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, we read that Jesus and His disciples went through the grainfields.  His disciples plucked heads of grain to eat, rubbing them in their hands.  Some of the Pharisees asked why they were doing what it is not lawful to do on the Sabbath.  Jesus reminded them of the story of King David and his men eating the showbread when they were famished.  Jesus said, "The Son of Man is also lord of the Sabbath."  On another Sabbath, Jesus was teaching in the synagogue.  A man with a withered hand was present, and the scribes and Pharisees watched closely to see whether Jesus would heal him, and thereby they could make an accusation of a violation of the Sabbath-rest.  Jesus knew their thoughts.  He told the man with the withered hand:  "Arise and stand here.".   Then Jesus said to them, "I will ask you one thing:  Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy?"  And when He had looked around at them all, He said to the man, "Stretch out your hand."  And he did so, and his hand was restored as whole as the other.  But they were filled with rage, and discussed with one another what they might do to Jesus.

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 points out for us that Jesus prayed all night before this great task of choosing the Apostles, "the Twelve whom He will train to continue His mission in the world."  The Greek word from which we derive "Apostle" means "sent out (on a mission), commissioned".  They will bear His message, His kingdom out into the world.  From the beginning, Luke's Gospel tells us of the one who will become a traitor, as well as the transformation implied in Peter's change of name.

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.  After Jesus chooses those Twelve on the mountaintop, He goes back down to a "level" or flat place, with the people who have come from everywhere -- all regions of Israel.  He's surrounded by multitudes of people and crowds of His disciples:  Luke gives us a feel for the great multitude, seemingly a whole world in microcosm, who surround Jesus.  Either they are disciples or recipients of His healing power.  Healing of diseases and the outcasting of unclean spirits that torment people go hand in hand in the use of this power to heal.  The whole multitude sought simply to touch Him -- and power goes out from Him in that connection to "heal them all."  This is Christ who calls us into depth of relationship, who is there for us awaiting our desire for Him, whom later Church Fathers will write about as closer than our own hearts. 

Then He lifted up His eyes toward His disciples, and said:  "Blessed are you poor, for yours is the kingdom of God."  Jesus begins His sermon to the disciples.  My study bible notes:  "This teaching is similar in content to the Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 5-7) but not as extensive.  This has been called the Sermon on the Plain because Jesus 'stood on a level place' 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."  From the beginning of His preaching, we note the similarity as well to the Magnificat,  the song of Mary, also found in Luke's Gospel.  Mary says, "He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts. He has put down the mighty from their thrones, and exalted the lowly.   He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich He has sent away empty."  It is the Good News of the Kingdom in that its power turns the world "upside-down" in the ways that it establishes justice.  These words resemble those of Isaiah quoted by John the Baptist, about making the Lord's paths straight.  Here we are on a level place, for all people.  John quoted Isaiah:  "Every valley shall be filled and every mountain and hill brought low; The crooked places shall be made straight and the rough ways smooth; and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.' "    And so, from the beginning of Jesus' sermon, we have Him teaching directly:  Blessed are you poor -- that is, those who have given up all for the sake of the kingdom and its labor, for theirs is the kingdom of God.  We must note that there are all kinds of ways in which one may be this kind of poor.  This is voluntary, and has much more to do with what is treasured above all in the heart, with our will, in real humility - than appearance or outward circumstance. Of course, many disciples in the centuries to come will take a vow of literal poverty for His Kingdom's sake -- but the emphasis here is on the heart, the spiritual choice and purpose a disciple makes. 

"Blessed are you who hunger now, for you shall be filled."  The disciples are hungry for the Kingdom, and the bread of the Kingdom and its food.

"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."  The choice for this kingdom is not a way of great popularity, and pleasing the world.  Over and over again in the Gospels there is the distinction between the praise or glory of men, and that of God.  It's a choice we make; what do we put first?  These disciples will suffer and many will give their lives in this labor.  But these words are no less true for those who in all kinds of ways would give up worldly attachments to put this Kingdom first in their hearts and lives, going where its work will call them.  Suffering and ostracism for the sake of this Kingdom haven't left us; His Cross will always be a part of this story in this age.  Simply the forms in which this comes may be those of specific time and place.

"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 says, "Luke also reports four 'woes' in addition to his four Beatitudes."  These woes also tell us a story -- most of all a story about what we put first.  It's about those who would forgo the exigencies of this Kingdom for those of the world.  In that case, their material abundance becomes the sole consolation:  material wealth, popularity in a purely worldly sense, worldly praise or glory. The life in abundance offered by Christ belongs to those who truly love it. 

In my life, it seems that I know a lot of people who would settle for the things mentioned in the four "woes."  I know a lot of people who really don't care for the things of God.  It's an option for them that they don't care to take or to consider, for all kinds of reasons.  Perhaps some respond to bad feelings about the Church, or actions on the part of religious people with which they disagree. Perhaps for some it may be a case of a lack of exposure through those who could teach.  But in all the cases that I can think of for myself in my personal experience, these choices come with a great deal of ignorance, and a lack of depth of understanding about the spiritual life.  They are choices that skim the surface and live from appearances, without the depth of heart that comes from serious spiritual consideration.  (Of course, as will Jesus, we might also include many who are outwardly religious in this context as well.)  In the spiritual life, in the Christian gospels and letters of the apostles, we will find a great emphasis on the heart, and on love.  And that is where we need to go if we are going to understand Christian faith.  It is there within ourselves that we really need to visit the things we most treasure, that make life sweet and abundant, and give us joy.  The virtues of the spiritual life are those that call us into relationship of a particular kind:  first with God, and thereby in that love out to the world.  It changes our relatedness, and deepens our perspective.  So the ancient Hebrews in the salvation of Israel were called to depth of love for God, and God's abundant, steadfast mercy.  So we are continually called.  The Church Fathers use an analogy to the world and to God in the spokes of a wheel.  Each of us starts out at the rim, and as we travel closer to that center, in relationship to God, we draw closer.  Consider what it is to love, and what is truly worth that love.  It's there we find the virtues and blessings Christ promises, the true healing of our way of life, and how we see.