Luke Chapter Six
In chapter six, Jesus is continuing on in his ministry. We see that twice, Jesus caused the Pharisees, a group of Jews, to get upset. Both times revolved around Jesus doing work on the Sabbath. The Pharisees were a sect of Jews that had a high priority and focus on following the letter of the law. They wanted to make sure they were obeying every letter of the law as well as everyone else.
Exodus 35:2 states, “Six days work shall be done, but on the seventh day you shall have a Sabbath of solemn rest, holy to the LORD. Whoever does any work on it shall be put to death.” This was the law that the Jews were to follow, and anyone who did not follow the Sabbath should be put to death. With that said, I can totally put myself in the Pharisees’ shoes and understand why they would be so upset with Jesus not following the Sabbath rest. However, throughout Jesus’ ministry, he had quite the radical thoughts and actions. A superb example of this is found in the Sermon on the Mount when six times Jesus said, “you have heard that it was said… But I say to you.” Six times Jesus took what was said in the Old Testament and radicalized it. Jesus flipped the whole world upside down.
This trend of Jesus having quite the radical thoughts and actions continues in chapter six. Jesus goes on to say that we are blessed if we are poor, hungry, weeping, and hated. He says that in the end times, we will be satisfied, as the kingdom of God will belong to us. He continues by saying woe to you if you are rich, full, laugh, and people speak well of you. To the normal person, this would make no sense, but Jesus flips everything upside down.
One of the more well-known radical statements of Jesus is found in Luke six as well – when talking about our enemies. Jesus makes the bold and radical statement by saying, “love your enemies,” (Luke 6:35). It’s common for people to disregard their enemies or even act wickedly to them. However, Jesus tells us to take another approach with our enemies. He tells us to love our enemies! This goes totally contrary to how the rest of the world treats their enemies.
Jesus was full of radical statements and actions throughout his ministry. He was constantly turning people’s lives upside down. We, as Christians, need to follow our radical leader, Jesus. He showed us the way, and it is our job to follow his lead. Jesus did not fit in at all in his society because of his radical statements and actions, such as loving your enemies. With that said, if we follow Jesus’ lead, then we are going to stick out like a sore thumb as well. Be bold and courageous and live a radical life like that of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Kyle McClain
SeekGrowLove.com 