Blessed Be…Beatitudes

Blessed Be - The Poor

Luke 6:20 “Then He lifted up His eyes toward His disciples, and said: “Blessed are you poor, For yours is the kingdom of God.”

Luke 6:24 “But woe to you who are rich, For you have received your consolation.”

This week we would like to look at the Beatitudes. Most people are familiar with the Sermon on the Mount as recorded in Matthew chapter 5, but a slightly different view is offered by Luke in his gospel.

He sets up the reader with four “blessings” and contrasts them with four “woes”.

The sermon takes place on a level place with Jesus looking up at His disciples (Luke 6:20). This is spoken to His disciples which were believers and others.

He simply said, “Blessed are you poor, For yours is the kingdom of God.” The contrast is our condition now and the promise of our condition in the kingdom to come. It was Jesus’ mission as He described when He read in Isaiah 61:1–2 “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, Because the Lord has anointed Me To preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives, And the opening of the prison to those who are bound; 2 To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, And the day of vengeance of our God; To comfort all who mourn,”

What a contrast to the “woe” of Luke 6:24, “But woe to you who are rich, For you have received your consolation.” It is a sharp contrast the view of temporal benefits of riches in this life to be enjoyed for a short time or the eternal reward of blessings in an everlasting life with God in His kingdom.

To the poor Jews of Israel under Roman occupation, it was a breath of fresh air to think of an eternity of blessings. This promise is still given today to those who believe on Jesus for it.

The Hungry

Luke 6:21a “Blessed are you who hunger now, For you shall be filled.”

Luke 6:25a “Woe to you who are full, For you shall hunger.”

Blessed is μακάριος makarios defined as blessed, happy, and fortunate. I like the definition of “filled with God and satisfied”

Luke again is addressing poor Jews oppressed by the Romans and offers hope for those hungry. At times He will feed up to thousands, but this promise is to the kingdom where there will be a banquet waiting for the faithful.

Isaiah 25:6 He promises, “And in this mountain The Lord of hosts will make for all people A feast of choice pieces, A feast of wines on the lees, Of fat things full of marrow, Of well-refined wines on the lees.”

Luke often refers to Jesus’ words concerning this banquet in the kingdom

Luke 12:37 “Blessed are those servants whom the master, when he comes, will find watching. Assuredly, I say to you that he will gird himself and have them sit down to eat, and will come and serve them.”

Luke 13:29 “They will come from the east and the west, from the north and the south, and sit down in the kingdom of God.”

Luke 14:14–15 “And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you; for you shall be repaid at the resurrection of the just.” 15 Now when one of those who sat at the table with Him heard these things, he said to Him, “Blessed is he who shall eat bread in the kingdom of God!””

And Lastly Luke 14:16–17 “Then He said to him, “A certain man gave a great supper and invited many, 17 and sent his servant at supper time to say to those who were invited, ‘Come, for all things are now ready.”

What a promise, to be satisfied and filled. The promise of never being hungry or thirsty in John 6:35 is given by Jesus as a metaphor for the gift of eternal life.

Psalm 107:3–9 “And gathered out of the lands, From the east and from the west, From the north and from the south. 4 They wandered in the wilderness in a desolate way; They found no city to dwell in. 5 Hungry and thirsty, Their soul fainted in them. 6 Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, And He delivered them out of their distresses. 7 And He led them forth by the right way, That they might go to a city for a dwelling place. 8 Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness, And for His wonderful works to the children of men! 9 For He satisfies the longing soul, And fills the hungry soul with goodness.”

The Sad

Luke 6:21b “Blessed are you who weep now, For you shall laugh.”

Luke 6:25b “Woe to you who laugh now, For you shall mourn and weep.”

When we consider the subject of weeping let’s consider the times when Jesus wept. We find them in John 11:35 “Jesus wept.” and in Luke 19:41 “Now as He drew near, He saw the city and wept over it,”

In John He wept because He was considering the finality of human life, Lazarus His friend had just died. The cost of human sin and it’s toll on the creation and mankind was directly affecting the Messiah. In Luke Jesus is approaching Jerusalem and weeps because He understands the prophetic reality for the destruction of the city and the temple, and the long ages before it will be reclaimed and rebuilt.

Psalm 126:5 “Those who sow in tears Shall reap in joy.” The joy part for Jesus and believers will come in the next age when we are reunited with loved ones and occupying the New Jerusalem.

Psalm 30:5 tells us, “For His anger is but for a moment, His favor is for life; Weeping may endure for a night, But joy comes in the morning.”

The Persecuted

Luke 6:22–23 “Blessed are you when men hate you, And when they exclude you, And revile you, and cast out your name as evil, For the Son of Man’s sake. 23 Rejoice in that day and leap for joy! For indeed your reward is great in heaven, For in like manner their fathers did to the prophets.”

Luke 6:26 “26 Woe to you when all men speak well of you, For so did their fathers to the false prophets.”

There is a price for following the Christ. There always has been, the fathers of the O.T. and the apostles are the example to us that the righteous will be persecuted. 2 Timothy 3:12 tells us, “Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.” It should be no surprise to hated, excluded, reviled, and cast out. Your in good company saint, so was our Lord.

To be accepted and ignored is the legacy of the church of Laodicea, but receive unwanted persecution is the result of identifying with the Lord Jesus Christ. And there is great reward in that! That’s a promise of an abundant inheritance given by the Lord. Now that is a reason to leap for joy and rejoice!

True Righteousness

Matthew 5:20 “For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.”

True Righteousness must be imputed, that is a gift of God, not earned as a product of work salvation. We need Christ’s righteousness.

Jesus illustrated this in a parable in Luke 18:9–14 “Also He spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: 10 “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other men—extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.’ 13 And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner!’ 14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.””

Romans 4 instructs us in a righteousness that comes by faith. Abraham believed God and it was counted, (imputed), to him as righteousness. Our righteousness no matter how good it may seem is not sufficient for salvation. We need the perfect righteousness that Jesus offers. Believe and receive.