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Commentaries
English
Luke
  
1Now it happened on the second Sabbath after the first that He went through the grainfields. And His disciples plucked the heads of grain and ate them, rubbing them in their hands.2And some of the Pharisees said to them, "Why are you doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath?"3But Jesus answering them said, "Have you not even read this, what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him:4how he went into the house of God, took and ate the showbread, and also gave some to those with him, which is not lawful for any but the priests to eat?"5And He said to them, "The Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath."6Now it happened on another Sabbath, also, that He entered the synagogue and taught. And a man was there whose right hand was withered.7So the scribes and Pharisees watched Him closely, whether He would heal on the Sabbath, that they might find an accusation against Him.8But He knew their thoughts, and said to the man who had the withered hand, "Arise and stand here." And he arose and stood.9Then Jesus said to them, "I sill ask you one thing: Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy?"10And when He had looked around at them all, He said to the man, "Stretch out your hand." And he did so, and his hand was restored as whole as the other.11But they were filled with rage, and discussed with one another what they might do to Jesus.


One Sabbath, Jesus and his disciples walked through the golden grain fields. The disciples became hungry, for their Master was not wealthy, but he used to ask his heavenly Father for the minimum necessary bread to support every day’s life, with all simplicity and humility. Some of the disciples plucked the heads of grain, rubbed them in their hands, and ate their delicious kernels. According to the law of the Old Testament, the poor and the needy were allowed to pick grains or fruits for immediate consumption. Therefore the Pharisees complained of the disciples for violating the Sabbath, and not any rights of property. They considered the rubbing of grain heads a work comparable to harvesting.
However, Christ explained the meaning of the law to those extremists, referring to David, the anointed king who entered into the holy tabernacle of meeting and ate together with his hungry companions the showbread that was consecrated to God and his priesthood, for their satisfaction was more essential than observing rites. Laws are made to serve man, and man is not a servant of them. Thus Christ made a fundamental change in the meaning of the law, and revealed himself as the divine Lawmaker who explained the old principles in a new manner, and summed them up in the unique commandment of love. By this powerful work, Christ delivered us from formal keeping of the law, into the thought and work of love, as Paul said many times, that no man can keep the law out of himself, but he that is righteous by the blood of Christ receives the power of the Holy Spirit who leads him to keep the commandments. In the New Testament, the sword of law is not hanging over your head to destroy you. It has become the motive of power and joyfulness in you.
It is regrettable that the Sabbath Day Adventists and those of their faith still keep the Sabbath in the Jewish spirit. They keep their Sabbaths as a symbol of the day of God’s rest when he had created his creation, without realizing that Christ tired for our salvation, and made new creation, showing his eternal life in his resurrection. In the New Testament, our Lord did not command us at all to keep any specified day, but he sanctified man himself, in order that all his days should be holy. Every day the Christian partakes of God’s rest in his conscience, for Christ’s life dwelt in him, and consequently we have become justified freely by grace through the faith, and not by keeping the law.
Yet, lawyers had no ears to hear the voices of the life of grace. They spied on Christ to condemn him, but the Lord showed them their blindness rightfully, saying to them, "Which is the most important: to keep the Sabbath without mercifulness, or to break the Sabbath for the sake of mercifulness?" Jesus Christ pierced the dead Pharisees one after the other with his sharp sight, and abolished with his question their twisted principles, emphasizing the necessity of performing good deeds all the days without exception, and avoiding evil deeds all the days without exception. Thus he showed us that the Sabbath, in the New Testament, has no advantage over any other day of the week, for love alone makes all the days kept for God, as Paul said, "Whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men". In this manner, the life of man is made completely for the service of God, praising his glorious salvation, and not only a certain day of the week.
When Jesus healed, in this new spirit, the withered hand, with a word’s speaking, in the midst of the Sabbath meeting in the synagogue, the lawyers became enraged so much the more against him, for they immediately realized, in their intelligence, that Christ did not only tear the tent of their judgments by his divine love, but also condemned them personally, at the same time, for they knew the good, and restrained men from doing good by their laws.
Many churches and several religions seek to bring their followers into heaven through keeping the laws. They, in fact, are bringing them down into the lower parts of hell. Keeping the law can never save us. Only Christ saves us. He inserts his law into our hearts, through his Holy Spirit, so that the sensibility of his love may guide us, and we may live holy at all times. Did you become free from the law, or are you still enslaved to it? Did the law of Christ dwell in you, and you walked in the fullness of his love with lowliness all the days of your life?

Prayer
O Heavenly Father, we are filled with sins, impurity, blindness, and abominable fanaticism. Please forgive us our hard hearts, deliver us from our self-righteousness, and break our law spirit, so that we may glorify you with praise, love, and service to all men, at all times.
Question
What is the meaning of the statement, “Christ is the Householder”, and why do Christians celebrate Sunday joyfully instead of the Sabbath?