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 

 

Yesterday we read that it happened on the second Sabbath after the first (meaning a feast day that occurred after the Sabbath day) 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 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.   The Orthodox Study Bible comments that Jesus, being the Son of God, does not pray as if to obtain grace or revelation from the Father.  As Son of Man, He prays as the Advocate for humanity (as stated by St. Ambrose of Milan; see 1 John 2:1).  Here Jesus spends all night in prayer before He chooses the twelve apostles.  According to Theophylact, 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.  

 

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 explains that disciples and apostles are often used interchangeably for the twelve.  Disciple means "learner" in the Greek, and apostle means "one sent out."  We note that their names are not the same in all lists, as many people had more than one name.  Here, as in St. Matthew's Gospel (Matthew 10:1-4), the names are given in pairs, which suggests who may have traveled together on their first missionary journey, as St. Mark writes 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.  As we are told that Jesus stood on a level place, His sermon that follows these verses is called the Sermon on the Plain.  We first note that His ministry has grown so in terms of public interest that people have now come from everywhere to hear Him, even a great multitude from all over Israel (including from Judea and Jerusalem), and even from the Gentile territory of Tyre and Sidon.  This despite the fact that up until now His ministry has been focused upon Galilee.  The whole multitude seeks to touch Him, for power went out from Him and healed them all.   As we begin to read the Sermon on the Plain that follows, let us keep in mind that it is similar in content to the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5 - 7), although not as extensive.  My study Bible comments that Jesus repeated many of His teachings over a period of three years (as understood from the three Passover festivals reported in St. John's Gospel).  Let us note also that Jesus comes from prayer on the mountain in communion and prayer with the Father, to this "level place."  From the imagery we are given the understanding of Christ's condescension to the world; the choosing of the disciples means they are the ones who will be sent out into the whole world with the gospel message that follows.

 

 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."  As noted above, these first verses of the Sermon on the Plain bear a great resemblance to the Sermon on the Mount.   Jesus' language reflects ultimate realities behind what we experience in life, and this in particular is directed toward His disciples.  My study Bible comments that blessed in this context indicates heavenly, spiritual exaltation, rather than earthly happiness or prosperity.  In Hebrew, it says, "poor" means both the materially poor, and also the faithful among God's people.  The poor in spirit (Matthew 5:3) are those who have the heart of the poor, with the same attitude as the poor, and are totally dependent upon God.  Those who hunger desire righteousness (Matthew 5:6); they shall be filled with the presence of God and God's Kingdom.  Those who weep are similar to those who mourn in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:4).  They sorrow over the sufferings of this life, the sufferings of others, the state of the world, and also their own sins.  But they will laugh with joy over the presence of God.  Those who are hated, excluded, reviled, and slandered for the Son of Man's sake are those who suffer for the Kingdom.  My study Bible comments that those who suffer persecution for Christ walk the road of the prophets, saints, and martyrs (Matthew 5:11-12).

 

 "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."  Here St. Luke reports four "woes" which are not found in the Sermon on the Mount of St. Matthew's Gospel.  Woe, according to my study Bible, is an indication not simply of sorrow, but rather of unspeakable destruction (Isaiah 5:18-24; Amos 5:18; Revelation 12:12).  According to St. Cyril of Alexandria, those who live only for the worldly comforts listed here are liable to the "utmost misery"; however, they find hope when they sacrifice their earthly blessings in showing mercy to others.  St. Cyril points to the story of the Rich Man and Lazarus, in which the wealthy man could have found salvation through mercy to Lazarus (see Luke 16:19-31). (Commentary on Luke, Sermon 29.)

 

In this beginning of the Sermon on the Plain we have an interesting phenomenon, for it can't be simply categorized.  It has elements of prophetic literature as well as apocalyptic Scripture, in its messages of comfort amidst turmoil and persecution, and also the "woes" that await those who now enjoy the spoils of life in a worldly sense.  But both the Sermon on the Plain and the Sermon on the Mount differ from apocalyptic and prophetic literature in the sense of the unique quality that this is God speaking directly to the people, and not through an apocalyptic vision or a word given to a prophet.  Jesus as Son of Man is God Incarnate, and descends from the mountain where He has spent all night in prayer with the Father in order to directly give us the word Himself.  And yet there are qualities of both apocalyptic vision of the realities behind the world we see and experience, as well as the prophetic word of ultimate comfort, resolution, and justice in what He expresses to us here.   Perhaps this is because as Son of Man, He is the only One who can do so.  While God's word always remains God's word (such as that given to Moses or the other prophets), Jesus is Himself the Word, incarnate in human flesh (John 1:1-14).  Indeed, we may consider that this forms one of the purposes of the Incarnation itself; as Jesus has said, "He who has seen Me has seen the Father" (John 14:9).  The apocalyptic qualities of the Sermon on the Plain, however, stand out boldly in these first verses, for they are addressed to an audience of disciples who will soon be under persecution.  This is a reassurance that, ultimately, God and God's justice will prevail.  Moreover, like the prophets of old, and even in the courage of the Psalms (see, for example, Psalm 60:4), there is encouragement for the faith in which we take refuge at all times.  Jesus' teachings in the Beatitudes are often used, in a modern cultural context, as a social teaching, telling us of the ways in which we should conduct ourselves in the world, even in a moralistic sense.  But there is so much more here than simply a social teaching.  Let us take Jesus in His fullness, and understand the refuge and power He offers us.  

 

 

 

Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy?

 

 Now 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 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. 

 

- Luke 6:1-11 

 

Yesterday we read that Jesus went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the tax office.  And He said to him, "Follow Me."  So he left all, rose up, and followed Him.  Then Levi gave Him a great feast in his own house.  And there were a great number of tax collectors and others who sat down with them.  And their scribes and the Pharisees complained against His disciples, saying, "Why do You eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?"  Jesus answered and said to them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.  I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance."  Then they said to Him, "Why do the disciples of John fast often and make prayers, and likewise those of the Pharisees, but Yours eat and drink?"  And He said to them, "Can you make the friends of the bridegroom fast while the bridegroom is with them?  But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them; then they will fast in those days."  Then He spoke a parable to them:  "No one puts a piece from a new garment on an old one; otherwise the new makes a tear, and also the piece that was taken out of the new does not match the old.  And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; or else the new wine will burst the wineskins and be spilled, and the wineskins will be ruined.  But new wine must be put into new wineskins, and both are preserved.  And no one, having drunk old wine, immediately desires new; for he says, 'The old is better.'"

 

  Now 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 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."  The Orthodox Study Bible describes the term second Sabbath after the first as indicating a Jewish feast which immediately followed the normal Sabbath, because a feast was also known as a Sabbath.  It says that, according to St. Ambrose, the term "second Sabbath" serves as an image of the new covenant and the eternal resurrection:  the first Sabbath is an indication of the Law, while the second Sabbath indicates the gospel that follows it.  Under the new covenant, that food which was at one time not lawful for anyone but the priests to eat is now freely given to all by the Lord of the Sabbath.  This was prefigured by David when he gave the showbread . . . to those with him.

 

 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.  My study Bible comments that, according to certain traditions that the scribes and Pharisees had built up around the Law, healing was considered work, and so therefore was not permissible on the Sabbath.  These men believed that they served God in zealously keeping such peripheral traditions, but their legalism made them insensitive to God's mercy.  In Biblical or theological language, this insensitivity is directly related to hardness of heart.  Such zealotry is clear to see in their rage; they are eager to find what they might do to Jesus for healing on the Sabbath, but apparently the man's restored hand is of less significance.  

 

 When the second part of today's reading opens, we notice that the scribes and Pharisees are already watching Christ closely, whether He would heal on the Sabbath, that they might find an accusation against Him.  So the text lets us know that they are already trying to find an accusation against Christ at this point.  In one sense, it teaches us that when we go looking for something in particular, we will usually be able to find it.  But they're not looking at the much bigger picture that is truly here.  They are missing the most important moment in the spiritual history of Israel and of the world, that the long-awaited Messiah is in their presence.  We might say, they are missing the presence of the kingdom of God in their midst, even though in Christ's healing of this man -- and His assorted other miracles He's already performed -- it is there in plain sight.  Of course, the much bigger picture they miss is the presence of God, of holiness and divinity at work before them.  This is consistent with Jesus' criticism of them.  In Matthew 15:8-9, Jesus quotes from the prophet Isaiah to describe them.  He says, "These people draw near to Me with their mouth, and honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me and in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men," quoting from Isaiah 29:13.  What that teaches us now, today, is that we also need to be certain that our own center is not on a point of legalism or simply particular litmus tests; if our focus is not on God, then we are truly missing the bigger picture.  For it is only there in which we have a chance to see and to learn the things that are beyond what we already know and understand.  For God is always beyond our limits and expectations.  God is not defined strictly by our attention, except in the sense that we limit ourselves thereby to a lesser reality.  Just as Jesus has recently given us the parable of the wineskins (see yesterday's reading, above), so we need to be at least prepared to expand and grow in our spiritual understanding, for God is not finite and cannot be limited.  In their accusatory behavior, these religious authorities are limiting themselves, and in so doing, they limit so much more as well, for they are supposed to be the shepherds of the people.  There is a parable here for us about our own lives, and it has remained true for all the time that has passed between Christ's Incarnation and ourselves today, and that is Christ's emphasis on our own watchfulness and preparedness, our mindfulness of the things we are supposed to be about (Revelation 16:15).  We can very easily fall into the same type of trap, and miss the forest for the trees.  As He said of the Pharisees and scribes, they "strain out a gnat and swallow a camel" (Matthew 23:24).  They are truly "blind guides," as He said in the same verse.  Let us keep His commands and remain among His faithful and wise servants (Matthew 24:45-51).