Luke 6:5-11

Luke 6:5-11 Then Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.” On another Sabbath he went into the synagogue and was teaching, and a man was there whose right hand was shriveled. 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. 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. 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?” 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. But they were furious and began to discuss with one another what they might do to Jesus.

In the above passage, Jesus reveals He is in charge of the Sabbath, not the Sabbath in charge of him. “The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath"; therefore, He can do what He wills on the Sabbath: your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. The Pharisees were bound by the Sabbath; Jesus was not, for He was the creator of the Sabbath. He fulfilled the Sabbath because the Sabbath was to be a holy day, and Jesus IS HOLY. Holiness originates from God, not from man's obedience to laws. The laws were so strict concerning one's actions on the Sabbath to keep it holy that even picking up sticks for a warm fire would bring a death sentence. No work of any kind could be done on the Sabbath, not even cooking or boiling water. Because sin permeates man's heart, God evidently considers man's activities in general as contaminating, or at least not deferential to his omnipresent, omniscient existence, much like cancer cells' uncontrolled activity in the body. Therefore man's activities must cease, for God's activities to receive full attention.

Jesus' activities on the Sabbath were good; they were restorative. In these verses, He healed the man with the shriveled hand on the Sabbath. The original intent of the Sabbath was to honor God and to restore men and women's strength for the upcoming work week. But in the above story, we see people using the Sabbath to condemn Jesus; this day of rest was being used for the evil purposes of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law. Rather than committing the day to good purposes, the Sabbath was being used by them to bring fear and damnation upon people. However, Jesus said I am the Lord of the Sabbath. I consecrated the Sabbath, the Sabbath does not consecrate me. I cannot be judged by whether I keep the Sabbath or not, for I am literally the fulfillment of the Sabbath. I am holy and I always do the will of my Father God. I honor him every day of the week.

We who are in Christ are no longer under the restrictions of the Sabbath or of the law. We are free from those restrictions because we are IN THE LORD of the Sabbath or in the consecrated one, the Holy One. WE ARE FREE INDEED, for we have been set free by the blood of the Lamb. He has consecrated us to God, set us apart. Otherwise, we are literally hidden in Christ, the one who can heal on the Sabbath or not, eat on the Sabbath or not, boil water on the Sabbath or not, for we are IN HIM, the creator of all things, even the special day to honor God. He is truly the DAY OF REST mentioned in Hebrews. The Pharisees were the keepers of the Sabbath; they were the Taliban of that day. THEY WERE THE ONES WHO COULD JUDGE WHETHER THE JEWISH PEOPLE KEPT THE SABBATH RIGHTLY OR NOT. Jesus broke their supposed power that day by revealing He could supernaturally heal or do creative work on the holy day of the Sabbath. He did not need their permission to do good on the Sabbath, for He was God, the creator of the Sabbath. This angered them greatly, and from that time on they set out to kill him. He continued to be about the Father's business.