Luke 6

I am amazed when I am preaching on the Sermon on the Mount from Matthew and reading last week on Luke 6.  There are many similar ideas found in both gospels. Last Sunday I was preaching on the ethics of being a Christian and that Jesus did not come to do away with the Law (Torah) but to fulfill it.  The first section on Luke 6 presents two stories of Jesus actions on the Sabbath.  The consequences for the Pharisees and scribes who believed in the literal words of the Torah without understanding the heart of the Law were appalled that Jesus would violate the basic principles of Sabbath.

I was reading from the Message regarding the healing of the man with a withered hand.  The Pharisees and scribes were trying to get Jesus to heal on the Sabbath.  Jesus confronts them with the statement, “What kind of action is better for the Sabbath to do good or to do evil?  Is it better to help someone or leave them helpless?”  Once again Jesus takes their literal translation of the word and goes to the heart of God’s Will.  I can only imagine them in the parking lot of the synagogue talking about this upstart who is doing away with tradition and does not care to follow the literal words on a scroll but instead will do what he wills in as far as healing someone who is hurting.  I would suggest that at times we all can become such literalists that we forget the underlying purpose of the law and of God’s Word. Even today we continue to value words on paper over the heart of God.

The chapter continues with the choosing of the 12 apostles.  Jesus then begins to train them into what it means to be a disciple.  This is the Sermon on the Plains.  There are similarities with Matthew but some significant differences.  Luke has instead of the Beatitudes, the blessings and woes.  He emphasizes not the poor in spirit but the poor.  As the Message says blessed are you when you’ve lost it all.  Blessed are you who are hungry (not for righteousness but actual hunger).  Then he goes on to woe onto you who are rich, well fed, and think you have it made.  This takes us back to Mary’s song in chapter 1 about God lifted up the poor and helpless and bringing down the rich and powerful.  This also reminds us of Jesus talking about his mission in chapter 4.

The rest of the chapter parallels Matthew.  I particularly like what the Message says about building your house.  Verse 48-49, “If you use my words only for a bible study and don’t work them into your life, then you are like a dumb carpenter who builds a house without building a foundation.”  How true that is.  Being a Christian is more than memorizing bible verses, it is about using those verses as a foundation in the way we live.