Luke 6:9 · World English Bible
Luke 6:9 Meaning Then Jesus Said to Them
Then Jesus said to them, “I will ask you something: Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good, or to do harm? To save a life, or to kill?”
What does Luke 6:9 mean?
Every moment sets one question before the mind, and the question is never really about the day or the law. Fear would keep its rules intact even where a brother suffers, because the ego always prefers its own consistency to another's release.
From the Christian Psychology reading below.
Luke 6:9 through 1 lens
The same verse, read by one tradition.
Christian Psychology
CHRISTIAN PSYCHOLOGY
Christian Psychology
Every moment sets one question before the mind, and the question is never really about the day or the law. Fear would keep its rules intact even where a brother suffers, because the ego always prefers its own consistency to another's release. Love asks only whether this instant will be used to heal or to condemn, and it sees that there is no third choice. A mind that hesitates over what is lawful has already forgotten that only one thing is ever lawful, which is to let another be restored.
The healing and the harm are not two acts among many. They are the two teachers, and the whole of what seems like a crowded world of decisions comes down to which of them the mind will hear now.
Sabbath: the appointed stillness in the mind, the moment set apart where the choice between fear and love is laid bare.
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Live Luke 6:9 today
- Next time you reach for your phone out of habit, ask whether the thing you are about to do leaves you or anyone else a little better or a little worse. Then choose accordingly, without a speech about it.
- Someone will be difficult today, in traffic, in a line, in a message. Pick the response that eases things, even when you have the perfect cutting reply ready.
- When a rule or a process gets in the way of actually helping a person, help the person. Procedure is not an excuse, and you will know the difference in the moment.
In this hour, am I easing something or adding to the weight?
The same truth in other traditions
Judaism · Pirkei Avot
If you are not doing good now, when. The hour in front of you is the only one in which the choice exists.
Buddhism
Every intention leans one of two ways, toward easing suffering or adding to it. There is no neutral act, only the direction you are facing.
Taoism · Zhuangzi
The one who clings to the rule misses the living situation in front of him. Rigid correctness can do more harm than the error it was meant to prevent.
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