LUKE LESSON 14

    We will begin this lesson in Luke 6:1 "And it came to pass on the
second sabbath after the first, that he went through the corn fields;
and his disciples plucked the ears of corn, and did eat, rubbing
[them] in [their] hands."

    Eating corn from a neighbor's field was not stealing. The law in
Deuteronomy 23:25 says.  "When thou comest into the standing corn of
thy neighbour, then thou mayest pluck the ears with thine hand; but
thou shalt not move a sickle unto thy neighbour's standing corn."

    Luke 6:2 "And certain of the Pharisees said unto them, Why do ye
that which is not lawful to do on the sabbath days?"

    There was a law against reaping and against threshing. Pulling
these ears of corn would be classified as work. In the law. there was
no work at all to be done on the sabbath (Exodus 20 and Numbers 15).
Even in the tenth chapter of Nehemiah, the gates were closed to stop
trade on sabbath. There are a number of other books which deal with
this. I really believe, in all of this, that Jesus allowed this
situation to arise to teach the disciples, the scribes, and the
Pharisees the lesson that God made sabbath for man's benefit. God knew
that the human body needed to rest in one out of 7 days. Jesus is
telling them not to be so technical. Understand the meaning behind
sabbath.

    Luke 6:3 "And Jesus answering them said, Have ye not read so much
as this, what David did, when himself was an hungred, and they which
were with him;" Luke 6:4 "How he went into the house of God, and did
take and eat the shewbread, and gave also to them that were with him;
which it is not lawful to eat but for the priests alone?"

    Jesus is saying here, you men of the law do you not know your own
Scriptures? Then He quotes to them about David going into the temple
and eating the forbidden bread. You can read about this bread that was
reserved for the priests in Exodus 29:32. The thing that Jesus is
trying to make them realize is that the law was given to help man, not
to box him in where he was just keeping ordinances with no reasoning
behind them. Jesus is trying to teach them the purpose behind the
ordinance.

    Luke 6:5 "And he said unto them, That the Son of man is Lord also
of the sabbath."

    Jesus is Lord of everything. In Mark 2:27 "And he said unto them,
The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath:" You
see, the rules that the Lord set up for us to live by are for our
benefit. Jesus, in verse five above, is letting these scribes and
Pharisees know that He is Messiah (the Anointed One), the Christ.

    Luke 6:6 "And it came to pass also on another sabbath, that he
entered into the synagogue and taught: and there was a man whose right
hand was withered." Luke 6:7 "And the scribes and Pharisees watched
him, whether he would heal on the sabbath day; that they might find an
accusation against him."

    We see, here, a continuation of the teaching on the law of
sabbath, even though this was at least a week later than the teaching
of going through the corn field. One of the main differences, in this
and the eating of the corn, is that the first one is outside the
church, and this one is in the synagogue. Notice that it appears these
scribes and Pharisees are sent by the authorities to try to trip Jesus
up. It seems to be their job. They are there at every hand. In verse
7, it makes it sound like it is bad to heal someone, at least in the
sight of these scribes and Pharisees. It was illegal to heal on the
sabbath.

    Luke 6:8 "But he knew their thoughts, and said to the man which
had the withered hand, Rise up, and stand forth in the midst. And he
arose and stood forth."

    Jesus will not disappoint them. He, without hiding or sneaking
around, tells the man to boldly stand to receive his healing so that
all might see. The man had sought Jesus out for just this purpose,
and he was not about to lose this chance. He arises and stands in the
midst of the people for all to see.

    Luke 6:9 "Then said Jesus unto them, I will ask you one thing; Is
it lawful on the sabbath days to do good, or to do evil? to save life,
or to destroy [it]?"

    Here, again, we see Jesus asking a question that they cannot
answer. They would be trapped themselves if they answer either way.

    Luke 6:10 "And looking round about upon them all, he said unto the
man, Stretch forth thy hand. And he did so: and his hand was restored
whole as the other."

    This was a strange request to a man who could not stretch forth
his hand. The power of the Word of the Lord caused the diseased hand
to obey and stretch forth. As the man extended his hand, he was made
totally whole.

    Luke 6:11 "And they were filled with madness; and communed one
with another what they might do to Jesus."

    This anger they felt should have been joy for the poor man's hand
being healed. I personally believe their anger was fueled by jealousy,
because they could not heal. Jesus was making them look bad. they
wanted to get rid of Him before everyone followed Him. Luke doesn't
even find it necessary to mention that these scribes and Pharisees
were not able to do anything to Jesus.

    Luke 6:12 "And it came to pass in those days, that he went out
into a mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God."

    If we would take an example from Jesus and take more time to pray
we would find greater things happening in our own lives. An important
decision was to be made. Jesus' and the Father's wishes must be one.

    Luke 6:13  "And when it was day, he called [unto him] his
disciples: and of them he chose twelve, whom also he named apostles;"

    It appears there were many disciples who followed Jesus.
After praying all night, Jesus calls them all to Him and choses 12
apostles. These would be the leaders of the larger group. This would
be the close knit group that He would teach so that they might be the
leaders in His church. The word "apostle" means one who is sent
or ambassador.

    Luke 6:14 "Simon, (whom he also named Peter,) and Andrew his
brother, James and John, Philip and Bartholomew,"

    It is believed that Bartholomew, here, and Nathanael. In St. John.
are the same person. Simon, whom Jesus called Peter, was surnamed
"Cephas", which literally means a mass of rock. James and John were
sons of Zebedee, sons of thunder, This "sons of thunder" came from the
name Mark gave them of Boanerges. Peter, James, and John were the
three Jesus had with Him the most. They seemed to be the closest to
Jesus.

    Luke 6:15 "Matthew and Thomas, James the [son] of Alphaeus, and
Simon called Zelotes,"

    Matthew was the tax collector. Thomas was the doubter. This
"Zelotes" is a group Simon belonged to.

    Luke 6:16 "And Judas [the brother] of James, and Judas Iscariot,
which also was the traitor."

    These two Judases completed the 12. Of course, there were many
more disciples, these were just the representative (12) group Jesus
entrusted His church to.

    Luke 6:17  "And he came down with them, and stood in the plain,
and the company of his disciples, and a great multitude of people out
of all Judaea and Jerusalem, and from the sea coast of Tyre and Sidon,
which came to hear him, and to be healed of their diseases;"

    We see, now, that after Jesus went to the mountain and prayed, and
after He chose the 12 out of all the disciples to walk the closest to
Him, He comes down the mountain with His disciples and meets a large
company of people. Many want to be healed. Many came to hear His
teachings. because His message was full of hope.







                           Luke 14 Questions

1.  What forbidden thing did His disciples do on this second sabbath?
2.  What 2 things did the picking and rubbing represent?
3.  What Scripture tells us that it was alright for them to pick the
    neighbor's corn?
4.  What did the Pharisees say to the disciples?
5.  What lesson was Jesus teaching them in all of this?
6.  What had David done when his men were hungry?
7.  More so than the law, we should learn the _______ ______ _______
    _________.
8.  Who is Lord of the sabbath?
9.  What Scripture tells us the sabbath was made for man and not man
    for the sabbath?
10. Who is Jesus trying to tell the Pharisees that He is?
11. What was wrong with the man's hand who came to the temple to be
    healed?
12. What did Jesus tell him to do?
13. What effect did this have on the Pharisees?
14. What questions did Jesus ask the Pharisees about healing the man
    that they could not answer?
15. What should they have been feeling?
16. What was the real reason they wanted to stop Jesus' ministry?
17. Where did Jesus go when He prayed all night?
18. What did Jesus do when morning came?
19. How many disciples did Jesus choose to be His closest associates?
20. What does "apostle" mean?
21. What was Peter's other name?
22. Who was Peter's brother?
23. What do most people believe is another name for Bartholomew?
24. What does the name "Cephas" mean?
25. What. besides James and John, were they called?
26. Who were the 3 disciples closest to Jesus?
27. Which disciple had been a tax collector?
28. Which disciple was known as the doubter?
29. When He came down from the mountain, where had many people
    gathered from?
30. Why were they there?