8.16.20 Huddle

Zach Below   -   August 14, 2020

INTRO QUESTION

  1. When it comes to rules, are you (a) a rule follower or (b) a rule breaker? Have you always been that way?

 

  1. What was one rule you had in your house growing up that you thought was ridiculous? Extra points if it’s one that no one else had.

 

  1. Was there ever a time when you thought of Jesus simply as a kind of rule-making party pooper–a sort of “master and keeper of all the rules?” If so, how did that effect your desire to follow him?

 

BIBLE ENGAGEMENT—Luke 6:1-5

6 One Sabbath Jesus was going through the grain fields, and his disciples began to pick some heads of grain, rub them in their hands and eat the kernels. 2 Some of the Pharisees asked, “Why are you doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?”

3 Jesus answered them, “Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? 4 He entered the house of God, and taking the consecrated bread, he ate what is lawful only for priests to eat. And he also gave some to his companions.”5 Then Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”

 

 

BIBLE ENGAGEMENT QUESTIONS

  1. What stands out to you from the text?

 

  1. How would you describe Jesus in this story?

 

  1. What questions/confusion does it bring up?

 

  1. What does Jesus model (if anything) in this story?

 

 

CONTEXT

Here are some contextual considerations that may help in understanding the text.

  • The Pharisees are often portrayed as the common antagonist in their interactions with Jesus.
  • The Pharisees saw themselves as the protectors of the covenant with God. Therefore, they often added rules upon rules to what was actually commanded in the Old Testament.

 

  1. Why do you think the Pharisees made such a big deal about the Sabbath?

 

Leader Note:

  • One possible reason is because it was a huge part of Israel’s identity. The Israelites were slaves in Egypt for 400 years. As a slave, a persons identity was based on how many bricks he or she could make. When God brings them out of Egypt, he reestablishes their true identity—God’s love would not be based on performance but on grace. Setting up the Sabbath was an ongoing reminder of that grace. The would not be defined by their work.

 

  • Another possible reason is that they didn’t want history to repeat itself. In the Old Testament, God uses another country to remove Israel from their land. God said this was because they were guilty of three things—idolatry, injustice, and violating the sabbath. Instead of risking the same fate again, the Pharisees created a huge list of what constituted “work.”

 

  1. Shrewdness is not a common character trait we often hear associated with Jesus. However, Jesus always seemed to be an intellectual step ahead of his accusers. How is Jesus’s “shrewdness” on display in the text? In legal terms, how is Jesus making an argument from precedent?

 

Leader Note: The story Jesus references can be found in 1 Samuel 21:1-5 if you want to look at it.

 

 

CLOSING QUESTIONS

  1. In Mark’s retelling of the story, he includes a statement from Jesus not included in Luke’s account. Mark 2:27 says, “Then he said to them, ‘The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.” What do you think Jesus means by this statement?

 

  1. How can this statement from Jesus help us reframe other rules Jesus gives throughout scripture? Asked another way, in light of this verse, how might we view the purpose of “rules” Jesus gives?

 

  1. How does this story expand your picture of Jesus?

 

 

CLOSE IN PRAYER