Luke 6:17-22

Rachel Workman: ¹⁷ He went down with them and stood on a level place. A large crowd of his disciples was there and a great number of people from all over Judea, from Jerusalem, and from the coastal region around Tyre and Sidon, ¹⁸ who had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases. Those troubled by impure spirits were cured, ¹⁹ and the people all tried to touch him, because power was coming from him and healing them all.
²⁰ Looking at his disciples, he said:

“Blessed are you who are poor,
    for yours is the kingdom of God.
²¹ Blessed are you who hunger now,
    for you will be satisfied.
Blessed are you who weep now,
    for you will laugh.
²² Blessed are you when people hate you,
    when they exclude you and insult you
    and reject your name as evil,
        because of the Son of Man. I've always loved the verses. Blesses are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied. My satisfaction come from Christ and Christ alone. His word is a lamp at my feet.

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John Burnett:  ¹⁷ He went down with them and stood on a level place. A large crowd of his disciples was there and a great number of people from all over Judea, from Jerusalem, and from the coastal region around Tyre and Sidon, ¹⁸ who had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases. Those troubled by impure spirits were cured, ¹⁹ and the people all tried to touch him, because power was coming from him and healing them all.

²⁰ Looking at his disciples, he said:

“Blessed are you who are poor,
    for yours is the kingdom of God.
²¹ Blessed are you who hunger now,
    for you will be satisfied.
Blessed are you who weep now,
    for you will laugh.
²² Blessed are you when people hate you,
    when they exclude you and insult you
    and reject your name as evil,
        because of the Son of Man.  Persecution was taking place back then and it is making a huge comeback.  Christians all over the world are being killed because of the Son of Man but here in the United States we see the type of persecution being described in verse 22 most often.  What a wonderful promise of blessing when we are persecuted for Christ’s sake. 

Have a great weekend.

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Mike Grimm:  ¹⁷ He went down with them and stood on a level place. Jesus comes down with them to minister to this crowd. Jesus not only wanted to teach them about serving others; He wanted them to help Him. Here they seem to work as a team. Jesus could have done it all by Himself. But it was important that He work together as a team with these twelve, both for their sake and the sake of the work. A large crowd of his disciples was there and a great number of people from all over Judea, from Jerusalem, and from the coastal region around Tyre and Sidon, ¹⁸ who had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases. Those troubled by impure spirits were cured, ¹⁹ and the people all tried to touch him, because power was coming from him and healing them all.

²⁰ Looking at his disciples, he said:

“Blessed are you who are poor,
    for yours is the kingdom of God.

To be poor in spirit is not a man's confession that he is by nature insignificant, or personally without value, for that would be untrue. Instead, it is a confession that he is sinful and rebellious and utterly without moral virtues adequate to commend him to God.

²¹ Blessed are you who hunger now,
    for you will be satisfied.
Blessed are you who weep now,
    for you will laugh.

Jesus' adds two other kinds of seekers, those who hunger and those who weep. The poor, the hungry, and the weeping can all be blessed because Jesus is here to meet their needs. Unfortunately, we look for the wrong things to fill our sense of poverty, hunger, and need for comfort. Jesus tells us to find the answers to all these needs in Him.

²² Blessed are you when people hate you,
    when they exclude you and insult you
    and reject your name as evil,
        because of the Son of Man.

When we seek God like a poor man seeks money, like a hungry man seeks food, or like a weeping person seeks comfort, we will face persecution from those who want other things. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy! We can really rejoice when we are persecuted, because we know that it means we are on the right side-God's side, and the side of so many faithful who went on before us.

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Tuesday’s reading for Luke 6:23-26

²³ “Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For that is how their ancestors treated the prophets.

²⁴ “But woe to you who are rich,
    for you have already received your comfort.
²⁵ Woe to you who are well fed now,
    for you will go hungry.
Woe to you who laugh now,
    for you will mourn and weep.
²⁶ Woe to you when everyone speaks well of you,
    for that is how their ancestors treated the false prophets.