A Study In Luke - Day 9

Day 9 - Luke 6:6-11
 
6 On another Sabbath day, a man with a deformed right hand was in the synagogue while Jesus was teaching. 7 The teachers of religious law and the Pharisees watched Jesus closely. If he healed the man’s hand, they planned to accuse him of working on the Sabbath.

8 But Jesus knew their thoughts. He said to the man with the deformed hand, “Come and stand in front of everyone.” So the man came forward. 9 Then Jesus said to his critics, “I have a question for you. Does the law permit good deeds on the Sabbath, or is it a day for doing evil? Is this a day to save life or to destroy it?”

10 He looked around at them one by one and then said to the man, “Hold out your hand.” So the man held out his hand, and it was restored! 11 At this, the enemies of Jesus were wild with rage and began to discuss what to do with him.

Here, we see a culmination of what had happened before; Jesus befuddling the Pharisees with his answer and his healing, but in this particular interaction, something more needs to be noticed.
 
Their reaction is more nefarious than we have seen before. They were “wild with rage,” says this translation, and they were now going to have to find a solution to this “problem” that Jesus was becoming.

Over the years, I have heard many different reactions to who the person of Jesus was and what he did. Some people find Jesus to be fascinating and compelling. Others find Jesus to be milquetoast, and his words were not upsetting in the least. One day, someone asked me if I ever thought Jesus made anyone angry by what he said. This individual could not believe that Jesus had ever made anyone angry.
 
This text would push back pretty hard on the idea that nothing Jesus did was controversial. I find the opposite to be true. Most of what Jesus said angered those who found his words threatening to their way of life.

In this section, Jesus reminds the Pharisees that the Sabbath is a day for doing good rather than evil. He also reminds those same Pharisees that when we value policy over people, we may be missing out on our humanity.
 

1. How can you make sure that you see people over policy?
2. What do you think Jesus would think is okay to do on Sabbath? 
3. How does the Sabbath play into your life right now?