Luke 6:1 ¶ And it came to pass on
the second sabbath after the first, that he went through the corn fields; and
his disciples plucked the ears of corn, and did eat, rubbing them in their
hands. 2 And certain of the Pharisees
said unto them, Why do ye that which is not lawful to do on the sabbath days?
3 And Jesus answering them said, Have ye
not read so much as this, what David did, when himself was an hungred, and they
which were with him; 4 How he went into
the house of God, and did take and eat the shewbread, and gave also to them
that were with him; which it is not lawful to eat but for the priests alone?
5 And he said unto them, That the Son of
man is Lord also of the sabbath. 6 And
it came to pass also on another sabbath, that he entered into the synagogue and
taught: and there was a man whose right hand was withered. 7 And the scribes and Pharisees watched him,
whether he would heal on the sabbath day; that they might find an accusation
against him. 8 But he knew their
thoughts, and said to the man which had the withered hand, Rise up, and stand
forth in the midst. And he arose and stood forth. 9 Then said Jesus unto them, I will ask you one
thing; Is it lawful on the sabbath days to do good, or to do evil? to save
life, or to destroy it? 10 And
looking round about upon them all, he said unto the man, Stretch forth thy
hand. And he did so: and his hand was restored whole as the other. 11 And they were filled with madness; and
communed one with another what they might do to Jesus.
Again, Jesus’ disciples
are being criticized by the Pharisees for what the Pharisees consider to be
disregarding the traditions of the Jews that had grown up around the Law. Jesus
defends necessity against ritual observance of regulations. He refers to
circumstances in 1Samuel 21.
Jesus forces the issue
in the synagogue by healing a man and then does this to provoke the scribes and
Pharisees who were present.
Luke 6:12 ¶ And it came to pass in those days, that he
went out into a mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God.
13 And when it was day, he called unto
him his disciples: and of them he chose twelve, whom also he named
apostles; 14 Simon, (whom he also named
Peter,) and Andrew his brother, James and John, Philip and Bartholomew, 15 Matthew and Thomas, James the son of
Alphaeus, and Simon called Zelotes, 16 And Judas the brother of James, and
Judas Iscariot, which also was the traitor. 17
And he came down with them, and stood in the plain, and the company of
his disciples, and a great multitude of people out of all Judaea and Jerusalem,
and from the sea coast of Tyre and Sidon, which came to hear him, and to be healed
of their diseases; 18 And they that were
vexed with unclean spirits: and they were healed. 19 And the whole multitude sought to touch him:
for there went virtue out of him, and healed them all.
Modern evangelical
scholars will say that this is just a variation of the giving of the Sermon on
the Mount given in Matthew. But, they are wrong. Its emphasis is more social
and political while the sermon in Matthew is more spiritual. Secondly, Jesus is
standing in a plain here, not seated on a hillside. Third, he has all of His
disciples here but does not have them all when He gives the sermon in Matthew.
Fourth, the sermon in Matthew is given by Him seated in front of a few
disciples not in front of the multitude of people as here. Jesus is poking at
the social order here as well as calling His disciples to holiness and trust in
God.
I suspect that
historically scholars who have tried to make these two sermons the same wanted
to uphold the social order that supported them and elevated them and the
content of what comes next was probably disturbing taken on its own.
Luke 6:20 ¶ And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples,
and said, Blessed be ye poor: for yours is the kingdom of God. 21 Blessed are ye that hunger now: for ye
shall be filled. Blessed are ye that weep now: for ye shall laugh. 22 Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from
their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as
evil, for the Son of man’s sake. 23
Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy: for, behold, your reward is
great in heaven: for in the like manner did their fathers unto the prophets.
24 But woe unto you that are rich! for
ye have received your consolation. 25
Woe unto you that are full! for ye shall hunger. Woe unto you that laugh
now! for ye shall mourn and weep. 26 Woe
unto you, when all men shall speak well of you! for so did their fathers to the
false prophets.
Jesus speaks to His
disciples and in a land where many people were desperately poor and struggled
to survive against disease and hunger every day. The fool says that happiness
is the highest achievement of man or woman. Happiness is enjoying what one
wants without being disturbed and one can be happy over many things that are
like wisps of smoke dissolving in a breeze like ambition, pleasure,
possessions, and other things of mankind’s fancy that can be taken away in a
moment due to a bad circumstance or failing health.
The highest state of
mankind is blessedness from God, a sense of closeness to our Creator and a love
for Him. To be blessed by God is to have things bestowed on you that will count
in eternity. Children that are led to receive Christ as their Saviour, joy in
adversity, a satisfying prayer life speaking to God, and reading the Bible, God
speaking to you, the relationships between loving family and dear friends, a
good reputation, feeling that God’s hand is on your life rather then you
thinking of yourself as your own god are all things that cannot be bought with
money.
God holds in contempt the
things that man lifts up as being of high value; wealth, power, education,
obsessions with things sexual, privilege, and possessions. Later in Luke Jesus
says;
Luke 16:15 And he said unto
them, Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your
hearts: for that which is highly
esteemed among men is
abomination in the sight of God.
This blessing on the
poor, the hungry, and the sorrowful revolves around their devotion to Christ.
It is not a blanket social statement for the poor in general as He is speaking
to His disciples. The sermon here, as in Matthew, is a declaration of the
constitution for the Kingdom of God. It is the ground rules.
Most followers of
Christ were poor in the beginnings of the Christian religion and the wealthy elite
persecuted them. The Bible, God’s word, contains here a declaration of
independence from the rich and powerful who oppressed them. Their blessedness,
their happiness, if you will, comes from God Himself not from circumstances or
from the pity or kindness of a member of the power elite.
In the earlier sermon,
giving on a hillside and reported in Matthew, Jesus says;
Matthew 5:3 ¶ Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is
the kingdom of heaven.
The poor in spirit is
the condition of a person’s whole demeanor as no person will truly come to
Christ until they realize they are spiritually bankrupt and hopeless without
Him.
For the verse in
Matthew there are several important verses from the Old Testament to consider.
Psalm 34:18 The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a
broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.
Psalm 51:17 The sacrifices
of God are a broken spirit: a
broken and a contrite heart, O
God, thou wilt not despise.
Isaiah 57:15 For thus saith
the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy
place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble,
and to revive the heart of the contrite
ones.
Isaiah 66:2 For all those things hath mine hand made, and all
those things have been, saith
the LORD: but to this man will
I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my
word.
Here in Luke, though,
there is a context of the status of the disciples of Christ as poor, hungry,
sorrowful, and hated for His name’s sake but they are blessed by God for these
very reasons. This is hard for us in the modern world as wealth is worshipped
and in the 19th century in America the most popular sermon was
entitled Acres of Diamonds which
uplifted the wealthy as the best of people. The author of the sermon, Russel H.
Conwell, founder of Temple University, insisted that it was your duty to get
rich.
But, the Bible says;
Proverbs 23:4 Labour not to
be rich: cease from thine own
wisdom.
Those who have wealth
are warned not to trust in it as it cannot save them.
Psalm 49:6 ¶ They that
trust in their wealth, and boast themselves in the multitude of their riches; 7
None of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a
ransom for him: 8 (For the redemption of
their soul is precious, and it
ceaseth for ever:) 9 That he should
still live for ever, and not
see corruption.
Paul told Timothy to
warn Christians;
1Timothy 6:6 ¶ But
godliness with contentment is great gain. 7 For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. 8 And having food and raiment let us be
therewith content. 9 But they that will
be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in
destruction and perdition. 10 For the
love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they
have erred from the faith, and
pierced themselves through with many sorrows. 11 But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and
follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness. 12 Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on
eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession
before many witnesses.
13 ¶ I give thee charge in the sight of God, who
quickeneth all things, and before
Christ Jesus, who before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good confession; 14 That thou keep this commandment without spot, unrebukeable, until the appearing
of our Lord Jesus Christ: 15 Which in
his times he shall shew, who is
the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords; 16 Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the
light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to
whom be honour and power
everlasting. Amen. 17 Charge them that
are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain
riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy; 18 That they do good, that they be rich in good works,
ready to distribute, willing to communicate; 19 Laying up in store for themselves a good
foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life.
And Paul, a tentmaker
as per Acts 18:3, gave the ideal for Christian employment;
1Thessalonians 4:11 And
that ye study to be quiet, and to do your own business, and to work with your own
hands, as we commanded you;12 That ye
may walk honestly toward them that are without, and that ye may have lack of nothing.
James warned Christians
to have the proper attitude toward status and wealth.
James 2:1 ¶ My brethren,
have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons. 2 For if there come unto your assembly a man
with a gold ring, in goodly apparel, and there come in also a poor man in vile
raiment; 3 And ye have respect to him
that weareth the gay clothing, and say unto him, Sit thou here in a good place;
and say to the poor, Stand thou there, or sit here under my footstool: 4 Are ye not then partial in yourselves, and are
become judges of evil thoughts? 5 Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God
chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he
hath promised to them that love him? 6 But ye have despised the poor. Do not rich men
oppress you, and draw you before the judgment seats? 7 Do not they blaspheme that worthy name by the
which ye are called?
We have laws in this
country today that protect us from many, but not all, of the abuses of the past
that the rich and powerful imposed upon their lessers but we must always
remember that our safety and protection can ultimately only come from God.
Verse 26 is a warning
that being celebrated and approved by the powerful, asked to be on their TV
shows, sponsored on their stages, etc. is not necessarily a sign of God’s
approval. As Ruckman said, the media won’t celebrate a preacher they can’t use
and so it goes with power in general.
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