Luke 6:4

6:4 how he entered the house of God, took ¹  and ate the sacred bread, ²  which is not lawful ³  for any to eat but the priests alone, and ⁴  gave it to his companions?” ⁵ 

Luke 6:9

6:9 Then ⁶  Jesus said to them, “I ask you, ⁷  is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath or to do evil, to save a life or to destroy it?”

Luke 24:44

Jesus’ Final Commission

24:44 Then ⁸  he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me ⁹  in the law of Moses and the prophets and the psalms ¹⁰  must be fulfilled.”

[6:4]  ¹ tn Grk “and took.”

[6:4]  ² tn Grk “the bread of presentation.”

[6:4]  ³ sn Jesus’ response to the charge that what his disciples were doing was not lawful is one of analogy: ‘If David did it for his troops in a time of need, then so can I with my disciples.’ Jesus is clear that on the surface there was a violation here. What is not as clear is whether he is arguing a “greater need” makes this permissible or that this was within the intention of the law all along.

[6:4]  ⁴ tc Most mss (א A D Θ Ë¹³ 33 Ï) read “also” here, but this looks like it is a reading made to agree with Mark 2:26. A better combination of witnesses (B L W Ψ Ë¹ lat sa) lacks the word “also.”

[6:4]  ⁵ tc The Western ms D adds here a full saying that reads, “On the same day, as he saw someone working on the Sabbath he said, ‘Man, if you know what you are doing, you are blessed, but if you do not know, you are cursed and a violator of the law.’” Though this is not well enough attested to be considered authentic, many commentators have debated whether this saying might go back to Jesus. Most reject it, though it does have wording that looks like Rom 2:25, 27 and Jas 2:11.

[6:9]  ⁶ tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[6:9]  ⁷ sn With the use of the plural pronoun (“you”), Jesus addressed not just the leaders but the crowd with his question to challenge what the leadership was doing. There is irony as well. As Jesus sought to restore on the Sabbath (but improperly according to the leaders’ complaints) the leaders were seeking to destroy, which surely is wrong. The implied critique recalls the OT: Isa 1:1-17; 58:6-14.

[24:44]  ¹¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[24:44]  ¹² sn Everything written about me. The divine plan, events, and scripture itself are seen here as being one.

[24:44]  ¹³ sn For a similar threefold division of the OT scriptures, see the prologue to Sirach, lines 8-10, and from Qumran, the epilogue to 4QMMT, line 10.