Luke 6:1-5
Chapter 6
1
One Sabbath, Jesus was walking through a grain field, and his disciples began to pick heads of grain, crushing them in their hands to eat.
2
Some of the Pharisees asked them:
“Why do you do what is forbidden on the Sabbath?”
3
Then Jesus spoke up and asked them:
“Have you never read what David did when he and his men were hungry?
4
He entered the house of God, took and ate the bread of the offering, and even gave some to his men, even though only priests are allowed to eat that bread.”
5
And Jesus added:
“The Son of Man is Lord and rules over the Sabbath.”
Commentaries
On the Sabbath.
The choice of life always takes precedence over any law, even the Sabbath (1-4). Verse 5 asserts Jesus’ lordship over the Sabbath. In fact, Jesus acts with complete freedom both in the synagogue and in the timing of the Sabbath. His freedom contrasts with the lack of freedom experienced by the men and women of his community, who are entirely paralyzed by the rigidity of a law that, at its core, is about freedom but becomes restrictive in its interpretation and practice.