Lord of the Sabbath

Today's passage is Luke 6:1-16.

Jesus has now healed many, and is known throughout the region for his healing. The most recent was in front of a delegation of Pharisees and Law teachers. As He is teaching these devout followers of Moses' law, a sick man is forced into the room, and Jesus tells the sick man his sins are forgiven. In front of all these spiritual leaders. Blasphemy! No one can forgive sins but God! (True.)

But Jesus tells them: I can forgive sins. God has given me that authority. And to prove that He has given me authority and power, I'll heal this man. And He did.

You know what? Those teachers of the law praised God when they saw that. They were amazed.

But then, perhaps those very same teachers get a little flustered with Jesus when they see him eating with sinners and tax collectors, and see that His disciples don't fast and pray like other disciples do. He's not fitting the image they have in their minds of who He should be and how He should act. Then He allows his disciples to sneak a few nibbles of unharvested grain on the Sabbath, breaking the strictest understanding of a well-known law. How could this man be from God? He's not doing things exactly the way we understand that he should do them.

Jesus' response? He tells them there are times when the letter of the Law needs to be broken. One cannot do evil and justify it by saying they were following the Law. The Law was meant to show us how to be good. They were looking at Jesus through the Law, but Jesus was showing them a new perspective of the Law, particularly the Sabbath.

Unfortunately now, at this point in time, the Pharisees and teachers have changed their attitude concerning Jesus. They are no longer able to accept His new way of doing things and are now "looking for a reason to accuse Jesus." (God protect us from this attitude!)

It was no longer enough that Jesus was healing people miraculously. They were concerned with his methods. Did it fit their understanding of the Law?

Now I understand what Jesus was talking about with the old and new garments and the old and new wine in the previous verses. Do you? Read Luke 5:36-39 again, in the light of how we see the Pharisees reacting to how Jesus did things. Jesus is speaking to the Pharisees in this parable... what is He trying to tell them?

Also, what does it mean when Jesus says He is "Lord of the Sabbath?"