Luke 6:43–45

Luke 6:43–45 (ESV): A Tree and its Fruit

Luke 6:37–42

Luke 6:37–42 (ESV): Judging Others

Luke 6:27–36

Luke 6:27–36 (ESV): Love Your Enemies

Covenant Theology and New Covenant Theology

In a previous post I wrote about the Sabbath, and I wish I could have stopped there. (Oh, how I wish I could stop there!) But unfortunately it’s not that simple, because this question of the Sabbath brings us into what is probably a key difference between something called Covenant Theology and something called New Covenant Theology. What I’ve said in the Sabbath post falls in the New Covenant Theology camp, and if you mostly agree with the posts on this blog but disagreed with that particular post you’re probably in the Covenant Theology camp.

Luke 6:24–26

Luke 6:24–26 (ESV): Jesus Pronounces Woes

Luke 6:20–23

Luke 6:20–23 (ESV): The Beatitudes

Luke 6:12–19

Luke 6:12–19 (ESV): The Twelve Apostles, Jesus Ministers to a Great Multitude

Luke 6:1–11

Luke 6:1–11 (ESV): Jesus Is Lord of the Sabbath, A Man with a Withered Hand

The Sabbath

A long time ago—a long time ago!—I received a comment on the post for Matthew 12:9–14 asking about the Sabbath. In that passage Jesus gets into a disagreement with the Pharisees because they believe that healing should not be done on the Sabbath (since they consider it a form of work), whereas Jesus obviously disagrees since he keeps doing it. It’s pretty clear that the Pharisees are wrong in their understanding of the Sabbath and how one should observe it, but the commenter, if I might paraphrase, is asking how Christians should observe the Sabbath (the underlying assumption seeming to be that we should). So let’s do something I almost never do, and delve into a controversial topic: What is my understanding of the New Testament teaching on the Sabbath?