Jesus Answers the Pharisees in the Grain Fieldby CBPepper
6:5Luke 6:5
And he said unto them, That the Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath.
Jesus asserts that as Son of man He is Lord of the Sabbath in the fullest sense, because He made the worlds, proclaimed the law at Sinai, and set apart the seventh day for worship. He said this when His disciples were accused of breaking the Sabbath for rubbing grain in their hands and eating as they passed through the field, exercising the poor man's right to take food to satisfy hunger. He declared them guiltless and innocent, for what they did was in harmony with the Sabbath commandment, and He covered them with the shield of His own dignity and authority as God in the flesh. His claim denies any right of religious leaders to judge or direct His work, exposing the blindness and fallibility of human judgment when men assume jurisdiction to condemn those God is using. The Sabbath He made and gave remains binding, not merely a Jewish institution to be replaced by another day, and opposition to God's holy law is not animated by His Spirit.
Sabbath Incident and Defense
The saying belongs to the occasion when Christ went through a cornfield where ears of corn were plucked, followed by His healing of the man with the withered hand. As they passed through the field the disciples plucked standing grain and ate it, exercising the poor person's right under God's law to take food from a neighbor's field to satisfy hunger. That permission for a hungry person to eat from another's field shows provision for meeting human need rather than treating the field's produce as untouchable property.
Christ and His disciples kept the Sabbath in this setting, and when they were accused of breaking it for rubbing grain in their hands and eating the kernels, Christ denied the charge. He declared them guiltless and established their innocence in the deed, because what they had done was in harmony with the Sabbath commandment. He repelled the charge of the scribes and Pharisees by asserting His own prerogatives as Lord of the Sabbath, casting over the disciples the shield of His own dignity and authority. That authority was His as God in the flesh, in whom the divine and human natures are united without the divine being transformed into the human.
Christ's Lordship and Authority
Christ is Lord of the Sabbath in the fullest sense, for He made the worlds, proclaimed the law at Sinai, and set apart the seventh day as sacred for the worship of angels and people. The Sabbath is therefore an institution He Himself gave and made, and its claims remain binding. It is not merely a Jewish institution, and the seventh day has not been replaced by a separate Christian Sabbath. As Lord of the Sabbath He is the greatest Teacher the world ever knew, sent of God with unmistakable evidence. He kept the Sabbath according to God's law and not according to the distorted rules of religious leaders, so that its observance reflects God's character rather than human selfishness and arbitrariness.
Jesus has authority over the Sabbath and is not subject to the claim of Jewish leaders and dignitaries to judge or direct His work. He denied their right to question or interfere with it, and His claim to be Lord of the Sabbath was part of His declaration of His mission and work. The authority those leaders claimed rested on pride and arrogance, not on the Jewish system, so His words, mission and work could not rightly be condemned by their tribunal. When scribes, Pharisees and Jewish rulers charged the Maker and Lord of the Sabbath with being a Sabbath-breaker and transgressor, they were working blindly as if they had put out their eyes. That course exposes the foolishness, weakness and fallibility of human judgment when men assume jurisdiction to judge and condemn those God is using.
Because Jesus declared Himself Lord over the Sabbath, intense bitterness against the holy law of God does not come from His Spirit, and those who stir up opposition to that law are not animated by Him. The same loss of bearings happens today when men in councils venture to pronounce judgment upon the work of God. This is repeated when people insist on carrying the work in America in their own way, doing the work the enemy prompts as the Pharisees did.
Jesus asserts that as Son of man He is Lord of the Sabbath in the fullest sense, because He made the worlds, proclaimed the law at Sinai, and set apart the seventh day for worship. He said this when His disciples were accused of breaking the Sabbath for rubbing grain in their hands and eating as they passed through the field, exercising the poor man's right to take food to satisfy hunger. He declared them guiltless and innocent, for what they did was in harmony with the Sabbath commandment, and He covered them with the shield of His own dignity and authority as God in the flesh. His claim denies any right of religious leaders to judge or direct His work, exposing the blindness and fallibility of human judgment when men assume jurisdiction to condemn those God is using. The Sabbath He made and gave remains binding, not merely a Jewish institution to be replaced by another day, and opposition to God's holy law is not animated by His Spirit.
Sabbath Incident and Defense
The saying belongs to the occasion when Christ went through a cornfield where ears of corn were plucked, followed by His healing of the man with the withered hand. As they passed through the field the disciples plucked standing grain and ate it, exercising the poor person's right under God's law to take food from a neighbor's field to satisfy hunger. That permission for a hungry person to eat from another's field shows provision for meeting human need rather than treating the field's produce as untouchable property.
Christ and His disciples kept the Sabbath in this setting, and when they were accused of breaking it for rubbing grain in their hands and eating the kernels, Christ denied the charge. He declared them guiltless and established their innocence in the deed, because what they had done was in harmony with the Sabbath commandment. He repelled the charge of the scribes and Pharisees by asserting His own prerogatives as Lord of the Sabbath, casting over the disciples the shield of His own dignity and authority. That authority was His as God in the flesh, in whom the divine and human natures are united without the divine being transformed into the human.
Christ's Lordship and Authority
Christ is Lord of the Sabbath in the fullest sense, for He made the worlds, proclaimed the law at Sinai, and set apart the seventh day as sacred for the worship of angels and people. The Sabbath is therefore an institution He Himself gave and made, and its claims remain binding. It is not merely a Jewish institution, and the seventh day has not been replaced by a separate Christian Sabbath. As Lord of the Sabbath He is the greatest Teacher the world ever knew, sent of God with unmistakable evidence. He kept the Sabbath according to God's law and not according to the distorted rules of religious leaders, so that its observance reflects God's character rather than human selfishness and arbitrariness.
Jesus has authority over the Sabbath and is not subject to the claim of Jewish leaders and dignitaries to judge or direct His work. He denied their right to question or interfere with it, and His claim to be Lord of the Sabbath was part of His declaration of His mission and work. The authority those leaders claimed rested on pride and arrogance, not on the Jewish system, so His words, mission and work could not rightly be condemned by their tribunal. When scribes, Pharisees and Jewish rulers charged the Maker and Lord of the Sabbath with being a Sabbath-breaker and transgressor, they were working blindly as if they had put out their eyes. That course exposes the foolishness, weakness and fallibility of human judgment when men assume jurisdiction to judge and condemn those God is using.
Because Jesus declared Himself Lord over the Sabbath, intense bitterness against the holy law of God does not come from His Spirit, and those who stir up opposition to that law are not animated by Him. The same loss of bearings happens today when men in councils venture to pronounce judgment upon the work of God. This is repeated when people insist on carrying the work in America in their own way, doing the work the enemy prompts as the Pharisees did.