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January 5, 2014

ADULT SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON

HONORING THE SABBATH

MINISTRY INVOCATION

“O God: We give thanks to You for the manifold blessings to us. You did not

have to bless us but You did. We shall remain eternally grateful. Amen.

WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW AND UNDERSTAND

Jesus, Who is Lord of the Sabbath, teaches that acts of mercy and justice

should be practiced at all times.

THE APPLIED FULL GOSPEL DISTINCTIVE

We believe in the indwelling of the Holy Ghost for all believers and that the

Holy Ghost verifies and validates the Believer as part of the Body of Christ.

TEXT:

Background Scripture – Luke 6:1-47

Key Verse – Luke 6:9

Lesson Scripture – Luke 6:1-11 (NKJV)

6 Now it happened on the second Sabbath after the first that He went through the

grainfields. And His disciples plucked the heads of grain and ate them, rubbing them in

their hands. 2

And some of the Pharisees said to them, “Why are you doing what is not

lawful to do on the Sabbath?” 3

But Jesus answering them said, “Have you not even read this, what David did when

he was hungry, he and those who were with him: 4 how he went into the house of God,

took and ate the showbread, and also gave some to those with him, which is not lawful

for any but the priests to eat?” 5 And He said to them, “The Son of Man is also Lord of

the Sabbath.”

6 Now it happened on another Sabbath, also, that He entered the synagogue and taught.

And a man was there whose right hand was withered. 7

So the scribes and Pharisees

watched Him closely, whether He would heal on the Sabbath, that they might find an

accusation against Him. 8 But He knew their thoughts, and said to the man who had the

withered hand, “Arise and stand here.” And he arose and stood. 9

Then Jesus said to them,

“I will ask you one thing: Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life

or to destroy?” 10

And when He had looked around at them all, He said to the man,

“Stretch out your hand.” And he did so, and his hand was restored as whole as the other. 11

But they were filled with rage, and discussed with one another what they might do to

Jesus.

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COMMENTARY

Verse 1.—And it came to pass on the second Sabbath after the first. The

expression accompanying this note of time of St. Luke, “the second Sabbath after

the first,” more literally, “the second-first Sabbath;” has always been a difficulty

with expositors of this Gospel. Of these the simplest and most satisfactory are: (1)

The first Sabbath of each of the seven years which made a sabbatical cycle was

called first, second, third, etc., Sabbath. Thus, the “second-first” Sabbath would

signify the first Sabbath of the second year of the seven years’ cycle. (2) The civil

year of the Jews began in autumn about mid-September to mid-October (month

Tisri), and the ecclesiastical year in spring, about mid-March to mid-April

(month Nisan). Thus there were every year two first Sabbaths—one at the

commencement of the civil year, which would be called “first-first;” the other at

the beginning of the ecclesiastical year, which would be called “second-first.”

And his disciples plucked the ears of corn, and did eat, rubbing them in

their hands. St. Matthew adds here that they “were an hungred.” This they

might well have been in following the Master in his teaching in different places,

even though some of their homes were nigh at hand. They had probably been

out for some hours with Jesus without breaking their fast, and, finding

themselves in a field of ripe corn, took this easy, present means of gratifying a

natural want. The Law expressly permitted them to do this: “When thou comest

into the standing corn of thy neighbor, then thou mayest pluck the ears with

thine hand” (Deut. 23:25).

Verse 2.—And certain of the Pharisees said unto them, Why do ye that

which is not lawful to do on the Sabbath days? It would seem that these

Pharisees came from Jerusalem, and were no doubt privately commissioned to

watch narrowly the acts of the new Teacher who was beginning to attract such

general attention, and who already was openly setting at naught the numberless

additions which the Jewish schools had added to the Law. Round the original

“Sabbath law” of Moses thirty-nine prohibitions had been laid down in the oral

law; round these “thirty-nine” a vast number of smaller rules had grouped

themselves. Amongst these greater and lesser Sabbath restrictions were

prohibitions against “reaping and threshing” Now, plucking ears of corn was

defined to be a kind of “reaping;” and rubbing the ears in the hands a kind of

“threshing” “See,” cried some of these spying Pharisees, “do thy disciples

publicly break the Sabbath, and dost thou not rebuke them?” The Lord’s reply

does not attempt to discuss what was and what was not lawful on the Sabbath,

but in broad terms, he expounded the great doctrine respecting the significance,

limits, and purpose of every law relating to outward acts, even in the event of

that law having been given by God, which was not the case in the present alleged

transgression.

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Verses 3, 4.—And Jesus answering them Said, Have ye not read so much as

this, what David did, when himself was an hungred, and they which were

with him; how he went into the house of God, and did take and eat the

shewbread, and gave also to them that were with him; which it is not lawful to

eat but for the priests alone? Their own loved David, said the new Teacher to his

jealous accusers, scrupled not, when he “was an hungred,” to set at naught the

twofold ordinance of sacrilege and of Sabbath-breaking. David’s visit to the

sanctuary at Nob took place evidently on the Sabbath, as the fresh supply of

shewbread had been apparently just laid out; he must, too, have violated another

rule by his journey on that day. The lesson which Jesus intended to draw from

the example of the great hero-king and the high priest was that no ceremonial

law was to override the general principle of providing for the necessities of the

body. Any Jew who, in the days of Jesus Christ’s earthly ministry, openly, like

the man of the story, broke the Sabbath in the daring way related, would have

been liable to be arrested and condemned to death by stoning.

Verse 5.—And he said unto them, That the Son of man is Lord also of the

Sabbath. The Master closed his reply to the Pharisee inquirers with one of those

short assertions of his awful greatness which puzzled and alarmed his jealous

foes. Who, then, was he, this poor unknown Carpenter of despised and ignorant

Nazareth? He was either a blasphemer too wicked to be allowed to live, or——.

The alternative must have been a very awful thought to some of the nobler

spirits among those Jerusalem learned men. Across their minds must have flitted

not once or twice in that eventful period some anxious questionings as to who

and what was the strange and powerful Being who had appeared m their midst.

Verse 6.—And it came to pass also on another Sabbath, that he entered into

the synagogue and taught: and there was a man whose right hand was

withered. This was the second part of his Sabbath teaching. The first had taken

place in the open country, in one of the corn-fields near the Lake of Gennesaret.

The second was given in a synagogue possibly in the city of Capernaum.

Verse 7.—And the scribes and Pharisees Watched him, whether he would

heal on the Sabbath day; that they might find an accusation against him. The

Pharisee emissaries from the capital were carefully watching him. The Master

was perfectly aware of their presence, and well knew the spirit in which they

listened to his words and marked his acts, and on this Sabbath day He was

evidently determined to let them see clearly what was in His mind respecting the

present state of Jewish religious training.

Verse 8.—But he knew their thoughts, and said to the man which had the

withered hand, Rise up, and stand forth in the midst. And he arose and stood

forth. When He perceived or was informed of the presence of the afflicted

sufferer in the synagogue, who no doubt had come there with a view of seeing

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Jesus and asking His help as a physician, Jesus publicly bade the sufferer to stand

out in a prominent place in the assembly, and then in the hush that followed

proceeded with His public instruction, the poor man with the withered hand

standing before Him.

Verse 9.—Is it lawful on the Sabbath days to do good, or to do evil? to save

life, or to destroy it? The sum and substance of the Master’s teaching here is—

works of love done for the bodies and souls of men never mar or in any way

interfere with the holiness of a day of rest. The Jews in later days used to declare,

perhaps in answer to Jesus Christ’s famous question here, “that in the temple

was there no sabbatism.” Now, the Lord pressed home to those who listened to

His voice the great truth that in all labors of love, of pity, and of kindness, done

anywhere, there was no sabbatism.

Verse 10.—Stretch forth thy hand! It must have sounded a strange command

to the people in the synagogue. How could he stretch out that withered,

powerless limb? But with the command went forth the power. In other words,

“Stretch forth that poor hand of thine; thou canst now, for, lo! the disease is

gone.” And we read that he did so, and as he stretched out the limb, so long

powerless, the man discovered and the people saw that the cure was already

performed.

Verse 11.—And they were filled with madness; and communed one with

another what they might do to Jesus. The storm was already gathering. From

this time we gather from the words that in the minds of others as well as in the

mind of Jesus, the thought of His death was ever present. The thought-leaders of

the Jews—the men whose position was secured as long as the rabbinic teaching

held sway in the hearts of the people, but no longer—from this hour resolved

upon the death of that strange mighty Reformer. He was, said they, an impostor,

a fanatic; one who led men’s minds astray. Had they no doubts, we ask; no

qualms of conscience, no deep searching of heart? Were these great ones of earth

really persuaded that he was a deceiver?

RELATED DISCUSSION TOPICS

CLOSING PRAYER

My God: I am grateful to have found You and kept You in the forefront of my

being. Bless us continually with Your grace and mercy. They represent

bountiful blessings for all of us. Amen.