Study Questions

Luke 6:1-11

Who is in charge of your weekend? Your boss? Your spouse? Your child’s sports schedule? Your lawn? Your remodeling project? Who decides how you are spending your day of rest?

Jesus says that he’s the Lord of the Sabbath. What that means is that Jesus is in charge of your weekend. Don’t worry! Jesus is not a legalist who wants to ruin your day off. Jesus is the Son of God who restores and renews us.

1One Sabbath Jesus was going through the grain fields, and his disciples began to pick some heads of grain, rub them in their hands and eat the kernels. 2 Some of the Pharisees asked, “Why are you doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?”

First of all, the disciples were not stealing grain. There were no sidewalks. Roads were limited. It was typical to cut through barley fields and fig orchards when walking through the country. Guests were allowed to pick a fig or eat some grain so long as they weren’t filling their pockets. “If you enter your neighbor’s vineyard, you may eat all the grapes you want, but do not put any in your basket” (Deuteronomy 23:24).

The Pharisees are accusing the disciples, not of stealing, but of working on Saturday. Technically speaking, the disciples stand accused of harvesting, threshing, and preparing food on the Sabbath because they plucked, ground, and popped a few grains in their mouths. The Gospel of Luke wants us to know that the disciples faced petty criticism from Jesus’ political opponents.

The Pharisees were following the letter of the law, but they missed the restorative nature of the Sabbath. “Six days you shall labor, but on the seventh day you shall rest; even during the plowing season and harvest you must rest” (Exodus 34:21). This law was given so that employees would not be forced to work seven days a week during the harvest season. It was never God’s plan to deny hungry people a snack as they walked through a grain field.

1. How do you celebrate the Sabbath?
2. What restores your soul on Saturday or Sunday (or whatever your day off might be)?
3. Did you grow up with legalistic expectations about the Sabbath: no sports, movies, secular music, or fun on Sunday?
4. What tasks do you want to avoid on your day off: cooking, cleaning, professional labor, schoolwork?
5. How can you reorganize your life so that you make Sabbath a priority?
6. How can you celebrate Sabbath without becoming legalistic?

3 Jesus answered them, “Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? 4 He entered the house of God, and taking the consecrated bread, he ate what is lawful only for priests to eat. And he also gave some to his companions.” 5 Then Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”

Jesus reminds his political opponents of the time that David was sent on a secret mission and needed food in 1 Samuel 21:2-6. 2 David answered Ahimelek the priest, “The king sent me on a mission and said to me, ‘No one is to know anything about the mission I am sending you on.’ As for my men, I have told them to meet me at a certain place. 3 Now then, what do you have on hand? Give me five loaves of bread, or whatever you can find.” 4 But the priest answered David, “I don’t have any ordinary bread on hand; however, there is some consecrated bread here—provided the men have kept themselves from women.” 5 David replied, “Indeed women have been kept from us, as usual whenever I set out. The men’s bodies are holy even on missions that are not holy. How much more so today!” 6 So the priest gave him the consecrated bread, since there was no bread there except the bread of the Presence that had been removed from before the Lord and replaced by hot bread on the day it was taken away.

David clearly broke the ceremonial law by eating the consecrated bread. Most rabbis believed that this incident took place on Saturday, intensifying the connection to Jesus’ argument with the Pharisees over the Sabbath. Jesus’ point is that he has authority over Sabbath regulations just as his ancestor David once had such authority.

1. Since Jesus has authority over the Sabbath, what do you think he wants us doing on our days off? Remember those WWJD bracelets? What Would Jesus Do on his day off?
2. Christians celebrate Sabbath on Sunday to commemorate the resurrection of Jesus. Saturday is the last day of the week, but Sunday is the first day, the start of a brand new week. Sunday is the day of restoration for the week ahead. What restores you best on Sunday: rest, worship, Bible study, service, fellowship, or something else? What makes you into a new creation?

6 On another Sabbath he went into the synagogue and was teaching, and a man was there whose right hand was shriveled. 7 The Pharisees and the teachers of the law were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they watched him closely to see if he would heal on the Sabbath.

Jesus was preaching and teaching in the local synagogue on a Saturday. I love to preach, but it demands all my energy. My family insists that I take a nap after worship. I get so drained from pouring myself out in worship that I have nothing left for them! A quick nap recharges my batteries.

Jesus is blatantly working on a Sabbath, but no one accuses him for his teaching. I sympathize with Jesus every time he runs off to the hills to pray by himself! If Jesus needed time off, we all need time off!

The Pharisees are guilty of spying on the Sabbath. They are watching Jesus carefully, trying to catch him doing something good. The Gospel of Luke lets us in on the irony that the Pharisees were working really hard to catch Jesus for working on the Sabbath.

1. Americans aren’t judgmental about the Sabbath. We have two-day weekends, but we pack them full of activities instead of rest. Some people never take a day off, and they are admired for it. What are the sins that Americans spy out in each other?
2. The danger of never taking a day off is the threat of idolatry. God included the Sabbath in the Ten Commandments because he wanted his people to realize that we do not make the world spin on its axis. The world still functions even when we take a day off. What are practical ways you can get some rest and re-creation this week?

8 But Jesus knew what they were thinking and said to the man with the shriveled hand, “Get up and stand in front of everyone.” So he got up and stood there. 9 Then Jesus said to them, “I ask you, which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy it?” 10 He looked around at them all, and then said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He did so, and his hand was completely restored. 11 But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law were furious and began to discuss with one another what they might do to Jesus.

The Pharisees were not heartless or unreasonable. They believed it was perfectly acceptable to save a human or even an animal life on the Sabbath. They just wanted Jesus to wait a day and heal the withered hand on Sunday. Frankly, they wanted to control Jesus and the Sabbath rules. Jesus is supportive of a day of rest, but why should this stranger wait another day to experience the gift or restoration? This man would miss another day of work and pay if he had to wait until Sunday for healing. Jesus gives him emergency aid even though it wasn’t quite a life or death situation.

The Sabbath is God’s gift to humankind. It is the day we are restored. For Christians, Sunday has become the day of new creation. Jesus renews us and revives us for another week. Weekends are not intended to be a legalistic exercise of obedience. Sabbath is for siesta and fiesta; for rest and celebration. There was no better way to celebrate the Sabbath than offering the gift of new life.

1. Where do you need restoration in your life? Physical healing? Emotional wellbeing? Spiritual guidance? Mental clarity? Family reconnection? Worship? A nap?
2. How can you shape your next Sabbath to find the restoration you are looking for?
3. Pray for each other’s rest and renewal.
4. Make a commitment to keep each other accountable. No spying like the Pharisees! Just a gentle friend to help you find the restoration you are looking for. Ask each other about Sabbath next week at Bible study.