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.  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 

 

Yesterday we read that it happened on the second Sabbath after the first that He 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 it 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.  And when it was day, He called His disciples to Himself; and from them He chose twelve whom He also named apostles: . . .   Jesus, as the Son of God, does not pray as if to obtain grace or revelation from the Father, my study Bible says.  It cites St. Ambrose of Milan, who says that as the Son of Man, Jesus prays as the Advocate for humanity  (see 1 John 2:1).  Jesus spent all night in prayer before choosing the twelve apostles.   Citing Theophylact, my study Bible says that this teaches 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.  Disciples and apostles are frequently used interchangeably for these twelve.  The Greek word translated as disciple means literally "learner."  Apostle means "one sent out." 

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.    The names of the Twelve are not the same in all lists, as many people had more than one name.  Here these names are given in pairs, suggesting possibly who traveled together on the first missionary journey.  Mark reports that they were sent out two by two (Mark 6:7).  

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.  The sermon that follows these verses is called the Sermon on the Plain, we're told that Jesus stood on a level place.  .  It's similar in content to the Sermon on the Mount (found at Matthew 5 - 7), but not as extensive.  My study Bible comments that Jesus repeated many of His teachings over the period of three years in His public ministry.  It adds that, in the Old Testament, only a select few were chosen to hear God directly (see Exodus 19:3-13).  But God Incarnate speaks to His disciples and a great multitude face to face.  The power that went out of Him affirms His holiness. 

Then He lifted up His eyes toward His disciples, and said:  "Blessed are you poor, for yours is the kingdom of God."   Blessed in the context of this sermon (and the Sermon on the Mount) indicates a heavenly, spiritual exaltation rather than our conventional sense of earthly happiness or prosperity.  In Hebrew, my study Bible explains, "poor" means both the materially poor, and also the faithful among God's people.   In Matthew's Gospel, Jesus addresses this to the "poor in spirit," meaning all those who have the heart of the poor, the same attitude as the poor, and a total dependence upon God. 

"Blessed are you who hunger now, for you shall be filled."  Again, in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus addresses those who "hunger and thirst for righteousness."  My study Bible says that these see  God and God's Kingdom as the most important thing in life.  They have a desperate craving for what is right before God, comparable to a starving person's desire for food (see Matthew 6:33). 

"Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh."   Those who weep do so over the sufferings of this life (Matthew 9:23), the sufferings of others (John 11:35), the state of the world (Luke 19:41), and their own sins (Luke 7:36-38).  Laughter comes from the comfort of the power of God both in this world and in the age to come.  My study Bible notes that holy sorrow is part of repentance, conversion, and virtuous action, and is the firstfruit of infinite joy.  This type of sorrow is distinguished from ungodly sorrow; which would be a sadness that leads to despair (see 2 Corinthians 7:10).  

"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."    My study Bible comments that children of God uphold truth, refuse to compromise with the ways of the world, and give themselves to no other (Luke 6:24, 33; see 1 Corinthians 6:19-20).  Those who are treated in the ways described here do so as was done to the prophets, and Christ as well.  Those who suffer persecution in this sense walk the same road of 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."  Luke gives us four "woes" that are not found in the Sermon on the Mount.  My study Bible says that woe is an indication not simply of sorrow, but of unspeakable destruction (Isaiah 5:18-24; Amos 5:18-19; Revelation 12:12).  It remarks that those who prize the vices listed here are liable to the "utmost misery," according to St. Cyril of Alexandria.  But they find hope when they sacrifice earthly blessings in showing mercy to others.  

We might be puzzled by the "woes" that are included here in the Sermon on the Plain.  In a modern context, it's not often that we think of Jesus as one who assigns "woes" to people.  This is especially true because the things named as part of these woes are overwhelmingly seen as things that are highly desirable and good, notable signs of success which perhaps all would like to pursue.  Wealth, fullness, laughter, and particularly perhaps those who are spoken of in a positive light, with renown or great publicity.  These are the people we tend to define as stars, upheld to others for their admiration, and constantly courting public opinion.  But clearly Jesus frowns on these as goals worth dedicating our whole lives to as if they are the fullness of life and its sole purpose.  In fact, if that's all we do, forgetful of Christ's words and the important things we should be pursuing, then our laughter is hollow and temporary, our consolation only of this world and not for life beyond, we'll be starving for things of more real substance, and mourning what we could have pursued, and missed doing.  For again, as in yesterday's reading and commentary, we go back to what righteousness is, right-relatedness.  If all we do is pursue these goals, if these are our highest good, then where are we in terms of our capacity to love others and do good for community?  Where is God in such a set of goals?  As "every good and perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights" (James 1:17), then how we pursue those gifts, how we use them or think of them, is certainly the purview of the Author of the gift.  If all things come from above, then what is our role in placing gratitude to God first before all else, and seeking God's way to live in the world?  Jesus adds, "Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for so did their fathers to the false prophets."  In the developed world, our capacity for the pursuit of all the things Jesus names becomes magnified and enhanced through every facet of what we call progress, every new development of technology and consumer goods.  But perhaps nothing is as magnified over and above the past as our capacity for the seeking of publicity, the hope that "all men speak well" of us, flatter us.  Giant social media networks like Facebook are driven by this desire, and those who have designed and engineered that know this very well, a system that goes by Likes, and Subscribes, and online Friends.  This great desire for a favorable image or outcome from the opinions of others drives its power to deceive through the failure to accept that it's God's opinion that matters most, takes priority in our choices and decisions.  We are so fixed in the idea of image as merely that which is reflected in the sight of others, rather than in the eye of God, that we run a risk of emptiness that never gets filled.  Indeed, studies have shown a depression correlated with social media use, the envy of what one sees crafted through photos and other posting coming to seem like the grass that is always greener somewhere else.  But needing to please God has to take on a different sort of priority, regardless of the rewards one might seek in a social context.  John's Gospel gives us a picture of the members of the ruling Council:  "many believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees they did not confess Him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue; for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God" (John 12:42-43).   The heretofore unprecedented levels of interactions available to us through modern technology make each of us hyper-aware of that "audience" available through the screen.  It leads us to focus a certain way, to think of ourselves within a particular sort of community that hasn't existed previous to recent times.  But God still calls to us, and perhaps that applause or approval we seek today is more fleeting than ever.  And yet there are also gatekeepers; we stand in constant awareness of the possibility that we will be censured, cancelled, shunned, and literally censored as well depending on how we serve that desired image and what it demands from us today.  Let us be attentive to the woes that Christ names, for it is an empty and merciless life defined only by  this kind of mutual praise, without the substance and grace that comes from the only God.