Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

As we begin this section of Luke, we are coming to what is commonly referred to as the Sermon on the Plain.

That comes from the text we read last week when we saw that Jesus came down from the mountain and stood on a level place.

It could be that Jesus spoke in a plain or what we would consider something like a prairie, but it is more likely that he was still somewhere near the bottom of the mountain on what is called a steppe.

Some believe that this sermon is the same sermon known as the Sermon on the Mount while others say it’s different.

There are similarities between the two sermons, but there are a lot of differences as well, and I think that there are enough differences to be comfortable saying these are different sermons that have some of the same content.

Pastors and speakers often will use the same content in their sermons and it is easy enough to see Jesus doing the same.

That being said, we come to Luke’s account of the Beatitudes.

And what often happens is that commentators, pastors, and those just studying their Bibles will look to Matthew when approaching them.

Matthew’s are more drawn out.

They are worded a bit differently than Luke’s.

And therefore since there is more content, they must have the meaning.

Luke’s aren’t as long.

They can appear to be more cryptic.

And usually, when you find a confusing passage, the rule of thumb is to find a similar passage to help you understand.

So it is natural to go to Matthew to help you understand Luke when it comes to the Beatitudes.

But if these are different sermons with similar themes, then it could be a mistake to immediately go to Matthew, especially if there are clues in the text itself that help us understand it better.

So as we open up the passage, we are going to let Luke speak to us as he has written what Jesus spoke in this sermon.

And incidentally, this is not the entire sermon that Jesus spoke.

As Chuck Swindoll pointed out, if it was, it would have taken about five minutes to give.

Over the next few weeks, we are looking at these Beatitudes a little differently.

In Luke’s Gospel Account, we have both a blessing and a woe that correspond to each other.

So, we will be looking at one blessing (one Beatitude) and its corresponding woe.

And this morning, I want us to see that for every believer there are two ways to live.

And it has to do with where one finds his or her comfort.

Jesus presents us with two options: Will you find your comfort in the kingdom of God or the Currency of Man? Again, is it God’s Kingdom that comforts or consoles you or is it Man’s Currency?

After presenting these options, I want to give two quick case-studies that the Scripture gives of each.

The Kingdom of God

The Currency of Man

The Case-study of Scripture

The Kingdom of God

The first option with which Jesus presented his disciples as to how they will find their comfort is that which involved the kingdom of God.

It is important to see that Jesus was speaking not to the crowds, but to his disciples.

These were not casual observers; these were those who had committed themselves to follow Jesus.

It could have only been to the twelve that Jesus was speaking to, but it is more likely that it was to the larger set of disciples mentioned in verse 17.

But regardless of which set they were, Jesus was speaking to them.

And I say that it is important because of the words that came out of Jesus’s mouth immediately after lifting up his eyes on his disciples.

“Blessed are you who are poor.”

Jesus was not making a blanket statement about those stuck in poverty.

Jesus was not saying that poverty, in and of itself, is more virtuous or blessed than those who are rich.

What he was saying was that those who were following him—those who were his disciples and poor—were more blessed than those who were following him and rich.

But before we get into why the poor disciples are so blessed, we need to establish what it mean to be blessed in the first place.

First, it doesn’t mean that you’ve been given stuff.

I have a house and a car and family that loves me.

I’ve been blessed.

We use that word as if it means we’ve been given stuff.

Or at very least, this stuff has made me happy.

If you’ve ever heard a sermon on the Beatitudes, you’ve probably heard that is what blessed really means: to be happy.

And in some translations, they have actually translated the word as “happy.”

Now there has been a lot of talk over the last couple of decades about the difference between happiness and joy.

Happiness is short-lived, they say.

Joy is lasting.

But if that’s the case, then we can’t possibly get the right understanding of the Beatitudes that Jesus had in mind.

If “Blessed” means “Happy” and “Happy” is fleeting, then Jesus promises only fleeting happiness.

But if “Blessed” means something more than mere “Happiness,” then we can get a better understanding of what Jesus meant when he gave us the Beatitudes.

So then what does “Blessed” really mean?

It’s actually in the word that we use to describe this section of Scripture: The Beatitudes.

Contrary to popular belief, The Beatitudes are not telling us what our attitudes ought to be.

It comes from the same word that we get Beatific.

Perhaps you’ve heard of the Beatific Vision.

To Protestants, the Beatific Vision is the return of Christ.

When every eye shall see him.

Now imagine what emotions would be welling up within us.

The Bible presents the Church as the Bride of Christ.

What are the emotions of a bride on her wedding day as she enters the aisle and sees her groom standing there?

I think The Men’s Wearhouse had one of the greatest ads in history back in 2013, when they said, “On your wedding day, when everyone is looking at her, she will be looking at you.

So rent your tuxedo at Men’s Wearhouse and look almost as good as she does.”

The inner happiness, the inner joy and excitement, is difficult to describe, but it’s there.

It’s beatific.

It’s blessed.

And Jesus said that this is the state of those who are following him and are poor—economically/financially poor.

Now what on earth could ever make a poor disciple of Jesus feel that inner joy and excitement?

I’m glad you asked because Jesus gave the answer.

That word “for” means “because.”

And as we have seen over and over again, the word “because/for” is important in our understanding passages of Scripture, including this one!

The word “because” gives us the reason; it gives us the cause of what came before.

What on earth could cause a economically destitute disciple to have such inner joy and excitement?

What reason is there for a poor follower of Jesus to be happy?

Jesus said, it is because yours is the kingdom of God.

Notice that Luke used the word “yours”—not “theirs.”

Matthew used the word theirs in his telling of the Sermon on the Mount, but in the Sermon on the Plain, Jesus is recorded as saying “Yours” as if he was indeed speaking directly to those impoverished disciples that he’s lifted his eyes to look upon.

“Yours is the kingdom of God.” It’s not a hypothetical; it’s reality.

It’s not an impersonal somebody out there, but a personal, “you who follow me.”

And what does the Kingdom of God entail?

It entails everything that is God’s.

It begins with the gospel, but continues with endless blessing.

In other words, God gave us his greatest gift of his Son.

Why would he withhold anything that would be for our good and growth to be more like him?

But there is something more specific that Jesus is getting to when he says that “yours is the kingdom of God.”

And that is eternal consolation.

Let me explain why I think this is really what Jesus is getting at here.

There are three reasons.

Jesus is the consolation of Israel.

If we go back to when Jesus was presented in the temple, we find there a man by the name of Simeon.

And we’re told that he had been in the temple and was promised that he’d see the consolation of Israel.

That’s who Jesus was.

He was the paraclete, the comfort, the consolation.

When Jesus gave his first recorded sermon in Nazareth, he described himself as that consolation.

Again, if the word consolation means bringing comfort and to alleviate the suffering of people, then what we find in Jesus’s sermon to proclaim good news to the poor, proclaim liberty to the captive and oppressed, to give sight to the blind, and declare the favor of the Lord—all in all ushering in the kingdom of God is by very definition consolation.

Lastly, when we get to the corresponding woe we’ll dive in further, but we see that the corresponding reason that the rich are given the woe is because of where their consolation lies.