Luke 6:17-26
Blessings and Woes
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 coast of Tyre and Sidon, 18 who had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases. Those troubled by evil spirits were cured, 19 and the people all tried to touch him, because power was coming from him and healing them all.
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 men 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 fathers 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 all men speak well of you,
for that is how their fathers treated the false prophets.
Jesus here gives us one of His great sermons...It is the Sermon on the Plain...He tells us who is really blessed and who really has woes on them...This sermon is very similar to the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5:1-12...
Jesus uses the word blessed here meaning one is happy, one who receives God's gifts...So if you read the word "blessed" literally and interchange blessed for happy, then you can see and find who is or at least should be happy...So this is what makes you or the condition you need for happiness...Jesus tells us we are happy when we are: Poor, hungry, weeping, people insult you because of the Son of Man...
This sounds so odd to be happy when those above conditions exist...Woes are for those who are: Rich, well fed, laughing, when all men speak well of you, for that is how the fathers treated the false prophets...Jesus seem to have what the normal man's happiness and unhappiness reversed...
We have to ask, why is He right?...He is the truth, as well as the way, and the life...Why is this true?...Are we really happy with wealth, when we laugh now, and when other men praise us?...On earth I think, we would say, we are (happy)...But, for me, I think Jesus is telling us about need... When do we look to God?...When do we want God?...When do most of us pray to Him?...I think that is when we need Him...
When we are rich, laughing, people bragging about us, who or what do we need?...You need Him when you are poor, hungry, weeping, and when people insult you for following Him...You know you need Him when you are desperate and have reached bottom...We need Him all the time, but we really need Him when we have pain...We need Him when we are suffering...
Man has a problem of pain, the problem of suffering...Suffering is the best argument against our Father and His Son...But it also these times of our lives when we need Him...When you read the four gospels and look at all the miracles Jesus did, by far the majority is healing miracles of illness...Those suffering and ill followed Him around, so He would heal them...Just a touch of His cloak, would/will heal you (if one can just touch it)...
If we have everything we want in spouse, excess wealth, three or four cars, always a happy-laughing mood, and great health all the time, do we need God?...How often would we think about Him...Do I need hope (if I have all these things)?...Do I need faith?...Do I even want hope and faith, if I have everything?...If we NEVER had any pain or suffering would we pray to the Father and Son, and how often...Also if we take this farther, if we and our family and friends, always had great health, and wealth would we need the Father?...How close would our Holy Spirit be to the Father and Son...When Jesus gave us the Sermon on the Plain, for me, He is saying I am more aware, and realize I need the Father the most when I need Him...I am more likely to communicate and be closer to the Son and the Father, whom I really do need...I really need Him, not only in these times of need, but all of the time, when I think I have everything I need...It is a good thing to need the Father... This is when I am most happy, most blessed...