Sunday, December 29, 2013

On 1-5-14, Luke 6:1-11 will be our Adult Sunday School/Uniform Series/International Sunday School Lesson herein is my commentary. This lesson is known by some as Honoring the Sabbath

Honoring the Sabbath
Luke 6:1-11
International Sunday School Lesson
January 5, 2014

                                                       

Commentary
By
Jed Greenough

“Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet.  Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.”
“Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”  John 4:19-24
There are many ways that God’s word reveals itself as just that, His word.  Back on 12-8-13 I said in my commentary that when I broke into a spontaneous song of praise to God it was about as close as I personally come to worshiping Him in the Spirit and truth that Jesus was talking about in John 4.  Here we see in today’s scripture Jesus in essence referring to the same thing.
The Sabbath can be a confusing thing for Christians especially to those who are at a point where they literally hunger and thirst for God and His word.  We can confuse ourselves with thoughts that we are no longer keeping the Sabbath, that we are worshipping on the wrong day and doing the wrong things.  But we must not forget that the Sabbath like all the Mosaic Laws was given to the Israelites (Exodus 31:6).  And as it says in James 2:10, “For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.”  Do we want to go back into that trap?  Please remember that Christ freed us from all of that.
Jesus was showing us in today’s scripture that the intent of the Sabbath was to keep it Holy to God and to be holy.  Similarly he quoted the following from Hosea 6:6 in Matthew 9:13, “I desire mercy, not sacrifice.”  It is the spirit of the action not the action that matters.
When the Jews took, or anyone today takes, something and turns it into a legalistic or ritualistic observance instead of what it was intended to be to honor God it is no longer doing just that.


For Discussion:




Upcoming  
1.      Read parallel accounts in Matthew 12:1-14 and Mark 2:23-3:6
2.      Read Deuteronomy 23:25
3.      To Harvest on the Sabbath was considered unlawful.  Discuss if you would consider this as harvesting or revealing the nature of these Pharisees
4.      Discuss what Jesus said about David’s actions from verses 3 and 4.  Also compare our verse 3 with Mark 2:25
5.      Read Exodus 25:30 and Leviticus 24:5-9 concerning consecrated bread
6.      Discuss the wonderful statement Jesus made in verse 5
7.      Even after Jesus healed the man in front of their very eyes they were furious and plotted against Him. 

 Future Lessons:



1-12-14       Living as God’s People or How to Live as God’s People, Luke 6:12, 13, 17-31 or 6:17-31
1-19-14       Enlarging Your Circle or Jesus Teaches about Relationships, Luke 14:7-18a, 21-24 or 14:7-18a, 22-24
1-26-14       Showing Compassion for the Poor or Jesus Teaches Compassion for the Poor, Luke 16:19-31
2-2-14         Hear and Do the Word, James 1:19-27



Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 Biblica. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved


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