Luke 6: Part 1 (5)

Pray Psalm 146.5, 6, 10.
Happy is he who has the God of Jacob for his help,
Whose hope is in the LORD his God,
Who made heaven and earth,
The sea, and all that is in them;
Who keeps truth forever…
The LORD shall reign forever—
Your God, O Zion, to all generations.
Praise the LORD!

Sing Psalm 146.5, 6, 10.
(Hallelujah! What a Savior!: Man of Sorrows)
Blessed are they whose hope resides in the Lord, Christ at His side.
By Him heav’n and earth abide – God forever reigns in Zion!

Read Luke 6.1-21; meditate on verses 20, 21.

Preparation
1. Who are the blessed?

2. What did Jesus promise them?

Meditation
We have already observed Luke’s care for details. We must not suppose that somehow he omitted parts of Jesus’ sermon, those parts that Matthew supplies about being poor in spirit and hungering for righteousness and so forth. Commentators differ as to whether this sermon and the sermon on the mount are two different sermons. I am inclined to think they are, but I see no problem harmonizing them as one (as, for example, the distinguished A. T. Robertson does in his A Harmony of the Gospels).

Poverty cannot keep one out of the Kingdom of God. Hunger cannot prevent one from knowing the blessings of God. Sorrows and sadness do not cause us to forfeit the favor and pleasure of God. Put another way, whether we are poor, hungry, or sorrowing, we can know that we are blessed.

That is, if we have gained possession of the Kingdom of God. Jesus came to proclaim the Kingdom and to call people to press into it (cf. Lk. 16.16). The Kingdom of God is righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit which lifts us above and sustains us through every temporal trial or material deprivation. When the Father, through our Lord Jesus Christ, conveys us into His Kingdom (Col. 1.12-14), then we are eternally secure, safe, sanctified, and sealed to God. How could anything this life might throw at us deprive us of our sense of being blessed?

Jesus’ message is that we can know true blessing despite the uncertainties of life when we hear and receive His Word and Kingdom.

Treasures Old and New: Matthew 13.52; Psalm 119.162
Imagine this scene with your mind’s eye. Jesus is amongst the great multitude of people who are thronging about Him, just for the opportunity to touch Him, so that they might be healed and helped (Lk.6.19). Probably most of them were needy either physically, spiritually, financially, or a combination of all three. They wanted what Jesus was offering.

But what exactly was He offering them? Permanent health and wealth? No. But what He was promising them was the Kingdom of God, and all the blessings attached to that state of being. Eternally better.

Jesus’ whole sermon was an exercise in teaching them, and us, how to live in the “there and then, here and now”. “For the needy shall not always be forgotten; the expectation of the poor shall not perish forever” (Ps. 9.18).

But how do we grasp with joy, our place in God’s heart and our approaching heavenly home, when we are poor, hungry, and profusely sad?

We can do this when we are sure of God’s love for us (Jn. 3.16; Rom. 5.8). His is wildly exorbitant love! Love that has absolutely nothing to do with our circumstances. “By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us” (1 Jn. 3.16). “…for God is love. In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him” (1 Jn. 4.8, 9). “We love Him because He first loved us” (1 Jn. 4.19).

When we are permanently persuaded that we are perfectly loved by God, through His dear Son, and sustained by His Holy Spirit, we will know that we are blessed regardless. Here is the truth of our situation: we are residents of the Kingdom of the Creator of the world; our hunger is assuaged by the Bread of Life (Jn. 6.48); and “strength and honor are [our] clothing; [we] shall rejoice in time to come” (Prov. 31.25). Or as the NIV translation puts it: “[we] shall laugh at the days to come.”

Blessed is what we are, and in turn, we are called to be a blessing to others (Gen. 12.2). As the LORD said, “So I will save you, and you shall be a blessing” (Zech. 8.9).

Make me a blessing, make me a blessing, out of my life may Jesus shine;
Make me a blessing, O Savior, I pray, make me a blessing to someone today.
(Wilson, 1909/Schuler, 1924)

For reflection
1. What do you understand by the term “blessed”? How would you explain “blessed” to an unbelieving friend?

2. Why is the Kingdom of God the quintessential place of blessing? How would you explain to someone how to realize the Kingdom of God?

3. How do you expect to grow in the blessings of God’s Kingdom today?

All believers that take the precepts of the gospel to themselves, and live by them, may take the promises of the gospel to themselves, and live upon them. Matthew Henry (1662-1714), Commentary on Luke 6.20-23

Pray Psalm 146.7-10.
Pray for the needy, the oppressed, and all those who need to know the grace of God for healing or hope today. Ask the Lord to use you in specific ways with the people you will meet today in your Personal Mission Field.

Sing Psalm 146.7-10.
(Hallelujah! What a Savior!: Man of Sorrows)
Jesus sets the pris’ner free, heals blind eyes that they may see,
lifts those burdened painfully –God forever reigns in Zion!

He the righteous loves the best; wand’rers in His grace are blessed;
needy ones in Him find rest –God forever reigns in Zion!

But the wicked who defame His eternal blessèd Name,
them He brings to ruin and shame –God forever reigns in Zion!

T. M. and Susie Moore

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Except as indicated, all Scriptures are taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. For sources of all quotations, see the weekly PDF of this study. All psalms for singing are from The Ailbe Psalter (Williston: Waxed Tablet Publications, 2006), available by clicking here.