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

Now it came to pass in those days that He went out to the mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God. And when it was day, He called His disciples to Himself; and from them he chose twelve whom He also named apostles: Simon, whom He also named Peter, and Andrew his brother; James and John; Philip and Bartholomew; Matthew and Thomas; James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon called the Zealot; Judas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot who also became a traitor.

And He came down with them and stood on a level place with a crowd of His disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea and Jerusalem, and from the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon, who came to hear Him and be healed of their diseases, as well as those who were tormented with unclean spirits. And they were healed. And the whole multitude sought to touch Him, for power went out from Him and healed them all.

Then He lifted up His eyes toward His disciples, and said:

"Blessed are you poor,

For yours is the kingdom of God.

Blessed are you who hunger now,

For you shall be filled.

Blessed are you who weep now,

For you shall laugh.

Blessed are you when men hate you,

And when they exclude you,

And revile you, and cast out your name as evil,

For the Son of Man's sake.

Rejoice in that day and leap for Joy!

For indeed your reward is great in heaven,

For in like manner their fathers did to the prophets.

But woe to you who are rich,

For you have received your consolation.

Woe to you who are full,

For you shall hunger.

Woe to you who laugh now,

For you shall mourn and weep.

Woe to you when all men speak well of you,

For so did their fathers to the false prophets."

- Luke 6:12-26

In yesterday's reading, Jesus has introduced us to the rule of mercy. When it comes to questions in the law regarding a merciful interpretation and easing, the question comes down to the understanding of the purpose of the law: to do God's will. That is, to serve God's will to love and to minister to human beings (and indeed for all the life of the world). Jesus declared: "The Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath."

Now it came to pass in those days that He went out to the mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God. And when it was day, He called His disciples to Himself; and from them he chose twelve whom He also named apostles: Simon, whom He also named Peter, and Andrew his brother; James and John; Philip and Bartholomew; Matthew and Thomas; James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon called the Zealot; Judas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot who also became a traitor. My study bible notes that, "Jesus prays all night before He selects the Twelve whom He will train to continue His mission in the world." Some of the names of these men are already familiar to us in Luke's Gospel, and some are new. To pray all night is extraordinary, and an uplifting example to us - emulated for centuries the devout and in particular those who serve the church. It's interesting that we have been given earlier in the Gospel a picture of Jesus' very full days of ministering: preaching, teaching, healing, and performing exorcisms - and spreading the Gospel of the Kingdom to many cities, because "for this purpose I have been sent." Here we have a full night of prayer. This is a great example to us all of the central importance of prayer to all of our plans for what we might consider our lives of fulfillment in practice of our faith.

And He came down with them and stood on a level place with a crowd of His disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea and Jerusalem, and from the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon, who came to hear Him and be healed of their diseases, as well as those who were tormented with unclean spirits. And they were healed. And the whole multitude sought to touch Him, for power went out from Him and healed them all. Once again, we are given a full picture of Jesus' ministry, which involves many different things - but all come out of a sort of "organic" reality of what and who Jesus is: "the whole multitude sought to touch Him, for power went out from Him and healed them all." Healing, exorcism, preaching, teaching - all of it is a part of that power which works at depths we cannot know.

On the next section (which will continue in subsequent readings), my study bible has this note: "This teaching is similar in content to the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5--7) but not as extensive. This has been called the Sermon on the Plain because Jesus 'stood on a level place' (v. 17) when He delivered it. Jesus taught many of the same things over a period of three years in a setting of hills, plains, the lakeshore and the cities, and we have His teachings in various versions."

"Blessed are you poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are you who hunger now, for you shall be filled. Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh. Blessed are you when men hate you, and when they exclude you, and revile you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of Man's sake. Rejoice in that day and leap for Joy! For indeed your reward is great in heaven, for in like manner their fathers did to the prophets." We begin with what resembles the Beatitudes of Matthew's Gospel. The most remarkable thing to our eyes is this examination of those who are oppressed. And they are not oppressed for just any reason, but in particular for their faith in this Gospel message of the kingdom - "for the Son of Man's sake." The poor, the hungry, the weeping (connected with mourning) - all are those whom Jesus declares blessed. There could be no more specific targeting of the "outsiders" which we have previously discussed than this naming of the "hated," the "excluded," the "reviled," and those "whose name is cast out as evil" for the Son of Man's sake. Jesus teaches us to "rejoice and leap for joy" as the reward is great in heaven - and we are linked to the prophets who were also treated the same way by the "fathers" of those who do the reviling and hating. It's highly significant that Jesus ties in the whole tradition of the prophets - who also spoke for the Son of Man's sake - with the new tradition that He is introducing for His followers. It is an important form of continuity and understanding of God's love and care as an extension into a suffering and ailing world - and one in which justice is upside down.

"But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation. Woe to you who are full, for you shall hunger. Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep. Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for so did their fathers to the false prophets." My study bible notes here: "Luke also reports four 'woes' (vv. 24-26) in addition to his four Beatitudes." Jesus addresses those who have their reward ("consolation") in the world: the rich, the full, those who laugh now, and those who love the praise of men more than the praise of God. This is not a question of labeling every wealthy, full or laughing person -- rather it is a question of those who seek this reward first, who put worldly concerns first, who are not willing to put the kingdom first and whatever this may mean in their lives. We have repeatedly understood Jesus' preaching against hypocrisy and false appearances - and indeed there is much preaching against such in Matthew's lengthy version of this Sermon. It is all a question of what we put first, and what we are willing to live without for the sake of that kingdom if we are called upon to do so -- or what we are willing to forgo in that kingdom in order to have our "consolation" now.

If we think about it, I'll bet many of us can think of examples of such choices, and even people we may know who "have their consolation" at the expense perhaps of righteousness or what we consider to be righteous behavior toward others. Judgment is up to the Lord, and we cannot know the relationship of others to God. We can but pray for this to be so for all people. But we can look to ourselves. And in that ability Jesus gives us here all reason to rejoice. He links us to the prophets, to an entire lineage of those whose names are written in the love of God. Why are we here in the world? Why are we given life? What are we here for? What do we put first? It is linked to Jesus' teaching of the greatest commandments. The first is the love of God. "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength." This would include the forsaking of whatever it is that we must choose between in order to fulfill this commandment. I have found, at least in my life, that there is a great deal I have had to forsake in order to follow this Gospel and what I believed God has asked of me, while others profited at my expense. I know what it is to experience hate and exclusion for what you think God asks of you. But the greatest blessings have come through my faith and what God has brought to me in my life. And that is my confession here. What choices do you have to make?