Luke 6:1-5 - The New Sabbath

Yesterday in our chat we talked about the new garment and the new wine in the closing verses of Luke 5. Today we want to look at the New Sabbath that Jesus was bringing into existence as He paves the way for the future ministry of His disciples and the Church.   Remember already in Luke 4, in His hometown of Nazareth, the religious leaders and crowd attempted to kill Jesus because He claimed to be the fulfilment of Isaiah 61, Who was the Messiah that was “anointed by the Spirit to preach good tidings to the poor, to heal the broken hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, to open the prison doors to those who are bound, and to proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD”.   We usually apply these verses to Jesus setting us free from the bondage and suffering of sin. But more literally, they probably should be applied to Jesus setting the Jewish people free from the man-made laws of Judaism that had been attached to the Law of Moses over the past century. That is what we see in the closing verses of Luke 5 and these first verses of Luke 6.   We believe that now for over a year, Jesus has ministered as a popular itinerant Teacher and Healer, and multitudes followed Him. But now the time had come for Him to "organize" His followers and declare just what His kingdom was all about. In this chapter, we see the Lord Jesus establishing three new spiritual entities to replace that which was now "worn out" in the Jewish religion: a new Sabbath, a new nation, and a new blessing in the new spiritual kingdom. In these first five verses Jesus announces a new Sabbath.   The sanctity of the Sabbath, the seventh day was a distinctive part of the Jewish faith. God gave Israel the Sabbath law at Sinai (Neh. 9:13-14) and made it a sign between Him and the nation (Ex. 20:8-11; 31:12-17). The word Sabbath means "rest" and is linked with God's cessation of work after the six days of Creation (Gen. 2:2-3). Some of the rabbis taught that Messiah could not come until Israel had perfectly kept the Sabbath, so obeying this law was very important both personally and nationally.   To call Sunday "the Sabbath" is to confuse the first day and the seventh day and what each signifies. The Sabbath is a reminder of the completion of "the old Creation," while the Lord's Day is a reminder of our Lord's finished work in "the new Creation" (2 Cor. 5:21; Eph. 2:10; 4:24). The Sabbath speaks of rest after work and relates to the Law, while the Lord's Day speaks of rest before work and relates to grace. The Lord's Day commemorates the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead as well as the coming of the Holy Spirit and the "birthday" of the church (Acts 2).   The early church met on the first day of the week (Acts 20:7; 1 Cor. 16:1-2). However, some Jewish believers kept the Sabbath, and this sometimes led to division. Paul addressed this problem in Romans 14:1-15:13 where he gave principles to promote both liberty and unity in the church. But Paul always made it clear that observing special days had nothing to do with salvation (Gal. 4:1-11; Col. 2:8-17). We are not saved from sin by faith in Christ plus keeping the Sabbath. We are saved by faith in Christ alone.   By their strict and oppressive rules, the Pharisees and scribes had turned the Sabbath Day into a burden instead of the blessing God meant it to be, and Jesus challenged both their doctrine and their authority. He had announced a new "Year of Jubilee" (Luke 4:19), and now He would declare a new Sabbath. He had already healed a lame man on the Sabbath, and the religious leaders had determined to kill Him (John 5:18; also note John 5:16). Now in Luke 5, Jesus was going to violate their Sabbath laws on two more occasions.   Jesus came to set us free from the “law of sin and death”. Praise the Lord! We are no longer under the condemnation of the law! (Romans 8:1-5). Have you experienced this new freedom in Jesus Christ?   God bless!