
they witnessed a group of armed men attempt to stop my friend’s Land Rover. My friend did not stop but drove thru the
roadblock and was fired upon resulting in a death and a few of the passengers
hurt with gun shot wounds. When the
Islamic men saw what happened, they turned around and sped quickly back to the
village telling everyone that “The People
of the Book were killed—all of them.”
Truthfully, only one
died and after a short while the group returned to the village and everyone
took notice that “The People of The Book”
were in fact alive. The testimony of
God’s Grace moved many people to accept the Lord Jesus. To this day, people remember the story and a
church is there. What is why we MUST live to show that we are indeed People of The Book!
IS there enough
evidence to convict you in a court of law of your Faith in Jesus? Is it only hear say or is there undeniable evidence of a changed life? We are to live a life that is above reproach. Live a life that is exceptional.
Jesus sought to do
good on the Sabbath, but the Pharisees sought to do harm and destroy Him. Jesus' reply was in the spirit of Old
Testament prophetic rebukes toward them (Is 1:11-17 no pleasure in bulls;
58:1-14 true fasting;
Amos 4:1-8 cows
of Bashan). God puts a high priority on how people are
treated and how needs are met (or how
they are not meet!). How do we treat
people we meet? Going out to lunch
today? Try and use the server’s
name. Thank them by
name. They are not your
slaves. How do you treat your
spouse? This past week was St.
Valentine’s Day. Do anything special for
them…with them? How do you treat your
parents? God is truly interested in how
you speak to them and how you act toward them.
He is pleased when you offer prayers on their behalf. Do you nag your husband? Is that a way to show real love to him?
Here was a man who had
a shriveled right hand.
Do we try and move away from people like that? Do they make us uncomfortable? Do we help a blind man on the train? Do we aid the wheel chaired person get on the
elevator? You might not know HOW to help but you could ask: “How can I help you?” “Is
there anything I can do to make this easier?” Sometimes we are SO into our own thing we do
not even see people in need around us.
We need His eyes…His eyes of compassion.
Was this miracle
really about the shriveled right hand of the man? Or even if it is OK to do work on the
Sabbath? Wasn’t it a deeper concern He
was addressing?
So Jesus acts by
asking the man to stretch out his hand. The very act will show that healing was
present. There was irony in all of this.
Can you sense how hard Jesus had labored
here, uttering just one command? Was
work really being done—even on the Sabbath?
It really was not a question of IF He could or even THAT He could heal. It was on another level; it should have
embarrassed the religious leaders. Would
God vindicate the efforts of Jesus? Sure, why not?
It was not a matter of ‘work’
it was a matter of compassion and
meeting a man’s needs! The text tells of
the command's success ever so briefly— He did so, and his hand was completely restored.
A very strange
response here. Rather than wonder and
rejoicing of witnessing such a miracle, Doctor Luke uses a special word to
describe their response. It refers to a
blinding, irrational RAGE or FURY that is much like a response of
insanity! They
went berserk! They must have
spit, screamed, yelled, swore, hit things, threw things. In fact, they realized more and more that
they were losing the war with Jesus. He
would win and they would loose their authority so they needed to kill Him to
get Him out of the way. They put a hit
on Him.
Jesus, in their eyes
was a Sabbath breaker! A sinner! And right in front of them, they saw with
their own eyes—a healing that went against just about everything they had
believed in. God
does not help or listen to a sinner. Jesus’ actions really confused them
deeply. They began to wonder what they
could do to Jesus. He must be stopped.
Today, what do we
find? We sometimes stubbornly responding
to God’s leading by rejecting His plan for our life and that would lead to more
resistance… which leads to more sin and that leads us to unwelcomed darkness.
The Sabbath teaching
here is this: Any Day Is Good To Do Acts Of Compassion. We should ALWAYS be in the Sabbath mode of
doing things that pleases the Lord—like worship with a sincere heart as we
minister to each other in doing good to others.
It is Both And—not one or the other.
The narrator, Dr.
Luke, leaves us with something to ponder:
When we realize that He alone points us to the Way of God, what is our
response to the needs of others?
Practical application: What acts of Mercy or Compassion are open for
us to DO as a Church in our community?
Who would like to be
on an Active Committee for action?
Investigate openings
for us in Japan.
Are there other groups
in Tokorozawa that already are active or will be need to take the lead?
