On Line Bible Study - For the week May 3-9, 2010
Lesson 438
Luke 6: 6On another Sabbath he went into the synagogue and was teaching, and a man was there whose right hand was shriveled. 7The Pharisees and the teachers of the law were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they watched him closely to see if he would heal on the Sabbath. 8But Jesus knew what they were thinking and said to the man with the shriveled hand, "Get up and stand in front of everyone." So he got up and stood there. 9Then Jesus said to them, "I ask you, which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy it?" 10He looked around at them all, and then said to the man, "Stretch out your hand." He did so, and his hand was completely restored. 11 But they were furious and began to discuss with one another what they might do to Jesus.
What is lawful regarding the Sabbath? What constitutes "work"? Scholar Darrell Bock reminds us that "rest" is something people were not to be denied. There has to be time in our lives for rejuvenation, for contemplation.
This passage from Luke is the third - and final - situation in this section. If you recall, we have explored the question of actions appropriate for the disciples. Luke gives us three situations that cover two questions: Why don't your disciples pray and fast? and What is lawful on the Sabbath?
The Pharisees were looking for ways to catch Jesus. The "watching" that is going on here is akin to spying, lying in wait for the expressed purpose of catching someone in wrongdoing. In some ways, the exchange between Jesus and the Pharisees in the passage above sounds a bit like quibbling. We know that Sabbath law would give way to work necessary for saving a life. The physical malady this man in the Synagogue demonstrates does not seem to be at all life-threatening. There is a tradition in the Gospel to the Nazareans that suggests the man with the shriveled hand was a stone mason. While not attested to in the canonical gospels, one could say the man's livelihood was in jeopardy; but even if this were the case, the healing could have been every bit as timely in light of that need had Jesus waited another day.
Are the questions Jesus asks in verse 9 rhetorical, or do they have some punch to them? What is lawful? In some ways this is reminiscent of the question we find in Micah 6:8 - What does the Lord require of us? Is it lawful to do good? to save lives?
I think it could be argued that Jesus broke the Sabbath law - but he did it intentionally. The best-intended rules need to be broken when the stand in the way of life, healing and wholeness. No matter ... the minds of the Pharisees were made up long before Jesus brought healing to this man. They were after him. The way the Gospel writer tells it, nothing - not even life itself - would stop them. It's the classic case of the unstoppable force meeting the immovable object. Jesus would continue to bump up against the immovable "law". As we saw several studies ago, new wine won't work in old wine skins. God, in Christ, was doing something new; perhaps the same is true in our own time.
In our next study we will begin to examine the "Sermon on the Plain".
This passage from Luke is the third - and final - situation in this section. If you recall, we have explored the question of actions appropriate for the disciples. Luke gives us three situations that cover two questions: Why don't your disciples pray and fast? and What is lawful on the Sabbath?
The Pharisees were looking for ways to catch Jesus. The "watching" that is going on here is akin to spying, lying in wait for the expressed purpose of catching someone in wrongdoing. In some ways, the exchange between Jesus and the Pharisees in the passage above sounds a bit like quibbling. We know that Sabbath law would give way to work necessary for saving a life. The physical malady this man in the Synagogue demonstrates does not seem to be at all life-threatening. There is a tradition in the Gospel to the Nazareans that suggests the man with the shriveled hand was a stone mason. While not attested to in the canonical gospels, one could say the man's livelihood was in jeopardy; but even if this were the case, the healing could have been every bit as timely in light of that need had Jesus waited another day.
Are the questions Jesus asks in verse 9 rhetorical, or do they have some punch to them? What is lawful? In some ways this is reminiscent of the question we find in Micah 6:8 - What does the Lord require of us? Is it lawful to do good? to save lives?
I think it could be argued that Jesus broke the Sabbath law - but he did it intentionally. The best-intended rules need to be broken when the stand in the way of life, healing and wholeness. No matter ... the minds of the Pharisees were made up long before Jesus brought healing to this man. They were after him. The way the Gospel writer tells it, nothing - not even life itself - would stop them. It's the classic case of the unstoppable force meeting the immovable object. Jesus would continue to bump up against the immovable "law". As we saw several studies ago, new wine won't work in old wine skins. God, in Christ, was doing something new; perhaps the same is true in our own time.
In our next study we will begin to examine the "Sermon on the Plain".
posted by Mark D at 9:31 AM
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