The Lord of the Sabbath
Introduction: Maybe it happened more than once, but there was at least one time when Jesus and the twelve disciples were so hungry they found some raw grain for their meal! Even though this was permitted under the Law of Moses (Deut. 23:25), some of the religious leaders promptly tried to find fault with them!
1 Finding Food
Text: Luke 6:1-2, KJV: 1 And it came to pass on the second sabbath after the first, that he went through the corn fields; and his disciples plucked the ears of corn, and did eat, rubbing them in their hands.
There’s a bit of irony, sometimes, in the Bible. For example, Jesus and the disciples had, likely, enjoyed a dinner when Levi-Matthew gave a farewell party. He invited his friends, many tax-collectors, like himself, as well as other “sinners”, however defined. From what we can gather, Levi left everything and followed Jesus for the rest of his days on this earth.
The irony is that maybe, not long after that feast, Jesus and the disciples were so hungry they grabbed some standing (raw) grain! The King James Version calls it “corn” but that was the basic or general term for any kind of grain, whether barley, wheat, and so on. According to Deuteronomy 23:25, anyone could take handfuls of grain but not bring a sickle!
Now in this passage we have a hint of how people ate non-harvested grain. Threshing wheat was known as far back as the days of Gideon (after all, the Angel of the LORD found him when he was threshing wheat in the winepress per Judges 6:11) and fine flour was part of at least the “meat” or grain offering of Leviticus 2. The provision of Deuteronomy 23:25 was of course not intended to be an unlimited source of free food but more likely a temporary means to get enough food for one or two meals.
So far, so good, right? Jesus and the others were simply reaching for a handful of grain which they rubbed with their hands and ate. This most likely means they removed the husk or outer covering so they could eat the “germ” or edible part of the grain. Wheat germ is one such type of this food, sold even today at many stores. Not only was the grain available, it was nutritious, and what they ate seemed to keep Jesus and the others going until they arrived at their next destination. Since this was a Sabbath day, these men were likely going to the nearest synagogue.
2 Finding Fault
Text, Luke 6:3, KJV: 3 And certain of the Pharisees said unto them, Why do ye that which is not lawful to do on the sabbath days?
I have to wonder why the Pharisees, the most religious—outwardly—of the Jews would and did spend so much time in, basically, the pursuit of Jesus. I’ve lost count of the times when Jesus did or said something and, sure enough, either the scribes, Pharisees, or both would be found. This is one such example: Jesus and the disciples simply walked through a certain field of grain, took some of the kernels, and ate but soon enough, here came the adversaries!
What doesn’t seem to make sense is that harvesting grain, by hand, was legal and good so long as nobody used a sickle in the field. So then, that wasn’t the charge, but digging a little deeper, we can find what the Pharisees were really trying to do.
This was because Jesus and the disciples did this on the Sabbath day, which was supposed to be a day of complete rest, not even lighting a fire in one’s dwelling (Exodus 35:3) or leaving one’s dwelling (see Exodus 16:29)! It goes without saying that the LORD was serious about Israel keeping the Sabbath even in the early days of Israel as a nation. Even though Israel was not a sovereign nation at this time, being firmly under Roman rule, there were those who desired to keep the Sabbath—including an unknown number of ordinary Jews.
And the charge was even worse, in the eyes of the Pharisees: Jesus had not only harvested on the Sabbath, they had eaten and dressed the grain (per notes on Matthew 12:2 at Benson’s on-line commentary at https://biblehub.com/commentaries/benson/matthew/12.htm). This was clearly considered work, condemned by several other passages in Exodus and Leviticus alone.
Even so, what leaves me shaking my head is why any of them were walking about on the Sabbath when the command was to stay in your dwelling (Ex. 16:29)! We’re never told just where Jesus had spent Thursday or Friday evening (Levi’s house, maybe?) but He and the disciples were on the way to the synagogue (Matthew 12:9). Perhaps the Pharisees and scribes were on their way as well. The contrast was great and it was real: one group coming to worship and another to find fault as they all went towards the synagogue!
Jesus had just been accused of breaking the Sabbath, in a round-a-bout way, so now what was He going to do or say?
3 Finding Facts
Text, Luke 6:4-5. KJV: 4 And Jesus answering them said, Have ye not read so much as this, what David did, when himself was an hungred, and they which were with him; 4 How he went into the house of God, and did take and eat the shewbread, and gave also to them that were with him; which it is not lawful to eat but for the priests alone? 5 And he said unto them, That the Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath.
Notice how Jesus didn’t respond directly to the accusation which the Pharisees threw at Him. He, Jesus, said nothing at all about finding raw grain and eating it, or even about why they approached Him and asked why He was breaking the Sabbath.
But He did refer these leaders, promptly, to the Old Testament or the Bible of that day. I love this question He asked them, beginning with “Have ye not read . . .?” implying they really had not! And even more, He referred them to one of Israel’s greatest heroes, David, and one of the, shall we say, less than glorious episodes in David’s life?
That story, about David and the “shewbread [sic]” is found in 1 Samuel 21 and, to me, almost seems funny considering the contrast between David’s boldness against Goliath and his race to get as far away from King Saul as he could! David left Jerusalem (1 Sam 20) after Saul had tried to kill him and went to Nob, which was a little north-west of Jerusalem. The tabernacle was there and David talked Ahimelech the priest into giving him some of the, maybe, we might say, “day-old” bread of the covenant.
Clearly, David, being from the tribe of Judah, had absolutely no business or authority (see Leviticus 24:5-9) regarding the hallowed bread. Then, too, look at the lies he told Ahimelech—well, okay, maybe half-truths) to get some bread he had no right to. The LORD did not punish David that day, thus showing more of His unlimited patience and grace even under the days and rule of the Law of Moses.
Those leaders had absolutely nothing to say after they heard Jesus reply to them.
They also knew they had nothing to say when Jesus reminded them, “The Son of man is Lord also of the Sabbath.” They lost, they knew it, and they kept still—until, that is, they found another way to do more of the same.
And it wouldn’t be long before they did just that. I pray none of us will have that kind of ultra-critical spirit, always trying to find the bad but rather, that we would always rejoice in the good.
Scripture quotations taken from the King James Version of the Bible (KJV)
