Luke 6

www.esvbible.org/Luke+6/

The disciples go through a field on a sabbath plucking wads of grain and eating them. The Pharisees see them doing this and ask Jesus why they do this because there is supposed to be no sort of work on the sabbath, and they consider plucking grain to be work. Jesus recounts a story from scripture in which King David and his men go into the temple and eat the bread reserved for the priest. This is the man after God's own heart. He did so out of necessity, just as the disciples now eat. Then, Jesus tells them the the Son of Man is The Lord of the Sabbath. It is a statement that serves dual purposes. First, Jesus states (albeit a little shroudedly) that He is the Son of Man, and second, He reminds the Pharisees that the sabbath is not about just simply following rules as they had been a accustomed to using it for, but the true purpose, which they had lost sight of, is actually to worship and be mindful of God.

The Pharisees try to catch Jesus doing wrong again on another sabbath day. Jesus taught at a synagogue where a man with a paralyzed right hand worshipped. The Pharisees wanted to see if Jesus would heal the man so they could accuse Him of doing something wrong. Jesus, however, knew what they were trying to do, so He called them out. He brought the man to the center of the synagogue and asked all the people what the sabbath should be used for: doing good or doing evil, giving a man health or destroying him. Then, He healed the man. Again, the Pharisees did not recognize what the sabbath is truly for because they were obsessed with making people follow the rules. Jesus points out that it is important more important to do a good deed on the sabbath when God presents the opportunity than it is to do evil by ignoring it under the guise of honoring the sabbath.

Jesus went to a mountain to pray, and when He came down, He chose twelve of His disciples and called them apostles. It is important to note that Jesus consulted with God about His choice of disciples. We cannot forget to listen to God when we make desicions. The twelve apostles Jesus chose we're: Simon, his brother Andrew, James, John, Phillip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James, Simon the Zealot, Judas, and Judas Iscariot (the traitor).

When Jesus and the twelve came down, there was a huge crowd from all over waiting for Him. They wanted to hear Him teach and be cured. They all tried to touch Him because the power radiated from Him. An interesting observance is that only people who want to be healed are healed. People go up and ask or touch Jesus and that is when they are cured. In doing this, these people are first admitting that they need to be cured. Jesus says the sick need a doctor, not the healthy. Only people who know they are sick and will admit it go to the doctor. This is true in the people that come to Jesus, bits those who need physical healing and those who come to receive their salvation.

Jesus teaches His disciples of the way things will be in Heaven. He says blessed are the people who are poor in this world because they will be rich. And He warns the rich because He says they have had their comfort in this world.  This isn't to say that everyone who has a lot of money will go to hell. But it talks more of generosity. Are you using your wealth generously, or are you living in excess? He says the hunger are blessed and they will be we'll fed, but the well fed will be hunger. This means that we must rely on the Lord, and be thankful for what He provides us. Finally, He says blessed are you when people insult you because you follow the Son of Man and warns you when everyone has only nice things to say about you. You must be unashamed of what Jesus has done for you. You must speak boldly about Him and His gospel. Otherwise, your heart is not really in it, and Jesus is after the heart.

Jesus teaches a hard lesson. He tells us we must love our enemies, be kind to those who hate us, bless those who insult us, etc. This is where He teaches us to turn the other cheek. He tells us if someone takes our coat, we should offer them our shirt. Give to everyone who asks for something and expect nothing back. Do for other people what you would want them to do for you. After all, how great is it if you only love those who love you? Anyone can do that. Anyone can lend to those from whom they expect something in return or help those who have helped them. There's no honor or reward in that. If you love, help, and lend to your enemies without expecting anything back, you will be rewarded, and God will call you His child. After all, God loves those who are evil and unkind, and a child does what the parents do by example. Be merciful as the Father is merciful.

God uses the standards to treat you that you use to treat others, so if you forgive, you will be forgiven; if you stop judging, you won't be judged; if you don't condemn others, you will never be condemned. Jesus gives the illustration of the blind leading the blind. Both will fall into the same pit. If you send out evil thoughts towards others, it will come back to get you in the same way. No student can be better than the teacher, but a good student who tries will learn to be like the teacher. How can you say to another be,I ever that he has a piece of sawdust in his eye when you have a wood beam in your eye. First you must remove the wood beam in your eye so that you can clearly see the sawdust in your friend's eye. Don't go around pointing out the sins of others because you are not sin free. Just by pointing out the sins of others while you ignore your own sin is sinning. First, clear up your problem with God, then you may help your friend with their problem. Also, when we see the sawdust, we are only seeing and judging based on a small problem because we are distant from it. We are quite close to our own problems, so they are even bibgger to us and blinding.

Jesus uses an illustration of a tree. A good tree produces good fruit, and a bad tree produces bad fruit. In this way, a good person will do the good things in them while the evil person will do the evil within them. What people say comes from inside them. If someone speaks of good, they are good, but if someone speaks of evil, there is evil inside them.

Jesus asked why the people listen to Him but do not do what He says. He tells them that those who listen and obey Him ate like the man who built his house on the bedrock. When the flood came, the house stood strong. The person who hears but does not obey, however, is like the man who built his house on the sand. When the flood came, it collapsed the house.