Luke 6: 1 One Sabbath day as Jesus was walking through some grain fields, his disciples broke off heads of grain, rubbed off the husks in their hands, and ate the grain. 2 But some Pharisees said, “Why are you breaking the law by harvesting grain on the Sabbath?”
3 Jesus replied, “Haven’t you read in the Scriptures what David did when he and his companions were hungry? 4 He went into the house of God and broke the law by eating the sacred loaves of bread that only the priests can eat. He also gave some to his companions.” 5 And Jesus added, “The Son of Man is Lord, even over the Sabbath.”
With Covid-19 we are changing our way of doing things, like eating out. You can no longer just go into any restaurant and sit down for a meal. Yes, the drive thru has emerged as a major player in the "eating out" part of our restaurant trolling. Something even more prevalent is the "takeout" meal where you order on an app or by phone and then proceed to the restaurant where they bring your food out to you so you can take it home and eat, or eat it in your car. Strange days for sure, but we have learned to adjust...kind of.
In the above scripture it shows just another time when the Pharisees were hoping to discredit Jesus at every turn, so they took the opportunity of his disciples eating some grain they ate on their way and made a point to Jesus about them harvesting grain on the Sabbath. Wow, can you get more petty than that? Oh yeah, just look at our Fake News and all they try to do to trip up those in leadership in our country. The Pharisees tried to use the Law of Moses to trip up the Son of God? C'mon. Jesus is the Word of God and they are trying to make what He does wrong? So Jesus brings up what King David did per the scriptures when he and his companions were hungry. And Jesus shares that they went into the house of God and broke the law by eating the sacred loaves of bread that only the priests can eat. Jesus actually deals with two points here. First of all, He is lord over the Sabbath. Second, bread reserved for the Priests sets a precedent of excluding one over another and that just won't work. There is a new sheriff in town and he isn't just going by the law, he IS the law. Matthew 5:17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.
I had a boss one time who made a rule about drinking any soda during the work hours of 8am and 10am. He made the rule because one of my co-workers would get thirsty and walk to the machine and take five minutes to get a drink. The boss took this personally and decided he would stop that worker, or any worker from getting a soda when he thought they should'nt get one. Of course, one morning our boss came in and, sure enough, he was carrying and drinking a soda and it was 9am!! We all questioned him and he said, "Well I'm the boss, so that rule doesn't apply to me." That day he lost all credibility with our workers and he showed how favoritism can hurt a work atmosphere and how it can also hurt those who are trying to follow the rules. The Pharisees were always trying to make rules for others and then hedging on those rules for themselves and Jesus wasn't having it!! Jesus just pulled the "real" rank and shared with them that He is the Lord of the Harvest, so leave his disciples alone!
All of the rules set up by the Pharisees were bent to help them and the Son of God wasn't going to let them use scripture (which is pure) and taint the Word of God with their weird interpretation of that scripture. If you are under the teaching of someone who is trying to rule your life by their interpretation of scripture and it doesn't line up with the Word of God. Flee!!! Too many ministers have wielded the power of their position and watered down the purity of God's Word for their own use. Power can corrupt and we all need to watch ourselves when it comes to making decisions and make sure the Word of God is our source and not our own impressions. Our impressions are usually based on quick, not well thought out, decisions that makes our reasoning flawed....at best.
So what can we "takeout" of this scripture? Don't make reading God's Word like a drive thru. Don't even do takeout, but step inside and sit down and feast on God's Word and don't eat alone. Get with others who are hungry also and enjoy it together. Just make sure you read it and study it while we can. Because you never know what could happen. The Word of God will endure no matter what, but because of our crazy world the way we get to study it could be changed. Be your own person. Develop the intimate relationship with our Savior that Jesus made possible through His death, burial, and resurrection. Ephesians 5:16 Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days.
The Pilgrimage continues.....
David Warren
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