Luke 6:6-11 - Obeying God over others

Scripture:

 

Luke 6:6-11

6 On another Sabbath He entered the synagogue and was teaching; and there was a man there whose right hand was withered.

7 The scribes and the Pharisees were watching Him closely to see if He healed on the Sabbath, so that they might find reason to accuse Him.

8 But He knew what they were thinking, and He said to the man with the withered hand, "Get up and come forward!" And he got up and came forward.

9 And Jesus said to them, "I ask you, is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the Sabbath, to save a life or to destroy it?"

10 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 themselves were filled with rage, and discussed together what they might do to Jesus.

NASU

 

 

Thoughts:

 

This is not an unfamiliar scene from the gospel of Luke.  Jesus is challenging a rule that the Pharisees have laid down (verse 7), namely that no one should be healed on the Sabbath (as if this was a common event!).  The idea seems to be that they wanted to call this work, and God had said no one was to work on the Sabbath:

 

Exodus 20:9-10

9 "Six days you shall labor and do all your work,

10 but the seventh day is a sabbath of the LORD your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male or your female servant or your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you.
NASU

 

However, for someone to be healed, God is the one who will do the healing.  So therefore, it really isn't work to begin with.  Note that humanly speaking, Jesus simply utters a few words to cause this healing (verse 10) and the man opens his hand.

 

And Jesus was more concerned about doing the will of His Father than obeying the manufactured rules of others.  Part of His mission was specifically to physically heal.  So here He takes an opportunity to fulfill His healing ministry, while also teaching the people about the heart of God.  God's desire was that they do what is clearly good on the Sabbath (verse 9), over following a list of rules that the religious leaders had drawn up.  As He would say on another occasion:

 

Mark 2:27

27 Jesus said to them, "The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath."
NASU

 

As Christians, we may sometimes find ourselves in this same precarious position.  Others in the faith may challenge us to conform to a rule that they have drawn up, over simply obeying God.  God has given us His word (in part) so that we will know how to obey Him.  Any rules that conflict with His word or add to it, can never come before it.  Tragically, as in this case, those promoting the rule may not understand (verse 11), but what matters most is pleasing God, not other people.

 

 

Prayer:

 

Lord, thank You that You will guide my life as I surrender each part to You.  That You will lead me in the Truth, and keep me from stumbling (Jude 24-25). 

 

Help me to hear Your voice through Your word over the opinions of others when necessary.  Help me to be true to You in all that I do. 

 

Amen

Scripture quotations taken from the NASB.