Lesson 17: Crowds in the Flat Lands, Luke 6:17-30.

Everybody Gets Healed 6:17-19

English Standard Version (Chapter 6)

17 And he came down with them and stood on a level place, with a great crowd of his disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea and Jerusalem and the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon, 18 who came to hear him and to be healed of their diseases. And those who were troubled with unclean spirits were cured. 19 And all the crowd sought to touch him, for power came out from him and healed them all.

Verse 16 that says “ and Judas, the son of James, and Judas Iscariot” does align with verse 17. Verse 17 tells us that they, “Jesus and his apostles” came down and stood in a level place. We do gather from this that there was a small mountain where they went to pray and after the 12 are chosen, they move into ministry with Jesus. They are in a seacoast area of Israel at Tyre and Sidon. Coming down to a level place is quite common in areas of plains in higher elevation.

With this place in mind, and with our familiarity of the sermon on the Mount, we ask ourselves a question or two. The first one is: is this just a shorter re-telling of the sermon from Matthew on the Sermon on the mount or is this a different time, place, and message. It could be that the Savior is relaying some of the truths from one message to the other in a different location (plain instead of Mount.). The retelling of Scripture from one place to another is a key to delivery of truth when there is not an established book of what is being told. Remember, no New Testament yet, but the key is that the Word of God is standing before them. Jesus is relaying new truth to the people and the repetition is needed to drive home the message far and wide.

Considering the other side of thought is that this is the same place and just a shorter retelling of the Sermon on the Mount(as it had been remembered.) The key to the story is that the message is bringing help, hope and healing to the multitudes. There were cures for even those with unclean spirits. Those unclean spirits had caused emotional, behavioral problems, and troubled feelings. These were the days before miracle drugs. Many people suffered without help. Many people are thinking, the only way to get help is to touch him. Good news! He Healed them all. Boom! All means all! The numbers had to be huge. Without social media, the word spread by mouth only. The fame built day by day. The multiplication of numbers rose as days and weeks passed and not minutes or hours. Jesus still has the same efficacy to heal all as He did back then. So, we still give the message of hope and desire to lay our hands on the sick so that multitudes will find help. Today the message goes on the very swift wings or digital and artificial technology. let’s go deeper into the message:

English Standard Version (Chapter 6)

20 And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said:

“Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.

21 “Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you shall be satisfied.

“Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh.

22 “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! 23 Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for so their fathers did to the prophets.

Just as Jesus earlier said that He did not come to call the righteous to repentance, but sinners, does lead into this teaching that the blessing is coming to those who are in need. Those in need are listed as the poor, the hungry, those weeping, and the outcasts of society. Just one person could possibly check off all of those boxes, but in each instance, Jesus can fill the bill. I can imagine the “poor” who were listening did not comprehend as to what the kingdom of God really meant and the same goes for today. But at least they were finding a place in God’s sphere of things. I guess you could say they were finally getting a piece of the action:

Wiersbe’s Expository Outlines on the New Testament (Chapter 6)

“...Poor people who lived from hand to mouth, a day at a time. They envied the rich and longed to be like them. The Bible does not teach that poverty is a blessing, for it tells us to take care of the poor and needy, but that poverty need not rob us of blessing. It has well been said that many people know the price of everything but the value of nothing. It is not a sin to be rich, but it is a sin to trust riches and think you are a special person in God’s sight because of your wealth. Character is the important thing, not possessions.”

The word kingdom is a widely used term then and today. To give you some help on understanding this further, we go back several years to a theologian by the name of A.T. Robertson:

” It is the favourite word of Jesus for the rule of God in the heart here and now. It is both present and future and will reach a glorious consummation. Some of the sayings of Christ have apocalyptic and eschatological figures, but the heart of the matter is here in the spiritual reality of the reign of God in the hearts of those who serve him.

A.T. Robertson, Word Pictures in the New Testament (Nashville, TN: Broadman Press, 1933), Lk 6:20.

The parables of Jesus expand greatly on just how a person behaves and believes in the various phases of kingdom life and growth. Jesus is talking about important markers in daily life. These sayings are really absolutes and not ideals. These truths stand the test of time and time belongs to God. It is His kingdom- Time. An yet, He is not restrained by the boundaries of time as He operates from everlasting to everlasting. He has a firm grip on everything in between, and that includes the measurement of time.

The word kingdom in the Greek is “Basileia(bah-suh-lee-ah).” It is the word from where we get basilica and it literally means a “reign”, an “area,” and to become a king. This has a lot of implications for those who believe they are operating in Christ’s kingdom, those who have no idea they are near to it, and those who totally reject it. Further examples is the eternal kingship of the God the Father and His Son and the Holy Spirit reigning in our hearts, and the the earthly and eternal realm where God’s will is fulfilled. Hence, when we pray, “on Earth as it is in Heaven.” By the by, both Earth and Heaven should be capitalized as they are names of real, proper places.

The “poor” really do have great possessions/benefits in God’s kingdom because of the limitless possibilities of Heaven and Earth. The hungry can be satisfied with not just food, but flowing water to drink. And, not just food and hunger pains to be quelled, but also the hunger of the soul. The weepers may weep for an evening but the Psalmist says “joy comes in the morning.” Jesus did not have to quote David as He is the “word of God” Himself and if Jesus says you will laugh, you will laugh.

The persecuted of verse 22, rarely feel like they are in the throes of deliverance, but that is the gist of the message. The treatment of enemies counters the way we usually feel about them. The Psalmist David said in Psalm 35 that this is not new info from God, but Jesus delivers it succinctly for His generation. Considering all that we have read and studied in this passage, it was profoundly examined and proclaimed in Psalm 35, a Psalm with Messianic points. It leads us directly to the Jesus and His teachings of the new Testament:

English Standard Version (Psalm 35)

9. Then my soul will rejoice in the LORD, exulting in his salvation. 10 All my bones shall say, “O LORD, who is like you, delivering the poor from him who is too strong for him, the poor and needy from him who robs him?”

11 Malicious witnesses rise up; they ask me of things that I do not know. 12 They repay me evil for good; my soul is bereft. 13 But I, when they were sick— I wore sackcloth; I afflicted myself with fasting; I prayed with head bowed on my chest.

14 I went about as though I grieved for my friend or my brother; as one who laments his mother, I bowed down in mourning.15 But at my stumbling they rejoiced and gathered; they gathered together against me; wretches whom I did not know tore at me without ceasing;

16 like profane mockers at a feast, they gnash at me with their teeth. 17 How long, O Lord, will you look on?Rescue me from their destruction, my precious life from the lions!

18 I will thank you in the great congregation; in the mighty throng I will praise you. 19 Let not those rejoice over me who are wrongfully my foes, and let not those wink the eye who hate me without cause.

20 For they do not speak peace, but against those who are quiet in the land they devise words of deceit. 21 They open wide their mouths against me; they say, “Aha, Aha! Our eyes have seen it!”

22 You have seen, O LORD; be not silent! O Lord, be not far from me! 23 Awake and rouse yourself for my vindication, for my cause, my God and my Lord!

24 Vindicate me, O LORD, my God, according to your righteousness, and let them not rejoice over me! 25  Let them not say in their hearts, “Aha, our heart’s desire!”Let them not say, “We have swallowed him up.”

26 Let them be put to shame and disappointed altogether who rejoice at my calamity! Let them be clothed with shame and dishonor who magnify themselves against me! 27  Let those who delight in my righteousness shout for joy and be glad and say evermore, “Great is the LORD, who delights in the welfare of his servant!”

28  Then my tongue shall tell of your righteousness and of your praise all the day long.

There is no other place to be than in the kingdom of the One who cares and deeply loves you right where you are, even as His enemy. There is nothing too hard for God to accomplish in this kingdom.