Sabbath Lord (Luke 6:1-5)

Now it happened that He was passing through {some} grainfields on a Sabbath; and His disciples were picking the heads of grain, rubbing them in their hands, and eating {the grain} but some of the Pharisees said, "Why do you do what is not lawful on the Sabbath?" And Jesus, answering them, said, "Have you not even read what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him, how he entered the house of God, and took and ate the consecrated bread which is not lawful for any to eat except the priests alone, and gave it to his companions?"

Let me begin by painting a picture of what is happening in the text. Jesus and His disciples are walking from one place to another, and they happen to come across some grain fields on a Sabbath day. Being hungry, they decide to help themselves to some of the grain. Little did they know that just a short distance away from where they were preparing the grain for food, the legalistic Pharisees were spying on them. Since it was a Sabbath day, the Pharisees were going to make sure that no one would break even one of the smallest details of the Law. But on this occasion, they find the disciples guilty of breaking several of the laws of the Sabbath. This is at least what they thought.

Now let me explain what I mean here. Understand that there was nothing wrong with taking some grain from a field as you were passing by during a journey. In Deuteronomy 23:25, the text states, “When you enter your neighbor's standing grain, then you may pluck the heads with your hand, but you shall not wield a sickle in your neighbor's standing grain.” This law was established for moderation. The biggest issue Pharisees had with the disciples was that their actions happened on a Sabbath day. If they had done the same thing on any other day, it would have been acceptable to the Pharisees (even though I am convinced that the Pharisees can always find some fault).

As a truth, four forbidden works could not be accomplished on the Sabbath day within the grain field (reaping, threshing, winnowing, and preparing food). The disciples had broken every one of the laws against the work that can be done on the Sabbath day in the grain field. By plucking the grain, they were reaping, by rubbing it in their hands, they were threshing, by throwing away that which was undesirable, they were winnowing, and by eating the grain, it was obvious that they had prepared food. To you and me, this would have been no big deal, but to the Pharisees, this was a matter of life and death.

The Pharisees said, "Why do you do what is not lawful on the Sabbath?" Jesus responded by saying, "Have you not even read what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him, how he entered the house of God, and took and ate the consecrated bread which is not lawful for any to eat except the priests alone, and gave it to his companions?" Jesus is not making excuses for Himself and His disciples, but He is getting ready to make one of the boldest statements of His entire ministry.

Before we reveal and discuss that statement, let’s discuss what David did in the temple when he took the bread of the Presence and gave it to his companions. First, get your Bible and read I Samuel 21:1-6, which says, “Then David came to Nob to Ahimelech the priest; and Ahimelech came trembling to meet David and said to him, 'Why are you alone and no one with you?' David said to Ahimelech the priest, 'The king has commissioned me with a matter and has said to me, 'Let no one know anything about the matter on which I am sending you and with which I have commissioned you; and I have directed the young men to a certain place. Now therefore, what do you have on hand? Give me five loaves of bread, or whatever can be found.' The priest answered David and said, 'There is no ordinary bread on hand, but there is consecrated bread; if only the young men have kept themselves from women.' David answered the priest and said to him, 'Surely women have been kept from us as previously when I set out, and the vessels of the young men were holy, though it was an ordinary journey; how much more then today will their vessels be holy?' So the priest gave him consecrated {bread;} for there was no bread there but the bread of the Presence which was removed from before the LORD, in order to put hot bread {in its place} when it was taken away.”

Why does Jesus mention what David did with the bread of the Presence in an answer to the Pharisees taking issue with His disciples for using grain on the Sabbath day? Consider that every Sabbath morning, twelve hot loaves of bread were brought before the Lord to represent the twelve tribes. These were laid upon a table. In the time that Jesus lived, these loaves were laid on a table of solid gold that was three feet long, one and a half feet broad, and nine inches high. This table stood inside the Holy Place along the northern side of the temple.

The bread was laid in a place where the very presence of God was, and no one but the priest was to eat of it at any time. In Leviticus 24:5-9, we read, “Then you shall take fine flour and bake twelve cakes with it; two-tenths {of an ephah} shall be {in} each cake. "You shall set them {in} two rows, six {to} a row, on the pure {gold} table before the LORD. "You shall put pure frankincense on each row that it may be a memorial portion for the bread, {even} an offering by fire to the LORD. "Every sabbath day he shall set it in order before the LORD continually; it is an everlasting covenant for the sons of Israel. "It shall be for Aaron and his sons, and they shall eat it in a holy place; for it is most holy to him from the LORD'S offerings by fire, {his} portion forever." It is obvious from this text that this bread was set apart for a special purpose and that it was not to be used by those who were not authorized to have it. How then does David take this bread without being condemned?

Let me give you some meat to chew on. Consider that this bread was a type of Christ. It was first offered in sacrifice before the face or presence of the Lord, and then it was offered to all the priests to eat as a form of sustenance. Jesus was offered on the cross as a sacrifice before God, and he now serves as the Bread of Heaven, who gives life to those who are priests in His kingdom. Jesus could have been using this illustration to teach this very lesson to the Pharisees. The bread that their priests would eat was nothing like the true Bread of Heaven that those in the kingdom of Christ would partake of. Think about it!

So why does Jesus claim that what David did was right? Notice that Jesus is teaching these scrutinizing Pharisees that David was not doing anything wrong, because he was only fulfilling needs that he and his men had. Even a popular phrase among the Rabbis was, “The Sabbath is made for you and not you for the Sabbath." In this statement, the rabbis acknowledged that human needs abrogated ritual law. Does that sound familiar? It should because Jesus used the same words in Mark 2:27 to show the Pharisees how ridiculous their laws and ordinances were. The rules and regulations fell second to the real need of the moment when Jesus was around. This agitated the Pharisees greatly!

The Sabbath was made to bless man, not burden him. David, on the Sabbath day (hence the new bread being brought into the temple on that day), not only made a journey (which would normally have been a violation of the Sabbath), but apparently ate bread that was not lawful for him to eat. David and his men needed food. In this text, the disciples of Jesus needed the same. Jesus is basically saying to the Pharisees that this is not a big deal.

As God in the flesh, full of love and mercy, Jesus was able to demonstrate the balance between breaking a commandment and being realistic in doing what is just and right before God. The Pharisees often criticized Jesus for using the Sabbath for His purposes of healing, love, and compassion. Jesus is preparing to tell them that He is the Lord of the Sabbath, and He can determine what is right and wrong on any day. The Pharisees had spent so much time evaluating the rules and regulations that they became blinded and calloused to the real needs of those around them. They would rather be found keeping every minor detail of the Law than helping a desperate fellow man with loving-kindness on the Sabbath day. What a shame! Jesus is trying to change their hearts on these matters.

When Jesus asked the Pharisees if they had read about what David had done, it was a redundant question. Yes, of course, they had read about that story! They were experts in the Old Testament (but especially the Law). The problem was that they most likely read that passage with judgment on their lips and condemnation in their hearts. They never really learned the real meaning behind the text.  

To make application of this, let me quote William Barclay, when he wrote, “It is possible to read the Bible meticulously, to know the Bible inside and out from cover to cover, to be able to quote it verbatim and to pass any examination on it –and yet completely to miss it’s real meaning. Why did the Pharisees miss the meaning—and why do we so often miss it?”

Barclay goes on to suggest that the Pharisees were lacking two vital qualities in their approach to the Scriptures. One of these is the open mind and the other is a needy heart. When you do not have an open mind in studying the Scriptures, you will not come to learn God’s will, but to find proof texts for your own ideas. When you do not have a needy heart, you will not humbly approach the Lord in listening to His voice, but you will seek to be blessed in what you are already doing. To quote Barclay one last time, he states, “Far too often men have taken a theology to the Bible instead of finding their theology in the Bible.”

 As a side note, in Matthew's record of this event, he shows how Jesus used another argument to prove his point when he wrote in Matthew 12:5-7, "Or have you not read in the Law, that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple break the Sabbath and are innocent? But I say to you that something greater than the temple is here. But if you had known what this means, 'I DESIRE COMPASSION, AND NOT A SACRIFICE,' you would not have condemned the innocent.” In this, Jesus was showing how compassion for a fellow man meant more than going through the motions of ritualistic law. Do we need to learn this lesson today? So often, many are guilty of being keepers of the law of Christ but not demonstrating Christ's character in their lives. Be careful not to live like the Pharisees!

Someone may argue that the Pharisaic mindset no longer exists today, but they are absolutely wrong. I found it interesting to read a quote from some fourteen or fifteen centuries after the time of Christ, where we find this written about the Jews, “in 1492, the Jews were expelled from Spain and were forbidden to enter the city of Fez, lest they should cause a famine, they lived on grass; yet even in this state, ‘religiously avoided the violation of their Sabbath by plucking the grass with their hands.’ To avoid this, they took the much more laborious method of groveling on their knees and cropping it with their teeth!” Unbelievable!

The point that really needs to be made is that if the mindset of the Pharisees can last for fourteen or even fifteen centuries after Jesus, I guarantee you that it can last and has lasted into the twenty-first century. Our job is to examine our personal lives and check that we have cleansed our character of such a legalistic mode.

Another example that should be noted is recorded in Adam Clarke’s commentary, and states the following,  “The Jews were so superstitious, concerning the observance of the Sabbath, that in their wars with Antiochus Epiphanes, and the Romans, they thought it a crime even to attempt to defend themselves on the Sabbath: when their enemies observed this, they deferred their operations to that day. It was through this that Pompey was enabled to take Jerusalem. [Dion. Cass. lib. 36.]”

We need to realize the freedom that comes in Christ and understand that the law of Christ is not intended to burden us (I John 5:3) but rather to bless us with opportunities to serve others, just like Jesus did. If we allow a legalistic mindset to control our thoughts and actions rather than the mind of Christ, we are making a fatal mistake. Are we following Christ or following some creed?

And He was saying to them, "The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath."

We conclude this episode today by looking at the final phrase that Jesus uses to answer the Pharisees on this Sabbath day. Jesus is not only going to reveal His authority for all that He has said and done, but He is going to explain the real meaning of the Sabbath laws and their purpose.

Jesus began by declaring that He was the Son of Man. This would have immediately associated Jesus with the promise of a coming Messiah (See Dan. 7:13-14). Next, Jesus claims to be the Lord ([this is the emphatic word in this text] Master, Owner, Possessor, etc.) of the Sabbath.  In this, Jesus is claiming that while He would not violate the Sabbath laws, He was not subject to them, but they were subject to Him. Jesus was going to show the hearers how law comes after love.

Since God established this day to benefit His people, this day was not going to interfere with God’s will in the blessing of man with the presence of His Son. Jesus was going to strip this day of the falsehoods and manmade laws that hindered it from fulfilling its intended purpose of helping man grow closer to God.

There is a Sabbath rest that remains for the people of God (Heb. 4:9), but it is not according to the directives of fallible man. Our rest today is given to us when we come to Jesus and follow Him (Matthew 11:28-30). If you are weary and heavy-laden, come for rest in Jesus. Everything that was done under the old Law was just a shadow of the good things to come in Christ (Heb. 10:1-10). Those rules and regulations were a tutor to lead us to the Lord Jesus Christ that we might be justified by faith (Galatians 3:22-29). Now that Jesus has come and the one faith of our Lord has been established, we no longer need the law of commandments that were against us, but we need the law of Christ, which is a law of liberty. We need to come to Jesus and follow Him each day, finding a rest that only He can provide. Do you need to come to Jesus? Are you tired of critical man-made religions? Are you ready to give your life to the simplicity of the faith of Jesus Christ? Let me know how I can assist you and make sure you are headed for the eternal rest of heaven with Jesus when this life is over. If you need prayers because you have been guilty of focusing on performing laws rather than loving God and your fellow man, I would love to pray for you. God bless you and thank you for listening!