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Have You Not Read Luke 6:3
Have You Not Read Luke 6:3
Jesus, in his teaching, ended up having religious discussions (debates) with the leaders of the Jewish people. The basis of all answers, according to Jesus, was the word of God. Hence, he often asked: “Have you not read…”. Surely, being teachers of the Word, you have read this… or had they?
To the Pharisees when they accused him of doing what was UNLAWFUL on the Sabbath, Jesus brought this up - TWICE. Have you not read what David did (i.e., did that which was UNLAWFUL, but none of them accused David)? THEN, the fact that the priests did on the Sabbath what was, in fact, their normal ‘work’: “Have you not read?”
Then, again to the Pharisees, when they questioned him concerning what was lawful concerning divorce, His reply: "Have you not read that He who created them from the beginning made them male and female, 5 and said, 'For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh'? (Matt. 19:4-5) He expected them to understand the underlying purpose of marriage itself and to then apply it!
Then to the Sadducees, when they denied the resurrection, “have you not read” (Matt. 22:31; Mark 12:26). Here He expected them to make a deduction and apply it concerning the state of those who had died physically. They were WRONG because they KNEW NOT the scriptures, and they were ignorant because they had not read!
Finally, as He is confronted by the Chief priests, scribes, and the elders (cp. 11:27), noting their anger and rejection of His teaching, He asks: “Have you not read…?” Here He applies Psalm 118:22 to the rejection of the Messiah. They could have and should have, seen that their very seeking to seize him was part of God’s revealed plan concerning the Messiah.
What are WE to make of this? I would suggest first the warning of James: Be not many of you teachers! (James 3:1) Add to this Paul’s question to the Jewish teachers: “You who would teach others, do you not teach yourself”? (Rom. 2:21). My first mentor used to warn me that ‘you cannot teach what you do not know’. Is this not the very application of Jesus’ statement here? I believe it is! So, making application of this would entail that we 1) READ; 2) Understand; 3) make application; 4) LIVE BY, doing – obeying; 5) THEN teach!
This is how Jesus applied it in vs. 41-45. FIRST, apply God’s word to yourself in making whatever corrections are needed in YOUR life, THEN (and please note that there is a THEN!), you can see clearly to help your neighbor make needed corrections in his life.
So: have YOU not read… ?
Hugh DeLong
