Year 1, Day 215: Luke 6

Jesus’ More Assertive Side

Okay – anyone who thinks Jesus was all love and no growl (or even bite!) doesn’t know the Jesus of the first two passages found in Luke 6.  In the first one, Jesus and his disciples are harmlessly walking through a field gleaning some grain.  The Pharisees come to nail Jesus, but Jesus gives them something to chew on: Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath.

As they are chewing on that thought for a while (at least a week, perhaps for some time), Jesus perceives the thoughts of the Pharisees as He enters a synagogue on another Sabbath.  This is where the growl and bite of Jesus comes in.  I daresay that Jesus even provokes the Pharisees.  Jesus knows their thoughts and rather than waiting for them to come to Him, He provokes them into anger. 

Jesus sends out a spiritual warning growl and the hackles of the Pharisees rise up.  Don’t get me wrong.  I’m not blaming Jesus.  The Pharisees were watching Jesus for the intent of accusing Him of doing something wrong.  Jesus knows this, and He provokes them in order that what is hidden in their heart might be revealed. 

Jesus heals on the Sabbath, again illustrating that Jesus is Lord over the Sabbath.  The Sabbath was made for God, not the other way around.  And the Pharisees cannot stand it.

Sabbath

You see, if the Sabbath was made for God, then God can do whatever He wants with the Sabbath.  To put it plainly, God is more interested in meeting human needs than living up to some silly human understanding over something that God Himself created.  Jesus’ disciples were hungry, so they ate.  The man’s hand was withered, so Jesus healed it.  To anyone that would lift up the tradition of Sabbath over compassion for human need, read Hosea 6:6 and see what order God prefers.  {Or if you’d rather, check out Psalm 51:15-17 of Joel 2:13.}

From the human understanding of Sabbath, Jesus violated the Sabbath twice because He “worked” rather than rested.  But since the Sabbath was created for God and God is Lord over the Sabbath – we can live with the understanding that the Sabbath is for God’s work to be separate from the world’s work.  What is God’s work?  Compassion, justice, mercy, grace, love, bringing people into relationship with Him.  Jesus was compassionate for His disciples and brought them to a grain field to eat on one Sabbath.  Jesus was compassionate on the man and healed His withered hand on another.  Jesus is keeping the Sabbath from God’s perspective because rather than focusing on “resting” He is focusing on “doing the work of God.”  That is true Sabbath keeping.

Sermon of the Plain

Again there is much that happens in this chapter – too much to write on.  So I’ll speak about the Sermon on the Plain (Luke 6:17-38) in generalities.  For the most part, Jesus teaches by comparison.  {This is a great technique for teaching en masse.}  Jesus blessed the poor, the hungry, the mourning, and the persecuted while cursing the rich, the well-fed, the joyful, and the highly praised.  What is Jesus’ point?  There is a different way of thinking between those who are in the world and those who follow God.  There is a different way of living between those who are in the world and those who follow God.  Let’s look at what He says:

·   If you set priorities like the world (wealth, prosperity, happiness, vanity and fitting in with the crowd) rather than setting priorities like God (charity, seeking God’s manna over the world’s manna, honestly mourning a lost world, persecuted for being different) then chances are that you belong to the world. 

·   If you love like the world (loving those who already love you) rather than loving like God (unconditional love) then chances are that you belong to the world.

·   If you judge like the world (externally: judging others as right or wrong) rather than judge as God desires (internally: make judgments as to what belongs in your own life) chances are you belong to the world.

·   If you bear bad fruit (the fruit of the self-monger) rather than bearing good fruit (the fruit of the Christ-monger that not only lifts up Christ but lifts up community in Christ) then chances are you belong to the world.

·   If you call upon the Lord and do not obey Him (confess with your lips but do not change) rather than calling upon the Lord tin order to be changed (confess with your lips so that you might die and Christ might live in you) then chances are you belong to the world.

Now, please don’t get me wrong.  We do all sin.  We all occasionally bear bad fruit, think only about ourselves, establish poor priorities, etc.  And certainly even when we get it right we are not saved because of our successes!  We are saved because of Christ and we are called to repent of our sins – all of them! 

But Jesus is being clear here.  The person who is in Christ (or with God) looks different than the person who is in the world (and of the world).  We look different because of what Christ is doing in us through the Holy Spirit.  We look different because of that response to the beckoning of the Holy Spirit to turn to God.  God doesn’t want people who act like the world but try to justify it using godly imagery.  God wants people who actually live differently than the world expects them to live.  That’s the overarching point of the Sermon on the plain.

Amen, Amen.

Discipleship

As I read Luke 6:39-42 again, something struck me that I hadn’t ever seen before today.  Notice that 39-40 are verses in which Jesus is speaking about discipleship and becoming like the teacher.  Notice that 41-42 are talking about external judgment of one another. 

Clearly I’ve understood those messages before.  Discipleship is meant to be life-on-life mentoring.  That’s how Jesus defines it in these verses.  Clearly we also aren’t supposed to judge one another.  I get each of those messages individually.  But why does Jesus bring those message together as He does?

I think His point is clear.  Where there is discipleship, there will be criticism.  Criticism is a natural human reaction to seeing discipleship happen in other people.  I mentioned this yesterday when I commented on Peter’s grumble against the request of the Lord to toss the net into the water.  I mentioned it yesterday when I mentioned the external grumbling that the Pharisees did when Jesus attended Levi’s party where sinners were present.  But to see it again here so quickly sends a point home pretty deeply.  Where true discipleship happens, there will be grumbling.  It is to be expected.  It is a fact about human nature that causes me to mourn today.

Bearing Fruit

The last two stories in Luke 6 are also closely tied together.  The first teaching is about bearing good fruit.  And Jesus is fairly blunt here.  A good tree will bear good fruit.  A good disciple will make other disciples.  A good disciple will have people upon whom God is leaving His mark through them.  Likewise, a bad disciple will either have no disciples – or even worse, corrupt disciples.  A bad disciple will not have people upon whom God is leaving His mark through them.

This brings us to the parable of the man who built his house upon the rock and the man who built his house upon the sand.  But notice how Jesus starts this parable.  “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord’ and do not do what I tell you?”  This parable is about obedience to the will of God!  The wise man builds his house upon Christ, the rock.  He hears the Word of Christ and is obedient to it.  When the world comes and tries to destroy this man, he is secure.  But the foolish man hears the Word of Christ and does not heed the call.  He continues to live the way he wants – perhaps even trying to rationalize his life with religion.  But when the world comes, everything he has is washed away and sucked into the world.

It makes me wonder.  Are we really willing to be obedient?  Every time Jesus tries to make disciples, someone is there grumbling.  Every time Jesus tries to teach truth, there is conflict.  How many people heard Jesus teach and did nothing because of His teaching?  How many people were presented with the rock upon which they could build their life and instead chose to build on sand?  Are we really as obedient to Christ as we would convince ourselves that we are?

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