{"id":898,"date":"2022-08-12T03:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-08-12T09:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/?p=898&2022"},"modified":"2022-08-09T18:00:22","modified_gmt":"2022-08-10T00:00:22","slug":"looking-past-the-present-luke-6-17-26","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/looking-past-the-present-luke-6-17-26\/","title":{"rendered":"Looking Past the Present: Luke 6:17-26"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"spoiler spoiler-style-2\"><div class=\"spoiler-title\">Focus Passage: Luke 6:17-26 (GW)<\/div><div class=\"spoiler-content\">\r\n<p><sup>17\u00a0<\/sup>Jesus came down from the mountain with them and stood on a level place. A large crowd of his disciples and many other people were there. They had come from all over Judea, Jerusalem, and the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon.  <sup>18\u00a0<\/sup>They wanted to hear him and be cured of their diseases. Those who were tormented by evil spirits were cured.  <sup>19\u00a0<\/sup>The entire crowd was trying to touch him because power was coming from him and curing all of them.<\/p> <p><sup>20\u00a0<\/sup>Jesus looked at his disciples and said,<\/p><p>\u201cBlessed are those who are poor.<br>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0God\u2019s kingdom is theirs.<br><sup>21\u00a0<\/sup>Blessed are those who are hungry.<br>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0They will be satisfied.<br>Blessed are those who are crying.<br>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0They will laugh.<br><sup>22\u00a0<\/sup>Blessed are you when people hate you, avoid you,<br>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0insult you, and slander you<br>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0because you are committed to the Son of Man.<br><sup>23\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Rejoice then, and be very happy!<br>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0You have a great reward in heaven.<br>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0That\u2019s the way their ancestors treated the prophets.<\/p> <p><sup>24\u00a0<\/sup>\u201cBut how horrible it will be for those who are rich.<br>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0They have had their comfort.<br><sup>25\u00a0<\/sup>How horrible it will be for those who are well-fed.<br>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0They will be hungry.<br>How horrible it will be for those who are laughing.<br>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0They will mourn and cry.<br><sup>26\u00a0<\/sup>How horrible it will be for you<br>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0when everyone says nice things about you.<br>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0That\u2019s the way their ancestors treated the false prophets.<\/p>\r\n<p class=\"passage-read-more\">Read <a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=Luke 6:17-26&amp;version=gw\" title=\"Read the passage on BibleGateway.com\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"hyperlink-underlined\">Luke 6:17-26<\/a> in context and\/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!<\/p><\/div><\/div>\r\n<p>During a lesser well known sermon Jesus did that is called \u201cThe sermon on the plain\u201d, 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.<\/p>\r\n<p>To start off the sermon on the plain, Jesus wants those following Him to realize some important things:<\/p>\r\n<ul>\r\n\t<li><p>\u201c<strong>Blessed are those who are poor.<\/strong>\u201d While some might be quick to discount the monetary nature of this blessing, the counter argument is for \u201c<strong>those who are rich<\/strong>.\u201d (v. 20, 24)<\/p>\r\n<p>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\u2019s kingdom, and eternity rather than on our wealth, possessions, or situation here on earth.<\/p><\/li>\r\n\t<li><p>The next blessing is for \u201c<strong>those who are hungry.<\/strong>\u201d 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 \u201c<strong>those who are well-fed.<\/strong>\u201d (v. 21a, 25a)<\/p>\r\n<p>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\u2019 teaching, but if there is a spiritual truth here, it is resting on the physical, literal food that fills (or doesn\u2019t fill) our stomachs.<\/p><\/li>\r\n\t<li><p>Thirdly, Jesus gives a blessing for \u201c<strong>those who are crying.<\/strong>\u201d Jesus promises that they will one day laugh. But Jesus also contrasts this by saying that \u201c<strong>those who are laughing<\/strong>\u201d will one day \u201c<strong>mourn and cry.<\/strong>\u201d (v. 21b, 25b)<\/p>\r\n<p>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.<\/p><\/li>\r\n\t<li><p>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).<\/p>\r\n<p>\tIf 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\u2019t 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\u2019t guarantee this.<\/p>\r\n<p>\tThe 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.<\/p><\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<p><strong>In all four of these blessings and warnings, Jesus wants His followers to focus on doing God\u2019s will and on the rewards we will ultimately receive as His followers living in eternity.<\/strong><\/p>\r\n<div id=\"aj-wrap-up--898\" class=\"aj-wrap-up\"><p><em>This thought was inspired by studying the <strong>Walking With Jesus<\/strong> \u201cReflective Bible Study\u201d package. To discover insights like this in your own study time, <a class=\"underline\" href=\"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/\" title=\"Check out Reflective Bible Study!\">click here<\/a> and give Reflective Bible Study a try today!<\/em><\/p><p><em><a class=\"underline\" href=\"javascript:void(0);\" onClick=\"rbs_aj_inline_subscribe(this, '898');\">Subscribe<\/a> to this blog and never miss an insight.<\/em><\/p><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"During a lesser well known sermon Jesus did that is called \u201cThe sermon on the plain\u201d, 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 [&hellip;]","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-898","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-text"],"nelio_content":{"autoShareEndMode":"never","automationSources":{"useCustomSentences":false,"customSentences":[]},"efiAlt":"","efiUrl":"","followers":[],"highlights":[],"isAutoShareEnabled":false,"networkImageIds":[],"permalinkQueryArgs":[],"series":[],"suggestedReferences":[]},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Looking Past the Present: Luke 6:17-26 - Reflective Bible Study Gospel Adventure<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/looking-past-the-present-luke-6-17-26\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Looking Past the Present: Luke 6:17-26 - Reflective Bible Study Gospel Adventure\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"During a lesser well known sermon Jesus did that is called \u201cThe sermon on the plain\u201d, He shares a list of blessings and challenges that echo the famous list of blessings that He shared on the mountain side. 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