Law and Reality
Luke 6:1-5, early in Christ's ministry, shows examples of the persecution and criticism that He was already facing. As Christ and those close to Him went on their way, they were hungry, and picked come corn on their way. The Pharisees took offense because it was the Sabbath, and no work was to be done on the Sabbath. Picking corn or preparing food was considered work.
This has even been extended in modern times, limiting how you can keep food warm, use electricity, and other things. If Jesus were to look for observant Jews today, I'm pretty sure they would be hard to find. Not that for example turning off your cell phone or leaving all forms of electricity off one day a week would kill anyone, but in our day not using electricity would be a challenge for most Christians.
Jesus replies to them with a history lesson about when David and his men were hungry and went in to eat shewbread which was meant to be reserved for the priests. He then went on to fan the flames by telling them that He wasn't just Lord Saturday sundown through Friday sundown, but was allow the Lord of the Sabbath. So that didn't make any friends or followers among the group of protesters.
The reality was that the law had become a stumbling block to the leaders of Judaism. It wasn't that the law was bad, but the leaders had turned the law into something it was never meant to be. He would criticize them almost immediately, see below, but also many other times in the short course of His ministry. He would chastise them for watering their animals [Luke 13:15]. He would chastise them for saving an ass or ox that was in danger [Luke 14:5]. And all of this would be against the backdrop where they were hindering the work of God in helping His people.
We need to focus, like Christ, on what is sin, and what was God's standards for taking rest in normal times. God would never want His laws to prevent someone from being helped if there was an emergency. Likewise, like here, the law would have prevented a farmer from working his fields harvesting corn 7 days a week, but was never meant to keep people from a snack, any more than the law that set up a method for the priests to be fed in normal times prevented someone who was starving from getting a meal. The laws that gave women a break from work one day a week (although with a bit more preparation work the day before) was a principle of rest that we all needed rather than cast in stone restriction for helping the needy if something happened unexpectedly on the Sabbath.
Then, as now, what people do on the Sabbath (whatever day you choose to pick) is a matter of the heart than strict enforcement. The ceremonial laws are done, but humans still need rest. I elected to write this today, on Sunday, rather on Saturday, but I did rest a good chunk of Saturday and today as well. Perhaps someone needed this yesterday, and if so, I apologize. But as Jesus will point out later in this chapter, living a good example as a Christian is about far more than just the law.
Doing God's Work on the Sabbath
Another Sabbath [Luke 6:6-11], Jesus went to teach in the synagogue. Wouldn't that be cool to be able to listen to Jesus teach - at least if you spoke Hebrew or Aramaic. I suspect that with all that frequently happened while He was teaching, like here, that it would be equally cool most times even if you couldn't understand what was being said.
But in this case, there was a man present who had a withered hand. The Bible story doesn't recount what had happened, but realize that physical problems were just as real then as they are today. In our day and age, not having the use of a hand could be pretty tough. If I was having to type this all with one hand, it would be much slower going, even with practice, than being able to type 40 or so random words per minute on a typing test, and better rates just typing out my thoughts.
Jesus saw the Pharisees watching Him and looking to pounce rather than watching Him trying to learn something they really needed to hear. So Jesus pointed out the man and asked him to stand up. What do you think it would be like to know you had an infirmity and have Jesus point you out and bring everybody's attention directly on you? I'd probably be nervous, and hope He was pointing to someone else, but the man stood up.
Jesus then gave His challenge, asking everybody present if it was okay to do good things on the Sabbath or should evil be done? Should a life be saved on the Sabbath, or destroyed? After everybody had given Him their complete attention, He told the man to stretch forth his hand and as he did so it was restored just like the other hand. And Luke records that the Pharisees went mad over being made a spectacle of and immediately started trying to figure out what they would do with Jesus.
I suspect that in the time since the food picking altercation at the first of the chapter and that Sabbath, word about the first altercation had spread. Then with this direct challenge, they went off exponentially. And I've never really understood the second. The picking of the food was something they could at least complain about. They weren't right, but it was totally in the disciples control to choose to break the law.
In this case, Jesus didn't do anything except ask the man to stand for God to do His thing. All of the works that Jesus did were done by God, through the Holy Spirit. No different that any other believer should be able to do if they draw close to God like Jesus did and were baptized in the Spirit. It's the way the New Testament church would be set up to function from Christ until His return. God does the work.
So when the Pharisees were rebelling, they were really using Jesus as a convenient scapegoat for their anger and impotence, but really they were rebelling against God Himself. That's never a wise thing to do, for any person or group of people.
Clearly, everyone else present answered the questions that Jesus asked in the same way we would today. It's good to do good and to save lives, regardless of the day of the week. It's the proper and sane answer. The Christian church today needs to really pray, regardless of Catholic or Protestant, or which flavor of either you are, that we don't get so hidebound in our orthodoxy and rules and regulations that we are standing in the way of God's work.
I'm not naïve. I do realize that the church does need to at least try to monitor who is put into positions of trust and leadership, who is allowed to teach and preach. But I wonder if today we rely too much on background checks that we can show to the insurance companies than relying on the Holy Spirit. How many Paul's [Saul's] are left out of preaching or teaching positions because they are either unable to pass a background check or refuse on general principles, even though they have nothing to hide? How many people refuse to get involved in the ministry because they have to swear allegiance to a person whether the Pope or a pastor, rather than committing to just do their best for God?
Saul stood by and watched Stephen get killed and was zealous, in his own words, in rooting out and destroying the lives of Christians before that Damascus road experience [Acts 7:58,8:1,8:3,9:1-19]. Rely on the Holy Spirit and not man's cursory examinations. Realize that people change. That can be a change for the better or a change for the worse. Even a person who perfectly passes every background check can fail. The Holy Spirit can let you know when that is happening.
But likewise, if the Holy Spirit is telling you to trust someone, don't worry about a less than stellar background check. The world needs more people like Paul. Granted, we have enough persecution that we don't need any like Saul was. But the thing is that they were the same person, changed by an encounter with God. Draw close to God and let Him lead His church. Just don't blame God if you aren't led by the Spirit and make a bad decision or don't correct a situation that turns bad.
Selection of the Twelve
Luke 6:12-16 describe the selection of the first twelve disciples, one of which was slated to betray Christ. It is recorded that before this, Jesus went up on the mountain to pray, and He prayed all night. There are few prayers recorded about Jesus, but that is one I would have liked to have heard. It may have directly related to the issues above.
Clearly, who should I pick to hold close and give special training and teaching to would have been a big part of His decision. His decision probably had been going on for weeks, both as He recruited people to join Him and tried to weigh them and how they dealt both with each other and the people who followed Him. I don't think it was just a one night prayer session, but it certainly culminated in a long night of prayer.
How many churches spend a night communing with God before picking a new pastor or associate pastor? Are seminaries just glad to get anyone to volunteer to be trained as a priest in this day and age that they don't give enough time considering the selection process? How much time of the night in prayer was spent with Jesus asking "Are you really sure about Judas? Are you really sure about Peter? Are you really sure about Thomas?"
But when all was complete, the twelve were chosen and they would form His core ministry team. Some would doubt., Some would be over zealous. One would turn against Him. And although I mentioned Thomas and Peter by name above, they all had their share of doubts at times, and they all got a bit full of themselves at times. But overall, the would stick together, even after the crucifixion, and form a body of belief that would last for a couple of millennia so far. Not bad for a few humble folks.
Mobs
Luke 6:17-19 describes the reality of Jesus ministry. People came from Judea and Jerusalem (the center of their religious life), and all around to hear Jesus teaching, to be healed of disease and to be set free of unclean spirits that were vexing many of the people (and to be sure, just to watch all of that happening. I mean, if there wasn't video today, wouldn't you try to go see a teacher like Christ? Or even if there was video would you go just to make sure it wasn't faked? Sure you would if you could.
And everybody who had a physical ailment, and probably a large number of people who didn't but just wanted to say they had touched Christ, sought to touch Him and he healed them all. Jesus said that He did what He saw the Father doing - He did nothing of Himself [John 5:19]. I wonder if He took particular roads because the Holy Spirit told Him if you go that way, you're going to get mobbed and there is someone there I'm dealing with that isn't ready to be healed yet, but they'll come to you if you are present. Don't go there yet. It must have been really hard, in some respects, to walk out His daily walk with God.
But Jesus did it for His people then, and He has continued to do great works through the church, because He went to His Father [John 14:12].
Blessings and Woes
Luke 6:20-23 is the beginning of a time of Jesus teaching, described as on the plain. There are many similarities between it and what is typically called his sermon on the mount. It is possible that they are one and the same, or it is possible that these were themes that were presented whenever He taught and Matthew and Luke record different events. I tend to think they were different settings, but largely common themes.
Jesus starts with four blessings. First, He tells the poor that they are blessed, because they will receive the kingdom of God. You were blessed if you were hungry on earth, because you would eventually be filled. If your life brought tears now, you should feel blessed because you would eventually feel happiness. And finally, you should feel blessed if you are hated because of your faith in Jesus, because you would be joining a long line of prophets who had been persecuted for God in the past.
These are all tough situations. Nobody wants to really be in any of these categories of people who will be blessed for a long time. And I certainly don't blame you for thinking that. But the problem is that we live our lives with our eyes frequently locked on the few years we will spend on Earth instead of thinking about the eternity we will have with God one day.
The realities of this world are that at the other extreme of each class that is called blessed, are people who Jesus declares will struggle to make it to heaven at all. Yes, the rich can be saved, but too few want to be saved. Their lives are good the way they are. Why should they worry about eternity? Surely God will save them because He must be blessing them now... Gluttony is not a desired trait for anyone according to God. People who live lives where they never experience the need to cry, also live lives where they may never feel they need God, and thus again, fail to seek salvation. And finally, the extremes on the other side of the prophets were those who were doing sins that eventually threw both the northern and southern kingdoms into captivity.
There is something to be said for not being who the world looks up to as successful.
Luke 6:24-26 then go on to detail four woes to go along with the blessings outlining some of the points I just made. Jesus says that those who are rich now have already received the blessings of being rich. If they haven't stored up riches in heaven, an infinite amount of time of eternity might look pretty grim compared to 10, 20, 30, or even 90 or 100 years if generational wealth in a life today.
The next two woes really are self explanatory and parallel the comments above. But the last woe says that if people are praising you and speaking well of you, you should be careful, because people also praised the false prophets of Israel who led the people to destruction.
How to Be a Christian
The rest of the chapter [Luke 6:27-49] gives some good advice about what Jesus expected of His followers. When people were astounded at His teaching, the concepts He proposed in many of these verses were way outside the norms expected of civil Jewish behavior.
Doing Good
Luke 6:27-36 deal with how Christians should treat not just each other, but anyone they would come in contact with, or by extension, even people who they might never meet.
Love your enemies and do good to those who hurt you. Think of the cost of our recent wars and how much cheaper it would have been to simply do good to the people who hated us.
How much harder is it to give a blessing when you are cursed - and do it in an honest way that really means the blessing and isn't just being satirical? Pretty tough.
We may pray for lots of people every day, but do we take the time to pray for our enemies. And if we pray for our enemies, are our prayers that God will bless them and save them, or are they that God will punish them?
If you are attacked, do you turn the other cheek and invite them to hit you again, or do you start a knock down drag out fight? If the attack isn't physical, do you still turn the virtual other cheek or do you gird for battle?
If you lose a court case, do you go beyond the judgment and give more to the winner? Do you give to anyone who asks for help, regardless of what they are asking for? If someone steals from you do you assume their need is greater and let God resolve it?
Do you only treat those who love you with love? Do you only do good things for people who will do good things to you? That's the way of the world. Do you only lend money to those who you think will be able to repay you, or do you give when they are needy without expectation of repayment?
All of these things are in direct contrast to what would be expected as a normal response to non-Christians. But He concludes this section with a very important point. God does all the unexpected things to His people all the time. Jesus says that if we do likewise, we will have great reward. That doesn't mean the reward will be on earth. The reward may be laid up in heaven instead. But God doesn't forget anytime a Christian acts the way a Christian should act, and especially not if that is contrary to what a non-Christian would do.
I'll freely admit that the challenges Jesus puts out there are going to be hard to meet without the Holy Spirit's help. The fruit of the Spirit needs to be really filling our hearts every day to succeed. And as humans, we aren't going to get everything right all the time. But if we keep trying to do better the next day than we did today, the world would be a better place for having Christians in it.
The conclusion of this part is to show mercy to others as God has showed mercy to us. That's really what things boil down to. Everything we have is God's. He's supposed to be the Lord of our lives. It may be hard to let Him be in control of every part of our lives. But the more we put our trust in Him, and the more we let Him be in control, the better off we will be, if not here on earth, at least in eternity. Eternity is a lot longer than our lives here on Earth.
Judging and Giving
In Luke 6:37-38, Jesus closes this section with a warning to not judge others. Don't condemn the actions or thoughts of others. And give, that comes with a blessing that it would be given to you. With the measure that you give, God will measure how He blesses you.
Judging and condemning are something that all Christians need to do better at. The parable that follows also talks about judging, but we need to realize that only God is qualified to judge. For God, all sin separates man from God. Without the blood of Christ to bridge the gap between sinful man and God, there would be no reconciliation. Every sin we commit, whether we think it minor or horrible, is a death penalty sin outside of the salvation that Christ can give if we accept Him as Savior.
Only God knows all that is in a person's heart and mind when a sin is committed. Only God knows the walk that a person has taken to get to the place where they sin. Only He is worthy to pass judgment and condemn
And yet, Christians judge and condemn all the time. We need to love the sinner. It's okay to hate the sin, if we can do it in a way such that we can still love the sinner like God does.
I've posted elsewhere about giving. Our culture is a bit different, at least in America, where we pay taxes to help support many safety nets. Out giving is more indirect than in Bible times. And yet we still shouldn't hold back helping those in need if we can. And we also shouldn't rob God. Support His work with tithes and offerings. The comments God makes in Malachi are just as real now as then. His promises for those who follow through are just as sound.
Mote Hunting
Luke 6:39-42 speaks of hypocrisy and its dangers. Jesus doesn't condemn reaching out to other people about their problems. He just suggests that there is no point in doing that if your own life isn't in order first. And especially don't go pointing out flaws in other people's lives if you have flaws in your own. Fix your own flaws first, draw close to God, and then maybe you will be able to help those who are suffering with more success. You'll certainly have more compassion.
If one person isn't spiritual and tries to lead another along a spiritual path, they are both doomed to destruction. We, as common people will never be above Jesus in any manner, but Jesus does ask us to all lift up our standards, and strive for perfection, regardless of how hard we think that might be.
Luke 6:43-45 continues this line of thinking that good trees bring forth good fruit. Likewise, it is impossible for a bad tree to bring forth good fruit. It is just so with good Christians. They will naturally bring forth good out of their hearts. An evil man cannot bring forth good from his heart, because his heart doesn't have those qualities.
Literally, out of what is in our hearts come the words and actions that we say and do. As you listen to people speak, regardless of their profession, realize that what you hear them say and the acts that they do will say more about how close to or far away from God they are than anything else. Many would say that actions speak louder than words, but I'd say that it is easy to make an action happen without much effort for someone who is well off. It is what they say that tells what is in their hearts. Checks are easy to write. Pay attention to what is said. Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaketh.
Obedience
Luke 6:46-49 deals with our obedience. Jesus asks a simple question in verse 46. Why do we refer to Jesus as our Lord if we don''t treat Him as Lord and follow the precepts and commands He has laid down. And to be clear, the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew and the Sermon on the Plain here in Luke are full of frequently life changing requirements Jesus wants us to make. Love your enemies. Give, without expecting repayment.
If you really set out to follow these chapters, you'll stand out as Christian. Will it make someone want to follow in your footsteps? Well, that is a tougher call. But people will at least see the life of Christ that we are all to try to emulate. Remember that He ended up being tortured and dying on a cross to provides the free gift of salvation to anyone who will accept it. That's a level of commitment that few have, and few want to emulate. But it is what Christ really calls us to do if needed.
Jesus says that those who pay attention and follow Him and His commands are like a man who built a house with a firm foundation that the storms of life couldn't ultimately destroy. Those who hear the commands but don't follow them are like people who build a shack on a beach and when the storms come, the shack is leveled. No matter how fancy the shack was, the ruin and fall is eternal and the destruction is great.
It would be awesome, as I mentioned earlier, if we could do it right all the time. We aren't perfect. We are going to do things that we shouldn't from time to time. That isn't an excuse. Jesus asks us to do better, every day, than we did the day before. But realize that even if you sometimes fail, and knowing that the world will point out the failures and forget the good, God sees everything. The blood of Jesus covers our sins, as we confess them to God. Jesus is sufficient, no matter what. But God sees the good along with the bad. We need to try our best to do better. The bad will be covered in Christ's blood if we ask. The more good we do, and the closer to the characteristics of Christ's life we emulate, the better Christianity will look to the world.
It's time to start getting the beams out of our own eyes, and dig some solid foundations. Let us pray for each other.