Read Luke 6:6-ll

JESUS HEALS A MAN’S HAND ON THE SABBATH
According to the tradition of the religious leaders, no healing could be done on the Sabbath. Healing, they argued, was practicing medicine, and a person could not practice his or her profession on the Sabbath. It was more important for the religious leaders to protect their laws than to free a person from painful suffering.
Jesus’ enemies were furious. Not only had He read their minds, He also flouted their laws and exposed the hatred in their hearts. It is ironic that their hatred, combined with their zeal for the law, that drove them to commit murder – an act that was completely against the law.

Read Luke 6:1-5

THE DISCIPLES PICK WHEAT ON THE SABBATH
The Pharisees thought their religious system had all the answers. They could not accept Jesus because He did not fit into their system. You can miss Christ for the same reason. Beware of thinking that you or your church has all the answers. No religious system is big enough to contain Christ completely or to fulfill perfectly all His desires for the world.
In Jewish legal tradition, there were 39 categories of activities forbidden on the Sabbath, and harvesting was one of them. The teachers of religious law even went so far as to describe different methods of harvesting. One method was to rub the heads of grain between the hands, as the disciples were doing. God’s law said farmers were to leave the edges of their fields unplowed so travelers and the poor could eat from this bounty. So the disciples were not guilty of stealing grain. Neither were they breaking the Sabbath by doing what they were doing. In fact, though they may have bee violating the Pharisee’s rules, they were not breaking any divine law.
When Jesus said that He was “Lord of the Sabbath,” he meant He had the authority to over rule the Pharisee’s traditions and regulations because He, Himself, had created the Sabbath. The Creator is always greater than the creation.
Jesus reminded the Pharisees of an event that took place during David’s time. Each week 12 consecrated loaves of bread, representing the 12 tribes of Israel, were placed on a table in the Temple. This bread was called the Bread of the Presence or Show Bread. After it’s use in the Temple, it was to be eaten only by the priests. Jesus accused of Sabbath breaking, refered to this story about David (1 Samuel 21:1-6). On one occasion, fleeing from Saul, David and his men ate the bread. Their need was more important than ceremonial regulations. Jesus was appealing to the same principle: Human need is more important than human regulations and rules. By comparing Himself and His disciples to David and his men, Jesus was saying if you condemn me, you must condemn David also.

Read Luke 5:33-39

RELIGIOUS LEADERS ASK JESUS ABOUT FASTING
Jesus knew His death was coming. After that time, fasting would be in order. Although He was fully human, Jesus knew He was God and why He had to come: to die for the sins of the world.
Wineskins were goatskins sewn together at the edges to form water tight bags. Because new wine expands while it ages, it has to be put into new, pliable wineskins. A used skin, having become more rigid, would burst and spill the wine.
Like old wineskins, the Pharisees were too rigid to accept Jesus, who could not be contained in their traditions and rules. Christianity required new approaches, new traditions, new structures. Our church programs and ministries should not be so structured that they have no room for a fresh touch of the Holy Spirit, a new method, or a new idea. You, too, must be careful that your heart does not become so rigid that it prevents you from accepting new ways of thinking that Christ brings. You need to keep your heart pliable so you can accept Jesus’ life changing method.

Read Luke 5:27-32

JESUS CALLS LEVI (MATTHEW)
Levi, who was also named Matthew, was the disciple and author of The Gospel of Matthew.
Levi left a lucrative, though probably dishonest tax-collecting business to follow Jesus. Then he responded as Jesus would want all His followers to do. He held a reception for all his fellow tax collectors and other notorious “sinners,” so they could meet Jesus, too. Levi who left behind a material fortune in order to gain a spiritual fortune, was proud to be associated with Jesus. Are you proud to be associated with Jesus?
The Pharisees wrapped their sin in respectability. They made themselves appear good by publicly doing good deeds and pointing at the sins of others. Jesus chose to spend time, not with these proud, self-righteous religious leaders, but with people who sensed their own sin and knew they were not good enough for God. In order to come to God you must repent; and in order to renounce your sin, you must first acknowledge it.

Read Luke 5:17-26

JESUS HEALS A PARALYZED MAN
The religious leaders spent much time defining and discussing the huge body of religious tradition that had been accumulating for more than 400 years since the Jews returned from exile. They were so concerned with these man-made traditions, that they often lost sight of Scripture. Here these leaders felt threatened because the people were flocking to Jesus.
In Bible times houses were built with stone and had flat roofs made of mud mixed with straw. Outside stairways led to the roof. These men carried their friend up the stairs to the roof, where they too apart as much as was necessary to lower him in front of Jesus.
It wasn’t the paralyzed man’s faith that impressed Jesus, but the faith of his friends. Jesus responded to their faith and healed the man. For better or worse, our faith affects others. We cannot make another person a Christian, but we can do much through our words, action, and love to give him/her a chance to respond to Jesus. Look for opportunities to bring your friends to the living Christ.
When Jesus told the paralyzed man his sins were forgiven, the Jewish leaders accused Jesus of blasphemy – claiming to be God or to be able to do what only God can do. In Jewish law, blasphemy was punishable by death. In labeling Jesus’ claim to forgive sins blasphemous, the religious leaders showed they did not understand that Jesus is God, and He has God’s power to heal both the body and the soul.