Defining the Terms

Luke 6:6-11

Jesus was definitely not a people pleaser. He knew that his identity did not rest in whether others approved of what he did or didn’t do. I’m sure he was tempted at times to listen to the opinions of others – I say that because of what Scripture says about Jesus being tempted in the ways we are tempted and I know I am frequently tempted by what people might think.

Even though Jesus never succumbed to this (or any other) temptation, he knew it was important to address the accusations of those who opposed him – both for their benefit and for the benefit of all who were listening. The people of the day were under the spiritual authority of the religious leaders of the land. Just like today, there were different groups or parties of leaders each with their own ax to grind, particularly the Pharisees and the teachers of the law. They would not relinquish their authority without a fight.

In high school I was on a debate team and more recently I’ve watched my own son debate and have served as a judge. One key to winning a debate is establishing and maintaining the terms of the debate so that you gain the higher ground. In watching movie, “Gettysburg,” with my sons when they were young, I vividly remember the challenge each commanding officer faced in gaining what was literally the higher ground, so that you were looking down on your opponent.

In this passage Jesus is defining the terms in irrefutable ways. He is working to gain and control the higher ground. Jesus could heal the sick and raise the dead, but the healed and resurrected would still be in bondage if he did not also free them from the rules and regulations of these spiritual leaders. These leaders were men who were highly devoted to the Scriptures, but who in their focused devotion, had missed the life and the Life Giver of those Scriptures.

In this setting, the Pharisees and teachers of the law are pushed to the limit. Jesus finally crosses the line. This story of the man healed of a withered hand is the last in a series of stories presented by Luke to show how Jesus confronts the religious authorities of his day. These men were godly men, godly in the sense that they were devoted to the Scriptures, to prayer, to “church” or Sabbath attendance, to tithing, devoted even to doing good deeds and giving alms to the poor. They were, in today’s language, very good church people.

But they had such a grip on the masses that Jesus had to challenge them and their authority before he could effectively reach the masses. He might heal the masses and feed them, but before he could really connect with them, before he could win them over, he had to tear down the religious and political authority structures in their lives so that they could truly see him for who he was and hear what he had to say.

Whenever you and I speak, anyone listening is not hearing our words only. They are hearing our words in context – the context being the situation or setting in which we are speaking, but also the context in which they are living and have been living all their lives. When we listen to the words of others, we bring a whole lot of baggage to the table, baggage that filters every word that is said, every word that is not said, even body language employed, physical features of the speaker and the setting in which the speaker is speaking.

I find it very intriguing that this string of authority conflict stories is presented in Luke’s Gospel just before Jesus calls out the Twelve and before he begins to teach them and the masses. Jesus has already started calling people to follow him, he’s already demonstrated his love through healing people. But these do little more than establish his presence.

Now he is establishing his authority and he is making it very clear that he is not going to be bound either by the rules of the day nor by the rulers of the day. He has come to rule the day, a process that does not end until Resurrection Sunday, but a process that is begun in the everyday trenches of Galilee among the peasants and Pharisees like those in this story.