According to Luke 6:12-26 [NLTse]
12 One day soon afterward Jesus went up on a mountain to pray, and He prayed to God all night. 13 At daybreak He called together all of His disciples and chose twelve of them to be apostles. Here are their names:
14 Simon (whom He named Peter), Andrew (Peter’s brother), James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, 15 Matthew, Thomas, James (son of Alphaeus), Simon (who was called the zealot), 16 Judas (son of James), Judas Iscariot (who later betrayed Him).
17 When they came down from the mountain, the disciples stood with Jesus on a large, level area, surrounded by many of His followers and by the crowds. There were people from all over Judea and from Jerusalem and from as far north as the seacoasts of Tyre and Sidon. 18 They had come to hear Him and to be healed of their diseases; and those troubled by evil spirits were healed. 19 Everyone tried to touch Him, because healing power went out from Him, and He healed everyone. Then Jesus turned to His disciples and said,
20 “God blesses you who are poor, for the Kingdom of God is yours. 21 God blesses you who are hungry now, for you will be satisfied. God blesses you who weep now, for in due time you will laugh.
22 What blessings await you when people hate you and exclude you and mock you and curse you as evil because you follow the Son of Man. 23 When that happens, be happy! Yes, leap for joy! For a great reward awaits you in Heaven. And remember, their ancestors treated the ancient prophets that same way.
24 “What sorrow awaits you who are rich, for you have your only happiness now. 25 What sorrow awaits you who are fat and prosperous now, for a time of awful hunger awaits you. What sorrow awaits you who laugh now, for your laughing will turn to mourning and sorrow. 26 What sorrow awaits you who are praised by the crowds, for their ancestors also praised false prophets.
Out of all we read from the Gospel According to Luke this past week I’m directing our attention to this passage today because it makes me uncomfortable: Blessed are the poor; blessed are the hungry; blessed are those who weep; but, woe to you who are rich; and, woe to you who are fat and prosperous now; and, what sorrow awaits you who laugh now… We skip over passages like this, not liking what we read, not liking what it says. But the good Lord Jesus does say it, here…
And we can’t spiritualize this. Matthew records the Beatitudes – the blessings – the Lord Jesus said were upon those experiencing the spiritual aspects of poverty, weeping, hunger, and other conditions (see 5:3-12). But that was a day the Lord was preaching on a mountain. Luke’s recorded the blessings Jesus taught about on a different day, a day He was surrounded by His disciples and other seekers on a plain – a plateau: Luke’s recorded the blessings awaiting those who experience poverty, weeping, and hunger physically, daily… And that’s not me. And he records the sorrows awaiting those who experience riches, laughter, and a full belly physically, daily… And that is me…
I searched the Scriptures in the hopes of finding parallel passages that would clarify this one and show me it had a very different meaning, and I read a variety of commentaries looking for arguments that would help me to see this doesn’t really say what it seems to so plainly say. But, according to Luke, this is what the Lord Jesus said and this is what the Lord Jesus meant.
As another example, if you’ll turn in Luke to chapter 16:19… (page 801) we read this parable Jesus told:
19 Jesus said, “There was a certain rich man who was splendidly clothed in purple and fine linen and who lived each day in luxury. 20 At his gate lay a poor man named Lazarus who was covered with sores. 21 As Lazarus lay there longing for scraps from the rich man’s table, the dogs would come and lick his open sores.
22 “Finally, the poor man died and was carried by the angels to be with Abraham. The rich man also died and was buried, 23 and his soul went to the place of the dead. There, in torment, he saw Abraham in the far distance with Lazarus at his side.
24 “The rich man shouted, ‘Father Abraham, have some pity! Send Lazarus over here to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue. I am in anguish in these flames.’
25 “But Abraham said to him, ‘Son, remember that during your lifetime you had everything you wanted, and Lazarus had nothing. So now he is here being comforted, and you are in anguish. 26 And besides, there is a great chasm separating us. No one can cross over to you from here, and no one can cross over to us from there.’
27 “Then the rich man said, ‘Please, Father Abraham, at least send him to my father’s home. 28 For I have five brothers, and I want him to warn them so they don’t end up in this place of torment.’
29 “But Abraham said, ‘Moses and the prophets have warned them. Your brothers can read what they wrote.’
30 “The rich man replied, ‘No, Father Abraham! But if someone is sent to them from the dead, then they will repent of their sins and turn to God.’
31 “But Abraham said, ‘If they won’t listen to Moses and the prophets, they won’t listen even if someone rises from the dead.’”
You’ll notice as I did that there is no mention of Lazarus and the rich man’s spiritual condition, whether they were godly or not. We read merely that during his lifetime the rich man had everything he wanted and Lazarus had nothing, so that in Heaven Lazarus was being comforted and the rich man was in anguish.
It’s the same message as the Beatitude: Blessed are you who are poor, the Kingdom of God will be yours; and, what sorrows await you who are rich, for you have your only happiness now. And there’s the hungry versus the well-fed and the weeper versus those who are laughing…
Again, know that I’m talking about me. I’m not pointing out anybody here: We’re all rich compared to those living in poverty in our country and around the world, unbelievably rich. I’m talking about me! You and me.
What’s confusing is that we know God considered Job to be a righteous man – His favorite, the Bible says – and Job was one of the wealthiest men of his day! And we read later here in Luke about Joseph of Arimathea – a rich man, according to Matthew – a good and righteous man, waiting for the Kingdom of God to come, according to Luke…
And we know that we’re saved according to our faith and trust in Christ: Being poor and hungry and sad doesn’t save us, and being rich and well-fed and happy doesn’t @#!*% us. Our works simply demonstrate that our faith is true, and our economic and physical conditions don’t affect such things at all. So what gives? What’s Jesus saying?
Tying all the passages across the Bible that charge God’s people to care for the poor and provide for the orphans and widows and free the captive and oppressed, I believe that God is simply telling you and telling me today that we need to do everything in our power – the power our wealth and influence and our giftedness give us – to provide for the poor, the weeping, and the hungry: We cannot allow there to be a Lazarus at our “gates” or down the street or across town, that we know to be covered with sores and longing for scraps from our tables, or whatever sad condition. If we’re sensitive to the fact that children are starving to death in Africa, we better start doing all we can and using all we have and are to begin providing for those children!
James, the half-brother of Jesus and the leader of the First Century church in Jerusalem, wrote: “Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you.” (1:27) There was no welfare in the First Century, orphans and widows were alone in the world, and lived in a society where they had few if any opportunities to provide for themselves. They (along with others, of course) were the poor, the weeping, the hungry. And James writes that pure and genuine religion is taking care of such as them.
“But what about me?” we might ask. “If I start providing for the poor and feeding the hungry and spending my time caring for those who are grieving, pretty soon I’m going to be poor and hungry and weeping!”
All I can tell you, and all I can tell myself when I ask that question, is that our Father has called us to do this, and He has only good in store for us. And if we do find ourselves poor and hungry and weeping then Jesus promises us God’s blessing and the Kingdom of God and satisfaction and laughter in due time. If we’ll provide and feed and care for those in need now, we can trust He’ll send others to provide and feed and care for us if and when we have any need…
A hard teaching engulfed by sin the ways we are. It’s direct, simple; but it seems hard because of the wrong priorities and very different practices being promoted and going on around us. As I said, it makes me uncomfortable.
But abundant life isn’t about being comfortable! God is good, and has good plans and gifts for His children, and has good and salvation for others, as well, as we His sons – His bride – live out the gospel of Jesus Christ each day!