The Savior for All: Blessings for the Poor, Woes for the Rich

Luke 6 contains Luke's version of the Sermon on the Mount — called the Sermon on the Plain, because Jesus speaks it on a level place after coming down from the mountain.

Luke's sermon is shorter than Matthew's, and sharper. Where Matthew has blessed are the poor in spirit, Luke has blessed are you who are poor. Where Matthew has nothing about woes, Luke pronounces four woes against the rich, the full, the laughing, and the well-spoken-of.

The Savior for All reverses the order of the world. The people the world calls blessed are headed for woe; the people the world calls cursed are headed for blessing.

This is not because poverty is itself virtuous. It is because the Kingdom belongs to those who know they have nothing apart from God.

Lord of the Sabbath

The chapter begins with two Sabbath controversies.

On a Sabbath, Jesus is going through the grainfields. His disciples pluck and eat some heads of grain, rubbing them in their hands. Some Pharisees say:

"Why are you doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath?"

Jesus answers by recalling David, who entered the house of God and ate the bread of the Presence. Then He says:

"The Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath."

On another Sabbath, He enters the synagogue. A man is there whose right hand is withered. The scribes and Pharisees watch to see if He will heal on the Sabbath.

Jesus, knowing their thoughts, says to the man: "Come and stand here."

Then to them:

"I ask you, is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to destroy it?"

He looks at them all, and says to the man: "Stretch out your hand." He does, and his hand is restored.

They are filled with fury and discuss what they might do to Jesus.

The Savior for All is Lord of the Sabbath, and He uses it to do good — even when religion demands He stay silent.

Choosing the twelve

In those days, He goes out to the mountain to pray. All night He continues in prayer to God.

When day comes, He calls His disciples and chooses from them twelve, whom He names apostles:

Simon, whom He named Peter; Andrew his brother; James; John; Philip; Bartholomew; Matthew; Thomas; James the son of Alphaeus; Simon called the Zealot; Judas the son of James; and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.

He prayed all night before choosing them. Even Judas was chosen knowingly. The Savior for All gathers a leadership team that includes the betrayer who will hand Him over — because nothing happens outside the Father's plan.

A great multitude

He comes down with them and stands on a level place. With Him is a great crowd of His disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea and Jerusalem and the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon — Jews and Gentiles together.

They have come to hear Him and to be healed. Those troubled with unclean spirits are cured. All the crowd seeks to touch Him, for power comes out from Him and heals them all.

This is the Savior for All in one snapshot. Jews and Gentiles together. The sick and the demon-troubled. All pressing in. All receiving.

Blessings

He lifts up His eyes on His disciples and says:

"Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you shall be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh. Blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude you and revile you and spurn your name as evil, on account of the Son of Man! Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for so their fathers did to the prophets."

The blessing falls on the people the world overlooks. The poor. The hungry. The weeping. The rejected.

The Kingdom of God turns the world's value system upside down. The very people the world has written off are the ones the Savior writes in.

Woes

But He pronounces woes:

"But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation. Woe to you who are full now, for you shall be hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep. Woe to you when all people speak well of you, for so their fathers did to the false prophets."

This is hard for our ears. Comfort, fullness, laughter, and a good reputation are exactly what we strive for. Jesus says: be careful. The very things you most want may be the things that prevent you from receiving Him.

The danger is not having things. The danger is finding your consolation in them, instead of in Him.

Love your enemies

"But I say to you who hear: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you."

This is the great inversion. The world says: love your friends, hate your enemies. Jesus says: love your enemies.

"If anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also." "Give to everyone who begs from you." "As you wish that others would do to you, do so to them."

This is the Golden Rule — but it comes inside a long teaching that demands enemy-love.

He gives the reason:

"Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful."

God's mercy on us is the pattern for our mercy on others. The Savior for All has been merciful to His enemies — including us — and He calls us to walk the same road.

Judging others

"Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you."

He gives a vivid picture: pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap.

"For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you."

How we treat others sets the measure for how we receive grace.

The speck and the log

He tells a parable. Can the blind lead the blind? A disciple is not above his teacher. Why do you see the speck in your brother's eye but not notice the log in your own?

"First take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye."

This is the antidote to a critical spirit. Start with your own heart.

Two foundations

He ends the sermon with a parable. Anyone who hears His words and does them is like a man who builds a house and digs deep and lays the foundation on the rock. When the flood comes, the stream breaks against that house and cannot shake it.

But anyone who hears His words and does not do them is like a man who builds a house on the ground without a foundation. When the stream breaks against it, immediately it falls — and the ruin of that house is great.

The Savior for All calls not merely for hearing, but for doing. Hearing without doing is a house with no foundation. The storm is coming for every house. Only the house built on Christ stands.

Closing prayer

Father, give us ears to hear the Savior's blessings and woes. Save us from finding our consolation in riches, fullness, laughter, and the world's good word — and grant us the Kingdom that belongs to the poor in spirit. Teach us to love our enemies, to be merciful as You are merciful, to take the log from our own eye. And build our house deep upon the rock of Christ. In Jesus' name, amen.