A “great number” of people were coming to listen to Jesus. His words are alive and active (Hebrews 4:12). The people craved more. His words didn’t always make sense, but they were drawn to them.
In this particular teaching, Jesus gives an encouragement and a parallel warning:
Blessed are you who are poor,
For yours is the kingdom of God…
But woe to you who are rich,
For you have already received your comfort. (Luke 6:20, 24)
If you’re reading this, odds are you are rich. We’re comfortable. Even the poorest in our country have access to food pantries and shelters. We don’t have to go hungry. A lot of the world isn’t like that. We’re rich, and we have our comforts. But what about spiritually poor? I crave more of God. I know He’s always with me, but I long to hear His voice always. As my job gets stressful or I fall behind on chores, I wish I could hear Him encouraging me and advocating for me. Literally hear Him. Instead, we’re given peace in those moments.
Blessed are you who weep now,
for you will laugh…
Woe to you who laugh now,
for you will mourn and weep. (Luke 6: 21, 25)
Life is hard. We laugh and choose joy, but yet life is still hard. People lose their jobs, get sick, struggle to keep up. We weep, but someday we will have nothing but joy. Revelation 21:4 promises us that someday He will wipe away all our tears and there will be no more sorrow.
Blessed are you when people hate you,
when they exclude you and insult you
and reject your name as evil,
because of the Son of Man…
Woe to you when everyone speaks well of you,
for that is how their ancestors treated the false prophets. (Luke 6:22, 26)
This one sounds backwards. We want people to say good things about us. No one likes a bad reputation. But we can’t please everyone. Some days I feel like I can’t please anyone, despite working my hardest.
I work with teenagers and I see the drama. Kids exclude each other and insult each other. We grow up and just find other ways of that same thing. People are excluded from meetings, or left out of invitations. Our job is simply to keep following Jesus.
Keep following Him in everything we do. He comforts us, giving us joy and a reason to laugh. True laughter that can only come from deep within our souls.