A Reason to Accuse

Scripture Reading: Luke 6:1-11

Today's Treasure: "Then Jesus said to them,'The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath' " (Luke 6:5).

The Pharisees were always on the lookout for a reason to accuse or discredit Jesus. Doing so would allow them to escape accountability to His teachings and make themselves feel more righteous. What do you do when you desperately want to find fault in a faultless man? You resort to petty legalism.

Luke 6:1-11 describes two scenes in which the Pharisees try to discredit Jesus and His disciples for working on the Sabbath. The first involved the disciples' eating grains of wheat. Try to fathom the pettiness of the complaint that the disciples were threshing wheat because they were rubbing it in their hands. They preferred that the disciples ache with hunger rather than break the Sabbath law. Also, imagine the ridiculous scene they created when they presumed to tell the lawgiver Himself how to obey the law.

Those who caught Christ's disciples threshing grain in their own palms weren't the first to be presumptuous. Through the centuries religious leaders had taxed God's laws with so many of their own that God's original purposes were often obscured. By the time Christ came to earth to accomplish His work, the Pharisees and teachers of the law had turned the Sabbath into the hardest day of the week.

On another Sabbath, Jesus encountered a man with a withered right hand. Think of all the jobs that would have been difficult, if not impossible, for this man. In a discourse on rest versus work, I don't think it's a coincidence that the man involved had lived a humiliating life of unwelcome rest from effective labor. Christ granted him rest from his incapacity and futility. The One who created Sabbath used it to bring restoration to a man weary of uselessness.

Meanwhile, the Pharisees and teachers of the law were watching Jesus, just looking for some basis to condemn Him (v.7). Their primary reason for attending that day was to see if Jesus would heal.

I love the fact that they were convinced Christ would heal, even on the Sabbath, if he encountered a need. What a healer He is! No amount of laws could keep Him from being Himself! The Pharisees and teachers of the law caught Christ in the act of being God. Hallelujah!

The most merciful people are those who have been sitting under the faucet of God's mercy instead of sitting by with a critical eye. Please note this sad fact, which was emphasized following the Pharisees' and teachers' speculations: those who look for reasons to accuse will undoubtedly find some. They quickly found basis to accuse Jesus.

In my own life and ministry, I've accepted that, sooner or later, anyone looking hard enough to condemn will be accommodated. I really do believe that more people in the body of Christ are generally more accepting than accusing, but one mean-spirited person is practically enough to ruin anyone's day.

Francis Frangipane wrote something so powerful on the subject, I immediately committed it to memory. He said of the Lord:

    To inoculate me from the praise of man,

    He baptized me in the criticism of man,

    until I died to the control of man.

Beloved, one thing I know for sure on this subject: nothing will squelch our efforts to seek the approval of others like not receiving it! Furthermore, those who approve one day can be the same ones who accuse the next day. I encourage you to break free from the traps set by approval and accusation. We are called to live our lives above reproach but expect it anyway. Christ was blameless yet was blamed continually. I think you can trust me on this one: blameless people are rarely those who cast blame.

When the man with the shriveled hand stood before Him on the Sabbath, Jesus knew the Pharisees and teachers of the law were looking to accuse Him. Remember, He could read their minds. Christ did not allow Himself to be controlled by potential accusations nor even by the law that He, Himself, instituted. He was indeed Lord of the Sabbath.

Anyone who tried to put Christ on the hot seat usually ended up getting burned. (Thankfully, not necessarily in the eternal sense.) His public question to His accusers made them look terribly foolish: "I ask you, which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or destroy it?" (v.9). Picture the scene described in verse 10: "He looked around at them all." Eye to eye. Just waiting for someone to give Him an answer. They were struck dumb. Or maybe dumber. Then He said to the man, "Stretch out your hand" (v.10). And he did. Right there in front of all those perfect and pious-looking people, the man—who all his life had probably hidden his handicap under the sleeve of his garment—stretched forth his humiliating infirmity—and was healed.

Jesus, You deserve praise and glory. Forgive me for trying to use Your law to lift myself above others. Help me to be a person of grace and love, not pettiness and legalism. Let me love people more than the lie of self-made righteousness. In Your name, Amen.

Taken from Jesus the One and Only, by Beth Moore, pages 105-107. Nashville: Broadman & Holman, 2002. Used by permission.