Luke 6:6-11
"And it came to pass also on another sabbath, that he entered into the synagogue and taught: and there was a man whose right hand was withered. And the scribes and Pharisees watched him, whether he would heal on the sabbath day; that they might have an accusation against him. But he knew their thoughts, and said to the man which had the withered hand, Rise up, and stand forth in the midst. And he arose and stood forth. Then said Jesus unto them, I will ask you one thing; Is it lawful on the sabbath days to do good, or to do evil? to save life, or to destroy it? And looking round about upon them all, he said unto the man, Stretch forth thy hand. And he did so: and his hand was restored whole as the other. And they were filled with madness, and communed one with another what they might do to Jesus," Luke 6:6-11.
A theologian once said that man is an idol factory. We can make an idol out of anything, and we can especially make up an idol in our minds. We see this with those who do not read the whole bible. These often have a view of God; Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, that is skewed. These picture and describe God how they think He should be. They form a theology that is not biblical. Obviously, this can go from one extreme to the other. This is another reason we should have a biblical view of God. To further complicate this, we have deemed certain terms as hateful, etc. One of those words is the word "intolerant". In our culture, if you are intolerant towards someone else, then you are the bad guy. This rhetoric has influenced the world. We may not realize this, but this is an attack on truth. This influence has infiltrated the church to the point that people do not want to say that Jesus was intolerant. But the biblical fact is that He was. Jesus Christ did not tolerate any teaching that was contrary to the Scriptures; nor was He tolerant of false teachers. Jesus Christ openly stood against them, and He called them out. We saw this in Luke 6:1-5, and we see it again here in Luke 6:6-11. Jesus Christ was not tolerant.
In Luke 6:6, Christ has entered into another synagogue. As was His custom, He would enter the synagogue in which ever town He was ministering in at that time. At the time appointed, He would begin teaching the people. Christ would teach the Scriptures. His teaching would often go against the religious system of that day. What Christ taught set people free from the bondage of mans traditions, and sin, if they believed. As Christ taught in this synagogue, there was a man there who had a withered hand. The man's hand was dried up. There was no more life in it. The bible doesn't tell us how this happened. Any kind of ailment would be attributed to sin. This man would be looked down on and despised by the religious crowds who viewed themselves as not being sinners. This man was listening to Christ teach, and I can't help but wonder if he hoped that Christ would heal him. Though there are things we do not know, we know he was there.
There were scribes and pharisees there also. They were not there to gain from Christ, no, they were there watching Christ. "Watched" in this verse means to watch closely with a sinister intent. Spoken of the pharisees watching Jesus to catch Him doing anything which they could accuse Him of. They did this continually. They were never there to listen to learn, but to watch so they could accuse. They wanted Christ to say or do something that would incriminate Him. They would even make plans to set Him up (John 8:1-11).
We must remember that the pharisees’ big day was the sabbath day. That is the day they used to control the people. Many cults still do this today. The only thing the people were not to do on the sabbath day was work (Exodus 20:8-11). In Luke 6:5, Christ told the pharisees that He is Lord of the sabbath. He is the Master of the sabbath. He owns the sabbath, it doesn't own Him. Nor is He bound by mans traditions. "The day on which Jericho was taken was the sabbath day; and that though they slew and burnt on the sabbath day, "He that commanded the observation of the sabbath, commanded the profanation of it". John Gill. We find this in Joshua 6. We are not ruled by a day, nor where we made for a day. "And he said unto them, The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath," Mark 2:27. It is beneficial for us physically and spiritually to rest.
But we also see there is flexibility with the sabbath. God gave us the sabbath to benefit us, not burden us. We see this with the Christian sabbath being on the first day of the week, not the last day (Acts). We also know there are cults today who are just like the scribes and pharisees in their observance of the sabbath day. If they would really step back and examine their hearts they would find they are doing what they do out of obligation, not out of love for Christ. That is a huge difference.
In Luke 6:8, Christ knew the thoughts of the scribes and pharisees. He did not back down, nor was He apologetic, but instead He confronted them about their hypocrisy and their cultish practices. Christ told the ole boy with the withered hand to stand up in the middle of the people. This is what the religious crowds were hoping for. Can you see the smirks on their faces? In their minds they have Jesus right where they want Him. Then Jesus says this in Luke 6:9, "Then said Jesus unto them, I will ask you one thing; Is it lawful on the sabbath days to do good, or to do evil? to save life, or to destroy it?" The question would have taken the smirks off their faces. To further show Christ's intolerance with them, He peered upon them all. Christ "looking round about them all" was not with a broken heart, but with a hatred for what the religious crowds had done to the sabbath day, and to the people (John 2:13-17).
Jesus Christ healed the guy with the withered hand (Luke 6:10). He did this on the sabbath day. The opinion of the pharisees is that Christ was a lawbreaker, and a rebel. This caused them to be filled with madness. They were actually filled with stupidity. They were without understanding. Their legalism so controlled their minds that it made them not able to understand their own folly. This led to rage against Christ, and His followers. Paul would be a good example of this. The religious crowds did not have an answer for Christ's questions, so they sought opportunity to do their hearts desire, which would be to destroy Christ.
How many of you are trying to earn your way to heaven? You are trying to eat certain foods, keep the sabbath, abide by all kinds of man made laws, and yet at the end of the day you have a guilty conscience.
Would you like to be set free? Trust Jesus Christ alone for forgiveness of all your sins. Christ has secured eternal salvation for all who put their trust in Him. "But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man. For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings," Hebrews 2:9-10. Christ doesn't see your good works the same way you do (Matthew 7:21-23).
Please send questions and comments to richardsonbaptistchurch@gmail.com. Soli Deo Gloria.
