Luke Chapter 6, Part 2

Pastor Matt Davis, Commentary Luke 6, Part 2

Verses 27-36 – Love Your Enemies

27 But I say unto you which hear, Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you, 28 Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you. 29 And unto him that smiteth thee on the one cheek offer also the other; and him that taketh away thy cloke forbid not to take thy coat also. 30 Give to every man that asketh of thee; and of him that taketh away thy goods ask them not again. 31 And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise. 32 For if ye love them which love you, what thank have ye? for sinners also love those that love them. 33 And if ye do good to them which do good to you, what thank have ye? for sinners also do even the same. 34 And if ye lend to them of whom ye hope to receive, what thank have ye? for sinners also lend to sinners, to receive as much again. 35 But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil. 36 Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful.[1]

Verse 27

Unto you… which hear – The follow sermon from Jesus is not the requirements to become His disciple. These are the way we ought to live after becoming His disciple. We must remember that no good works can come until we’ve already been born again.

Love your enemies – The word “love” in this chapter is the Greek “agapaō” which usually describes the divine love Christ displayed to the world. Agapao is self-sacrificing love. While this is the case, agapao love does not always mean divine love – Such as example of this would be in verse thirty-two, which discusses sinners loving those who love them. The word there, too, is agapao, and it is obvious this love cannot be God given.

Agapao love is not a feeling, which is unsolicited and cannot be commanded. Agapao love is will and action, which can be commanded. The rest of verse twenty seven and verse twenty eight will deal with commandments that specifically address how believers are to love their enemies.

Love your enemies is a new train of thought the Lord offers up. Through history, men have been willing to love their neighbors and those that are good to them, but rarely have men been willing to love their enemies.

Do good to them which hate you – The first way we are to love our enemies is to do good to them. It is not enough to simply not retaliate, or not seek evil against them. We are to be the opposite of them. As they do ill to us, we work to benefit them.

Verse 28

Bless them that curse you – In the second of three, Christ tells us that we are to offer blessings to those who curse us. When one speaks of ill intent against us, we ought to speak blessings on their behalf. It is a hard trait to posses, but it reflects the nature of the Lord, who upon the cross, prayed the forgiveness of those who chanted “crucify Him.”

Pray for those who despitefully use you – The believer does not condemn nor wish for condemnation. Rather, the believer prays for salvation and restoration.

In these, we can see, the believer intentionally loves his enemies through action and intent, and is not a mere feeling.

Verse 29

If someone strikes you on the cheek – Christ is not referring to physical assault here. As Christians, we are permitted to defend our physical lives from threats. This is referring to insult and misuse. In the face of grievous insult, we should not retaliate, but offer them the other cheek. Jesus then, is not prohibiting defense, but retaliation.

If someone takes your cloak – While similar to the account in Matthew, this is also different. In Matthew, the scenario is a legal one, in which Christ teaches in which one is sued for his inner garment, to also give his outer (which was protected by law from being taken.) In Luke, the scenario changes. This presents the case in which one unlawfully takes your outer garment, Christ says to give them also your inner. The overall message is that we must not act in anger, but in love. In love, we acknowledge maybe they need the other garment, and we freely offer it up.

Verse 30

Giving in verse thirty is not in the “occasional burst of gratitude.” This is written in the present and continual tense, which portrays an overall attitude of giving. Christ’s idea here is that we ought not give our items out of love for them, but love must always give way. If one requests of our items, love gives way and generously allows for the items to part. While the Christian ought not take advantage of another in this way, the sinner may. This one must not be taken literally, else Christians would have nothing left to give. The overall message to be ready to give at all times, and not to withhold. It is obvious in that there are times giving would not be in the interest of love. But love must decide whether to give or withhold, not a regard for the possessions themselves.

Verse 31

This is the golden rule, rephrased, “do unto others as you would have done unto you.” The extent of this rule goes much further. It is not a mere “don’t do what you don’t want done,” but to go above and beyond in your treatment of others. The next few verses show that we must be set apart from those of the world in our treatment of others.

Verse 32

Even people who have no allegiance to God have some characteristics. Even the sinners, do they not love those who love them? How are we as Christians any different then they if we love only those who love us? Christ taught us, “love your neighbor as thyself,” meaning, to love all people. Christians love without expectation of love in return.

Verse 33

Sinners repay good for good, and evil for evil. What good is it to us to only repay those who benefit us with good? As with the previous, Christ does not expect mere reciprocity in the Christian behavior. We are expected to do good to all. What a witness to one when you repay their evil deeds with good deeds.

Verse 34

This verse deals with lending, in hopes of making a gain. For the sinners, they lend with intention to profit. The Law (Exod 22:25, Lev 25:35-37, Deut 23:20) all forbit the family of God from lending one to another with return of the principal with interest. Christ’s expectation goes further, that we lend to all, without the expectation of gain. Next verse, this will be taken slightly further.

It is easy to think that we are living the life of a Christian, but we must examine our actions against those of the sinner. Do our actions merely mirror the actions of the sinner? Do we love, even when hated? Do we offer freely, when things are taken in anger? Do we give, without expectation of gain? Do we bless those who curse? If we do not, we are living only as the sinners live.

Verse 35

Love, do good, lend – The three commands here built upon and summarized of the previous verses we have read. First we love, and out of love, we do good, and out of good, we lend. In all three, the Greek presents the actions in the present tense, indicating a continual and habitual action of loving, doing good, and lending.

Hoping for nothing again – The command to lend is positioned with a command to hope for nothing again. Even in such a case, where there is no possibility of repayment, we lend without the expectation and hope of repayment. As God loved us, and was gracious to us, we are to give freely in return.

Your reward will be great – Christ never wants us to do anything only for the reward. It is out of love for Him that we ought to obey. Nonetheless, Christ persists in that there is a reward for righteous living. We ought not focus on the exhaustible and perishable things that we have to lend, but on the imperishable in heaven that we shall receive of.

You will be the children of the most High – We shall be sons and daughters of the Lord God in Heaven. Interesting enough, this is written to those who already are children of the most high, as verse thirty-six will indicate.

For He is kind to the unthankful and evil – The reason for these commandments is because of the nature of God. Because God is kind to these people, and to us, who were once these people, if we are to be His children, we too, ought to display this character, and be kind and loving to these people.

Verse 36

This is a parallel to Matthews account, which states, “Be ye perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” The conclusion of this account states that we ought to be as our Father in heaven, displaying His Character. This verse also identifies that those Christ is talking to are already His disciples.

As John discusses, not all are of the Father in Heaven, whereas, all initially start belonging to their father the devil.

Verses 37-42 – Judging Others

37 Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven: 38 Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.

39 And he spake a parable unto them, Can the blind lead the blind? shall they not both fall into the ditch? 40 The disciple is not above his master: but every one that is perfect shall be as his master. 41 And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but perceivest not the beam that is in thine own eye? 42 Either how canst thou say to thy brother, Brother, let me pull out the mote that is in thine eye, when thou thyself beholdest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, cast out first the beam out of thine own eye, and then shalt thou see clearly to pull out the mote that is in thy brother’s eye.[2]

Verse 37

Judge not – This verse, and the corresponding passage from Matthew, are often the most misquoted verses in the Bible. Judging not does not prohibit the actions of calling out wrong. It prohibits the actions of trying to make yourself better by trying to find the wrong in others. The action here is to bake yourself seem better by the act of criticizing. Discernment itself, with the discrimination that a certain action is wrong is one thing, but to Condemn, as the verse will go on to address, is another.

And you will not be judged – This is in the permanent state, as in, the judgement from God. The one who judges elicits judgment upon himself, whereas, the one who forgives, elicits forgiveness. This is not salvation by works, but is the general truth of the believer. The heart of a believer, who has been changed by the grace of God, is by nature not judgmental. Forgiveness from the believer is a sign of forgiveness extended to the believer of God.

Verse 38

Give – The believer is kind-hearted and encouraged to continually give of himself and his belongings.

And it shall be given you – God tends to give likewise to people. And God’s giving is not a one to one ratio, God will always outdo you. But God gives according to your heart. As is true, he who sows little reaps little. He who sows greatly will reap greatly. This is described here as A good measure, Meaning that your portion will not be skimpy, but it shall be great. Pressed down, have you ever, as a kid, or even an adult, pushed your ice-cream into the bowl or cup and smashed it down to fit more? This is the idea. The grain is pressed and compressed to make additional room. Shaken together, As it is poured into the measuring device, it is shaken to fill all available gaps before being pressed for more. Filling over, The portion is overfilling so that it cannot be contained. Poured into your lap, Literally, being poured into your bosom.

Verse 39

Can the blind lead the blind – Referring to leadership, Christ warns against following those who do not have the light to know how to receive of salvation. If the leader can only see as much as the follower, they shall both fall into the pit. If the leader in the church does not exhibit the trait of love, they certainly do not know of the love of God. In order to lead one unto salvation, you must first know the way to salvation – elsewise, you can only led to destruction and despair.

Verse 40

He aim of the disciple is to be like his Master. In this case, our aim is to be like unto Christ. Though we cannot be better than Him, we can be like Him. To do such, we need to follow Him. He showed Love, Mercy, and goodness, so to shall we.

Verse 41

Why perceives thou the mote in your brothers eye, not the beam in your own – People more readily see small issues in the lives of others and portray them as bigger then they are, whereas, they fail to see the major issues in their own lives. It is not so much that the beam is not seen in your eye, but it becomes much easier to find the small issues with another than to admit and correct the problem in yours.

Verse 42

Addressing small issues in another’s life while refusing the issue in your own life is hypocritical. One must address, acknowledge, the beam in their life before clearly and objectively addressing the mote in the brothers eye.

Verses 43-45 – Two Trees

43 For a good tree bringeth not forth corrupt fruit; neither doth a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. 44 For every tree is known by his own fruit. For of thorns men do not gather figs, nor of a bramble bush gather they grapes. 45 A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.[3]

Verse 43

Christ will use an analogy of tree’s and their fruits to relate to people. A good tree will not produce corrupt fruit. That is, the fruit of a good tree will be edible and good to man. Whereas, a bad tree with produce rotten or poisonous fruit that is bad and harmful to men.

Verse 44

The analogy continues in that trees and plants are known of their fruit. You will not go to an apple tree, or a cherry tree to pick apricots. Neither will you go to the sagebrush to pick figs. One would not look to the strawberry plant for grapes, neither would they look to the bramblebush. By the fruits produced, the plant is known.

Verse 45

Likewise, men will produce the fruit of their heart. The saved and righteous man will produce good fruit. Heart, in this case, is the essence of the person, their inner being. The evil and wicked, that is, all who are unsaved, will produce bad fruit. Fruit, in this context, does not refer to moral deeds determined by standards of men, but God pleasing deeds. It is said, that without faith, you cannot please God. One must be born again and stand in faith to produce good fruits pleasing to the Lord.

Verses 46-49 – Two Houses

46 And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say? 47 Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my sayings, and doeth them, I will shew you to whom he is like: 48 He is like a man which built an house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for it was founded upon a rock. 49 But he that heareth, and doeth not, is like a man that without a foundation built an house upon the earth; against which the stream did beat vehemently, and immediately it fell; and the ruin of that house was great.[4]

Verse 46

Why do you call me, “Lord, Lord,” and do not what I say – There are those who claim to be followers of Christ. They claim to belong, to be saved, but there is no evident change in their lives. These are false disciples in Christ.

Verse 48

It is described here, what the disciple who not only hears, but obeys the words of Christ. They are likened to a wise man who builds upon the solid foundation. This foundation is their support, in which, when the floods and judgements come, he can withstand. Such a Christian is not easily moved when things go astray, but they have deep roots and are fully committed to God.

Verse 49

In contrast is the man who hears the words, but obeys them not. These are those who are not building with any foundation to support them. They have shallow, if any, roots. These are they who quickly turn from the Lord when things go astray or the world offers a better position in the temporal to them. If you are lacking a foundation, you are lacking everything.

[1] The Holy Bible: King James Version. (2009). (Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version., Lk 6:27–36). Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.

[2] The Holy Bible: King James Version. (2009). (Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version., Lk 6:37–42). Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.

[3] The Holy Bible: King James Version. (2009). (Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version., Lk 6:43–45). Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.

[4] The Holy Bible: King James Version. (2009). (Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version., Lk 6:46–49). Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.