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Text: Luke 6:6-11
Coming to church is to hear God’s word (vs 6)
- The synagogue or church is a designated place where the words of God are taught. Notice the LORD Jesus Christ goes to the synagogue to teach. Now, in the crowd there are all kinds of people including a man with a withered hand.
- Why was the man with the withered hand at church that day?
- Usually, if people are looking for healing that’s said, but it isn’t in this case.
- He’s not there begging. That’s not said either.
- He wasn’t brought there by anybody apparently.
- He’s there to hear teaching.
- Contrast this with why the Pharisees are there.
- They aren’t there to hear anything.
- They aren’t there to be made better.
- They are there to find fault with Jesus Christ. There were there to pick a fight.
- They are there to be seen, like so many people today. They have to make an appearance and make sure the pastor knows they made an appearance. They need to make sure people hear their prayers.
A critical spirit that controls sinners’ lives (vs 7)
- Now, what you find out about these hypocritical sinners in verse 7 is that they’ve been watching Jesus and his disciples closely. They particularly watch them on the sabbath day that way they can find fault with them.
- Why pick the sabbath? Because the sabbath was a day of rest from your normal work week.
- But these hypocritical sinners concocted their own traditions around this simple law of rest.
- They took something meant for rest and turned it into a burden
- Because they hate righteousness and they hate God, and therefore hate Jesus Christ, their mission is to create guilt where no guilt exists. They want to condemn the guiltless.
- You have a need to find guilt in people you hate.
- And that hatred makes you blind to failures in yourself.
- And that hatred makes you blind to the clear light of the word of God.
- And that hatred makes you turn things that God meant for rest into burdens for others.
God intends His work to be a public display of good (vs 8)
- The LORD intends his work to be a public display of good.
- Matthew 5:14-16
- City on a hill like Jerusalem – Ye are the light of the world… (Matthew 5:14)
- God made the nation of Israel a light.
- Candlesticks and candles – Neither do men… (Matthew 5:15)
- Let your light so shine… (Matthew 5:15)
- Define good works – First defined by who gets the glory for them. (Paul is going around to establish his own righteousness in a religious way. How about someone who advertises their giving? Is that not someone trying to establish righteousness among their friends?)
- Walk in the light – 2 Corinthians 4:4-6 – light of the glorious gospel
- Ephesians 5:8, 10-14 – children of light, reprove works done in darkness
The truth about the law (vs 9)
- The hypocritical contention is that the law doesn’t permit saving life or helping people on the sabbath. But that’s not true. The law said if you found even a neighbor’s animal trapped on the sabbath, the thing to do is rescue it.
- Christ appeals to a higher law to do good and not evil.
- The theology of doing good instead of evil inactivity.
Jesus Christ’s teaching comes with power (vs 10)
- So the lesson is do good. And the illustration is the powerful healing of the man’s hand.
- It would be tough to argue with Jesus Christ after that. Not only does the LORD say to do good, but he does good. And not just any good, a supernatural good.
A sinner’s hatred of Jesus Christ (vs 11)
- These sinners are getting deeper and deeper into their sin. They’re moving from criticism to now conniving in an attempt to destroy Jesus Christ.
- Mark’s gospel explains that these men go away and begin planning Jesus Christ’s death.
- What should have been a glorious event, a man has his withered hand healed, has turned hard hearts into violent hatred for Jesus Christ.
