Luke 5:33 - 6:11
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
Luke has shown us over the past few weeks that Jesus has authority...
in his teaching
over demons
over sickness
over nature
and this week we will see that he has authority
over the law.
Jesus was not a law breaker
but...
as the law giver, he knows the spirit of the law and the correct interpretation of the law.
Rules are great for children because they are simple and direct.
Principles are needed for adults who have to face situations that are not always black and white.
Jesus lived in this complicated world and yet was without sin.
If we aspire to live without sin we really need to understand how to prioritize our decisions.
((Who to vote for.))
==
Today we will see Jesus and his disciples doing things the Pharisees did not approve of.
Did Jesus violate the the law?
Nope.
The Pharisees had a deficient understanding of the law.
Let’s read our passage together.
33 And they said to him, “The disciples of John fast often and offer prayers, and so do the disciples of the Pharisees, but yours eat and drink.”
34 And Jesus said to them, “Can you make wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them?
35 The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast in those days.”
36 He also told them a parable: “No one tears a piece from a new garment and puts it on an old garment. If he does, he will tear the new, and the piece from the new will not match the old.
37 And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the new wine will burst the skins and it will be spilled, and the skins will be destroyed.
38 But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins.
39 And no one after drinking old wine desires new, for he says, ‘The old is good.’ ”
1 On a Sabbath, while he was going through the grainfields, 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?”
3 And Jesus answered them, “Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him:
4 how he entered the house of God and took and ate the bread of the Presence, which is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to those with him?”
5 And he said to them, “The Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.”
6 On another Sabbath, he entered the synagogue and was teaching, and a man was there whose right hand was withered.
7 And the scribes and the Pharisees watched him, to see whether he would heal on the Sabbath, so that they might find a reason to accuse him.
8 But he knew their thoughts, and he said to the man with the withered hand, “Come and stand here.” And he rose and stood there.
9 And Jesus said to them, “I ask you, is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to destroy it?”
10 And after looking around at them all he said to him, “Stretch out your hand.” And he did so, and his hand was restored.
11 But they were filled with fury and discussed with one another what they might do to Jesus.
What was the question the Pharisees asked?
Was it, “the Bible says you are to fast twice a week, why don’t you obey it?”
No.
Why?
Because the bible has no such command.
They said...
33 And they said to him, “The disciples of John fast often and offer prayers, and so do the disciples of the Pharisees, but yours eat and drink.”
They didn’t say, “the bible says to do it”
they said, “these guys do it, why don’t you?”
It wasn’t a biblical command, it was tradition.
There is nothing wrong with fasting!
35 The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast in those days.”
There is something wrong with applying your self-imposed standards on other people.
For instance...
Let’s take a law that you make up for yourself...
((watching commercials causes you to covet))
is that okay for you to impose on yourself?
Certainly!
Is it okay for you to impose on others?
Nope!
((example of me having to chill from football because it would make me super angry and in a bad mood. - start with...
Do you remember back when pro football wasn’t about politics? Those were the good old days.))
What about a real biblical mandate?
like...
Do not forsake the assembly - a clear command in Scripture applicable to all believers.
Is it okay for you to impose on yourself?
Yes - not only okay but necessary.
Is it okay for a church to require its members to show up?
Yes - not only okay but necessary.
That is why our constitution says,
“Members who choose to become inactive in the church will be counseled with regarding their desire to re-engage with the body or discontinue membership.”
It would be unwise to stick to that during the pandemic, but in regular times it is good and necessary.
==
Let’s recap the point.
You need to live...
according to the Word of God.
and according to your conscience.
Other believers are bound to the Word of God, but are not bound by your conscience.
==
Why does Jesus use the analogy of a wedding when making his point about fasting?
Because it was a time of feasting and celebration.
When Jesus was here, bodily on earth, it was a time of rejoicing, not a time of mourning.
These Pharisees did not realize there was cause for celebration.
==
Do you know that gathering here, with the saints, in the presence of God is a time of rejoicing?
Church is supposed to be fun!
We are supposed to have joy.
When people come into our church they should never wonder if a funeral is going on.
Or
Maybe they can wonder if it is one of those New Orleans funerals where folks are happy,
but
we need to be joyful!
Joy and reverence are not mutually exclusive!
((I kind of grew up thinking they were… baptist, most wild and crazy guy might say “amen” out loud. - certainly nobody raising hands or clapping.))
David sang, and danced joyfully with all his might in worship of God. (Michal thought he made a fool of himself.)
Are you going to tell me he was irreverent?
It’s okay, even for us baptists, to have fun in church.
==
Jesus ends this section with a parable.
36 He also told them a parable: “No one tears a piece from a new garment and puts it on an old garment. If he does, he will tear the new, and the piece from the new will not match the old.
37 And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the new wine will burst the skins and it will be spilled, and the skins will be destroyed.
38 But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins.
39 And no one after drinking old wine desires new, for he says, ‘The old is good.’ ”
Jesus was saying that a new day is here.
Jesus came to institute a new covenant - a covenant of grace.
so now the law is useless, right?
NO!
But trying to justify yourself by the law is absolutely incompatible with grace.
You cannot mix a little self-justification with a little grace.
That is like putting new wine in old wineskins… you will just end up with a mess.
==
Before we are saved, the law frustrates us because we cannot perfectly keep it.
That is really good though because when we give up on self-righteousness we are ready for grace.
After we are saved we love the law because it reveals to us the character of God.
It shows us how to live like we were meant to live and it keeps us dependent on, and grateful for grace.
What about the Sabbath?
What about the Sabbath?
First of all, what is the concept of the Sabbath?
The Sabbath was meant to be a day when people would rest and commune with God.
It was a time to stop everything else, and worship.
God would put a mandatory stop to the work week.
(By the way, some of you could still really use that.)
You workaholics out there listen up!
God thinks you need at least one day off/ week
God is smarter than you.
Think about it.
==
Let’s read about these crazy Pharisees stalking Jesus and his disciples.
1 On a Sabbath, while he was going through the grainfields, 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?”
3 And Jesus answered them, “Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him:
4 how he entered the house of God and took and ate the bread of the Presence, which is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to those with him?”
5 And he said to them, “The Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.”
Rubbing the heads of grain together to remove the chaff was not much more “work” than raising a fork to your mouth.
They weren’t exactly harvesting the crop.
But...
These Pharisees somehow observed this...
when you start going out of your way to find and inspect the sin of others instead of dealing with your own, you are becoming a Pharisee.
==
Jesus teaches them that the Sabbath was made for the benefit of man, not for his harm.
Satan always tries to pervert God’s good gifts.
Some would ignore the Sabbath and show disdain for God.
Others would make the Sabbath so restrictive that what was supposed to be a day of joy, rest, and worship, became a burden.
For Jesus, people were more important than man-made religious rules.
We have talked a lot the last few weeks about the authority of Jesus.
Here we see that ...
5 And he said to them, “The Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.”
Now the challenging thing here is that Jesus cites an instance where David broke a God-given religious rule when he and those who were with him ate the bread of the Presence.
I’ll get back to that more thorny question in a moment.
Read with me the next Sabbath episode in v.6-11
6 On another Sabbath, he entered the synagogue and was teaching, and a man was there whose right hand was withered.
7 And the scribes and the Pharisees watched him, to see whether he would heal on the Sabbath, so that they might find a reason to accuse him.
8 But he knew their thoughts, and he said to the man with the withered hand, “Come and stand here.” And he rose and stood there.
9 And Jesus said to them, “I ask you, is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to destroy it?”
10 And after looking around at them all he said to him, “Stretch out your hand.” And he did so, and his hand was restored.
11 But they were filled with fury and discussed with one another what they might do to Jesus.
Jesus saw a need, and he had a choice.
He could heal this guy, or he could ignore his suffering.
He may have had a third choice to find the guy the next day and heal him, but at that moment he had to choose whether to help someone who was suffering or to ignore him.
Of course, Jesus chose to help him.
?Did Jesus choose the lesser of two evils?
No.
There is a story in the OT.
Joshua sent spies into the promised land, into the city of Jericho.
A prostitute of the city named Rahab protected the spies by lying.
Lying is a sin, right?
In this instance, I really don’t think it was.
She had to pick between human lives and honesty.
I think she made the right choice - not merely the less wrong choice.
((Johnny Mac)) Rom. 13 says be subject to governing authorities… Acts 5 Peter and co. “We must obey God rather than men.”
==
?Is healing someone miraculously, work?
I don’t know - I can’t do it regardless of the effort I expend.
But I think the point of Jesus doing this in front of these Pharisees at this time was to show that loving God and loving neighbor really are the two most important commandments.
People are more important than rules...
even good rules.
What do we do?
What do we do?
Do not be a Pharisee.
Do not hold your brother to your standard, but to the biblical standard.
Realize that following Jesus is all about joy!
Love God and love people. - If you let those two principles guide your behavior you will rarely, if ever, go wrong.
((Sabbath rest as described in Heb.4))
Gospel