Read or listen The Gospel of Luke, chapter 6 online (ESV, Bible Gateway)

Jesus and the Sabbath – Luke 6:1-11

Picking heads of grain and eating them from someone else's field was specifically permitted in the Old Testament (Deuteronomy 23:25, no tools were allowed). But the Pharisees and scribes thought the disciples were breaking the laws against working on the Sabbath: they were reaping grain, threshing, and preparing food.

The Pharisees had compiled 39 different prohibitions related to the Sabbath. Even today, the Sabbath is especially important for pious (Orthodox) Jews. It is a public religious practice. To put it mildly, you could say that on the Sabbath, everything that is not specifically permitted is forbidden.

Since there were severe punishments for violations of the Sabbath regulations, one would have expected Jesus to try to explain that there was no violation. But Jesus, in answering the accusations, actually says that the Sabbath regulations were actually broken. David also broke the law by eating the bread of the Presence in the temple and by letting others eat it. According to the scribes, this had happened on the Sabbath. Jesus’ disciples had also done something that the scribes’ regulations forbade. Jesus was thus claiming that he and his followers had as much right to break ceremonial laws as David, who was respected by the Pharisees and scribes. He was therefore as respected as David, in fact more so: he was Lord of the Sabbath.

What does "Lord of the Sabbath" mean? It can be interpreted once again as Jesus' reference to his divinity. The Sabbath was a commandment of God (Exodus 20:9-10, Deuteronomy 5:13-15), and only the giver of the commandment had the right to reinterpret it.

Do we have to keep the Sabbath day? There is something wrong with such a question: the Sabbath is not a burden, but a gift from God, which he established at creation (Genesis 2:2, Hebrews 4:4), so it is inevitably part of life. "Forgetting" rest inevitably has bad consequences.

Is it permissible to do good on the Sabbath?

Another dispute about the Sabbath between Jesus and his opponents arose when Jesus healed a man's withered hand on the Sabbath. According to the scribes, people could only be helped on the Sabbath in case of emergency; if the illness did not lead to immediate death, it could only be cured on weekdays.

Jesus' question, "Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm?" hit the heart of the problem. The Pharisee's interpretation of the law had caused God's gift to become almost a curse. Jesus had to answer his own question: he healed the man's hand.

How is faith born?

This healing story is, in my opinion, the best description in the Bible of the birth of faith. What did Jesus tell the man to do? Stretch out his hand! But that was impossible for the man, that was precisely his problem. He could stretch out his hand if it were healed first. But now Jesus demanded that the hand be stretched out as a condition for healing. The man seemed to be at a dead end. But he did not stay to think about the problem, but did what Jesus commanded. And the hand was healed.

We could have endless discussions about which came first: the straightening or the healing. But in the end we would come to this conclusion: the incident is an inexplicable miracle of God.

A similar situation arises when a person is told: "Believe in Jesus!" He cannot do it on his own, but it is the work of God in him. A person cannot believe until God gives faith. So that too is entirely the work of God.

"for it is God who works in you,
both to will and to work for his good pleasure." (Philippians 2:13)

If the man had boasted afterwards how he stretched out his hand with his own strength, he would not have been believed. But those who say that they themselves, by their own will, made the decision to start believing in God, seem to be often believed.

"Fathers" are appointed for the new Israel – Luke 6:12-16

Luke here distinguishes two groups of Jesus' followers: disciples and apostles. "Apostle" means "authorized representative", "ambassador". These twelve apostles became the foundation of the new Israel. Jesus had to say to the "old" Israel (Matt. 21:43): "the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits."

There are slight differences in the lists of names of the 12 apostles in the different gospels, which are however easily explained:

John calls Bartholomew Nathanael (John 1:43-51). This is a Greek and Hebrew name. Many other of Jesus’ early disciples also had both Hebrew and Greek names.

Simon the Zealot Matthew (Matt 10:4) and Mark (Mark 3:18) call Simon Cananaeus. Scholars have noted that "Cananaeus" specifically means a member of the Zealot party, "zealot." The Zealot party arose in 6 AD after a failed rebellion. They were fiercely patriotic and strongly opposed to Roman rule. Today they would probably be called terrorists.

Judas the son of James is called Thaddeus by Matthew and Mark (Matthew 10:3, Mark 3:18). Perhaps Judas avoided using his Hebrew name after the betrayal of Judas Iscariot.

We know almost nothing about many of the apostles. We know Peter best, but we don't know much about him either. The apostles were ordinary people. Apparently only one - Judas Iscariot - was from the south, from Judea, the others were Galileans.

Judas's nickname "Iscariot" is usually interpreted as "man of Karioth" (in Hebrew man = is). That is, he was from the city of Karioth in Judea. Another interpretation suggests that the underlying word "sicariot" meant the "dagger man" of the Zealots, who had a habit of murdering Romans or other unpopular people in crowds. If so, he was another Zealot among Jesus' disciples.

Sermon on the plain, Helper of the needy – Luke 6:17 - 7:17

Three Groups – Luke 6:17-19

This is where the so-called "Sermon on the Plain" begins. Is the Sermon on the Plain in Luke's Gospel the same speech as the "Sermon on the Mount" in Matthew's Gospel? They have much in common: the beatitudes ("Blessed are...") and many similarities in content. But there are also differences: the Sermon on the Mount is much longer and Luke tells about a flat place. I think it is clear that Jesus spoke about the same things several times. Therefore, it is not strange that the texts of Luke and Matthew differ from each other on the one hand and have much in common on the other. After all, even today, the most important things must be repeated in the church's proclamation - the more important, the more often.

Luke mentions three groups among Jesus' listeners:
1. the apostles
2. the disciples
3. the people

We often think that Jesus only had twelve disciples who followed him. But there were more: When it was necessary to choose a new apostle to replace Judas Iscariot, Matthias was chosen because he was "one of the men who have accompanied us during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John until the day when he was taken up from us" (Acts 1:21-22). Jesus' disciples also included women who followed him and the apostles and helped them financially (Luke 8:1-3). We do not know how large the group of Jesus' disciples was. We also do not know how stable it was: whether the number changed, or whether it was almost the same group always together.

We notice that the special position of the twelve apostles was not due to the fact that they were the only followers of Jesus, but to the fact that Jesus had chosen them for a certain task. They were the twelve "fathers" of the new Israel.

The fact that Jesus came down from the mountain to teach the people brings to mind the situation when Moses came down from the mountain and brought God's law with him (Exodus 34:29-32). But Jesus did not bring a new law, he brought the gospel, the message of grace. Its content will be revealed when we take a closer look at Jesus’ Sermon on the Plain.

Beatitudes – Luke 6:20-23

This is the beginning of a long section in Luke (6:20-8:3) that is not found in Mark's Gospel. The same material is found in Matthew's Gospel, so there must be a Q source, or the source of Jesus' speeches, behind it.

Jesus congratulates four groups of people who are not usually considered to be congratulated:
1. the poor
2. the hungry
3. those who weep
4. the persecuted

The poor refers to a person who has nothing to rely on or nothing to trust. He is completely dependent on God's grace and help (Matthew 5:3 "the poor in spirit"). Matthew 5:6 speaks of those who "hunger and thirst for righteousness".

We must see that poverty does not save, but that the poor person trusts in God. Yes, poverty can lead to violating God's will and even cursing him (compare Proverbs 30:7-9). The central point of the Beatitudes is that a person who trusts - for various reasons - in God is blessed.

Verses 22-23 were Jesus' warning about the disciples' future fate, but at the same time an encouragement: being rejected by people does not mean being rejected by God.

Cries of Woes – Luke 6:24-26

The beatitudes are opposed to the cries of woe. "Woe" is not an expression of judgment but of pity.

God's kingdom turns the order of values upside down: in our opinion, those who are to be congratulated are indeed to be mourned. The same emphasis is found in Jesus' story of the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31).

Also, when we read Paul's letters, we notice that Paul not only taught correct doctrine, but also warned against false doctrine (for example, Phil 3:17-21). The church's mission is not to be popular, but to proclaim the gospel. Popularity (v. 26) may be a sign that God's will has been watered down, and the church has begun to proclaim what people want to hear at any given time (compare the prophet Micah and the false prophets in 1 Kings 22:1-38).

Secularism, secularization, comes from the Latin word "saeculum" = this age. The enemy of the soul wants to bind us so tightly to this age and its temptations that we forget God and eternal life: "you have received your consolation." (verse 24) Then we begin to serve the creature instead of the Creator (Romans 1:25).

"An optimist believes he is living the best time of his life. A pessimist fears that it really is!" As Christians, we are neither pessimists nor optimists as described, but we know that the best is yet to come. Only in heaven will we see what a good part God has prepared for us.

The Golden Rule – Luke 6:27-36

Verse 31 contains a rule of life called the Golden Rule. Its negative forms are known elsewhere, including from the Jewish rabbi Hillel and Confucius; "do not do to your neighbor what you would not want done to yourself."
The Golden Rule is central to Luther's ethics. Luther points out that there is no escaping it: everyone knows what they would like done to themselves.

In this passage, Jesus emphasizes that it is not enough to refrain from evil, but doing good is necessary (compare Matthew 12:43-45).

With the measure you use

In this passage, Jesus is talking about the fact that if we want to judge other people according to the requirements of the law, then we cannot demand any different treatment from God for ourselves. We should not demand justice from God, but mercy.

"The log that is in your own eye" is a picture of the hopelessly large burden of sin that we have before God. If we do not even see our own sins, how can we judge our neighbors' much smaller sins against us? First we must see our own sinfulness, only then can we call others to repentance (Isaiah 6:1-10).

Many times, referring to this passage, one wants to forbid all teaching and exhorting others. If only perfect people are allowed to correct others, there can be no correction at all. But if we read Jesus' words to the end: "...then will you see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye," we see that Jesus is indeed speaking about the right order of things. Yes, the Christian faith also includes rebuking sin (Gal 6:1-6)

Christ as the Foundation – Luke 6:43-49

Good parables need no explanation. So there is no point in spoiling these two parables with too much explanation. Perhaps the best explanation is Luther's: "Good deeds do not make a good man, but a good man does good deeds."

Verse 46 is a reminder that living, genuine faith always changes a person and their actions (compare Deuteronomy 29:28, James 2:14-26).

Hard times reveal the weaknesses of the foundation. In good times, even a bad structure can endure.