February 17, 2014: Luke Chapter 6

The Gospel According to Luke Chapter 6

Originally posted Friday, March 7, 2008 

Luke Chapter 6:1-5 Working on the Sabbath  [see MT 12:1-8; MK 2:23-28]

Luke and Matthew follow Mark in this passage with small exceptions. They have omitted Mark's incorrect name for the High Priest (Abiathar). They also have omitted Mark 2:27 which was meant as a caution against "micromanaging" the Sabbath with the imposition of so many Sabbath and Holiness regulations not found in Torah. It is possible that Luke in particular thought such a statement might be misinterpreted as eliminating any rules at all for proper Sabbath observance except those substantiated by Torah. It is evident in the early Christian writings that the Church had carried over some Jewish Sabbath restrictions even when Sunday became the official day of worship. In Luke's community, lesser in Matthew's, many Gentile converts were used to following the Pharisaic/Rabbinical Sabbath rules because of their association with the Synagogue, not so much because of Law or tradition, but because of the sense of order found in discipline. We have largely lost that early view of the Sunday Worship/Rest imperative.

In 6:1b Luke has added to the Pharisees complaint about the disciples working on the Sabbath (reaping) by noting that the disciples "rubbed [the heads of grain] in their hands," which meant they were preparing food, also considered to be work forbidden on the Sabbath.

All three Gospel versions agree (taken from Mark) on Jesus' final comment to the Pharisee, "The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath." While Son of Man is generally understood as a post-resurrection title, this line accurately portrays Jesus' authority to interpret the Law and Tradition in such a way as to emphasize the fundamental understanding of Sabbath as God's gift to humankind, for their benefit as a day focused on rest rather than regulations.

Luke Chapter 6:6-11 The Man With a Withered Hand  [see MT 12:9-14; MK 3:1-6]

Luke keeps the main thrust of Mark's passage, removing one and adding two important statements. He has omitted MK vs. 5a which is important in that it demonstrates two emotions  - anger and grief ; anger because the Pharisees are so blinded by their fierce attention to detail (Sabbath tradition) that they cannot see human tragedy in front of them; and grief because Jesus knows they have cut themselves off from God's Kingdom which calls for acts of compassion, mercy and justice towards others, and not legalistic constraints. Were they able to see this man through Jesus' eyes, they would know that his physical condition was indeed life threatening and his healing would be an appropriate response in keeping with the Law.

He has added a vital piece of information about the man with the withered hand: it is his right hand, the work and greeting hand. The left hand would never be used in a greeting and was considered the hand for "personal hygiene." The right hand is the means of his livelihood. He is not whole in the sense of being able to adequately support himself or his family. On that basis, as noted above, Jesus' healing of the man, restoring him to wholeness is quite within the spirit of the Law.

In the close of the passage Luke adds that the Scribes and Pharisees were furious because of Jesus' supposed violation of the Sabbath. Although their fury was aimed at Jesus because he healed the man's hand, one might wonder if this were not a case of ancient covetousness of Jesus' power to heal.

Luke Chapter 6:12-16 Jesus Chooses the Twelve  [see MT 10:1-4; MK 3:13-19a]

Each of the three writers presents a different introduction to this passage. In Matthew it seems Jesus has already settled on the Twelve whom he calls, commissions and names as Apostles. In Mark, Jesus is on the mountain and he calls the ones he wants, presumably the twelve from the larger group of disciples, and names them Apostles. In Luke Jesus is on the mountain where he spent the night in prayer and he calls a large group of disciples out of which he chooses the Twelve and names them Apostles. 

What we learn from these texts is that Jesus had a larger group of male and female disciples, probably those believers who followed him for part or most of his ministry. Out of this larger group he has chosen Twelve specific persons as Apostles, a term used for those who were charged with the missionary enterprise of the early church. The number twelve is deliberate and represents the twelve tribes of Israel. It also signals the intent of Jesus to establish the new leadership of the new Israel within the Kingdom of God. The Scribes and Pharisees have already demonstrated their inability to be leaders in that coming Kingdom.

By the end of the first century, the church was referred to as the "Great Church" meaning that collection of communities that had received, taught, preached and lived by the Apostolic tradition believed to have been faithfully handed down by the Apostles, with Peter as chief among them. 

Luke Chapter 6:17-49 The Sermon on the Plain  [see MT Chapters 5, 6 and 7]

This section is Luke's condensed form of Matthew's Sermon on the Mount. Jesus has been on the mountain with the twelve whom he has chosen as Apostles, the leaders of the new Israel. He comes down to a level place (hence the sermon on the plain) and addresses a great crowd of disciples and a multitude of people. 

The major difference between Luke and Matthew's sermons is that Luke's sermon is introduced with four beatitudes (Matthew has nine) followed by four woes (absent in Matthew). The pairing is poor-rich; hungry-full; weeping-laughing; persecuted-praised. We will recognize in this comparison the Biblical concept of the reversal of fortune, as given in Mary's Song of Praise (LK 1:46-56). The current status of the blessed will change to that of those upon whom the woes have been pronounced. This is the view from the perspective of God's Kingdom. Luke follows this pairing with four passages with equivalents in Matthew: do not retaliate but love your enemies: do not judge others; bear good fruit; build on the right foundation. Essentially all of Matthew's other passages from the Sermon on the Mount appear in other sections of Luke.

It is important to understand that the woes are not universal condemnations of the rich, the full, the laughing, and the praised. After all, in terms of the coming Kingdom Luke (and Matthew elsewhere) declares that the poor, hungry, weeping and persecuted will become precisely "them" and vice versa. When these comparisons are drawn they are always in terms of the Old Testament prophetic condemnation of those who are well off and have become so by their lack of mercy, compassion and [distributive] justice. In essence they got where they are by creating a lower class of people whose constant drudgery supplies the goods and services necessary to support the life style of the upper class. In farming terms, the share croppers are paying for the manor houses and the owners of the manor houses want the share croppers to stay right where they are. The Kingdom of God represents the reversal of this socioeconomic system through the institution of God's justice. The disciples/apostles, who preach and live in the Kingdom which has already begun among them, are commissioned to spread this ideal world view and practice throughout the world. As Micah has so aptly put it in his complaint against those who think just showing up for worship and throwing in a few gifts is what it means to be a righteous follower of God, what really is important is "...to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God."