Three Controversies 2: Working on the Sabbath? (Luke 6:1-5)
The next religious controversy Luke highlights arises when Jesus’s followers are plucking grain to eat it on a Sabbath. The problem does involve them “stealing” the grain from the field owner. What they were doing was explicitly allowed (Deut. 23:25). However, they were doing this on a Sabbath and it violated an traditional oral interpretation of what “not working on a Sabbath” meant.
There were 39 prohibited activities, according to tradition. (Or 40 minus 1) If you are interested in what they were: (1) ploughing, (2) planting, (3) reaping, (4) gathering, (5) threshing, (6) winnowing, (7) sorting, (8) grinding, (9) sifting, (10) kneading, (11) cooking, (12) shearing, (13) laundering, (14) carding, (15) dying, (16) spinning, (17) warping, (18) threading a loom, (19) weaving, (20) separating threads, (21) tying, (22) untying, (23) sewing, (24) tearing, (25) trapping, (26) slaughtering, (27) skinning, (28) curing, (29) sanding, (30) scoring, (31) measured cutting, (32) writing, (33) erasing, (34) construction, (35) demolition, (36) completion, (37) ignition, (38) extinguishing, and (39) transferring things, with exceptions.
The disciples break several of the rules here. (After Jesus’s time, the fact that they did not use a tool would mean that they were not guilty of anything. However, even here the Pharisees are being nitpickers!) Jesus responds to the controversy by asking the Pharisees about the incident where David violated the law to eat the bread of presence, which was intended only for the priests, and on a Sabbath no less! The quandary is clever. If the Pharisees condemned the disciples, they would need to condemn David as well. This is something even the text in 1 Samuel 21 does not do.
The truth is that the laws of the Sabbath were not intended to burden people, but to honor God and His day. The legal traditions only hyper-defined the rules but did nothing to increase a real sense of reverence for God. Instead of following tradition or men interested in piety, people should yield to the Lord of the Sabbath. Jesus, as the Messiah or the Son of Man, is that Lord. More than legalism, we should be concerned with people and their lives and relationship to God.
There were 39 prohibited activities, according to tradition. (Or 40 minus 1) If you are interested in what they were: (1) ploughing, (2) planting, (3) reaping, (4) gathering, (5) threshing, (6) winnowing, (7) sorting, (8) grinding, (9) sifting, (10) kneading, (11) cooking, (12) shearing, (13) laundering, (14) carding, (15) dying, (16) spinning, (17) warping, (18) threading a loom, (19) weaving, (20) separating threads, (21) tying, (22) untying, (23) sewing, (24) tearing, (25) trapping, (26) slaughtering, (27) skinning, (28) curing, (29) sanding, (30) scoring, (31) measured cutting, (32) writing, (33) erasing, (34) construction, (35) demolition, (36) completion, (37) ignition, (38) extinguishing, and (39) transferring things, with exceptions.
The disciples break several of the rules here. (After Jesus’s time, the fact that they did not use a tool would mean that they were not guilty of anything. However, even here the Pharisees are being nitpickers!) Jesus responds to the controversy by asking the Pharisees about the incident where David violated the law to eat the bread of presence, which was intended only for the priests, and on a Sabbath no less! The quandary is clever. If the Pharisees condemned the disciples, they would need to condemn David as well. This is something even the text in 1 Samuel 21 does not do.
The truth is that the laws of the Sabbath were not intended to burden people, but to honor God and His day. The legal traditions only hyper-defined the rules but did nothing to increase a real sense of reverence for God. Instead of following tradition or men interested in piety, people should yield to the Lord of the Sabbath. Jesus, as the Messiah or the Son of Man, is that Lord. More than legalism, we should be concerned with people and their lives and relationship to God.
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