Looking Past the Present: Luke 6:17-26

During a lesser well known sermon Jesus did that is called “The sermon on the plain”, He shares a list of blessings and challenges that echo the famous list of blessings that He shared on the mountain side. But in this list, not only does Jesus share blessings for certain groups of people, He also shares warnings for those living in an opposite way.

To start off the sermon on the plain, Jesus wants those following Him to realize some important things:

• “Blessed are those who are poor.” While some might be quick to discount the monetary nature of this blessing, the counter argument is for “those who are rich.” (v. 20, 24)

  Jesus describes the rich as having lived comfortably, and the simplest definition of poor and rich living when comfort is the measure of each has to do with money. Jesus is teaching His followers that we should be more focused on heaven, God’s kingdom, and eternity rather than on our wealth, possessions, or situation here on earth.

• The next blessing is for “those who are hungry.” Again, the simplest way of understanding this is hunger from a lack of food/nourishment. Some might look at this spiritually, and focus on hunger being for lack of knowledge or wisdom, but the counter argument Jesus gives is for “those who are well-fed.” (v. 21a, 25a)

  Jesus describes in these two contrasting groups the idea that God will feed those who need His help while those who have only focused on feeding themselves will go hungry. There may be a spiritual component to this portion of Jesus’ teaching, but if there is a spiritual truth here, it is resting on the physical, literal food that fills (or doesn’t fill) our stomachs.

• Thirdly, Jesus gives a blessing for “those who are crying.” Jesus promises that they will one day laugh. But Jesus also contrasts this by saying that “those who are laughing” will one day “mourn and cry.” (v. 21b, 25b)

  Jesus describes pretty much everyone in these two groups. The truth here is that we should never become so far removed from our emotions that we cannot experience either laughter or tears. Also implied is that when bad things happen and we mourn a loss, God will turn things around and bring laughter back into our lives, but when we are laughing (maybe at evil or maybe not), there will be a time in our future where we get to experience mourning as well.

• Lastly, Jesus blesses and cautions His followers about the way they should be treated. In the past, the messengers who claimed to come from God (false prophets) were received well and were lifted up for their encouraging messages. However, rarely were those who were actually sent by God treated well (true prophets).

  If we desire to be treated well, or if we are ultimately accepted by culture, then we might want to be concerned about where our mission/message has originated. Jesus never said that no one who comes from God will be accepted by culture, but He did imply it was that way in the past, and the way He was treated definitely suggested this as well. Jesus also didn’t say that just because we are mistreated, we must be on the right path. Being rejected by culture may mean we are serving God, but it doesn’t guarantee this.

  The goal with this last blessing and warning is for each of us to focus our lives and attention on serving God, and to not pay much attention to or dwell on the way others are treating or mistreating us.

In all four of these blessings and warnings, Jesus wants His followers to focus on doing God’s will and on the rewards we will ultimately receive as His followers living in eternity.