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Luke 6:1–5
“[Jesus] said to them, ‘The Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath’ ” (v. 5).
Many Jewish rabbis taught God’s law during the first century, including Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus, however, stands out because of the authority of His teaching. The crowds recognized that there was something different about the authoritative manner of Jesus’ teaching in comparison to other rabbis. We see this in Luke 4:32, where we read that our Lord’s authority astonished the crowds. Unlike other Jewish rabbis, Jesus did not cite various respected traditions and noninspired teachers. Instead, He taught directly and in a way that conveyed His interpretation and application of the law as decisive for all people at all times.
Jesus taught in an authoritative manner but also directly claimed final authority. For instance, He forgave the sins of the paralytic and restored his mobility (Luke 5:17–26), indicating that He possessed the same power as God and thus was God Himself, having the right to pardon transgressions. Today’s passage records another occasion when Jesus claimed God’s authority.
Luke 6:1 tells us that while Jesus and His disciples were walking through the grainfields one Sabbath, the hungry disciples were plucking heads of grain and rubbing them in their hands. This act separated the edible grain from the rest of the plant. The Pharisees objected, accusing the disciples of engaging in labor on the day of rest, which the law prohibits (Luke 6:2; Ex. 20:8–11). Let us note that the law of God never says that picking and snacking on some grain here and there violates the Sabbath rest. The Pharisees had actually come up with all sorts of extra rules that defined what was work and what was not. The disciples were not breaking God’s law but rather were violating extrabiblical tradition.
Jesus justified the disciples’ actions by appealing to the story of David’s eating the “bread of the Presence” in a time of need, something the Bible approves of even though the bread of the Presence was normally reserved only for priests (Luke 6:3–4; see 1 Sam. 21:1–6). The point is that the fundamental needs of human life can be met on the Sabbath, so the Pharisees should have had no trouble with the disciples’ satisfying their hunger. But Jesus went further, calling Himself “the lord of the Sabbath.” This was a striking claim, for since God created the Sabbath, only God is Lord of it (Gen. 2:1–3). By presenting Himself as the Sabbath’s Lord, Jesus was presenting Himself as God.
Coram Deo Living before the face of God
Dr. R.C. Sproul states in his commentary on Luke that Jesus’ claim to be Lord of the Sabbath “is a clear declaration of the deity of Christ.” Some people do not think that Jesus claimed to be God, but His claims to God’s unique prerogatives are claims to be God Himself. Let us pay attention when Jesus claims to do things that only God can do. This will bolster our confidence in Christ’s authority and help us show others that Jesus did in fact claim to be God incarnate.
for further study
- Leviticus 23:22
- Ruth 2
- Ezekiel 45:17
- Mark 2:23–28
the bible in a year
- Deuteronomy 23–25
- Mark 14:53–72