Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for so did their fathers to the false prophets

 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.

Then He lifted up His eyes toward the 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

Yesterday we read that it happened on the second Sabbath after the first that Jesus went through the grainfields.  And His disciples plucked the heads of grain and ate them, rubbing them in their hands.  And some of the Pharisees said to them, "Why are you doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath?"  But Jesus answering them said, "Have you not even read this, what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him:  how he went into the house of God, took and ate the showbread, and also gave some to those with him, which is not lawful for any but the priests to eat?"  And He said to them, "The Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath."  Now it happened on another Sabbath, also, that He entered the synagogue and taught.  And a man was there whose right hand was withered.  So the scribes and Pharisees watched Him closely, whether He would heal on the Sabbath, that they might find an accusation against Him.  But He knew their thoughts, and said to the man who had the withered hand, "Arise and stand here."  And he arose and stood.  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.   My study bible cites the commentary of St. Ambrose of Milan here, who says that Jesus, being the Son of God, doesn't pray as if to obtain grace or revelation from the Father.  But, as the Son of Man, He prays as Advocate for humanity (see also 1 John 2:1).  Theophylact adds commentary that Jesus spent all night in prayer before selecting the twelve apostles in order to teach us that before choosing a candidate for any spiritual ministry, we should pray that God will reveal to us the one suited for the task.  This communion with the Father is once more exemplary for us; if Christ Himself needs prayer to shore up and commune in relationship with the Father before any great task or expansion of direction of His ministry, then how much more is this a sign for us about what we need to do in our lives?

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.  Disciples and apostles are often used interchangeably for these men.  A disciple literally is a "learner" in the Greek.  The word for apostle is one that means "one who is sent out."  These men are named in pairs, suggesting who may have traveled together on their first missionary journey (Mark reports that they were sent out two by two; Mark 6:7).  The names of the Twelve are not all the same in every list, as many people had more than one name.  Interestingly, in Wednesday's reading, the tax collector called by Jesus to become a disciple was named Levi, but here, suggesting his change as disciple of Christ, he is now named as Matthew.

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.  Then He lifted up His eyes toward the disciples, and said: . . .   In contrast to the Sermon on the Mount, this is called the Sermon on the Plain, as we're told that Jesus stood on a level place.  Christ's sermon that follows is similar in content to the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7), but slightly varied, and also not as extensive.  My study bible comment that Jesus undoubtedly repeated many of His teachings over a period of three years.

"Blessed are you poor, for yours is the kingdom of God."  My study bible says that both for this sermon and the Sermon on the Mount, blessed in the context in which Christ preaches means heavenly, spiritual exaltation, rather than earthly happiness or prosperity.  In Hebrew, "poor" means both the materially poor and also the faithful among God's people.  To be poor in this sense is to be completely dependent upon God.

"Blessed are you who hunger now, for you shall be filled."  In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus preaches about the blessedness of those who "hunger and thirst for righteousness."  Here Jesus' turn of phrase subtly indicates a temporal condition which shall be remedied in the changes brought by the presence of the Kingdom to those "left out" of the social and religious order.  His is the Gospel for all, and particular for those who deeply desire what He offers.

"Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh."  In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus preaches to those who mourn.  Let us remember that He is speaking toward His disciples.  They may have sorrow in their lives, but the Kingdom promises joy (John 17:13).  Weeping may also be understood in the spiritual sense, in which one weeps over the sufferings of this life (Matthew 9:23), the sufferings of others (John 11:35), the state of the world (19:41), and also over one's own sins (7:36-38).

"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."  To suffer for the Son of man's sake is to be included with the prophets, saints, and martyrs.  (See Acts 5:40-41.)

"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."  In this Sermon on the Plain, Luke gives us also four "woes" that are not included in Matthew's Sermon on the Mount.  My study bible tells us that woe is an indication not only of sorrow, but of unspeakable destruction (Isaiah 5:18-24; Amos 5:18-19; Revelation 12:12).   Again, Jesus puts these things in the context of a temporal condition, one which will be transformed in the influence of the Kingdom.  To prize the things listed here above all else is to be liable to utmost misery; to be foolishly led.  St. Ambrose comments that Christ speaks here of attitude, not simple possession (as indeed, some of the heroes of the Gospels are wealthy and prominent men).  Rather Christ condemns not those who have riches but those who do not know how to use them, to practice compassion.  St. Chrysostom points out that Jesus says that woe comes to those for whom "all men speak well of you,"  and notes the precision in the phrase as it includes "all men."  He writes, "It is not possible for a virtuous person who travels by the straight and narrow path and follows Christ’s commands to enjoy the praise and admiration of all people— so strong is the impulse of evil and the resistance to virtue."

 What does it mean to be persecuted for righteousness' sake (as the Sermon on the Mount phrases Jesus' point above, see Matthew 5:10)?  Why isn't it possible to be praised by all people if one is a true follower of Christ?  There are times when we are compelled, as faithful, to speak out, to be the one who is hated and excluded, reviled, and spoke of as evil, because the crowd is going to follow the crowd, and not the values upheld in the faith of Christ.  If we as followers as anything like Jesus' own example, this very likely may happen at times within the crowds of people we consider to be "our own" -- possibly our family, our townspeople, our group or class or even congregation, those with whom we share some sort of social affiliation.  In Luke 4:24, Jesus said, "Assuredly, I say to you, no prophet is accepted in his own country" (see this reading).  This was when He spoke in His hometown of Nazareth.   So important is this saying to the word of the gospel, that all four Evangelists report it (see also Matthew 13:57, Mark 6:4, John 4:44).  There will be times that what we have to say will not please everyone -- and possibly will please no one.  It is at those times we must rely on our faith, our dependence upon Christ, and be one of the "poor" whom Christ names as blessed.  This is a tough thing to accept.  Indeed, it goes against so many things we are told in our modern world.  Advertising and social media make it seem as though the one and only thing most precious is to have universal approval as one who is considered "great" in the eyes of everyone else.  The rest of the things that Jesus lists as woes can be included in that as well.  Isn't is a great goal to be rich?  Well, not if that's the most important thing in your life, the one thing to which you dedicate your time, energy, and purpose.  Then, you've got your consolation, and the fulfillment of the needs of the soul simply will never happen.  One simply misses out on true fulfillment of what it means to be fully human, fully a child or creature of God.  What's wrong with laughing?  Laughter can be a sign of joy or delight.  But Christ really isn't speaking here of true joy.  He's speaking about the laughter that is purely social, or that so often comes at the expense of others, or is the result of what is purely seen as a competitive social contest -- a victory over a rival.  For Christ, to be one who is excluded and cast out is to understand His place, as One who speaks truth that not everybody wants to hear.  The truth itself is always a revolutionary concept, regardless of how much we congratulate ourselves on our progressive nature or even our spiritual insight.  There will always be hard truths we need to face if we are truly His disciples, and often they are just those truths that may cause an implosion of the social order we know.  Let us consider where our faith takes us, where He leads, what are the joys and sorrows of life in His perspective.  Are we truly blessed?  Or can we follow this road of the straight and narrow in a world where so much is not really as straightforward as it seems?