Jesus is Lord [3-23-25]

NOTE: due to technical difficulties there is no video of Sunday's service. The sermon is below.

March 23, 2025

Luke 6:1-11

“Jesus is Lord”

Before we read today’s passage, we’re going to lightly touch on some key themes and characters.

First, let’s talk about truth. Have you ever heard someone say, “I have to live my truth?” Sometimes people say, “This is my truth.” Or, “I know in my heart what is true.” Anyone who says that or any variation of that is far away from Jesus. And if someone claims to follow Jesus yet adheres to such a wobbly understanding of what is true, they need a better understanding of the Bible.

At the end of his ministry, in his trial before Pontius Pilate, Jesus gives us a beautiful teachable moment.

In John 18:33-38 we read:

So Pilate entered his headquarters again and called Jesus and said to him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” Jesus answered, “Do you say this of your own accord, or did others say it to you about me?” Pilate answered, “Am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered you over to me. What have you done?” Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world.” Then Pilate said to him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world - to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.” Pilate said to him, “What is truth?”

Pilate might not have heard it, but earlier in John, Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” That’s the hugest point to begin with. Jesus is the truth. He is not one truth among many. Jesus is the truth. You cannot have your own truth. Jesus Christ is the One, True God. In this encounter over the Sabbath, the opponents of Jesus think they have cobbled together the truest version of the truth. But Jesus is destroyer of myths and half-truths. He speaks the truth because he is the Truth.

Next, as I’ve already mentioned it, there is the Sabbath. The Sabbath was quite a simple gift from God. It was part of the Ten Commandments. All God said was, “On the seventh day, rest.” That’s it. Rest. Worship God. Don’t work. Use it as an opportunity to be restored and refreshed. It was a simple prohibition…don’t work. Take a day to connect with God, yourself, your family, and your community. That’s it. As much as humanly possible, take a day of rest.

But the legalists…the Pharisees and the teachers of the law…took a simple, simple command and complicated it. They added all kinds of laws, rituals, and amendments to the Sabbath command. That sounds a lot like sinful, broken human nature. In fact, it got so messed up, a simple day a rest became a burdensome chore. Dozens of laws were added to the Sabbath. Ridiculous, right?

What we’re going to see in Luke 6 is Jesus rightfully claiming to be the Lord of the Sabbath. And news flash. The legalists will not be happy. Jesus signals what is true in Matthew 11:28:

“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”

In other words, Jesus is the Lord of the Sabbath. He is our Sabbath rest. The word translated “rest” in Matthew 11:28 is a play on the word “Sabbath.” At the core of Sabbath teaching is, listen to Jesus, not the legalists and their burdensome rules.

So far, we’ve touched on Jesus is the truth, the Sabbath was made for us, we weren’t made for the Sabbath, and our final mini-excursion is a look at Jesus’ chief opponents, the Pharisees.

Before we get to the meat of our critique of the Pharisees, one caveat. True to the cliché, the road to hell is paved with good intentions, the Pharisees had some good intentions. They were driven to keep Israel a holy people for God. So many of the things they taught and commanded were aimed at keeping Israel separate from surrounding pagan cultures. All

rules, to a degree, are helpful and beneficial.

But, as in most cases, when it comes to the rules of men, things can go too far. Briefly, the Pharisees:

Were arrogant in their spiritual lives. Because they followed all the rules, they were better than other, sinful people.

If you didn’t observe the 600 rules they said you had to observe, they really didn’t care about you.

They had a critical spirit.

They were unaware of what a true relationship with God meant.

And then, as we’ll now see, they were hostile to Jesus and his followers.

Now on to Luke 6:1-11:

On a Sabbath, while he was going through the grainfields, his disciples plucked and ate some heads of grain, rubbing them in their hands. But some of the Pharisees said, “Why are you doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath?” And Jesus answered them, “Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him: 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?” And he said to them, “The Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.”

On another Sabbath, he entered the synagogue and was teaching, and a man was there whose right hand was withered. 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. 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. 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?” And after looking around at them all he said to him, “Stretch out your hand.” And he did so, and his hand was restored. But they were filled with fury and discussed with one another what they might do to Jesus.

The thing jumping out at me right away is they cared more about rules

and regulations than they did about a fellow human being getting healed. Yikes. Anytime I say, “Yikes,” it means you done messed up.

We’re going to jump right down to verse six. A man with a withered hand. Matthew and Mark have this same encounter. Only difference is, they don’t say what hand it is. Luke specifically identifies it as his right hand. Probably because, as a physician, those kinds of details were important to Luke. That hand is withered because of atrophy. The same word Luke uses could also apply to withered land, from heat and drought. It could mean dried plants, dry dead wood, and dried fruit. Bottom line, the man’s hand hasn’t been used for a long, long time. It is totally useless to him.

And what happens in verse seven? Remember what we already know about the Pharisees. They know of Jesus’ ability to heal. What is their attitude? They watch to see if Jesus will heal the man so they can accuse Jesus of breaking the law. Can you imagine? What is it we like to say around here? It costs nothing to be kind. It costs nothing to have a positive interaction with others. There’s no risk in being nice. Verse seven shows you where the heart of a legalist is.

What’s amazing is the Pharisees are watching to trap Jesus. They show no concern for the man. And when you think about it, who cares when Jesus heals him? Jesus could have waited until after the Sabbath. It isn’t life-or-death. But that’s not the point. The point is that as the Way and the Truth and the Life, Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath. Whatever he says or does overrides man-made, constrictive rules and regulations.

Here’s something you might want to write down:

IF YOU’VE GOT THE ABILITY TO DO SOMETHING, YOU DO IT.

Grace and mercy are your guiding principles. That’s the Truth Jesus brings. Amen?

As many of you know, George Foreman died last week. He was a ferocious boxer. If you were around back then, who can forget his second round TKO of defending heavyweight champion Joe Frazier? David Asman, an on-air presenter at Fox News, wrote this about Foreman:

Whenever he came in for an interview, he was super kind and considerate with everyone on the set. After repenting from his selfish life and devoting his life to Christ, he really seemed to live

by the message of St. Paul – “They will know us by our love.”

As followers of the bringer of the Truth, think about the droplets of grace and mercy we get to leave all around us. Rejecting legalism, it’s a beautiful thing when we follow in the way of Jesus.

One last word on the Sabbath. Jesus never disparages the Sabbath. He

doesn’t encourage his disciples to abandon it. The whole point is, instead of obsessing over following Sabbath laws, we instead are absorbed in the purpose of doing good, worshiping God, and taking time to enjoy the people and quiet moments in our lives. It’s all about taking the time to rejoice, refocus, and give gratitude.

How many of you have lived here long enough to remember the Wendy’s food bar? Last month, I was talking to our youngest son on the phone. He asked if there was any word on what was going to happen to the old Wendy’s building. That led to a bit of reminiscing. He remembered going to Wendy’s after church on Sunday. He remembered the food bar. Stupid me started to get choked up. It was warm, wonderful family time built around the gift of the Sabbath. Rejoice, refocus, give gratitude. Nothing needs to be overcomplicated. Simply time carved out by God for the appreciation of life and relationships.

We’ll pick up next week on what happens after Jesus heals the man. Until then, this paraphrased observation from Charles Spurgeon:

“I am no preacher of the old legal Sabbath. I am a preacher of the

gospel. The Sabbath of the Jew is to him a task; the Lord's Day of the Christian, the first day of the week, is to him a joy, a day of rest, of peace, and of thanksgiving. And if you Christian {folks} can earnestly drive away all distractions, so that you can really rest today, it will be good for your bodies, good for your souls, good mentally, good spiritually, good temporally, and good eternally.”

And together, the people of God said:

“AMEN.”