Written by: Kenny Wickens - World Visions

Luke 5 v 33-35
They said to Jesus, “John’s followers often give up eating for a certain time and pray, just as the Pharisees do. But your followers eat and drink all the time.”

Jesus said to them, “You cannot make the friends of the bridegroom give up eating while he is still with them. But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will give up eating.”

Notes
There was something different about the followers of Jesus – they weren’t fasting. 

But why should they? Would it not be considered daft – and maybe even rude – to go to a wedding celebration and refuse to eat. And this was celebration time – the bridegroom was there in person. Problem is, the Pharisees, John’s disciples, and every other sect or group that may have been fasting at the time didn’t realise.

Fasting was a sign of waiting. Of looking back over past failure and looking forward in hope. And back then, people were looking forward to the day when the long promised, long awaited Kingdom of God would arrive.

However, the night of waiting was over. The day had finally come. Through Jesus, God’s mercy was being poured out on the world in rescuing, healing, restoring love. And the friends of Jesus were feasting in the sunlight while many others were fasting in the dark.

Here’s the challenge for us. The day has come - celebrate in the sunlight. It’s feast-day, not fast-day.

And for those who don’t realise the day has dawned – tell them quick. Invite them to join the party.

Luke 5 v 36-39
Jesus told them this story: “No one takes cloth off a new coat to cover a hole in an old coat. Otherwise, he ruins the new coat, and the cloth from the new coat will not be the same as the old cloth. Also, no one ever pours new wine into old leather bags. Otherwise, the new wine will break the bags, the wine will spill out and the leather bags will be ruined. New wine must be put into new leather bags. No one after drinking old wine wants new wine, because he says, ‘The old wine is better.’”

Notes
Pharisees were just one of many religious sects in the first century who were waiting for the Kingdom of God to come. They had their own ideas about what it would look like and how they should live while waiting for it to arrive.

Jesus had come to bring in the Kingdom of God. Problem was, his ideas about that kingdom were very different to those of the Pharisees. And in these few verses he makes it clear that the two are totally incompatible. “Mix my way of thinking about and living for the Kingdom of God with their way,” he says in effect, “and there’ll be a disaster. The new cloth won’t fit the old garment. The new wine will split the old wineskins.”

But Jesus says more. He makes it very clear that those who have tasted the old are unlikely to embrace the new.

So, what do these few verses say to us?

Well, they certainly don’t say everything new is better than everything old. However, it is interesting to note that many people – often in churches – are reluctant to let go of the old in order to embrace the new. But that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

More positively, these verses do tell us that the Jesus way is the right way to live. The challenge for us is consistently to live this way. We do this by praying – for God’s kingdom to come and his will to be done on earth as in heaven. And by living out that prayer – bringing the new life of the Kingdom of God to those people and places that have not yet tasted the Jesus way.

Luke 6 v 1-5
One Sabbath day Jesus was walking through some fields of grain. His followers picked the heads of grain, rubbed them in their hands and ate them. Some Pharisees said, “Why do you do what is not lawful on the Sabbath day?”

Jesus answered, “Have you not read what David did when he and those with him were hungry? He went into God’s house and took and ate the holy bread, which is lawful only for priests to eat. And he gave some to the people who were with him.” Then Jesus said to the Pharisees, “The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath day.”

Notes
For Pharisees, the Sabbath day was special. God had commanded his people to observe it: “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.” 

It made them stand out from the crowd. Who were God’s people? Those who remember the Sabbath Day.

Problem is many in the first century – the Pharisees and other religious groups – could not agree on what “observing the Sabbath” meant. Many Christians still can’t today.

Here Jesus comes into conflict with the Pharisees for doing what they considered to be “not lawful on the Sabbath day”. But Jesus backs up his actions by referring to King David. He says in effect, “It was OK for David to act in this way and it’s OK for me.”

The questions we need to answer are: “Why?” and “How come?”

Perhaps it is because David was Israel’s rightful king – although he wasn’t publicly recognised as such at the time. Did he therefore have the right to temporarily suspend the Sabbath law? If so, then it perfectly explains Jesus’ actions. He too was Israel’s rightful – although as yet unrecognised – king.

Or maybe it’s because Jesus recognised – as David did – that addressing human need supersedes the Sabbath law. That the Sabbath law must not be firmly applied if the result will be human suffering. As in this case: a band of hungry followers.

Whatever the reason, we need to recognise two things: 

1. Jesus is King – not just over church-going people, but over everyone and everything – and should be respected as such. His word should be obeyed.
2. Living the Christian life means far more than singing Christian songs and telling others about Jesus. It’s about doing good to all – irrespective of race, age, sexual orientation or religion.

Luke 6 v 6-8
On another Sabbath day Jesus went into the synagogue and was teaching, and a man with a crippled right hand was there. The teachers of the law and the Pharisees were watching closely to see if Jesus would heal on the Sabbath day so they could accuse him. But he knew what they were thinking, and he said to the man with the crippled hand, “Stand up here in the middle of everyone.” The man got up and stood there.

Notes
The Pharisees wanted rid of Jesus. His disregard for their ancestral traditions threatened them. But he didn’t seem to care. In fact, in these few verses, he appears to flaunt his “unlawful” activity in full view of them all. Why?

Some say it is because Jesus is concerned for God’s law – and here he is simply purging that law from the many extra Pharisaic laws imposed upon it.

Maybe he is. If that were true, then I guess our task would be to rediscover the Sabbath law and live by it; to work out what God said could and couldn’t be done on the Sabbath day and put it into practice.

Many Christians attempt this and fall out with each other in the process. In my experience the command, “Don’t work on Saturday!” has more often than not been turned into something completely different: “Don’t play on Sunday!”

Or could it be that Jesus is redefining what it means to live for God? Could he be indicating by his actions that the old way of doing things is on its way out – that there is a new way to live? A way defined, not by loyalty to the law, but by loyalty to himself.

If this is true, then we don’t have to get hung up on the Sabbath law. We should get hung up about Jesus instead. We focus our attention on living his way, which in this passage means the way of compassion, the way of concern for the poor.

It’s a dangerously beautiful way to live. For Jesus it led to his death. Where would it lead you?

Luke 6 v 9-11
Then Jesus said to them, “I ask you, which is lawful on the Sabbath day: to do good or to do evil, to save a life or to destroy it?” Jesus looked around at all of them and said to the man, “Hold out your hand.” The man held out his hand, and it was healed.

But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law were very angry and discussed with each other what they could do to Jesus.

Notes
24,000 people die from hunger every single day. That’s 1,000 people per hour. Every hour.

Shocking isn’t it? That people starve in a world of excess food. That millions of human beings suffer in a world created and sustained by a loving God.

Should Christians care about human suffering? Should they be doing something about it? And if so, what? 

If you were to skim-read Luke’s account of the Jesus story from beginning to end you’d very quickly find that alleviating human suffering was a major part of Jesus’ ministry. 

The point I am making is that the healing recorded in these verses was not an isolated incident; it was part of a bigger story; through Jesus, God’s kingdom had come. God’s long promised new world order was at last breaking into this sin-sick world.

No wonder wrongs were being righted, evil being overcome and suffering being alleviated. Such things did not and still do not belong in God’s kingdom. Reconciliation, healing and forgiveness characterise God’s kingdom. And the healing of this man’s withered hand was yet another sign that the long promised kingdom had arrived.

So what about us? How does Jesus’ ministry affect what we do today?

Well, we are called to proclaim God’s good news! And, if we’re to take that call seriously we must use more than words. How can we proclaim forgiveness if we do not forgive others? How can we preach reconciliation and turn a blind eye to conflict? How can we preach good news to the poor and fail to alleviate human suffering? It simply doesn’t fit. 

The good news is: as we proclaim this good news – by speaking and taking action in this broken world – miracles take place. God takes our proclamation and brings healing. Believe me, it’s something worth living for.

Luke 6 v 12-16
At that time Jesus went off to a mountain to pray, and he spent the night praying to God. The next morning, Jesus called his followers to him and chose twelve of them, whom he named apostles: Simon (Jesus named him Peter), his brother Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Simon (called the Zealot), Judas son of James and Judas Iscariot, who later turned Jesus over to his enemies.

Notes
It’s easy to feel guilty when reading these verses. Easy to think that because Jesus spent all night praying to God, we should do the same. But Jesus was not setting a pattern for us to follow. If he were, then presumably, as well as praying all night, we’d need to live within shooting distance of a mountain.

No. In these verses Jesus was making a very bold statement. His actions were speaking louder than a thousand words. And no one who knew anything about anything in first century Jewish culture would have misunderstood.

Israel was made up of twelve tribes, chosen by God and special to him. Through these twelve tribes, God was to bring healing and restoration to his broken world. But Israel disobeyed and, in judgement, God scattered them over the face of the earth. 

Then came Jesus. In a deeply symbolic action he chose twelve disciples – one for each of the ancient tribes. It was, if you like, the new beginning – or, more accurately, the point of renewal. From now on the focus would be upon these twelve disciples, not upon the twelve ancient tribes. These followers of Jesus would be at the heart of all God was doing in and for the world.

This gives us hope. If God can take a rag tag bunch of people like this – a tax collector, a zealot, a bunch of fishermen and even a traitor – and use them to fulfil his purposes in the world, then there is no doubt he could take and use someone like you.

Okay, so you’re not living in Israel in the first century AD. But that doesn’t matter. Just think: what healing and restoration could God bring to this broken world through you, living where you are in the 21st century?

Luke 6 v 17-19
Jesus and the apostles came down from the mountain, and he stood on level ground. A large group of his followers were there, as well as many people from all around Judea, Jerusalem, and the sea coast cities of Tyre and Sidon. They all came to hear Jesus teach and to be healed of their sicknesses, and he healed those who were troubled by evil spirits. All the people were trying to touch Jesus, because power was coming from him and healing them all.

Notes
Take some time to re-read and soak in the scene described in these few verses. Read it again. Don’t rush it. Because this is a vivid snapshot of Jesus’ mission. This is what he was about – announcing the Kingdom of God.

Up the mountain, Jesus had chosen his disciples – a clear statement to all that something new was happening. And this was it. Jesus was announcing the Kingdom of God. That God’s long promised, long awaited Kingdom was breaking into and destroying the kingdom of darkness.

The good news was heard. Jesus preached it. And people listened.

But the good news was not a theory to be learned. People did not just hear about the Kingdom of God. They saw it. They experienced it. Lives were physically transformed. Sickness was defeated. Evil was overcome.

This good news was for everyone. No one was excluded. Rich, poor, sick, healthy, educated or not – didn’t matter. They came to hear Jesus. They came to be healed. All were made welcome.

And it was all focused upon one person. Jesus was the one they wanted to hear. Jesus was the one they wanted to touch. Jesus was the one who healed them.

Imagine if this snapshot described the mission of Christian people – the church – today. 

A church focused upon Jesus. A church that proclaims the Kingdom of God with words and actions. A church where nobody – not one person – is excluded.

Pipe dream? Or reality? Whatever, this is the Kingdom we’ve been called to proclaim. We would do well to immerse ourself in these verses more often to remind us how it ought to be done.


word-on-the-web uses the Scripture text taken from the Youth Bible, New Century Version (Anglicised Edition) copyright 1993 by Word Publishing Milton Keynes