Luke 6:24-26 English Standard Version Jesus Pronounces Woes 24 “But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation. 25 “Woe to you who are full now, for you shall be hungry. “Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep. 26 “Woe to you, when all people speak well of you, for so their fathers did to the false prophets. These are the "negative" forms of the Beatitudes that we just looked at. Those who try to get their fill and their satisfaction in the here and now will have no reward to look forward to. Those who rely on their own wealth and riches now will have everything taken from them in the end. They will take nothing with them into hell. That is not to say all those with riches are evil, but those who worship and trust in their wealth in place of God cannot be true children of God, for there is only one God and you cannot worship both God and money.
Jesus also pronounces condemnation over those that are pleasure seekers in this life--the Hedonists. They will not find the happiness that they are looking for in this life or the life to come, for only God can fill that God-shaped vacuum in their hearts that they are trying to fill with anything and everything else. Similarly, Jesus says that those who are living it up and laughing and partying now will not be doing so when the final judgment comes. They will have had their fun here, but one day the party will be over and it will be time to meet their Maker, and they will weep. Then Jesus spoke to those who sought the approval of men. Jesus warned us already that if we are seeking the approval of God then the world will not love us because the world does not love God. So then those who are seeking the approval of men like the false prophets of old are in opposition to God and His message. Jesus is not in a popularity contest. It's not about the size of the crowds that follow Him, and He probably knows at this point that all of His followers will eventually abandon Him--even those that were closest to Him that He just chose to be the Twelve. If He were out to please man He would not preach the message of repentance and salvation through Him alone. Luke 6:20-23 English Standard Version The Beatitudes 20 And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said: “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. 21 “Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you shall be satisfied. “Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh. 22 “Blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude you and revile you and spurn your name as evil, on account of the Son of Man! 23 Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for so their fathers did to the prophets. Jesus' identity has been established by the angelic messengers, His Father speaking from heaven, His overcoming temptation, and the signs and wonders that He has performed (and all the prophecies that His birth and ministry have fulfilled to this point).
This is Luke's very condensed form of the Beatitudes that we see in Matthew 5, and it reads slightly different, though the words ring with pretty much the same message. In Matthew 5 we read instead, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." "Poor" or "Poor in spirit" here is not referring to one's economic status or the size of your bank account or how much money you carry around in your wallet or change purse or money bag. It is Jesus' pointing them to their spiritual bank account. Remember that he's just had conversations with the self-righteous Pharisees who think they are not like the spiritually bankrupt "sinners and tax collectors" that Jesus has been hanging out with. Jesus is saying once again that those that realize they are sick and need a doctor are blessed. They will come to God knowing they bring Him nothing other than their broken and contrite heart, and they will not be turned away and will be blessed for how they humbly approach God. The will be counted among those who inherit the kingdom of God (Jesus will talk much more about the "kingdom of God" or the "kingdom of heaven" as we continue). Again, this second Beatitude is about a spiritual principle, but it's not clear that it is unless we compare it to Matthew's version that says, "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied." We aren't simply talking about those with hungry bellies and saying everyone who is hungry will get enough food to eat. We know that's not true as Jesus will tell us in Scripture that we will always have the poor among us. We do have compassion on the poor and the hungry and the homeless, but this verse is pointing us towards those who hunger and thirst for a relationship with God and that deeply desire to have the righteousness that can only be imputed onto us by Him. Jesus says that when we desire to once again be made in His image and desire His righteousness to fill us that we will be filled to overflowing. This is not the self-righteousness of the Pharisees, but the work of the Holy Spirit living in and through us. This next one is very similar in both accounts. Those who mourn will be comforted and their weeping will be turned into gladness. What is that about? What is it that brings us sorrow in this life that we will forget about in the life to come and we will exchange for all the blessings that the Lord has for us? This probably partially points to us mourning and grieving over our sin and how it has offended and hurt God and broken our relationship with Him, and we can be sure that He will comfort us as He has taken our sin away and made it as far as the east is from the west and will remember it no more--it will never be counted or held against us. There are also many other things that we will "lose" in this life that will make us weep, specifically we will give up jobs, homes, friends and family members because we love Jesus supremely and must follow Him in obedience wherever He leads--some will even lose their physical lives, but no one can actually take your life because you are eternal and you are simply transported to heaven if you belong to God, "To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord." So then our time of trial and misery here living as aliens and ambassadors in a nation that is many times hostile towards us is only temporary, but the cost is worth it when compared to the everlasting joy that will be ours when we are united with Jesus, or Beloved, forever and ever. He will reign in perfect righteousness and justice will roll off His shoulders like His royal robes. Of His kingdom and dominion there will be no end, and He shall reign forever and ever. Philippians 3:7-11 English Standard Version 7 But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith-- 10 that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead. I've already talked a bit about the next one (as did Paul in the passage I quoted from Philippians 3:7-11). You will be blessed even though all men speak all kind of evil against you and hate you and do the same kinds of things to you that they did (or tried to do) to Jesus and the prophets of the Old Testament. The world has always hated God and his messengers (see the Parable of the Tenants). The world lives in rebellion to its King and when He sends His envoys they are abused, mistreated, and even killed as a message to the King of the rebellion. The King eventually would send His own Son saying "Surely they will listen to Him" (this is the Father sending Jesus to us). But they would do the same to Jesus as they had done to the others and thinks that somehow if they kill the Blessed One, that they would somehow be able to steal His blessing and inheritance. That's not how it works. Instead the King and all His wrath will be poured out on those who are wicked. One day justice will be done and those who have been the target of the world's abuse and mistreatment for the sake of the gospel will be vindicated and rewarded (and we will throw those rewards at the feet of Jesus to show how worthy He is) and those who have lived in rebellion to the King and His gospel message will be judged in an eternity of hellfire not only because their sin debt already is infinite in measure, but because they will never stop sinning and hating God and living in rebellion to Him even when they are in hell--they will never repent. There are no second chances. "It is appointed man once to die, and after that the judgment." There are no after-death conversions. We will forever remain in whatever state we were in when we died. None of these things sound like things we would rejoice or be happy over. Jesus will teach more on most of these issues throughout Him ministry, but this would be intriguing to people as this was the exact opposite of what they expected to hear. They imagined God's favor and blessing would look like riches and full bellies and a life free of trouble (the false gospel that we hear so much now called "the prosperity gospel" was pretty much taught by the Pharisees and was a false gospel based on God's blessings being in proportion to your own self-righteousness. If you did good things, God would bless you. If you did bad things, God would punish you). This doesn't make any sense to the casual observer, but to those of us who have lived through it, it makes complete sense that we know God more deeply as we go through the hard times and lean on Him even more. How we respond in the "bad" times (which is still for our good and His glory) speaks much louder to the world about how genuine our faith us. The devil said of Job that he only loved God because God blessed him so greatly, but if the LORD would take away His blessing and take away Job's health and comfort, the devil was sure that Job would curse God. It didn't happen. Job wasn't sure why it was happening, but Job never really questioned the goodness of God. Job 1:21 English Standard Version 21 And he said, “Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.” I encourage you all to read the book of Job at some point if you haven't already. It shows us that these Beatitudes are true and were true in the Old Testament. This is not something new for us starting here in the Gospels. May we also love God so supremely that even if we lose everything else around us that we will not stop loving Him or wanting all that He has to offer us in Himself and the blessings that are not merely for this life, but more importantly for eternity to come, and may we also be about telling others how they too can experience God's blessing and favor forever and ever (though it may not mean living what they think is their "best life now"). Luke 6:17-19 English Standard Version Jesus Ministers to a Great Multitude 17 And he came down with them and stood on a level place, with a great crowd of his disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea and Jerusalem and the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon, 18 who came to hear him and to be healed of their diseases. And those who were troubled with unclean spirits were cured. 19 And all the crowd sought to touch him, for power came out from him and healed them all. Immediately after choosing the Twelve (I will try to stick with this as much as I can, since it's going to avoid some of the confusion that we talked about last time about the term "apostle." Notice there is a great crowd of "disciples" (followers) here from all of the twelve tribes of Israel as well as the surrounding Gentile areas (see the attached map which shows Tyre and Sidon are parts of Phoenicia). These Gentile communities were not looked on favorably by the Jews, and Luke is intentionally pointing out that Jesus accepted disciples from among the Gentile nations from the very beginning of Him ministry.
These followers were coming for healing of their diseases and those who were demonized. Note that Luke again uses the term "unclean spirit" and uses the same word "cured" to emphasize the spiritual healing that took place that was the same word as those who were healed from physical diseases and disabilities. Jesus was there to heal not only the body, but more importantly, the soul. Notice again that they only understood the power of healing to be in Jesus' physical touch, so they came to His physical location hoping for them to reach out and touch Him so they would be healed. The rest of this chapter in Luke is going to be what we'd call The Sermon on the Mount from Matthew 5-7. I've also emphasized that so far all the people have come to Jesus for Him to touch them because we'll see something different happen in the beginning of the next chapter (Luke 7). So, pay attention to how Jesus even says He can do greater miracles as the faith of the people increases (it's all about them recognizing the source of the healing and giving glory to God). Luke 6:12-16 English Standard Version The Twelve Apostles 12 In these days he went out to the mountain to pray, and all night he continued in prayer to God. 13 And when day came, he called his disciples and chose from them twelve, whom he named apostles: 14 Simon, whom he named Peter, and Andrew his brother, and James and John, and Philip, and Bartholomew, 15 and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon who was called the Zealot, 16 and Judas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor. Some preliminaries before we get started on the passage today. First when comparing lists of the Twelve (the 12 apostles), why are there different names in some of the lists? They do all record the same twelve men, but nearly everyone at that time had both Jewish names and Greek names. We are more likely to see the Greek names of the disciples here in the Luke since Luke is writing to a Gentile audience. Usually the two versions of the name have the same or similar meanings in both languages. In other cases, someone had a nickname--usually because of some character trait that was so pronounced that it was how everyone knew them (Barnabas, the companion of Paul, for example, means "Encourager." His given name was "Joseph," but we never call him that). In rare cases, you'll also see different translators translate names differently (Simon vs. Simeon or vice-versa). Again, don't worry about it--we're talking about the same 12 men.
So, now that we have that covered, why are these 12 called apostles? What makes an "apostle" so different than an ordinary disciple? Can there be modern-day apostles? I think we've talked about that last one already when we talked about the list of spiritual gifts in several of Paul's epistles, but we'll answer that question quickly today for those that haven't had the benefit of being here for all the articles that I've written as I know many of you joined somewhere along the way. The word literally means, "one sent forth" (like a diplomatic envoy or ambassador) and is comprised of two Greek words that mean "from" and "to send," so it is someone from somewhere else sent to a place for a specific purpose and usually with a specific message. In some generic sense, that's all of us because of The Great Commission, but Jesus would train, equip, and send out these specific Twelve on mission for Him (we'll see Jesus do this later). We see this word used to describe Jesus Himself as the Apostle with a capital "A" that was sent from the Father (see Hebrews 3:1) and it was used of Paul and sometimes some of his companions, though we know that Paul was directly commissioned by Christ to be an "apostle to the Gentiles." Much of the discussion about the word "apostle" in Scripture revolves around the choosing of someone to replace Judas Iscariot (who we see in this passage called "a traitor" to tip us off to keep an eye on him) and if those qualifications spoken by Peter in Acts 1:22 are inherently part of the definition of an "apostle" or not. Specifically, Peter says that the Twelve, then the Eleven after Judas Iscariot's death, were with Jesus from the very beginning of His teaching (taught by Him for three years could be another way to look at this so that Paul would meet this qualification) and saw the resurrected Christ, "Beginning from the baptism of John, unto that same day that he was taken up from us, must one be ordained to be a witness with us of his resurrection." (again these were the qualifications for choosing someone to replace Judas, but it may be too much to impose these qualifications on what it means to be an "apostle." As I mentioned before, being an "apostle" is one of the spiritual gifts in some of the lists of spiritual gifts in the New Testament, but it's not there in others. Some argue this means that the gift ceased after a time, or that those who were eligible to be called apostles all died off after a certain generation. Others argue that the lists are just different because they are being written to different audiences, but the same Sprit that lives within all believers is able to work in every way now that He was able to work then and can manifest Himself in any of the spiritual gifts listed in the Bible (Old or New Testament) at any time that He wishes and that we do still have modern day apostles (though often this is a label/title given to someone in church leadership--for example, the Roman Catholic Church believes that that Pope is their modern-day apostle and that he has been given special gifts to lead and instruct the Church, yet we don't usually see the Pope "sent out" on mission to all the world nor do we see most of the denominations that have leaders wearing the title of "Apostle" being "sent out" on mission, but we clearly see Jesus sending these men out on mission into all the world in The Great Commission and in other places where He sends them out. Personally, I lean more towards the second group of people that believe that Acts 1:22 is something descriptive of what the Eleven did and not prescriptive of what the Church today should do. Otherwise it is simply a title that can be bestowed on someone by vote of committee, and what makes someone worthy of bestowing this title upon someone? We don't see any evidence for that biblically. I think the arguments of cessationists (that certain spiritual gifts simply ceased to exist) are specious because they don't base their argument on any Scripture and we see that many of these gifts reappear in the end times in the book of Revelation and they have to make an argument why they "disappear" and then "reappear." Those arguments take the focus off of God the Holy Spirit's position as one of the persons of the Godhead and try to put external constraints on Him that we cannot put onto God, namely that somehow God must operate differently in different times, yet we know God exists outside of time and space because He is eternal and everywhere at all times. So, I say that God will work in a way that is consistent with His nature that He has revealed to us in Scripture and He can do that wherever and whenever He wants to, including today. If God wanted to commission modern-day apostles in this day and time, He most certainly could. Notice that I am intentionally avoiding the argument about if those who call themselves apostles today are genuine or not--Paul argues that point well enough in 1 Corinthians when he talks about those who use the term "apostle" as a title to try to gain credibility to their message. I'd like to return to the text now. We see that there were thousands of people that would be following Jesus that would call themselves His disciples (they heard Jesus' public teachings that were given to all the crowds), but there were times that Jesus pulled these twelve men aside and explained the meanings of the parables to them, or gave them private lessons that He did not give to the crowds at large. They were with Him every day it seems and saw Jesus in the good times and the bad times. They gave up everything to follow Him as Peter would say at one point. So, for our purposes at this time, that is a distinction that we need to make. While other "disciples" would come and go and wore that label on their own (they were "followers" of Jesus) only these Twelve were called out by Jesus to follow Him everywhere that He went, no matter the cost and to learn everything that He had to teach them so that they could go out and teach others these same things--people that lived near them, and people who lived far away. Judas Iscariot was included in this group and at times went out and preached the towns and villages (when Jesus sent out the 70 or 72, depending on your translation), but he was never REALLY committed to Jesus' person and message. Some will argue that he thought Jesus would be a political Messiah that would overthrow Rome and he wanted to be close to Jesus for political and financial advantage. Whatever Judas Iscariot's motives, Jesus is the one that called him out and chose him for the specific purpose that Jesus knew that this would be the man who would betray Him. Yet Jesus invested the same amount of teaching and time into Judas that He did in any of the other apostles. Jesus also knew that James would quickly die after His resurrection and his earthly ministry would be short-lived, but that didn't stop Jesus from investing in James either. We need to stop trying to ask if people are "worth it" because if anyone wasn't "worth it" it was the "son of perdition" that Jesus knew would betray Him and was destined to let Satan take control of him and we believe from what Scripture says that Judas died remorseful, but unrepentant and never turning to the blood of Jesus for forgiveness for his sins and that he will suffer an eternity of separation from the blessings of God that come through Jesus. Jesus knew that from the beginning, and yet, He still chose Judas. Jesus also knew how hard-headed these men would be and after three years, they wouldn't get it--not until after the Resurrection, and mostly when the Holy Spirit came on them with power at Pentecost to speak the Word of God with boldness (the Spirit also opened the eyes and ears and hearts and minds of those who were listening). There would be great moments of clarity followed by some low points like when Jesus would tell Peter, "Get behind me, Satan." (For Satan was using Peter's words to tempt Jesus). There is nothing inherently great among these men that would make Jesus choose them. If we go that route, Judas was probably the most qualified. He was from Judea where he would be exposed to more of the Bible, he was wealthy and seemed to know how to handle money (they made him the treasurer) and he seemed to be connected socially and politically. No, Jesus chose these men because of the great message He was going to give to them that they would take to all the world. So then, my question to you today is have you too been taught by Jesus through His Word and been sent out on mission by Him? Does that mean that you too are an apostle (with a lower-case "a")? Aren't we all His diplomatic envoys and ambassadors? Let's not idolize and sensationalize this title to in some way mean that someone is a super-Christian. However, you do have the same Spirit within you if you are a believer that was poured out on these men (and the apostle Paul). You can speak with boldness and authority when you speak the Word of God. You know the truth of His teaching and His resurrection as it is evidenced in your changed life. That doesn't mean that you have physically seen the resurrected Christ like eleven of these twelve did (Judas Iscariot killed himself the night that Jesus was arrested), but people should be able to see Jesus and the power of His resurrection at work inside of you. I personally don't go around wearing the title of "apostle," but I do tell others that I am an ambassador of the King and His Kingdom, which is a very similar title. I live on mission not only to proclaim His message, but to promote His culture--to bring His light to the darkness and to help those who are citizens of the kingdom of this world transfer their citizenship to the kingdom of the Son of God and of His marvelous light. Yes, we have all been sent out on mission by God, and we all have access to His teachings now that we can study for as many years as we need to and we know through the New Covenant in the book of Jeremiah that God Himself will be our Teacher (the Holy Spirit). We go out on mission and with purpose to make His name great and to bring Him glory through showing and telling the gospel of Jesus Christ to the whole world, and it is not because of anything we are or have done that He chose us, but for His own good pleasure that He chose us (just like with these men) and bring Him even more glory--for it is obvious when He chooses to use vessels such as us that He is doing the work in and through us since we are clearly unable to do these things in ourselves or by our own strength or will. "To God be the glory, great things He hath done" and "Great things He hath taught us, great things He hath done." Luke 6:6-11 English Standard Version A Man with a Withered Hand 6 On another Sabbath, he entered the synagogue and was teaching, and a man was there whose right hand was withered. 7 And the scribes and the Pharisees watched him, to see whether he would heal on the Sabbath, so that they might find a reason to accuse him. 8 But he knew their thoughts, and he said to the man with the withered hand, “Come and stand here.” And he rose and stood there. 9 And Jesus said to them, “I ask you, is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to destroy it?” 10 And after looking around at them all he said to him, “Stretch out your hand.” And he did so, and his hand was restored. 11 But they were filled with fury and discussed with one another what they might do to Jesus. As mentioned last time, we will now see the Sabbath become central in Jesus' ministry. He will go about preaching and teaching every day of the week, but He will come to the synagogues and teach there on the Sabbath wherever they will invite Him to speak, and the Pharisees will be watching and waiting, even trying to set Jesus up.
This is just such a time where they intentionally brought a man with a withered hand to the synagogue that Jesus would be teaching in to see if Jesus would heal the man on the Sabbath (a violation of the Law according to them, as Jesus would be practicing medicine on the Sabbath, and that was "work"). Jesus again proves that He is the Lord and that He knows their thoughts and exposes them and their wrong thinking. He asks the man to come up front so that everyone can see what would happen and no one would miss it. If this man was to be made an example of, then Jesus was going to make sure that everyone in the synagogue saw what happened. Then Jesus turned to the Pharisees and asked them if it was lawful to do good on the Sabbath. Ah, now that gets at the heart of the issue from last time as well. The Sabbath and the Law in general are about God's nature and character by which we define what is "good," therefore it should always be okay to do "good" (that which is in alignment with the nature and character of God) on the Sabbath. The Pharisees understand that is now they who are trapped and not Jesus. They cannot say that it is wrong to do good and heal this man because withholding good from someone is evil. (see James 4:17, which the Pharisees understood the principle of, even though they didn't have this verse of Scripture yet). They also could not say that it was always okay to do good on the Sabbath, because then Jesus would say, "Good, we are in agreement." So, like often when Jesus backs them into a corner, they chose to simply say nothing. Jesus waits long enough for their non-response to be a response of its own and for the Pharisees to be exposed in front of all who were there. Jesus then simply asks the man to stretch out his hand and show everyone there that his withered hand had been healed. The LORD would get the credit for this healing, but the Pharisees were irate that Jesus embarrassed them, and on their own home-turf so to speak (in the synagogue), so they began plotting what thy might do to Jesus. We should not miss the parallel between how the Pharisees are acting and what it says about the devil in Luke 4:13, "And when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from him until an opportune time." Both the devil and the Pharisees (who Jesus will be clear are doing the work of the devil later) left these encounters/temptations smarting, but they did not give up and simply left Jesus until another opportunity presented itself (which Jesus would be just as ready for). The will not go away and God is going to use these men to eventually accomplish His good purposes of putting Jesus to death, but Jesus will control the time and place of when and where that happens. Luke 6:1-5 English Standard Version Jesus Is Lord of the Sabbath 6 On a Sabbath, while he was going through the grainfields, his disciples plucked and ate some heads of grain, rubbing them in their hands. 2 But some of the Pharisees said, “Why are you doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath?” 3 And Jesus answered them, “Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him: 4 how he entered the house of God and took and ate the bread of the Presence, which is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to those with him?” 5 And he said to them, “The Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.” As we're discussing right now in the Gospel Foundations lessons that I'm recording (reference Volume 4, Session 3: God's Uncompromising Judgment), and as we've discussed when we talked about the Law in our blogs, the Sabbath is a big deal to the LORD. It was one of the ways in which the people of the LORD identified with the LORD, but it was also a way to give tribute to Him and show how much He was worth to them as they were willing to give one day a week to Him (though the time was not even theirs to give, but rather, everything we have already belongs to Him, including the time that He gives to us--so this too is something we are telling people when we observe the Sabbath).
This passage is not about which day that the Sabbath is or isn't--clearly this passage means to say that it was on the seventh day and even the Gentile audience that Luke was writing to understood that and didn't need it explained to them. We're still in the portion of the book of Luke where we see the Pharisees following Jesus around waiting for Him or His disciples to make a mistake, and there is nothing they'd like to catch Jesus in more than breaking the Sabbath, for that is what the LORD sent the people in Exile over and the people now take it super-seriously so as to never be taken into Exile like that again. If they can catch Jesus teaching that it's okay to break the Sabbath, then they will have caught Him, or even if they catch His disciples and He seems to be permissive of their actions, then they have caught Him (or so they think). For this reason, Jesus is going to intentionally have confrontations with the Pharisees on the Sabbath, many times because they think they are setting Him up, but He knows exactly what's going on, and other times because He's doing it just to make a point to them. They're so concerned about not breaking their laws that they've made regarding keeping the Sabbath (they weren't exactly sure what it meant to work on the Sabbath, so they made many restrictive rules to make sure that no one did work according to their definitions) that they ignored the ignored the other laws God had given them about how to treat their brothers every hour of every day, no matter if it was the Sabbath or not. In this case, the disciples are walking alongside a grainfield and picking heads of grain from the part of the field that was along the road and eating them (perfectly legal, and in fact the farmers were prevented from harvesting this area of their fields so that travelers who were hungry could do exactly as the disciples were doing right now). To the Pharisees this was equivalent to the disciples harvesting the grain and preparing it to eat (as if they were cooking something) and they had broken multiple rules the Pharisees had made regarding the Sabbath just by plucking the grain, rubbing it in their hands to separate the kernels of grain from the chaff, and blowing the chaff away so they could eat just the good grain. When the Pharisees confronted them about this, Jesus reminds them of another time in Scripture where the Law was clearly broken to take care of David and his men when they were hungry. It seems that the LORD is willing to forgive such transgressions on account that they needed to do what they needed to do in order to stay alive, and God did not punish David or his men for violating the sanctuary to hide when they were being hunted, nor did He punish the priest for giving them the Showbread that was only meant for the priests to eat (imagine if we fed someone who was hungry from our Communion Table even though that bread and wine are holy and you get the idea) of what Jesus is referencing here--it is always good to do good on the Sabbath). Then comes the kicker for the Pharisees. Jesus as Creator of all things and Judge of the Living and the Dead is the one that the Sabbath belongs to (He created and instituted it), therefore, He is the only one that decides if it has been broken or not, as breaking the Sabbath is breaking God's Law and is a violation of His nature and character. There is something special that day teaches us about God, but if we are doing the very things that God would do if He were here to do them (what Jesus did in the flesh), then how are we breaking the Sabbath, because He is the one who is Lord of the Sabbath. Now doesn't that mess things up for the Pharisees who thought they were the ones who controlled the rules regarding the Sabbath and what it meant to keep or break the Sabbath. They turned it into something about them and their rules, but Jesus points us back to God (and to Himself) to say that it's something about Him and reminding ourselves that He is in control and we are not. As far as Jesus was concerned, the disciples were not guilty and that was the final word on the matter as far as if He would pass judgment on them or not, however, that's not the last we will hear from the Pharisees on this matter as they will escalate the situation to try to trick Jesus into breaking the Sabbath, not understanding what He's said that He can't break the Sabbath because the Sabbath is subservient to Him, not the other way around, for He created it, and He as Creator is the one that defines it parameters and purposes. This is not an argument that is going away. Luke 5:33-39 English Standard Version A Question About Fasting 33 And they said to him, “The disciples of John fast often and offer prayers, and so do the disciples of the Pharisees, but yours eat and drink.” 34 And Jesus said to them, “Can you make wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? 35 The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast in those days.” 36 He also told them a parable: “No one tears a piece from a new garment and puts it on an old garment. If he does, he will tear the new, and the piece from the new will not match the old. 37 And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the new wine will burst the skins and it will be spilled, and the skins will be destroyed. 38 But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins. 39 And no one after drinking old wine desires new, for he says, ‘The old is good.’” To know who the "they" are in this passage, we'd have to look back at yesterday's blog. It's likely a reference to the Pharisees who had come all the way to Capernaum to examine and test Jesus (and His disciples). Last time we saw they tried to ask the disciples why Jesus was eating with "sinners" and tax collectors, but Jesus answered them, so now it sees like they are in a direct back-and-forth with Jesus since they are talking Him about "John's disciples" and "Your disciples." While the message of repentance that Jesus preached was similar to that of John the Baptist, and we'll see many of the words of confrontation with the Pharisees are the same, Jesus did not instruct His disciples to behave in quite the same way, and of course we don't see anywhere where John went a round performing miracles and signs (healing, casting out demons, etc).
Jesus uses the picture of a wedding banquet, which was a feast and a time to celebrate. You were never to come to the wedding looking sad or like you were fasting. The purpose of the fasting and prayer the John taught his disciples was to get them ready for Jesus, but now that Jesus is here, He is the Bridegroom and the disciples are part of the Church, the Bride of Christ, and there is no reason for them to be sad in the midst of the Bridegroom, but Jesus tells them that there will be a day in which He will be taken away and they will be sad (probably speaking both of His death and internment as well as His return to the Father and the time we are in right now awaiting His return). During these times where we feel like we are separated from Him, it is appropriate to fast and pray and long for our reunion, yet we also need to be careful that we don't send the wrong message to the world as Christ is ever-present with us right now through the Holy Spirit, even though we may not be able to see Him and touch Him at this moment in time like the disciples could. Jesus then goes to the heart of the Pharisee's question (what He knew they meant to ask about) which is if Jesus was teaching come kind of altogether new religion or if this is just some dressed-up form of Judaism (which they'd probably have been okay with). Jesus told them that this was indeed "new wine" (a new covenant) and that the old wineskin of Judaism as they knew it could not contain the new wine...for if you put new wine in old wineskins that have already stretched and worn, the new wine will try to make the wineskins expand and grow even more and they cannot, so they will break and burst and the wineskins and wine will both be ruined (this is the problem with the Judaizers that we see in Galatians and other epistles we've studied already). This is not just Judaism plus Jesus. So Jesus says that there needs to be both new wine (a new Spirit) and new wineskins (a new heart to hold that new Spirit) because the old man and the old religious system cannot hold or contain the Spirit that Jesus wants to put within us. He is going to make all things new, and we see this from the promises of the new covenant in the book of Jeremiah and the book of Ezekiel. God will put His Spirit in His people and write His Law on their hearts, but He is also going to take away their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh. The Pharisees would not be very happy with this analogy if they understood it. Jesus is telling them their system is old and worn out and that it is also going to keep them from accepting the gospel that He is proclaiming to them because those who drink old wine know that it improves with age and tastes better than new wine, and these Pharisees will like their "old wine" better than the "new wine" of the New Covenant that Jesus is offering. He already knows that they will reject Him and His message and is telling them so right now. They came there not to try to believe, but to find errors and poke holes in Jesus' teaching and to try to turn people away from believing in Him. Jesus is not fooled one bit and while He will redeem a select few from among the Pharisees (Nicodemus, Joseph of Arimathea, and Saul of Tarsus who we know as the Apostle Paul), as far as we know none of the rest of the Pharisees or Sanhedrin at large came to faith in Jesus. |
Daniel WestfallI will mostly use this space for recording my "journal" from my daily devotions as I hope to encourage others to read the Bible along with me and to leave a legacy for others. Archives
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