Luke 6
-Luke depicts some episodes that prove that the Lord Jesus Christ has power over the man-made traditions of the Sabbath. In the first event, His disciples were eating picked grain, which the Pharisees denounced as illegal. Jesus refuted them from Scripture with the account of David and his men eating consecrated bread on the Sabbath (1 Samuel 21:6). The other event was a healing of a man with a withered hand in the synagogue where He was teaching. The Pharisees were enraged by this act and sought to accuse Him, but He maintained that He was Lord of the Sabbath and to do good was more important. *Application* How legalistic are we concerning the Sabbath, which would be Saturday, or the Christian’s traditional day of rest on Sunday? Jesus teaches us here that we should keep our love fervent for Him and others on the day in which we set aside as holy. To neglect common sense practices makes a mockery of the Lord’s day. When I was recently in Israel our hotel had Shabbat elevators that would stop on every floor just so the orthodox Jews would not have to perform manual, as they would define it, labor. I also noticed in our return flight home that landed during Shabbat, that there were no orthodox Jews on the airplane (the trip over found us with many orthodox Jews on the flight with which I had some interesting conversations). These are modern practices simply designed by a thought of man and his tradition that have hindered people from doing common every day things. I believe in the mind of God it is senseless and strays far from the original purpose of simple worshiping Him and devoting a day to recuperation in our schedules. That being said, it is important for us to slow down and repose for a day each week and meditate on His glory. Just avoid getting legalistic about it as Jesus teaches here.
-After an entire night of intense prayer on the mountain, Jesus comes to the point where He chooses His twelve disciples that will be His main priority in His earthly ministry. It lists the twelve and gives some family, political, and character traits of these called out men. *Application* This certainly was a monumental decision that the Christ had to make and I want us to notice how He approached it as our perfect model. First, He went off (Luke 6:12). He got away from the crowds and the distractions of life to a place where He could meditate exactly on what the Father was telling Him. He didn’t ask man’s opinion, but depended on God for the answer. Secondly, He spent the necessary time required to hear from God. He did not rush things. Thirdly, He sacrificed His own well being to hear God’s direction. No doubt in His physical body He would have grown tired and weary, but the matter of selecting men that would carry forth His message to the world was a greater factor in His decision. Here we see the surrender of earthly things for the building of the spiritual Kingdom. Finally, He took specific action once He got His direction and selected the twelve who would change the course of human history.
-The Beatitudes are given as He fixed His gaze on the large crowd of people gathered around Him. This is a level place in the coastal region; therefore, we do not associate this teaching with the famous Sermon on the Mount from Matthew’s gospel (Matthew 5-7). In this list of blessings we see the essence of Christ’s purpose and ministry. All of these are worth deep meditation and deliberation and then application. Jesus sums it up best like this, “Why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say (Luke 6:46)?” *Application* Build your life’s house on a strong foundation that will not be moved by coming to, hearing about, and acting on the Word of the Lord. Otherwise, when the storms of life come you will collapse and be ruined.
Verse to Memorize: Luke 6:46
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