Hillsdale Daily News
Pastor Everett Henes
September 3, 2022·4 min read

Many have a misunderstanding when it comes to Christianity. Some see Christianity as permissive, allowing someone to do whatever they want so long as they tell God they’re sorry. They can lie, cheat, steal, or even do worse, and if they say the magic words then everything is forgotten. Others think of Christianity as too restrictive as though it’s nothing more than a list of don’ts to make sure you don’t anger God. Both of these views are wrong, though, because the Christian faith is about being free to serve God joyfully from the heart.

One way to see how this can play out is in Luke 6:1-12 and the question of the Sabbath. The Sabbath begins in creation (Genesis 2:4) and was given to God’s people as a day of rest and worship (Exodus 16:22-23; Exodus 20:8-11; Deuteronomy 5:12-15). It formed the center of faith and practice as they sought to honor and worship the Lord. Too often, though, they approached it the wrong way. Sometimes they asked, “how little must I do; what is the minimum required of me?” Or, on the other side, they often asked “what can’t I do?” The truth is that both views are wrong. They both ask the wrong sorts of questions and so end up with wrong answers.

We have two separate instances, or confrontations, regarding the Sabbath in Luke 6. In both we have the Pharisees challenging Jesus in belief and practice. On the surface, they seem to be dealing with very separate questions – picking grain versus healing a man’s hand. But the Pharisees had defined things such that Jesus breaks their law in both instances. In the first, the disciples were walking through a field on a Sabbath and simply plucking little heads of grain, mindlessly rolling them in their hands and eating them.

The Pharisees asked, “Why are you doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath?” They had set it up so that you knew what was unlawful on the Sabbath, for them it was a legal question and so the answer could be found by following the strict codes. According to their detailed and specific list, the disciples were farming: reaping, threshing, winnowing and preparing food on the Sabbath, a quadruple violation! Jesus’ answer would have shocked them, “The Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.” Jesus had the authority to interpret Scripture properly because he was the Son of Man who ruled over all, and that included the Sabbath.

Jesus had the authority to interpret Scripture properly because he was the Son of Man who ruled over all, and that included the Sabbath.

The second incident recorded occurs on another Sabbath. It was a normal Sabbath where Jesus taught in the synagogue. There was a crowd, the Pharisees were there to watch him, but the difference is the presence of the man with a withered hand as well. We are told that they were not there to listen to Jesus’ teaching; rather, they have come to spy on him. They came to watch. The word used is a graphic and emotive term; it means to spy on or watch out of the corner of one’s eyes. They are being sneaky and clearly trying to catch Jesus in the act of doing good on the Sabbath.

There was a man with a withered hand. Someone in need of help should not have to wait until another day when the Sabbath is a great day for salvation. This is how Jesus sees the situation. He calls the man to stand before him – in front of the whole congregation and then he addresses them, “I ask you, is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or
to destroy it?” The Pharisees want a strictly legal discussion, but Jesus does not see a difference between the legal and the salvation question. Jesus even frames the question in such a way that the Pharisees would have to agree. They would have assented to saving someone on the Sabbath. Seeing no objection to his proposal, Jesus tells the man to stretch his hand and it is healed instantly.

Too often we can be more like the Pharisees than we care to admit. We want to know how little we must do or we want a list of the dos and don’ts while missing the opportunity to help others. When we ask, “What can I not do on the Lord’s Day?” we show that we misunderstand the love and acceptance we have in Christ. We also misunderstand the purpose of the day of rest and worship.

— Pastor Everett Henes, the pastor of the Hillsdale Orthodox Presbyterian Church,

Pastor's Corner: The Sabbath Day (yahoo.com)