Read Luke 6:1-10
"The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath"
Luke 6:5
These two episodes illustrate the ‘wine and wineskins’ parable that we spoke about yesterday. These two incidents both happened on the Sabbath, the day of sacred rest which the Pharisees took very seriously. No amount of work was allowed and till today you will observe when in Israel, orthodox-Jews take this to a very serious degree - like not being allowed to push the button in a lift on the Sabbath. However the law of the Sabbath rest was made so that man can re-energise and focus on the Lord. And if a person’s genuine need (the disciples were obviously hungry) or the opportunity to do good to another person (the man with the shrivelled hand) arose on the Sabbath, then love came before the law. And Jesus could dispense with this law because being God, He was the Author and Lord of the Sabbath.
Jesus uses this term for Himself in the gospel. On the one hand, it shows how much He associates with us through the humility of His incarnation. You will be able to understand this when you walk the very land He became Incarnate in. On the other hand it was already used in the Old Testament (Daniel 7:13-14) and was eventually understood to be the Messiah who would come as judge and ruler of the whole world, very obviously fulfilled by Jesus Himself.
Lord, I don’t want to be a Pharisaical Christian who cares more about principles and laws for their own sake rather than about love, righteousness and holiness of heart and action.