seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Luke 6:1 One Sabbath Jesus was going through the grainfields, and his disciples began to pick some heads of grain, rub them in their hands and eat the kernels. 2 Some of the Pharisees asked, “Why are you doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?”
3 Jesus answered them, “Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? 4 He entered the house of God, and taking the consecrated bread, he ate what is lawful only for priests to eat. And he also gave some to his companions.” 5 Then Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”
6 On another Sabbath he went into the synagogue and was teaching, and a man was there whose right hand was shriveled. 7 The 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. 8 But 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.
9 Then 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?”
10 He 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 the Pharisees and the teachers of the law were furious and began to discuss with one another what they might do to Jesus.
12 One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God. 13 When morning came, he called his disciples to him and chose twelve of them, whom he also designated apostles: 14 Simon (whom he named Peter), his brother Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, 15 Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Simon who was called the Zealot, 16 Judas son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.
17 He went down with them and stood on a level place. A large crowd of his disciples was there and a great number of people from all over Judea, from Jerusalem, and from the coastal region around Tyre and Sidon, 18 who had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases. Those troubled by impure spirits were cured, 19 and the people all tried to touch him, because power was coming from him and healing them all.
20 Looking at his disciples, he said:
“Blessed are you who are poor,
for yours is the kingdom of God.
21 Blessed are you who hunger now,
for you will be satisfied.
Blessed are you who weep now,
for you will laugh.
22 Blessed are you when people hate you,
when they exclude you and insult you
and reject your name as evil,
because of the Son of Man.
for yours is the kingdom of God.
21 Blessed are you who hunger now,
for you will be satisfied.
Blessed are you who weep now,
for you will laugh.
22 Blessed are you when people hate you,
when they exclude you and insult you
and reject your name as evil,
because of the Son of Man.
23 “Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For that is how their ancestors treated the prophets.
24 “But woe to you who are rich,
for you have already received your comfort.
25 Woe to you who are well fed now,
for you will go hungry.
Woe to you who laugh now,
for you will mourn and weep.
26 Woe to you when everyone speaks well of you,
for that is how their ancestors treated the false prophets.
for you have already received your comfort.
25 Woe to you who are well fed now,
for you will go hungry.
Woe to you who laugh now,
for you will mourn and weep.
26 Woe to you when everyone speaks well of you,
for that is how their ancestors treated the false prophets.
27 “But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. 29 If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn to them the other also. If someone takes your coat, do not withhold your shirt from them. 30 Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. 31 Do to others as you would have them do to you.
32 “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. 33 And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that. 34 And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, expecting to be repaid in full. 35 But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. 36 Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.
37 “Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. 38 Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”
39 He also told them this parable: “Can the blind lead the blind? Will they not both fall into a pit? 40 The student is not above the teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like their teacher.
41 “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? 42 How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when you yourself fail to see the plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.
43 “No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. 44 Each tree is recognized by its own fruit. People do not pick figs from thornbushes, or grapes from briers. 45 A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.
46 “Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say? 47 As for everyone who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice, I will show you what they are like. 48 They are like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built. 49 But the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete.”
This is from the blueletterbible.com site.
Why are you doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath? The problem was with the day on which they did it. The Rabbis made an elaborate list of "do" and "don't" items relevant to the Sabbath and this violated one of the items on this list.
When the disciples did what they did, in the eyes of the religious leaders they were guilty of reaping, threshing, winnowing, and preparing food. Four violations of the Sabbath in one mouthful!
This approach to the Sabbath continues today among Orthodox Jews. In early 1992, tenants let three apartments in an Orthodox neighborhood in Israel burn to the ground while they asked a rabbi whether a telephone call to the fire department on the Sabbath would violate Jewish law. Observant Jews are forbidden to use the phone on the Sabbath, because doing so would break an electrical current, which is considered a form of work. In the half-hour it took the rabbi to decide "yes," the fire spread to two neighboring apartments.
The Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath: The second principle is even more dramatic. Jesus declares that He is the Lord of the Sabbath, and the Lord of the Sabbath was not offended by His disciple's actions, then these religious leaders should not have been offended.
Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy? In His question to the religious leaders, Jesus emphasizes the truth about the Sabbath. There is never a wrong day to do something truly good.
He went out to the mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God: Jesus was about to choose His disciples. In one sense, there was nothing in Jesus' three years of ministry before the cross more important than this. These were the men who would carry on what He had done, and without them, the work of Jesus would never extend through the whole world. No wonder Jesus gave this an entire night of prayer.
From them He chose twelve whom He also named apostles: From among the group of His followers (the larger group of disciples), He picked twelve to be apostles.
What is an apostle? The idea behind the ancient Greek word for apostle is "ambassador." It describes someone who represents another, and has a message from their sender. Jesus was an apostle in this sense according to Hebrews 3:1.
He chose twelve: Why did Jesus choose twelve apostles? Because this is the foundation of the new chosen people, and as Israel had twelve tribes, Jesus would have twelve apostles.
A great multitude of people from all Judea and Jerusalem, and from the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon: People come from great distances to be healed and touched by Jesus, even from Gentile cities like Tyre and Sidon.
Jesus not only had the power of God in Him; the power went out from Him and healed them all. Many of us want the power of God in us to help us. But how many really long for the power of God to go out from us to touch a needy world?
This sermon is often, and properly, referred to as the "'Agenda of God's Kingdom." It does not deal with salvation so much, but lays out for the disciple and the potential disciple how having Jesus as King translate into how you live every day.
But woe to you who are rich … Woe to you who are full: We should right feel bad for people who do not sense their own need of God. We won't come to Him the way we should until we know we are poor, hungry, and needing comfort.
Tragically, many won't come to Jesus until their lives are falling apart around them. No wonder Jesus felt bad for people who would never come to Him except under those kind of circumstances.
For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you: In addition, Jesus does not prohibit judgment of others. He only requires that our judgment be completely fair, and that we only judge others by a standard we would also like to be judged by.
Most of our judgment in regard to others is wrong, not because we are judging according to a standard, but because we are being hypocritical in the application of that standard. We ignore it in our own lives.
When I was a kid.... my Sunday School class took a field trip to see "King of Kings". Oh that actor who played Jesus had the bluest eyes. They were just dreamy. His hair was so shiny.... His aura so bright..... I was going to the movies.... and it wasn't with my family.... my sister and baby brother wouldn't be there bugging me.... I was so excited.... I remember so much of that movie. Hollywood set the scene.... Jesus was walking down the hillside.... adoring crowds were there..... adoring Him..... everyone hung on every word He said..... oh what a movie.
The crowds Jesus was gathering were huge. I guess one way to describe what was going on would be to compare the crowds to the crowds at a football game.... everywhere Jesus went.... crowds as big as a crowd to fill RFK Stadium would gather. The Romans weren't crazy about crowds gathering. Jesus wasn't applying for a permit. Jesus wasn't renting the local meeting hall. These people were gathering around Him everywhere. Wanna know where Jesus is? Look for the crowd... they would know. The Phairsees and the teachers of the law didn't like all those people meeting. There were laws.... those people had to have a permit.
I don't know how many sermons I have watched on TV about "pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap". I know.... a lot of people are thinking of their bank accounts.... their standing among other humans.... their health, wealth, and safety will be enhanced..... everything is beautiful...... THAT'S NOT ALL IT SAYS..... It says you'll get according to what you give.... in other words.... if an ignorant human goes around bragging about how good he is.... giving a teaspoon of kindness here and a teaspoon of kindness there..... but in between he evicts a family, runs the gleaners from the field, and demands babies be thrashed...... then the guy is going to get two teaspoons of kindness.... and then well..... God isn't going to be thrilled. The preacher who taught this hypocrite will also get a couple teaspoons of kindness as well..... and some..... and God is not going to be thrilled.
Jesus had lots and lots and lots and lots of disciples. They followed Him everywhere. Some of them had been disciples of John the Baptist.... who just switched over to following Jesus because John gave them the heads up. Out of those disciples.... Jesus chose twelve men to be the Apostles. Jesus knew His time on earth was short. He had to delegate.... He had to set up a ministry. His Father started out with twelve tribes.... so He chose twelve disciples to receive more training. Jesus was setting up for the future.... these twelve would have to do.... one of them was not like the others..... one of them was a traitor.
Jesus had to teach those twelve ignorant humans to be above the crowd..... Jesus had to teach those twelve how to organize and vitalize the Christian Church. He was expecting them to be "like Christ"...... and they weren't supposed to work for the "pressed down, shaken together and running over, poured in their laps"..... they were supposed to work because Christ asked them to do it..... all the ignorant humans in the world were counting on them.... descendants of Jacob [Israel] as well as the Gentiles..... were counting on them.
