Daily Bible Reading 29th May 2026 // Luke 6:1-5
1 On a Sabbath, while he was going through the grainfields, his disciples plucked and ate some ears of corn, rubbing them in their hands. 2 But some of the Pharisees said, “Why are you doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath?” 3 And Jesus answered them, “Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him: 4 how 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?” 5 And he said to them, “The Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.”
As to the Sabbath commandment itself, two further points will suffice for the moment. One is that the Sabbath idea belongs to the creation ordinances enunciated in Genesis 2, and by a very long while antedates the law as given in Exodus 20. This means that it is an integral part of man's essential being, just as marriage (Genesis 2:20) and labour (Genesis 2:15) are. These are unchanging ordinances, and therefore cannot be thought of as being superseded with the passing of the old economy and the coming of the new. Neither the gospel nor any other consideration affects the concept of law in this sense: it is enduring and eternal. The second point is that there is a great need in the Church today to bear witness to the true meaning and purpose of the Sabbath, to press in to its true blessings, to faith's unclaimed inheritance. There is far more here for God's people than many have realised, through lack of understanding, or fear of legalism, or unwillingness to submit to the gracious sanctions of the divine law. All the blessings of the everlasting covenant lie in store for those who keep the Sabbath holy as God meant it to be and fulfil it in spirit and in truth. For the Lord's Day is the day when He specially meets with His people, to bless them and do them good. To sit lightly to it, therefore, is to sit lightly to the divine purpose for His people, and ultimately to refuse His best.