6
Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath
1 Now it happened on a second-first* That is what the Text says. No doubt everyone at that time knew just what was intended, but in the meantime we have lost the necessary cultural information. Less than 2% of the Greek manuscripts, of objectively inferior quality, omit “second-first”, to be followed by most modern versions. Sabbath that He was passing through the grain fields, and His disciples began to pick and eat the heads of grain, rubbing them in their hands. 2 But some of the Pharisees said to them,† By now the Pharisees had ‘spies’ following Jesus wherever He went. “Why are you doing that which is not lawful to do on the Sabbath?” 3 So in answer to them Jesus said: “Have you not even read this, what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him: 4 how he went into the house of God, took and ate the showbread, and even gave it to those with him—that which only the priests are allowed to eat?” 5 Then He said to them, “The Son of the Man is Lord even of the Sabbath!”‡ Now that was something that they were not prepared to assimilate. They used the Sabbath as an instrument to dominate the people, and Jesus was threatening to deprive them of that instrument. Mark 2:27 preserves an added comment: “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath”. Man needs one day of rest in seven, but it is not intended as a ‘straitjacket’.
He heals on the Sabbath
6 Now it happened on a different Sabbath that He entered the synagogue and began to teach. Well there was a man there whose right hand was shriveled; 7 so the scribes and the Pharisees started watching, to see if He would heal on the Sabbath, so that they might find an accusation against Him. 8 But He knew their thoughts and said to the man with the shriveled hand, “Get up and stand in the center.” So he got up and stood. 9 Then Jesus said to them: “I will ask you something: Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?”§ Instead of “to kill”, perhaps 10% of the Greek manuscripts have ‘to destroy’, as in almost all versions, since both the TR and the eclectic text follow the 10%. 10 And when He had looked around at them all, He said to him, “Stretch out your hand!” So he did that, and his hand was restored, as sound as the other.* Perhaps 0.5% of the Greek manuscripts, of objectively inferior quality, omit “as sound as the other” (as in NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc.).
The rejection
11 But they were filled with rage,† Filled by whom, or what? Only someone controlled by Satan could become furious over a good deed like that. and began to discuss with one another what they might do to Jesus.
Choosing the Twelve
12 Now it happened in those days that He went out to the mountain to pray, and He continued all night in prayer to God.‡ Presumably He was making sure that He made the correct selection of twelve, taken from a larger group of followers. He certainly knew why He was including the Iscariot. 13 When it was day He called His disciples, and from them He chose twelve, whom He also named apostles:§ The basic meaning of the term was ‘messenger’, or ‘envoy’. 14 Simon (whom He also named Peter) and Andrew his brother, James and John, Phillip and Bartholomew, 15 Matthew and Thomas, James (the son of Alphaeus) and Simon (the one called ‘Zealot’), 16 Judas of James and Judas Iscariot (who also became ‘traitor’).* Note the ‘became’—Judas was doubtless just as sincere as the others when he joined up, and won everyone's confidence to the extent that he was made treasurer. It was only toward the end that he ‘became’ a traitor.
A sermon on a level place† Although similar to the ‘sermon on the mount’ recorded by Matthew, this is clearly a different time and place. During His ministry the Lord doubtless repeated His basic concepts over and over.
17 Then He came down with them and stood on a level place, with a crowd of His disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea and Jerusalem, also from the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon, who came to hear Him and to be healed of their diseases, 18 as well as those who were being harassed by unclean spirits—and they were being healed! 19 So the whole crowd kept trying to touch Him, because power was going out from Him and was healing all.‡ The crowd would be constantly shifting, because those who were healed would back off to make room for others.
Blessings
20 Then He raised His eyes toward His disciples and said:
“Blessed are you poor,
because the Kingdom of God is yours.
21 Blessed are you who hunger now,
because you will be filled.
Blessed are you who weep now,
because you will laugh.
22 Blessed are you whenever men hate you,
and whenever they exclude you and heap insults on you
and trash your name as ‘malignant’,§ As someone has said, ‘A man is known by his enemies’. for the Son of the Man's sake.
23 Rejoice in that day and skip about!* Well, you know, I can almost manage to ‘rejoice’ in theory, but to ‘skip about’ is physical—that is harder to pretend. Because your reward really is great in Heaven; for that is how their fathers treated the prophets.
Woes
24 “But woe to you who are rich!
because you have already received your comfort.
25 Woe to you who are full!
because you will go hungry.
Woe to you who are presently laughing!
because you will mourn and weep.
26 Woe, when all men speak well of you;
for that is how their fathers treated the false prophets!
Instructions
27 “Further, to you who are listening† Are you ‘listening’? Really? I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you; 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.‡ People who do these things are being used by Satan; they need to be delivered, and this is done in the spiritual realm. 29 To him who strikes you on the cheek, offer also the other;§ Do not use physical violence to respond to physical violence—but we can use our spiritual authority. Animals must resort to force, but Adam was given dominion over the animals, which presumably was not exercised with physical force—we should not lower ourselves to the animal level; but Satan tries to trick us into doing so. If someone lashes out in anger, turning the other cheek should shame him. and from him who takes away your cloak, do not withhold the tunic as well. 30 Give to everyone who asks of you;* Presumably this does not refer to professional beggars (2 Thessalonians 3:10), but to someone overtaken by adversity who needs temporary help, someone you know who is part of the community. and from him who takes away your things, do not demand them back. 31 Yes, like you want people to treat you, that is just how you must treat them.† This is the so-called ‘golden rule’—if everyone did this the world would be a better place. 32 Also, if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even ‘sinners’ love those who love them. 33 And if you do good to those doing good to you, what credit is that to you? Even ‘sinners’ do the same. 34 And if you lend to those from whom you expect to get it back, what credit is that to you? Even ‘sinners’ lend to ‘sinners’, to receive an equal value back.
Be compassionate
35 “So, love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing back; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High;‡ I take the point to be that the behavior described indicates that the person already is a ‘son’ of the Most High. As it says in Ephesians 2:8-10, we do good works because we are saved, not in order to become so. because He is kind toward the ungrateful and wicked. 36 So be compassionate, even as your Father is compassionate.§ Only if you have the Holy Spirit can you even come close to following the Father's example.
We get what we give
37 “Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. 38 Give and it will be given to you: a good measure—pressed down and shaken together and running over—will they deposit in your lap.* ‘They’ refers to human beings, not to God. Because with the same measure that you use it will be measured back to you.”
39 Then He told them a parable: “Can a blind man guide a blind man? Will they not both fall into a ditch? 40 A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like his teacher.† This is an important point; it takes time to become ‘fully trained’. No one becomes like Jesus in a hurry. 41 Why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye, but do not consider the plank that is in your own eye?‡ Even a speck in the eye is very uncomfortable, making it hard to use that eye. An eye with a ‘plank’ would be useless, totally blind, so in effect Jesus is repeating the question, “Can a blind man guide?” On the other hand, a ‘plank’ is so large that one can grab it and remove it without sight. Unfortunately there are a lot of ‘blind’ teachers who don't think they are, and they do untold damage to their students. 42 Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me remove the speck that is in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the plank that is in your own eye? Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck that is in your brother's eye.
A tree is known by its fruit
43 “Now no good tree produces rotten fruit, nor does a rotten tree produce good fruit 44 —each tree is known by its own fruit: people do not gather figs from thorn bushes, nor do they pick a bunch of grapes from a bramble. 45 The good man produces the good out of the good treasure in his heart, and the malignant man produces the malignant out of the malignant treasure in his heart; because his mouth speaks out of the abundance of the heart.§ This whole paragraph is really about people, not plants, thus the term ‘rotten’.
Two foundations
46 “Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord’, and not do what I say?* This is presumably one of the questions that will be on the Final Test. 47 Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and does them—I will show you who he is like: 48 he is like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on the bedrock. When a flood occurred, the torrent burst upon that house but could not shake it, because it was founded on the bedrock.† Perhaps 1.5% of the Greek manuscripts, of objectively inferior quality, read “because it was built well”, instead of “because it was founded on the bedrock” (as in NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc.). If the bedrock refers to the Lord Jesus and His teaching, then this alteration is bad. 49 But he who heard and did nothing‡ Notice the change in tense: ‘hears and does’ changes to ‘heard and did nothing’. The second person heard the Truth, but rejected it, and so is without excuse. is like a man who built his house on the ground without a foundation, against which the torrent burst, and immediately it fell; and the ruin of that house was great.”

*6:1 That is what the Text says. No doubt everyone at that time knew just what was intended, but in the meantime we have lost the necessary cultural information. Less than 2% of the Greek manuscripts, of objectively inferior quality, omit “second-first”, to be followed by most modern versions.

†6:2 By now the Pharisees had ‘spies’ following Jesus wherever He went.

‡6:5 Now that was something that they were not prepared to assimilate. They used the Sabbath as an instrument to dominate the people, and Jesus was threatening to deprive them of that instrument. Mark 2:27 preserves an added comment: “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath”. Man needs one day of rest in seven, but it is not intended as a ‘straitjacket’.

§6:9 Instead of “to kill”, perhaps 10% of the Greek manuscripts have ‘to destroy’, as in almost all versions, since both the TR and the eclectic text follow the 10%.

*6:10 Perhaps 0.5% of the Greek manuscripts, of objectively inferior quality, omit “as sound as the other” (as in NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc.).

†6:11 Filled by whom, or what? Only someone controlled by Satan could become furious over a good deed like that.

‡6:12 Presumably He was making sure that He made the correct selection of twelve, taken from a larger group of followers. He certainly knew why He was including the Iscariot.

§6:13 The basic meaning of the term was ‘messenger’, or ‘envoy’.

*6:16 Note the ‘became’—Judas was doubtless just as sincere as the others when he joined up, and won everyone's confidence to the extent that he was made treasurer. It was only toward the end that he ‘became’ a traitor.

†6:16 Although similar to the ‘sermon on the mount’ recorded by Matthew, this is clearly a different time and place. During His ministry the Lord doubtless repeated His basic concepts over and over.

‡6:19 The crowd would be constantly shifting, because those who were healed would back off to make room for others.

§6:22 As someone has said, ‘A man is known by his enemies’.

*6:23 Well, you know, I can almost manage to ‘rejoice’ in theory, but to ‘skip about’ is physical—that is harder to pretend.

†6:27 Are you ‘listening’? Really?

‡6:28 People who do these things are being used by Satan; they need to be delivered, and this is done in the spiritual realm.

§6:29 Do not use physical violence to respond to physical violence—but we can use our spiritual authority. Animals must resort to force, but Adam was given dominion over the animals, which presumably was not exercised with physical force—we should not lower ourselves to the animal level; but Satan tries to trick us into doing so. If someone lashes out in anger, turning the other cheek should shame him.

*6:30 Presumably this does not refer to professional beggars (2 Thessalonians 3:10), but to someone overtaken by adversity who needs temporary help, someone you know who is part of the community.

†6:31 This is the so-called ‘golden rule’—if everyone did this the world would be a better place.

‡6:35 I take the point to be that the behavior described indicates that the person already is a ‘son’ of the Most High. As it says in Ephesians 2:8-10, we do good works because we are saved, not in order to become so.

§6:36 Only if you have the Holy Spirit can you even come close to following the Father's example.

*6:38 ‘They’ refers to human beings, not to God.

†6:40 This is an important point; it takes time to become ‘fully trained’. No one becomes like Jesus in a hurry.

‡6:41 Even a speck in the eye is very uncomfortable, making it hard to use that eye. An eye with a ‘plank’ would be useless, totally blind, so in effect Jesus is repeating the question, “Can a blind man guide?” On the other hand, a ‘plank’ is so large that one can grab it and remove it without sight. Unfortunately there are a lot of ‘blind’ teachers who don't think they are, and they do untold damage to their students.

§6:45 This whole paragraph is really about people, not plants, thus the term ‘rotten’.

*6:46 This is presumably one of the questions that will be on the Final Test.

†6:48 Perhaps 1.5% of the Greek manuscripts, of objectively inferior quality, read “because it was built well”, instead of “because it was founded on the bedrock” (as in NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc.). If the bedrock refers to the Lord Jesus and His teaching, then this alteration is bad.

‡6:49 Notice the change in tense: ‘hears and does’ changes to ‘heard and did nothing’. The second person heard the Truth, but rejected it, and so is without excuse.

© 2016 Wilbur N. Pickering, ThM, PhD