Luke 7:18-21 - Are you the one?

7:18-20

John the Baptist had prepared the way for Jesus and knew that his mission was to see Jesus exalted. However, now John seems to have some element of doubt. So he sent his disciples to enquire of Jesus. This seems rather odd in some ways, as if Jesus was some form of imposter He would probably says yes anyway! However, this would also serve as useful later on. For remember that in Acts 19 Paul meets some disciples who only really know about John the Baptist (Acts 19:1-7). So everything happens for a reason. So John’s disciples go to Jesus with the question of their master.

7:21

Jesus cured many. Note that diseases, sicknesses and demonic possession are lumped together, as well as giving sight to the blind. The modern view is that demons explain nothing. Now while we are right to be wary of seeing demons explaining everything we are being utterly unbiblical and unfaithful to Christ if we think demons have nothing to do with any illness. On a modern note, it is now widely acknowledged that psychological and physical conditions often interact with each other, so there really should be no surprise that demonic activity and illness sometimes interact with each other.

Luke 7:14-17 - God has come to help His people

7:14,15

The “bier” was a plank that carried the body. Jesus touched the bier and commanded the young, dead, man to arise. Now, of course, this man died of something else later, but there are still lessons concerning the resurrection. We will have died, but Jesus will command that we come back to life. In one sense this should not be at all surprising, for God created the world by the command from His voice. So His voice is sufficient to bring life back into us.

The man got up and began to speak. Jesus gave him to His mother. Remember Jesus had been moved to do the miracle by His concern for the mother.

7:16,17

An amazing thing had happened, and even though the event was wonderful, the people were gripped with fear. However, this was not just a terrified fear, it was one that involved awe of God. They gave glory to God. They recognised Jesus as a great prophet. Now Jesus is of course much more than a prophet, but He had done the sorts of things they had read of Elijah and Elisha doing. So within their frame of reference He looked like a prophet. They also recognised that God was making His presence known. When God does this things happen.

Not surprisingly, news of the events spread quickly around the surrounding area.

Luke 7:11-13 - Don't cry

7:11,12

There are some similarities between this incident and Elijah healing a widow’s son (1 Kings 17:17-24). As usual, Jesus was followed by His disciples and a great crowd. Despite being followed by crowds, Jesus had time for individuals. Indeed, this is a recurring feature in the gospel accounts, and a pattern that we too should follow if we ever become famous!

The man who had died was the “only son of his mother, and she was a widow”. The widow would now be in very serious financial trouble.

7:13

The Lord had compassion on her. People often make the point that many of the miracles functioned as signs, indicating something about Jesus and His ministry. This is true, but we should also note that Jesus had compassion. He acted because He cared for the people. Peter says in 1 Peter 5:7 that the Lord cares for us, Peter had seen the genuine care of Jesus in action. “Don’t cry”, this was not mere words, for Jesus’ care was effective care. He could and would do something about it. This is the Lord whom we follow and have believed in.

Luke 7:6-10 - Such great faith

7:6-8

Matthew’s account has the centurion himself speaking to Jesus. There is no irreconcilable difference. Matthew sometimes gives a much more abbreviated account than Luke or Mark, and he is emphasising the faith and nationality of the man. Luke is more concerned with the humility of the man. The three synoptic gospels recount many of the same incidents in Jesus’ life, but they are looking at things from different angles and with slightly different purposes.

The centurion did not have an inflated opinion of himself. It is a very human characteristic to treat any position of authority as an excuse to exalt ourselves, or to find some self-worth in that position. This centurion did no such thing. He had also learnt from his time as a man under authority. If we want to be people who have authority and exercise it aright we need to be people who know how to live under authority. It was because he was under authority that he could give commands to soldiers and they would obey him.

He recognised Jesus as one living under authority, the authority of His Father, so he reasoned that of Jesus commanded his servant to be well, then his servant would be healed. Our attitudes in everyday life can be helpful or unhelpful to our knowing and believing God. If we have good attitudes then we are more likely to hear God, to believe God and to understand God.

7:9,10

Jesus was amazed. This indicates the reality of the humanity of Jesus and His relationship with us. Jesus responds to faith. Jesus also turned to the crowd to highlight the depth and quality of faith demonstrated by the centurion. Israel was meant to be God’s nation and they should have demonstrated similar faith, but had never done so. Luke would be keen to demonstrate to his Gentile readers that Jesus fully accepts faith from non-Jews. Note also that faith was demonstrated in a real life situation. Faith is not demonstrated just by believing the creeds, though these are important. Our response to God in real life situations will often demonstrate the true nature of our faith. This and the doctrinal side go together and can feed each other.

The actual healing of the servant is presented in a very matter of fact way. The ability of Jesus to heal is not the question, our trust in Him is.

Luke 7:1-5 - Faith observed

7:1-3

Luke wrote his gospel primarily with Gentiles in mind, so this incident is of particular significance. Matthew records the same incident in Matt 8:5-13. There are differences between the two, but these are not contradictions. Matthew says that the centurion went to Jesus, Luke tells us that he asked some Jewish elders to go to Jesus. The explanation is simply that the Jewish elders went on behalf of the centurion. A centurion was like a captain in the army, so was man of significant responsibility. The centurion had a servant who was sick, and the centurion valued him highly. Centurion’s are usually presented in a very favourable light in the gospels. News about Jesus had spread, and the centurion had heard about Him.

7:4,5

The Jewish elders had a high opinion of the centurion, for they spoke well of him to Jesus. The centurion had worked on behalf of the Jews, and had even helped to build a synagogue for them. It is possible that the centurion was a god-fearer, ie someone who respected God but had not become a full Jew. Note that while we in no way earn salvation, the Bible is not the least bit shy of saying that some people are more worthy than others. How we live matters.

Luke 6:47-49 - Building wisely

6:47,48

Obeying Jesus is not something we do simply because we have to, we do so because it makes us stronger. Notice that Jesus says everyone who comes to Him, hears His words and puts them into practice. The emphasis of the parable is not on those who disobey, but on those who do obey. When we obey we are like a house built upon a solid foundation. Storms may strike, but they will not move us. There are times when obeying Jesus can seem to be risky, or to endanger us in some way or other. But the teaching of this parable is that we are never stronger than when we obey. We should take this parable as an encouragement.

6:49

Conversely, the one who hears Jesus but does not obey Him, does not put His words into practice, is like a man who builds upon sand. When the storms come he will collapse completely. When the world chooses to ignore Jesus’ words it is choosing to build upon a foundation of sand. At some point a storm will strike and such a society will collapse completely.

Some thoughts on the death penalty and Luke 23:39-43

In Luke 23:39-43 we read of two criminals, both equally guilty, both on a cross next to the Son of God. One hurls insults at Jesus, joining in with the mocking of the other people. It makes you wonder why he did this, he wasn’t exactly in a good situation himself! The other criminal, equally guilty, but he has a completely different reaction. He recognises what is really going on. They are both on a cross, and worthy of condemnation. Jesus is also on a cross, but He is completely innocent.

“Don’t you fear God?” This is a question we should all ask ourselves. If we are Christians we should ask ourselves this from time to time, especially if we are facing difficult circumstances, or are being severely tested. There is nothing like it to enable us to see things in true perspective. Proverbs 1:7 so truly says that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. The sceptic or the agnostic would also do well to ask themselves this question. Did you really come from nothing with no purpose? Will you really never have to give an account for your life?

The “good” thief asks Jesus to remember him when He comes into His kingdom. What faith! There is Jesus hung on a cross, completely powerless in human terms. Yet this thief recognises that Jesus will “come into His kingdom”! Jesus replies that that very day the man will be with Him in paradise. Whatever the exact nature of heaven and the time between our dying and the return of Christ (if it does not come to pass in our lifetime), we do not need to worry one iota. As far as we are concerned, the day we die we will be with Jesus that very day in paradise.

One final aside on this wonderfully instructive incident. This incident knocks on the head one of the arguments sometimes used against the death penalty, namely that it stops someone having a chance to come to repentance. This man was in the midst of dying, yet he got saved. He came to faith. This is not an argument for the death penalty, but most of the so-called “Christian” arguments against the death penalty really are unbiblical nonsense. There are pragmatic arguments for not having the death penalty, but there are absolutely no moral/biblical arguments for saying that it is completely wrong. But let's stick to the matter in hand. It could be argued that if there is no death penalty for the most serious of crimes, then a criminal is allowed to avoid facing up to the true reality of his or her crimes, and one of the most important steps in salvation is realising our guilt and repenting. Conversely, if there is a death penalty then the criminal is brought face to face with true nature of what they have done. Maybe then, like this criminal, they will repent and believe.

Anyway, maybe that was a digression you weren’t expecting! Let me digress further!

Now I said earlier that “there are absolutely no moral/biblical arguments for saying that it is completely wrong”. Maybe this is a rather bold statement, so let me expand a little. If someone commits a serious crime (murder or multiple murders), then what right do you or I have to forgive them for some crime committed against someone else, and one that involved the taking of life? As the Pharisees rightly asked, who has the right to forgive sins but God? So if we merely imprison a murderer are we seeing justice done? Are we showing proper respect for human life in general and the life (or lives) of the victim(s) in particular?

Does this mean I believe we have to have the death penalty? No, but I see no moral superiority in not having the death penalty. However, there are pragmatic reasons for not having it. The most important, perhaps, is that if we have the death penalty then we have to face up to a very sobering fact: some people will be executed who are innocent. Of course, all sorts of safeguards and checks and balances would be in place, but even so there will inevitably be some, hopefully rare, occasions when it goes wrong. This may happen through human error, it may happen through deliberate evil, it may happen because the court was not aware of certain facts at the time of making the fateful decision. Whatever the reason, it will happen. There is the old saying that “I would rather ten guilty men go free than one innocent man is condemned”. There is some truth in this. If an innocent man is condemned, especially if it involves the death penalty, then severe harm is done to the justice system, not to mention the innocent man himself. I would certainly one guilty murderer went free than one innocent man was condemned to death, even two guilty men. But what about ten? What if some of these go on to murder other innocent people? The point of all this is that the “morality equation” is by no means simple.

There is one further point. Would you or I like to be the executioner? To bring to an end the life of another human being is a terrible thing to do.

So what am I saying in all this? I suppose that there are no simple answers to the question of whether a state should have the death penalty. Currently it is considered “morally superior” not to have the death penalty, but I can see no basis for this. In fact the moral argument would, if anything, seem to be on the other side. Yet this does not mean having the death penalty is definitely the right things to do either. Whatever we do needs to be done with the utmost  humility and seriousness.

Luke 6:43-46 - Fruit trees

6:43-45

Religion focuses on outward form, God focuses on what is in a man’s heart. The fruit that a person produces in their life is a reflection of what is in their heart. So if our hearts are corrupt we will produce bad fruit, if our hearts are good we will produce good fruit. We should note that in the Bible, heart does not just mean emotions, but includes our mind and our will. So we need to be concerned about our mind as well as our attitudes. Our speech is also often a reflection of what is on the inside, ie of the real me.

6:46

This is another famous parable. The opening verse is one we all need to pay heed to. If we call Jesus Lord then we are saying He is the one who needs to be obeyed, He is the one with all wisdom, and if He is then it would be irrational for anyone not to pay heed to what He says. Notice also that Jesus expects obedience. Non-believers sometimes quote from Jesus, or allude to things He said or did, but then they usually only select certain aspects of His character or teaching.

Luke 6:39-42 - Planking

6:39

Only those whose eyes have been opened by God can see the truth (2 Cor 4:4), so relying on people who are blind to lead is a recipe for disaster. Yet that is what society is doing. In Jesus’ day the religious leaders were blind, above all else they did not recognise their own sin. In our society many church leaders are equally blind, and so are other leaders in society.

6:40

Jesus is our teacher, and we are not better than Him! Yet many leaders seem to think that they know better than Jesus. What fools we are! Jesus regarded the Old Testament as the word of God, yet many are ready to reject the Old Testament. Jesus regarded Himself as the Son of God, and proved it so by His resurrection, yet many regard Him just as a good man. The more we learn from Jesus the more like Him we will be come, and that includes sharing in His sufferings.

6:41,42

This is one the most famous parables of Jesus. It does not mean that we should never seek to correct others, there are many proverbs and instructions in the rest of the New Testament that commend teaching others, and learning from others. However, our first priority should be to ensure that our own lives are in order. Our natural reaction is to first find fault in others before blaming ourselves, the correct reaction is to consider what is wrong with ourselves first. To make matters worse, when we look to the fault of others first, our vision is distorted. Conversely, when we have dealt with the sin in our own lives we are much better able to see clearly to genuinely help a brother or sister.

Luke 6:37,38 - Do not judge!

6:37

This is one of the most abused verses in the Bible, often used to say that we should never say that someone has done something wrong, or that some types of behaviour or lifestyles are wrong. This is not what Jesus is saying. Indeed the sermon itself contains approval and disapproval of various attitudes and actions, as does the whole of the New Testament and Bible. So what does it mean? It means that we cannot judge how bad a person is, and cannot consider someone else better or worse than ourselves. And we must not condemn others, ie completely write them off. For if person X is a write off, then so are you and I. None of us is worthy on our own merits, and no one is beyond redemption by the blood of Jesus. We are to have an attitude of forgiveness, and forgiveness requires recognising that something is wrong, otherwise there is nothing to forgive!

6:38

We are to have a generous attitude in all manner of ways. We are to forgive others, we are to give generously to others. Now if we give in order to get then we have lost the plot and do not understand the heart of God, but the Old Testament has several verses that say if we are generous towards others we will be better off. We need to understand how God’s “economy” works, and to understand the heart of God. Our God is a God who delights to give, so we should be people who delight to give. The world tells us that we need to look after ourselves above all else if we want to be rich and to get on. Jesus tells us that we need to look after others and that God will provide richly for us. This is no guarantee of material wealth in this world, there are many poor Christians in the world, and sometimes we will suffer for Christ’s sake. But we need to live as people who know that God is our source of well-being.

Luke 6:34-36 - Your reward will be geat

6:34-36

This love is also practical. So it is godly to give practical help to all, regardless of their lifestyle. In society there is mutual help, everyone doing their fair share. This is perfectly right and proper, and is vital to the effective functioning of society, but we are called to go beyond this. We were saved because God went way beyond His “duty”. He did not treat us as we deserve. So we too give to those who do not deserve it, we give to those who are unlikely to give anything back in return. We give to those who hate us. And our reward will be great. Rewards and the gospel sometimes cause us a great problem because we are fearful of thinking that we will be in danger of seeking to earn our salvation, but the Bible often speaks of rewards, Jesus speaks of rewards. Living as God lives is by far the best way to live, it is the way we were created to live. We are to be merciful as He is merciful.

Luke 6:30-33 - Do as you would be done by

6:30,31

Again, beware of a legalistic interpretation. But the opposite danger is to use not taking a legalistic interpretation as an excuse for doing nothing! Jesus is using hyperbole in His teaching, a common Jewish method, but the heart of the matter is crucial. Seeking our rights, getting the best for ourselves are the world’s way of living. It is what you will see in any political system. In capitalist systems like our own the evidence is very much to the fore, but the Russians tried communism for many years and exactly the same thing happened. We are to seek the best for others, not just for ourselves. We live to give.

6:32,33

Now this is not saying we should not help those who help us, indeed that is all part of a functioning society, but there is no special merit in doing so. The gospel is about loving those who do not deserve to be loved. God sent His Son because of His love for us, we did not love God, and we were totally undeserving of that love, yet He still sent His Son. We were made in the image of God, and were saved to be like Christ, so we should seek to love as God loves. So if someone does us wrong, or someone can do nothing for us, that is not an excuse not to love them. Now a note of realism and truth is needed here. While the attitude of someone else towards us should not affect whether or not we love them, it will, and should, affect how we love them. I.e. Jesus is not saying we ignore what people do to us. Homosexuality is a big issue these days and an area where “loving” people is greatly misunderstood. Some say that to love homosexuals we must accept their lifestyle. Such talk is unbiblical nonsense, and is not loving them at all. The best that can happen to any sinner (and that includes all human beings) is that the person repents and believes. We must not hate anyone.

Luke 6:27-29 - Loving your enemies

6:27,28

“But to those who hear...” This section continues the counterculture view of life. Now we should bear in mind that Jesus is not giving laws, but principles. If we adopt a legalistic approach to the sermon we will get in trouble. They are a revealing of the heart of God. In fact, that is how we should approach the Law itself, not as a legalistic thing, but a revealing of God’s heart. That would seem to be the way that Jesus approached the Law.

So, in line with not assessing our lives with how well off we are, enemies are not for hating but for loving. And this is very practical, we are to do good to them. It is important to be aware of the practical nature of love. We can be so concerned with the emotional side that we get things wrong. When someone wrongs us or hates us it is very difficult for us to react as Jesus tells us, and even if we are determined to love them we can find that our emotions are conflicted and we are not sure if we really are loving them, and so feel guilty. Sometimes we should judge our love by our actions, even if our feelings are lagging behind, or are in a state of confusion. We should seek to treat our enemies well, seeking justice for them, praying a blessing for them. By the way, the most blessed thing that can happen to them is that they repent and believe.

6:29

This verse gives practical application to what has been said in the previous verse. To slap someone in the face was a great insult, and the natural reaction is to retaliate. Jesus says we are not to retaliate. Sometimes people will take things wrongly from us, sometimes even the state will do this. Again we are not to retaliate. We must not take these verses legalistically, or we will get ourselves in a mess. Moreover, we will be doing a disservice to God and His word. The natural reaction is these sorts of situation is to seek ham for the perpetrator. The godly reaction is to continue to seek the best for the perpetrator. Now this most definitely does not mean people should not be punished for wrong actions. If you think this then you are an idiot. If someone is doing wrong then the best thing that can happen to them is that they repent and believe. These verses are not an excuse nor a command to be a doormat!

Sermon on Sin, Faith & Duty (Luke 17:1-10)

A sermon on Sin,Faith & Duty 

Luke 6:24-26 - Woes

6:24-26

Unlike the Beatitudes in Matthew, the blessings here followed by a list of woes. They are essentially the opposite of the blessings. Those who are rich in this world have already received comfort. Now this does not mean it is wrong to be rich, and we in the West need to listen to this very carefully. It is easy for us to think that the rich are just the super-rich, or some who proclaim a prosperity gospel while exploiting others, often the poor. The truth is that in global terms most of us in the West are “rich”, certainly middle class Christians are.

The succeeding woes should certainly make it clear that being rich is not a sin, for if it is then so is being well-fed, laughing (though there are some Christians who seem to consider it a sin to laugh :-)), and wrong to receive any praise at all. This is not what Jesus is saying. What He is saying is that we are not to judge our lives by our present circumstances. If we are well off in some way that does not mean we are blessed by God. Conversely, if we are going through a hard time that does not mean God is against us. We are to judge our lives by how well, or otherwise, we are serving God. God may well bless us in worldly terms at times, equally following Christ may involve us in suffering at times.

Luke 6:22,23 - On being hated

6:22

The world will often reject those who belong to Christ. We have been extremely fortunate in the West for a long time in that Christianity was respected. For a period now that has been changing. First Christianity was dismissed or ignored to a large extent, now it is a positive disadvantage in many ways and we will have to wait to see if things get worse. However, we need to recognise that our situation was unusual. Most Christians in most places for most of history have been living under varying degrees of persecution, sometimes mild, sometimes very severe. The early Christians would first be rejected by the Jews, then persecution would come from the Roman Empire. When these things happen we need to remember that we are blessed. The words in this verse are very apt for our society today. Christians are increasingly excluded from public forums. Try giving a Christian view on homosexuality or transgenderism in education or social work. If we hold to Biblical views we are rejected as evil.

6:23

When these things happen we should rejoice. We should leap for joy! Two reasons are given for this “odd” reaction we are encouraged to have. First, “great is our reward in heaven”. Where are we looking to for our reward? Is it to the world, or is to God? There is a reward for those who suffer for the sake of Christ. The second reason is that it is normal, it is the way it has always been. The prophets were rejected. Some were killed, some were imprisoned. Nothing unusual is happening.

Luke 6:20,21 - Blessed are the poor and hungry

6:20

“Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God”. In Matthew’s version it talks of the “poor in spirit”. So are we talking about spiritually poor or materially poor here? The answer is probably both. However, Jesus is definitely not promoting any form of “liberation theology”. The disciples were poor in spirit, as we all are. And the religious leaders would have made them painfully aware of this. The kingdom comes to save the poor in spirit. Many would also be materially poor, and future events would lead to many of the Christians being poor. Indeed there are many poor Christians in the world today, possibly the majority. Just as there is no room for “liberation theology”, neither is there any room for a “prosperity gospel”. Jesus came to give the kingdom to the poor. The world may have rejected them, but God has invited them into His kingdom, and this is a far greater blessing than anything the world or the religious leaders can give.

6:21

Again, Matthew has it slightly differently, speaking of those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. We have a terrible habit of separating the spiritual and the material, in the Bible the two are closely linked, each impacting the other. Matthew does not have “those who weep now”. The essence of the message here is that in this world we may feel second rate, we may be in lack, whether it be emotional or material, but God will bring justice, He will satisfy our hunger. Where are we looking for satisfaction? Is it from the world, or is it from God? We are only truly blessed if we are looking to God for our supply.

Luke 6:17-19 - Teaching and healing

6:17

This is often called the Sermon on the Plain, contrasting it with the more famous Sermon on the Mount. There are many similarities between the two, but differences as well, and this one is shorter. This is not at all surprising. What we get in the gospels is a condensed report of Jesus’ teaching, and He, like all preachers, would have taught similar things on different occasions, especially as they didn’t have podcasts or YouTube in those days! If you wanted someone else to hear the message you had to preach it to them again.

The level place could actually be a plateau on a hillside. Jesus had already gathered many disciples. There were also many others who were not disciples who came to hear. We could view this as one useful model for what church, or church meetings, should be like. Many people who are committed Christians, but also attracting many others who are fascinated by what is happening.

6:18,19

Why had they come? To hear Jesus teach and to be healed. Yet again we see the connection between teaching and healing, and we really need to heal the divide between the two that usually exists in the church today. People were healed, and evil spirits were evicted. Power was flowing from Jesus and healing them all. Next we will get the teaching. Now notice two things about the teaching. First it is not concerned with healing, Jesus did not teach them about healing, taught them about the kingdom. Secondly, His teaching is not “seeker-friendly” but deeply challenging. Now I am not saying we should never be “seeker-friendly”, but we must not make an idol out of it, and if our teaching and preaching is never challenging, both to the church and to the world, then it is very doubtful that we are actually preaching the word of God.

Luke 6:12-16 - Making choices

6:12

Luke places great importance on many things in his gospel. As well as Jesus, these include the Holy Spirit, the role of women, and the importance of prayer. The timing of this incident is not specified, but Luke emphasises that Jesus spent the night in prayer before choosing the apostles. This emphasises the humanity of Jesus and the wonder of the incarnation. Jesus was God, so surely He knew who the disciples would be? Well, He was also man and came to earth as fully man, as well as being the Son of God. So He prayed all night to the Father. It is a pity that we do not have more detail on what went on in that night, for I guess that most of us would find it very difficult to pray “all night”.

6:13-16

In the morning Jesus called the disciples and chose twelve of them. We are not told who the “unchosen” ones were, or why these twelve were chosen, and others were not. We do not always need to know why God has made a certain decision, but we can always trust Him that His decisions are right. The twelve were a disparate bunch. They included fisherman, a tax collector, a revolutionary and one who would be a traitor. Bartholomew is probably the same person as Nathaniel in John 1:45. Zealots were political activists against the Roman rule. “Judas son of James” is probably Thaddaeus of Matt 10:13 or Mark 3:18.

Luke 6:8-11 - To do good or to do evil? That is the question

6:8-11

Jesus knew what the Pharisees were thinking and decided to tackle them head on. This teaches us something about how we are to respond in a hostile environment. Too often we go soft and try to appease the culture. There are times when we need to tackle the culture head on. But now look at how Jesus did this. He did not do this by immediately going to a theological argument. Rather He healed a man, He set a man free, and challenged their thinking at the same time. So there is both theological argument and life demonstration.

In doing this Jesus put the man on the spot, made him the focus of attention. There may be times in our lives when Jesus makes us the focus of attention and we may feel very uncomfortable. But maybe He is is doing this because He is shortly going to demonstrate His love and power in our lives.

Jesus also challenged the thinking of the Pharisees. What is the Sabbath about? Doing good or doing evil? Saving life or destroying it?

So the man was completely healed. Instead of rejoicing the Pharisees and teachers of the Law were furious. They were more concerned about their position, about their pride, than about the wonderful thing that had happened to the man. Now we tend to look down on the Pharisees, and their attitudes are certainly wrong. But we are not immune from the same sorts of attitudes, so we do well to check our own hearts every so often to root out any similar attitudes, especially if we are feeling under threat in some way.

Luke 6:5-7 - Lord of the Sabbath

6:5

In the equivalent passage in Mark 2:27,28 Jesus says “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath”. There are two key issues here. The first is the purpose of the Sabbath. The Pharisees had made the Sabbath into an idol, and everything was geared towards serving the Sabbath. In Mark Jesus reminds them that the Sabbath was actually made for man’s benefit. The same applies with many, even all, of God’s commands. It is actually better for us if we obey them. Currently the Sabbath is of little interest to most, but sexual morality is a big issue. So often it is painted as God forbidding sex outside marriage, and homosexual activity for the sake of it. He is doing this for our benefit. Our lives, including our sex lives, will be much better if we follow God’s instructions.

The second issue is Son of Man. This is a messianic term, from Daniel 7:13. However, as used in Ezekiel, it can also just refer to mankind. So Jesus could be just reminding them that the Sabbath is for man’s benefit. However, Jesus does use the term in its messianic connection of Himself elsewhere, and part of what He is doing in the gospels is showing them the true meaning of the Sabbath.

6:6,7

This latter aspect of demonstrating the true meaning of the Sabbath, and moreover, God’s intentions for the Sabbath, is brought out again in the next incident. Ultimately whether the disciples were right to eat the corn or not is a trivial matter, but now we come to a very important matter, for a man’s life is involved.

Jesus was teaching as usual in the synagogue on the Sabbath. There was a man with a shrivelled hand. And here we see the difference between Jesus’ attitude, and that of the Pharisees. The Pharisees were looking for an excuse to accuse Jesus. Jesus was looking to give life to people.

Luke 6:1-4 - Sabbath tales

6:1,2

In the gospels we see a growing conflict between Jesus and the religious authorities, and others. Jesus was rejected at Nazareth, there was the forgiving of the paralysed man, mixing with “tax collectors and sinners”, then the questions about fasting. Now we get one of the several Sabbath confrontations. Jesus is radically different from anyone who has come before, and He also makes audacious claims about Himself. He claimed to be the fulfillment of Isaiah 61:1,2, He claimed to be able to forgive sins, He has claimed to be the bridegroom. Now He will claim to be Lord of the Sabbath.

It was a Sabbath and the disciples were eating grains of corn. Taking the grains of corn was not the problem, the Law said that people could take the corn from the edges of fields, it was doing this on the Sabbath that was the “problem”.

6:3,4

Jesus referred the Pharisees to the Bible. We don’t appreciate what a sharp barb this would be. The Pharisees claimed to be the true upholders of the Law and the Prophets, they prided themselves on this, yet here was Jesus saying they did not know the Bible. Jesus refers them to the time that David fed his followers on consecrated bread, breaking the Law (Lev 24:5,9). The Pharisees had a totally wrong view of the Law. There are two things to notice about Jesus’ attitude to the Law here. First is that a legalistic interpretation, or application, was not the way to go. If you do that you miss the spirit of the Law. Secondly, seemingly insignificant incidents in the Bible are regarded as very important. Jesus regarded all the Old Testament as the word of God.

Luke 5:33-39 - Fasting

5:33-35

Fasting was an important part of Jewish practise, and was part of the Law. John’s disciples seemed to be fairly ascetic, as were the disciples of the Pharisees. However, Jesus’ disciples seemed to be having a party (relatively speaking)!

Jesus’ response is very interesting. He is clearly referring to Himself as the bridegroom. Moreover, the bridegroom analogy is not one used in the Old Testament, though there are allusions to God being a husband to Israel (often in the context of Israel's unfaithfulness). Something new was happening now Jesus was here. Jesus was not a mere continuation of the Old Testament, but the fulfilment of prophecies.

However, this did not mean a permanent end to fasting. A time would come when fasting was appropriate again. As to why fasting was not appropriate then, let’s ask ourselves this question. What would they fast for? God Himself was with them, He could teach them directly, He could look after them directly. What would they have fasted for?

5:36-39

Something new was happening and the Pharisees needed to realise this. Jesus had not come to patch up the old system. Tearing a piece of a new garment to patch up an old garment would have been foolish. It would have spoiled the new garment, and when it shrank after washing it would have further damaged the old garment as well.  If new wine was put into an old wineskin it would burst. The old wineskin would have become inelastic, and the new wine would have fermented, thus bursting the old wineskin. Something new was happening. People’s sins were going to be paid for once for all, the Holy Spirit was going to be given to those who believe, they were going to be born again. The old sacrificial system had served its purpose but would soon be obsolete, as Hebrews so carefully explains.

The Pharisees were so steeped in the Old Testament that they could not see the need for anything better.

Luke 5:27-32 - The taxman

5:27,28

We now get the calling of Levi, another name for Matthew. Levi was a tax collector, and tax collectors were not highly thought of! None of us are particularly keen on the tax man, but in Levi’s days they were often corrupt, taking extra money from people. So it is perhaps significant that the calling of Levi comes immediately after the healing and forgiveness of the paralysed man. How could a tax collector come to God? Well Jesus does indeed have the authority to forgive sins, and that includes the sins of tax collectors.

See how Jesus gives a simple command, “Follow me”. There is no inquest into his sins and past, just a simple command. However, obeying the command involved a complete turnaround, and an abandoning of his past. Peter and his friends could go back to fishing, it is unlikely that there would be anyway back for Matthew. When Jesus calls our past does not matter, what does matter is whether or not we are willing to follow Jesus.

5:29,30

Tax collectors tended to be quite rich, largely because of their illegal activities, so Levi was probably quite rich. He held a great banquet and many other tax collectors came. Matthew was reaching out to his own community. In the kingdom there is both great diversity, people come from all sorts of backgrounds and stratas of society, but we are also ideally suited to reach those who live in a similar world to ourselves. Jesus went to the banquet, He is happy to reach out to anyone who turn and follow Him.

5:31,32

The Pharisees were not happy. They were blind to the reality of their own sin, and were consumed by their own sense of self-righteousness. They questioned the disciples about why Jesus was eating with “tax-collectors and sinners”. Why was Jesus eating with “reprobates”. They had approached the disciples, but it was Jesus who answered, and He gets to the heart of the matter. Jesus did not come to reward the righteous, He wouldn’t have had much to do if that was the case! He came to save the sinners, ie all of us. None of us are righteous, all of us need forgiveness and transformation. Jesus came to heal the sick, to call sinners to repentance.

Luke 5:22-26 - Take your mat and walk

5:22,23

Jesus knew what they were thinking. This could be “supernatural knowledge”, or it could be natural insight into the way the Pharisees were thinking. It doesn’t really matter, what does matter is that Jesus did know how they were thinking, and His response to it. The key was that they did not recognize that He was the Son of God. “Which is easier to say ...” In fact, both are easy to say, but hard to actually be effective. Saying you are forgiven is easy, but does it really mean anything? With Jesus it does, but the only reason it does actually mean anything, other than being a nice thought, is that Jesus went to the cross, died, and rose again.

5:24-26

“I want you to know ...” Jesus wants us to know that He has authority. This is an aspect of Jesus that is so often missed. He has authority, and we need to know that He has authority. So to demonstrate this He commands the man to get up and walk. He could say these words very easily, but would they have any real effect? Yes they would! Immediately the man stood up, healed. Jesus’ words resulted in concrete effects. So the Pharisees had a critical attitude of mind and heart, Jesus responded with positive results that all could see, so the man, and the people, praised the Lord knowing that they had seen something amazing. Luke is also recounting this incident to remind his readers that Jesus really does have the authority to forgive your sins. And He has the authority to forgive my sins and your sins.

Luke 5:20,21 - Forgiven

5:20

There are several important things about this short verse. The first is that faith was the key to forgiveness. We are saved by faith, not by works. Secondly is the personal nature of this. It is not an impersonal thing. Jesus responded to their faith. When we put our faith in Christ He personally forgives us, it is not abstract. Finally, He saw “their” faith. The faith of the friends was relevant, it actually isn’t clear if the man himself had faith or not, but we should not press too far on this point.

5:21

The Pharisees and teachers of the Law were outraged. Now at one level this is understandable, and there is an important point to learn. Forgiving sins is a major issue, indeed one could argue it is the most significant thing that can happen to a person. Then there is the point that they were actually right in saying God alone can forgive sins. If Jesus was “just a good man”, or even “just a prophet” then many of the things He said and did do not make any sense, and indeed would be blasphemous or delusional. But Jesus is God, and so He does have the right to forgive sins. In fact, if Jesus is not God then there is no point in believing in Him.

Luke 5:17-19 - Through the roof

5:17

Teaching and practical/miraculous demonstration went together in Jesus’ ministry. So Jesus was teaching and “the power of the Lord was with Him to heal”. It is tragic that in the church we so often split teaching and healing. We assume that if there is an emphasis on healing then teaching will be light, or even dodgy. Conversely, if a church focuses on good in-depth teaching then it is unlikely that there will be much, if any, emphasis on healing. This is a truly unbiblical separation. The Pharisees were the most influential sect in Judaism. It seems that many of the religious leaders had come to see who Jesus was and what He was up to. It is significant that Jesus is going to tackle them head on. He is going to declare forgiveness over someone, and is going to heal them. In our day the equivalent of the Pharisees are perhaps the secular police, seeking to make sure we do not offend anyone. The response is often to back-off. Now we do need to be wise, but there is also a time when people are confronted with the full reality of the gospel, both in teaching and in practical/miraculous demonstration.

5:18,19

The teachers of the Law were not the only ones to be present. While they came perhaps seeking to find fault, many others came seeking healing. Among these was a paralyzed man, brought by his friends. This is one of the best known incidents in the gospels, with the man’s friends making a hole in the roof so that they could lower him down to Jesus. So while the teachers of the Law were there, in the midst of this there was an individual in great need, and whose life was about to be transformed. If we face opposition we should remember that in the midst of it there will be individuals who Jesus wants to heal and set free.