Day 15 Lent 2023
I am out of pocket today at my folks. Mom isn't feeling good, and dad needs help now. I was coming out today anyway, so heading out yesterday a day early isn't a big deal. However, the unfamiliar writing environment and on the laptop only without the nice keyboard and big monitor makes things feel different.
Continuing with Luke Chapter 6, we see Jesus once again teaching on the Sabbath. Once again, the Pharisees are there trying to catch him doing something they think He shouldn't. This setup is not unlike today, how non-Christians on the internet seek to catch us in contradictions of scripture. It is the main reason I no longer engage non-Christians in scriptural conversations. For the most part, they rarely seek to understand the passages they attack me with. They seek to catch me in a trap. I have better uses for my energy than to argue with someone who isn't interested in growing as a person. Let's read today's passage.
6On another Sabbath He entered the synagogue and was teaching; and there was a man there whose right hand was withered.
7The scribes and the Pharisees were watching Him closely to see if He healed on the Sabbath, so that they might find reason to accuse Him.
8But He knew what they were thinking, and He said to the man with the withered hand, "Get up and come forward!" And he got up and came forward.
9And Jesus said to them, "I ask you, is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the Sabbath, to save a life or to destroy it?"
10After looking around at them all, He said to him, "Stretch out your hand!" And he did so; and his hand was restored.
11But they themselves were filled with rage, and discussed together what they might do to Jesus.
Luke 6:6–11 (NASB95)
Verse eight, "…but He knew what they were thinking…" People who are not followers of Christ scoff at the idea that Jesus knew what these people were thinking. We follow a risen Lord. If you read that and it didn't give you pause, but the passage that Jesus knew what they were thinking did rethink that. Christ died on the cross, was dead for three days, and lay in the tomb before He rose. He returned from the dead for real. He did this because He was God. Why is knowing what a human being thinks a bridge too far, but rising from the dead is not?
Verse nine is our key verse today. Jesus offers the Pharisees a choice: is it right to do good or evil on the Sabbath? My initial reaction is that there must be more than two choices. Surely this is a false dichotomy, right? It is not. Here's why.
Under Jewish law at the time, the Sabbath was observed by everyone on the same day. The Pharisees proclaimed this, and we are commanded to obey the laws of the realm under which we find ourselves governed in this fleshly, earthly world. On the Sabbath, it was unlawful to do anything but rest, including healing the sick. Healing was considered work by the Pharisees. To do anything other than rest on the Sabbath was to break the law. At that time, any infraction of Jewish law was considered a sin. Sin is evil. That which is not sin is good. Very simple. Jesus just rephrased the action He was about to take to demonstrate the absurdity of the situation the Pharisees created in their legalism. The question Jesus put to the Pharisees and what the Spirit puts to us today is the same. The NASB dumbs it down a bit, so I've used the King James.
9Then said Jesus unto them, I will ask you one thing; Is it lawful on the sabbath days to do good, or to do evil? to save life, or to destroy it?
Luke 6:9 (KJV 1900)
Is it lawful to do good or evil? Does God want life or death for His children? If you have the power to give life or take life, which do you choose?
The implications of this simple question posed by Jesus has ramifications throughout our modern life. I won't list them here as several of them should be obvious. Some of them, one in particular, likely makes people mad at me or disagree vehemently with me. I want to point out two things to those of you who disagree with me on whether or not Jesus' question of which to choose, life or death, actually applies to us right now.
First, these are not my words. These are red-letter words of Christ. As God, Christ knew then the minds of Man, but He also knew then the minds of people today. He was God. He knew then what He was doing and saying and how it would apply for all time. If you accept that Jesus was God made flesh come down to earth to fulfill a purpose, and accept that purpose is the forgiveness of sin; then you have no choice but to accept that He was, in fact, God. Only God could do this thing. If we accept that Jesus was God, then we must also accept the fact that God is capable of knowing then what people now think, and the words He chose to use in the things He chose to do apply just as heavily now as they did then.
Second, the Pharisees are the bad guys in this story. We all know this. They refused to listen to Jesus. They misidentified Him as the Messiah on purpose to preserve their power structure, and they conspired against Him from the very beginning of His public ministry to the very end. They were, in fact, evil. Let's look at how the bad guys reacted to Jesus's question.
10And looking round about upon them all, he said unto the man, Stretch forth thy hand. And he did so: and his hand was restored whole as the other.
11And they were filled with madness; and communed one with another what they might do to Jesus.
Luke 6:10–11 (KJV 1900)
"…they were filled with madness…." Let's look at that Greek word behind "madness." But before we do again, I need to preface this with something. This is the word Luke wrote down at the urgings of the same Holy Spirit that now guides our studies today. The Spirit then knew what He was doing being God, just as Jesus did. I am not making statements of my own here. I am merely pointing out what is in the text as it shows up during this Lenten study.
Greek Strong's Number: 454
Greek Word: ἄνοια
Transliteration: anoia
Phonetic Pronunciation: an’-oy-ah
Root: from a compound of <G1> (as a negative particle) and <G3563>
Cross Reference: TDNT - 4:962,636
Part of Speech: n f
Vine's Words: Folly, Mad, Madness
Usage Notes:
English Words used in KJV:
madness 1
folly 1
[Total Count: 2]
from a compound of <G1> (a) (as a negative particle) and <G3563> (nous); stupidity; by implication rage:- folly, madness.
James Strong, "Ἄνοια," Strong's Talking Greek and Hebrew Dictionary (WORDsearch, 2020).
The Greek word used is a negative word implying doing something foolish under the influence of anger. The root word "nous" is to understand something, but coupled with the negative participle, it becomes the opposite.
Jesus healed the withered hand of the lame man on the Sabbath in front of witnesses, and He knew some of them would miss the lesson he taught. He did it anyway because He also knew some of those who saw it, heard about it, and later read about it would be moved by the Spirit to learn what He intended to be taught.
I am a fallible human being. Could I be completely missing Jesus' point here? Absolutely. Could those who disagree with me be spot on, right? Yep. Could we both be right here? I don't think so, but the fact that I am not God means while I think it is highly unlikely, the chance is not zero. Intellectual honesty compels me to answer yes, it is possible we could both be right.
But I don't think I'm wrong. If after all this you believe I am, that's your prerogative, but I urge you to have scripture behind and reason for your disagreement. If you cannot find scripture to counter me, I urge you to reconsider your position. If you do have scripture, please post it, and I will evaluate it in light of what I've written here and consider if I am wrong.
Regardless, we can disagree and still be friends because Jesus is the Risen Lord. It is He whom we follow. It is He whom we seek to please (or it should be.) If we work to that end and do not put stumbling blocks before one another, then God bless you and Godspeed. He who has ears, let him hear.