Luke 6:17-49

SLIDE 1 In our passage last week we saw how Jesus chose the twelve men who would become his apostles or ambassadors for him. We often refer to the twelve apostles as the twelve disciples but in reality there were many more than just twelve disciples. In Matthew 28, the last message from Jesus to the apostles in the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus told the apostles to make even more disciples. SLIDE 2

18b All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations. . . . (Matthew 28:18b-19)

SLIDE 3 Jesus did not tell them to make converts or believers but disciples. “Disciple” is the most word used most often for those who have placed their faith in Jesus and committed themselves to living for him. We use the word Christian, but the word Christian is only found three times. The word the New Testament uses is disciples. We are all to be disciples. A disciple is simply a student. We are to be students of Jesus, learning from him what it means to live in a right relationship with God.

The next most often used description in the New Testament is “followers of the way” as in followers of the way of life Jesus taught.

To be a Christian is to a representative of Jesus to the world around us. Multiple times we’re told that we are to be witnesses for him. In our speech we’re to tell others about Jesus and in our actions we’re to show them how Jesus lived. It is a tremendous responsibility. However, can you imagine Jesus giving us this responsibility and then not giving us instructions on how to do it? How are we to properly represent the kingdom of God? This passage along with the Sermon on the Mount, contain the instructions. Nowhere is that way of life spelled out more clearly than in Matthew 5-7 (the Sermon on the Mount) and in our passage today.

17 He went down with them and stood on a level place. A large crowd of his disciples was there and a great number of people from all over Judea, from Jerusalem, and from the coastal region around Tyre and Sidon, 18 who had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases. Those troubled by impure spirits were cured, 19 and the people all tried to touch him, because power was coming from him and healing them all. (Luke 6:17-19)

News about Jesus is spreading and people are coming from near and far to hear him teach and to heal their sick.

What follows these verses is commonly referred to as the Sermon on the Plain. It is similar to the Sermon on the Mount and contains many of the same topics but it is different. Sermon on the Mount begins by saying: SLIDE 4

1 Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, 2 and he began to teach them. (Matthew 5:1-2)

SLIDE 5 In Luke 6 we’re told that on this particular day Jesus went down to a level place. We can imagine that as Jesus traveled around that different people would hear him each day. It would be expected that he might repeat some of what he’d said the day or week before. I think that’s what we see in the Sermon on Mount and here in the Sermon on the Plain.

In this sermon, Jesus starts with the familiar beatitudes but he also adds some warnings. In them, Jesus challenges the values of the world.

20 Looking at his disciples, he said: “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. 21 Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh. 22 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. 23 Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For that is how their ancestors treated the prophets.

24 “But woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort. 25 Woe to you who are well fed now, for you will go hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep. 26 Woe to you when everyone speaks well of you, for that is how their ancestors treated the false prophets.” (Luke 6:20-26)

Before the sermon begins we’re told that Jesus looked out at his disciples. This message is for his disciples. It’s for us because hopefully we are all his disciples. Hopefully we all desire to learn and grow in Jesus.

The most obvious difference between the two sermons of Jesus is that in the Sermon on the Mount Jesus explicitly stated that the poverty and hunger were spiritual.

Blessed are the poor in spirit. . . .

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. . . .

But here, it seems to be physical poverty and physical hunger. Jesus does have a lot to say about money and possessions. You’ll recall the story of the rich young man who came to Jesus asking what he needed to do in order to have eternal life. When the man stated that he had always kept all the commands of God, Jesus said there was only one thing he lacked. He should go, sell all that he possessed, give the money to the poor, and follow Jesus. We’re told that the man then went away sad because he was very wealthy and presumably didn’t want to give all he had to the poor. Turning to the apostles, Jesus commented: SLIDE 6

23b Truly I tell you, it is hard for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven. 24 Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God. (Matthew 19:23b-24)

SLIDE 7 There are difficulties of wealth. It is easy for the wealthy to think they no longer need God. However, that does not mean that having nothing is preferable. There’s no blessing for being poor, hungry, crying or being hated.

Jesus took the world’s accepted standards and turned them upside down. Of course the people who are blessed are the ones who have more than they need. The happy people are the ones with plenty of food. But Jesus changed that. The people whom Jesus called happy the world would call wretched; and the people Jesus called wretched the world would call happy. Just imagine anyone saying, “Happy are the poor, and, Woe to the rich!” That just sounds crazy. But that’s what Jesus says. Jesus says they are blessed because there is an eternal reward waiting for them. As Paul wrote to the Corinthians: SLIDE 8

For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. (2 Corinthians 4:17)

SLIDE 9 Therefore, it is better to know Jesus and as a result be poor, hungry, and persecuted that it is to not know Jesus and have all the comforts of the world. How much richer are we knowing the salvation of God and the promise of eternal life?

Departing from the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus then pronounces a series of woes. It is the opposite of blessing and often refers to God’s judgment. In these woes, Jesus gives the opposite of the blessing he just gave. He’s telling the rich, the well fed, and the happy that they can’t go to heaven. Nor is he telling us that we’re in trouble if we enjoy life. Too many have decided that the only way to be godly is to be miserable and if you’re not miserable you’re probably not saved. That’s not what Jesus is saying. Jesus is only saying that we need to be careful not to look more to this world for our needs than we look to God. We need to come to Jesus, seeing our true condition and our need for him. The things of the world should never be more important to us that God is.

Jesus challenges the values of the world but also how we treat others.

27 “But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. 29 If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn to them the other also. If someone takes your coat, do not withhold your shirt from them. 30 Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. 31 Do to others as you would have them do to you.

32 “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. 33 And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that. 34 And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, expecting to be repaid in full. 35 But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. 36 Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

37 “Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. 38 Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” (Luke 6:27-38)

Does Jesus really mean that we are to love our enemies? There has been a lot of discussion on what this means but I think the plain understanding is best. We are to love them.

The word Jesus uses here for love is important, it’s agape. It’s the love God has for us that led him to send Jesus. It’s the love Jesus has that led him to the cross. We are to look out for the best for everyone. Paul wrote to the Romans about God’s love for us saying: SLIDE 10

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)

SLIDE 11 He then adds in verse that we reconciled to him through the death of Jesus while we were still God’s enemies. Paul is telling us the depth of God’s love for us who were once God’s enemies. Since that is how God has loved us that is how he expects us to love others. We’re to look out for their best. We’re to desire their best. It means that no matter what others do to us we will never allow ourselves to desire anything but their highest good. We will deliberately go out of our way to be good and kind to them.

Jesus tells us to turn the other cheek. We take that to mean that if someone hits or slaps us on the cheek that instead of retaliating we should just turn to them the other cheek. But there’s another meaning. If someone took you to court and you lost, the person was allowed to slap you. It was a sign of shame. As a fine, your tunic might be taken from you. That seems pretty inconsequential today but your tunic was very important at that time. Jesus is therefore saying that if that is what they want you are to let them have it. Don’t be concerned about the things of this world. They are just things and God is more than able to provide for whatever we need. Jesus wants us to learn to rely on God. Don’t worry about worldly belongings. Concern for the things of the world weighs us down and prevents us from serving God.

We call verse 31 the Golden Rule. Many cultures have a version of this. However, while most all of them put it in the negative, Jesus stated it positively. They say:

Don’t do to anyone what you wouldn’t want done to you.

Jesus says:

Do to others as you would have them do to you.

It’s not just what we don’t do that’s important but also what we do. We are to intentionally seek to do good. Imagine what the world would be like if more people followed this instruction. I’m not talking about non-Christians following this, I’m talking about Christians. If every Christian sought to do good for others what impact would that have on our community? If we all treated others as we want to be treated it would be a much better community.

That’s because, as Jesus said, we’re to love everyone. We’re not just to love those that are easy to love or those that love us back. We’re to love everyone. Even unbelievers can do those things. They can love those who love them. Perhaps even harder, we’re to lend to our enemies without expecting to be paid back. But, Jesus says that when we do these things out reward will be great. When we love others as God loves us he sees it and rewards us.

That may sound a little crass. Should we talk in terms of rewards? Jesus does. He’s the one that brought it up. I don’t think we should do these things for the reward we hope to receive. That sounds a lot like what Jesus warned against in the Sermon on the Mount when talking about the hypocrites praying, fasting and giving so others would see what they were doing and think better of them. Their motivation was wrong. If we love and help others simply for the reward God will give us our motivation is wrong. We shouldn’t ignore the fact that Jesus said we’d receive a reward but it shouldn’t be our focus. Our goal as disciple of Jesus should be to look more like him. If Jesus is merciful we should be merciful. If Jesus is loving, we should be loving. We are to follow and copy him.

Lastly, Jesus warns about judging others. We’re not to condemn others. That’s God’s job. We see what people do but only God sees the heart. Only God knows their intentions. Therefore, we’re not in a position to properly judge. So, we’re instructed to forgive because as we give and forgive it will be given to us.

Have you ever raked leaves and put them in a plastic bag? You fill the bag but then you start mashing down on the leaves and suddenly you find room for some more leaves. You step on them and compress them and make room for even more. This is the illustration Jesus uses for how God will give to us. He doesn’t talk about stuffing leaves into a plastic bag. They didn’t have plastic bags. But the concept is the same. Just when we think the container is filled it gets shaken and pressed so that even more might be put in. God’s blessings are the same. Just we don’t think he can give more he does. He fills us up to overflowing.

Remember, Jesus was addressing his disciples. He’s addressing us. Jesus is not giving out directions for unbelievers. This is not a prescription for how to live a fairly moral life so that one day we’ll get into heaven. Jesus is telling believers how we should live. This is how we are to respond to the things the world values and this is how we should respond to others. They aren’t easy, but Jesus hasn’t left us alone. He has sent his Spirit to help us.

Jesus then tells some parables. Think of this in terms of discipleship and learning to be more like Jesus.

39 He also told them this parable: “Can the blind lead the blind? Will they not both fall into a pit? 40 The student is not above the teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like their teacher.

41 “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? 42 How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when you yourself fail to see the plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.

43 “No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. 44 Each tree is recognized by its own fruit. People do not pick figs from thornbushes, or grapes from briers. 45 A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of. (Luke 6:39-45)

As disciples we need people in our lives who will help us to grow and be more like Jesus. We all have areas of blindness in our lives. We can easily make excuses for those areas we make mistakes. Therefore, we need to find someone objective who can help us. We all need good examples to follow.

Jesus then returns to the idea of judging. We need people to help us in our walk and we need to help others but we can’t help others until we first get a good look at our own lives. We need help to see those areas so that we can ask God to help us with them. Then, we can help others with theirs. We can’t help others if we refuse to be helped.

When Jesus starts talking about fruit he’s not changing subjects but adding another dimension to what he’s just said. Again, we need help learning and growing. However, we need to be careful about who we look to for help. If we want to be like Jesus we need to find people to help us that look like Jesus. Look at the fruit in their lives. Are they living like Jesus?

The difficult part of this is we may not even be aware of who or what is influencing us. We are influenced by what we see, what we hear, and who we are with. I hear people talk about how they’ve stopped listening to news because it was so discouraging and how much better they feel now. The news was influencing their view of the world and they weren’t even aware of it. TV shows influence our view as well. So do the people we spend time with. All of these shape us in little ways we aren’t even aware of. We need to find good examples to help us be better disciples.

Then, Jesus ends with perhaps the most difficult part of the message.

46 “Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say? 47 As for everyone who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice, I will show you what they are like. 48 They are like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built. 49 But the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete.” (Luke 6:46-49)

It is not enough to say we believe in Jesus. Even demons believe. It’s not enough to call Jesus our Savior and Lord. Jesus says that we must obey him. We must do what he says. We need to put into practice everything that he’s just talked about. Otherwise, we’re just wasting our time. We’re like the man who spends time, energy, and resources building a house that will quickly be washed away with the next storm. However, if we build our lives on Jesus, following his example and obeying his commands, our lives will be built on a firm foundation. That’s doesn’t mean there will be no storms but that we won’t be washed away.

Jesus talked often about the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God is an invisible kingdom that becomes visible through the obedience of God’s people.

How are you doing at following and obeying Jesus?