Sunday School Lessons, Luke 6:1-22

READ Matthew 12:1-8; Mark 2:23-28

6:1On a Sabbath,while he was going through the grainfields, his disciples plucked and ate some heads of grain, rubbing them in their hands. 2But some of the Pharisees said, “Why are you doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath?” 3And Jesus answered them, “Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him: 4how he entered the house of God and took and ate the bread of the Presence, which is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to those with him?” 5And he said to them, “The Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.”

Jesus and his disciples were hungry on the Sabbath and as they walked along, they were picking grain and eating it. The Pharisees were there, watching. They asked Him, “Why are you doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath? They were trying to catch Him doing something against the law. It was unlawful to cut the grain with a sickle or thresh the grain on the Sabbath, but they were not breaking the Mosaic Law by rubbing it in their hands and eating. Notice that Jesus did not become defensive or argue with them about the finer points of the Law. Instead, he reminded them of the time when David and his men were hungry and he went to the priests and asked for bread. The only bread they had was the special bread that was offered on the altar and only for the priests to eat. On that occasion, the priest gave David the special bread in a special circumstance. Jesus was proving to them that He, himself, was the Lord of the Sabbath. By this He was claiming authority to interpret the Law Himself and by that, He was making a claim that He was divine.

READ Matthew 12:9-14; Mark 3:1-6

6On another Sabbath, he entered the synagogue and was teaching, and a man was there whose right hand was withered. 7And the scribes and the Pharisees watched him, to see whether he would heal on the Sabbath, so that they might find a reason to accuse him. 8But he knew their thoughts, and he said to the man with the withered hand, “Come and stand here.” And he rose and stood there. 9And Jesus said to them, “I ask you, is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to destroy it?” 10And after looking around at them all he said to him, “Stretch out your hand.” And he did so, and his hand was restored. 11But they were filled with fury and discussed with one another what they might do to Jesus.

The scribes and Pharisees watched Him to see if He would heal on the Sabbath. They wanted to find something of which they could accuse Him. The very fact that they were laying in wait to catch Him healing on the Sabbath proves that they believed He COULD heal and that He WOULD heal the man. They knew He had compassion on those who needed healing.

He knew their thoughts. He called the man and put him in plain sight and asked the Pharisees if it was lawful to do good and save life on the Sabbath. Notice what he did next. He ‘looked around at them all’ but they made no answer to Him. Why do you think he looked at them all? What was their response? He healed the man’s hand, and by healing Him, he was again demonstrating His authority. (Matthew says that after this they ‘conspired to destroy him.’)

READ Matthew 10:2-4; Mark 3:13-19

12In these days he went out to the mountain to pray, and all night he continued in prayer to God. 13And when day came, he called his disciples and chose from them twelve, whom he named apostles: 14Simon, whom he named Peter, and Andrew his brother, and James and John, and Philip, and Bartholomew, 15and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon who was called the Zealot, 16and Judas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.

Again, Luke describes the prayer life of Jesus. Jesus went out to a mountain, alone, and prayed all night. This was an important, significant occasion. Jesus was about to select 12 special men—apostles—from his followers, or disciples. Which of these men have been mentioned in Luke’s gospel thus far? What is the difference between a disciple and an apostle? An apostle is a messenger (from God) and a disciple is a learner, or follower. These men were called out by Jesus to be the leaders of the church that He would one day establish after His resurrection and ascension. He prayed all night before he gathered his disciples together and named these men. Each of these men were chosen by Christ Himself. READ John 15:16 One of these men denied Him three times. One betrayed Him to those who sought to destroy Him. Do you remember Peter’s sermon in Acts 2 when he said, “Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know—this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.

Peter denied Jesus and Judas was the one who betrayed Jesus and gave Him over to be killed by the hands of lawless men. But Jesus did not make a mistake by chosing these men; it was all according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God.

*These lessons are written for use with elementary aged students. You can find lessons for previous chapters here . All scriptures are taken from the ESV.