In the 1960’s situational ethics really took off.  Basically stated, situational ethics believes that all commandments can be broken if they contradict the absolute of love.  God is love, says situational ethics, and so if lying is more loving you should lie.  God is love, says situational ethics, and if killing someone is an act of mercy you should unplug them from their life-support.  The passage today, especially from chapter 6, is one of those passages that seems to talk of situational ethics. 

Jesus’ disciples eat grain that they gather on the Sabbath.  The pharisees see this happen and accuse Jesus of lawlessness.  He responds by recounting how David broke God’s laws to feed his starving troops.  Does this then mean that we can break God’s laws if a higher need dictates it?

Luke 5:33 – 6:5

They said to him, “John’s disciples often fast and pray, and so do the disciples of the Pharisees, but yours go on eating and drinking.”

 ³⁴Jesus answered, “Can you make the guests of the bridegroom fast while he is with them? ³⁵But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; in those days they will fast.”

 ³⁶He told them this parable: “No one tears a patch from a new garment and sews it on an old one. If he does, he will have torn the new garment, and the patch from the new will not match the old. ³⁷And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the new wine will burst the skins, the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. ³⁸No, new wine must be poured into new wineskins. ³⁹And no one after drinking old wine wants the new, for he says, ‘The old is better.’ “

 ¹One Sabbath Jesus was going through the grainfields, and his disciples began to pick some heads of grain, rub them in their hands and eat the kernels. ²Some of the Pharisees asked, “Why are you doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?”

 ³Jesus answered them, “Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? ⁴He entered the house of God, and taking the consecrated bread, he ate what is lawful only for priests to eat. And he also gave some to his companions.” ⁵Then Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”

Questions

1. What do John’s disciples do and what do Jesus’ disciples do?
2. What do Jesus’ disciples do in a grainfield?
3. How can laws obscure a relationship with God?
4. How did the pharisees need to change in order to accept Jesus’ teaching?
5. How are righteous living and relationship with Jesus connected in your life?

Going Deeper

Read these articles on situational ethics and make your mind up as to what you think:

http://www.allaboutphilosophy.org/situational-ethics.htm

http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Situational_Ethics