January 21, 2025 Morning Devotional

Morning Devotion: Read Luke - Jesus Is Lord of the Sabbath

Luke 6:1  And it came to pass on the second sabbath after the first, that he went through the corn fields; and his disciples plucked the ears of corn, and did eat, rubbing them in their hands. 2  And certain of the Pharisees said unto them, Why do ye that which is not lawful to do on the sabbath days? 3  And Jesus answering them said, Have ye not read so much as this, what David did, when himself was an hungred, and they which were with him; 4  How he went into the house of God, and did take and eat the shewbread, and gave also to them that were with him; which it is not lawful to eat but for the priests alone? 5  And he said unto them, That the Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath.

The other morning I was pulled over by a police officer. When we spoke he said “I saw you talking on your phone while driving. I saw you twice.” He was correct. I was talking on my phone while driving.

Earlier in the morning I had received a phone call from a gentleman. I could not answer the phone at the time so he left a message. The message was garbled and of few words leaving me with only the first three digits of his phone number on the message. My caller I.D. gave me the whole number. I called the number back and a young man answered. When I inquired with the name of the caller he hung up on me.

WOW!, I thought the person who called could be under duress. We looked up the address on internet and I left to make a house call. While looking for the house I was frantically using my phone to find the location. Then the gentleman who originally called, called again. That is when the office saw me on the phone.

After explaining all this to the officer he took my driver licence and registration and walked back to his vehicle.  No doubt to check me out through their system.

When He returned, he gave me back my I.D.  and said “I am going to leave you with a warning, don’t talk on your phone and drive.” Then he asked me if I knew who much the fine was for talking on the phone while driving. I said “no”. He said it was $650.00 dollars plus three demerit points. WOW!

As I was driving away, I thought, it was true I had broken the law and the officer could have fined me and I would have been in trouble. I thought that what he did was kind and gracious and was in the spirit of the law and not the letter of the law.

In our text the disciples were eating on the Sabbath. The illustration the Lord used was David eating the shewbread as well. Both were a violation of the law. The Lord knew the hearts of these men. They were innocent and hungry. They needed sustenance and took opportunity to eat.

We must realize that Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath and the Sabbath was given for man, not man for the Sabbath.

Mark 2:27  And he said unto them, The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath:

The Lord was exercising the spirit of the law, allowing rest and the comfort of sustenance.

In my case the police officer was exercising the spirit of the law not the letter. You can believe that if I was found again using my phone while driving I would be fined. (It will not happen again.) The letter of the law would certainly be imposed.

Never think that God will always act in the spirit of the law. No, one day God will judge in the letter of the law.

Acts 17:30  And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent: 31  Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.

Trust the Lord Jesus now, before the letter of the law is imposed.

The choice is still yours,

Pastor Cook