Commentary on Luke 6:1-16

All too often, “doing” church devolves into fixation upon continuing customs and meeting expectations associated with worn understandings of congregational life, instead of giving birth to a renewed community from belief in Christ. 

Can you think of examples?

In Luke 6:1–16, something like that is happening. Admittedly, no one in the passage is doing church. Neither the Pharisees nor Jesus are Christians; they’re Jewish. But the Pharisees are incensed that Jesus seems to flout long-standing Israelite customs and expectations.

The first two words of Luke 6 state what’s causing such a stir—“one sabbath.” (Note that the Greek translation rendered in English as “one sabbath” is not so snappy.)

The disciples of Jesus are plucking, handling, and noshing on grain instead of fasting and resting from work. “Who do they think they are?” the Pharisees wonder.

A handful of verses later in Luke 6:6, Jesus himself adds controversy. He heals on a day when curing is forbidden. He is aware the Pharisees are scrutinizing his every move and waiting for a mistake (Luke 6:7). Yet he heals anyway. 

Both instances add to a growing notoriety that Jesus and the disciples are out of line. 

As we reflect on the confidence of the disciples and Jesus to eat and heal on the sabbath despite the risk of grave misinterpretation of their actions, what kind of disciples do we understand ourselves to be?

• Do we preach as if we believe in Jesus or as if we’re most concerned with doing church?
• When folks can’t wait to correct how we do church, do we avoid offense at all costs and play it safe? Or do we choose to trust in Jesus and do what God desires, even if we end up rebuked?
• Has our identity as preachers of the gospel sometimes been misapprehended or called into question because it doesn’t fit the mold of what others think a preacher ought to be?

Just before today’s text, in Luke 5:33, the disciples of John and the disciples of the Pharisees, who “frequently fast and pray,” are mentioned in contrast, in order to shame the disciples of Jesus. To get a sense of the slight, New Testament commentator Francois Bovon writes that disciples like those of the Pharisees and John fasted not only out of obligation—on such occasions as the Day of Atonement and in response to catastrophes—but also voluntarily. In short, they were experts at fasting. “The Pharisees of Luke 18:9–14 fast twice a week,” Bovon notes and points to Daniel 9:3 and Mark 7:3 as examples of scriptural warrant for the importance of fasting. 

Jesus and his disciples choose instead to master the art of feasting with tax collectors and sinners (5:30). Jesus likens their devil-may-care approach to a new style of bringing good news—one that is worth accommodating, even celebrating. In Luke 6:3, he draws on the exemplar of King David, and in Luke 6:9, Jesus redirects the sanctimony of the Pharisees by asking whether the law of the sabbath is intended for good or evil, for the saving of life or its destruction. 

How far are we willing to go sermonically in order to do the good that Jesus has modeled and desires? 

For Luke, Jesus is the ultimate point of reference for all expressions and practices of faith. Following his lead, if a parishioner, for example, is shocked to find a preacher brunching with a drink in hand after church or accommodating participation in secular activities like youth or adult sports or arts on Sundays instead of morning worship, perhaps such mingling and spectating could become precisely the modes of outreach Christ would undertake in order to spread the good news of God beyond sanctuary buildings. 

Participation in civic life demonstrates that the followers of Christ are where the people of God are if such participation is anchored and sutured by the love of God, doing good in the name of God, and even risking scandalous interaction in order to share the healing of Christ. We embody Christ out there and continue the witness of Jesus of Nazareth by expanding what it means to do church.

Eating and drinking on the sabbath for self-care as the disciples did or as an action of fellowship with others that honors the healing Jesus did recasts all of life as sacramental. The Lord’s supper is happening anywhere the people of God are sharing meals with others if a prayerful and evangelical approach to those meals is undertaken. And notably, even as we become better at community renewal based on belief in Christ, it does not disentangle us from continuing instances of betrayal. Even Judas was with Jesus in those days (6:16) of sabbath reinterpretation and discipleship innovation. 

Referenced

Francois Bovon, A Critical Commentary on the Bible – Luke 1: A Commentary on the Gospel of Luke 1:1–9:50, Hermeneia (Fortress, 2022).

PRAYER OF THE DAY
Lord of the Sabbath,
Your followers were told not to work on the Sabbath, and yet they boldly plucked grain to show that you are Lord of all. The world tells us not to rest on the Sabbath. Show us how to rest boldly, rejecting conventions that go against your will, and instead praying and resting as you did up on the mountain, for the glory of your word and work, Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

HYMNS
Son of God, eternal Savior ELW 655
As the grains of wheat ELW 465
The church of Christ, in every age ELW 729, UMH 589, NCH 306

CHORAL
Now the silence now the peace, Gerald Near