Author: Bill Hall

Luke 6:22 “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.”

   Son of Man is here capitalized for a very good reason. The title ‘Son of Man’ comes from Daniel chapter 7 verses 13 through 14. It is a Messianic reference. So, the meaning here is that Jesus is teaching about persecution. This is really the main theme here at the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount. The rest of the verse speaks of the various things that might be done to one for being a follower of Christ. And yet Jesus pronounces blessing for the persecution comes as the result of taking a stand with Him as the Messiah.

   Heavenly Father, I praise You for the Christ! Jesus is our Savior and He is all that our lives are about. I will live to sing of His work on the cross. It is glorious and His resurrection is final. He is alive, and life is the most important point of the message. You are the Self-Existent One. You exist of Your Own accord. Life by Christ is the great important thing for humanity to grasp. I praise You for the power of life in Him! In the Name for the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

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

   To understand this verse correctly it must be taken in context. Just as Jesus was not simply talking about poor persons in the last verse, He is not here referring to all hungry or sad persons. Looking at the next few verses we instead see that He speaks to the fledgling community of His true followers. They would experience hunger and hard times while in His service. They would not necessarily have this world’s best. This message still rings true today. It still brings comfort to the hearts of Christ’s most dedicated followers. It helps His church to remember that this present world is fleeting. It is only a temporary reality that will soon fade away.
   Notice the word ‘now’ used with hunger and weep. This is the present condition, but not a permanent one. Those who hunger and suffer emotionally for the sake of righteousness will not always be in that state. The Lord has much in store for those who love Him. It is of most comfort not to think of reward, but to think of His care for His people. Though that includes reward, Christians serve out of love knowing He has good plans for the future.

   Heavenly Father, Your plans are perfect! You know exactly what to do at all times. You have everything in hand. Nothing slips by Your notice. I praise You for Your great wisdom and unfailing love. A song to Your praise is the business of my heart. Forever I’ll be in awe of You and Your Majesty. You alone merit our praise. None else compares to You at all. Today and every day may our hearts swell with adoration as we ponder Your faithfulness and mercy. In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

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.”

   Although Jesus had quite a ministry to the poor and oppressed, this verse does not mean what it appears to on the surface. The poor should be ministered to. Their needs are not ignored by God, nor should they be ignored by Christians. However, the word here translated ‘poor’ has a deeper meaning than we see at first. Matthew 5:3 helps fill in the meaning by saying ‘poor in spirit’. Jesus is talking about persons who were not only generally poor in the material things of this world, but also were deprived of the truth. So the focus here is upon those who, due to the Jewish system, had been by and large deprived of the right to ‘know’ the Scriptures. The Jewish leaders reserved this right to themselves.
   And this is a pattern we see throughout history. Many times truth has been monopolized so as to keep the masses at bay. Different methods and means have been employed, but the purpose has been the same. When the ‘truth’ gets in the hands of a select few it tends to get corrupted. Whereas when it is made more widely available, it tends to remain more pure. Though even this has to be understood, for even availability does not equal understanding. A knowledge of the Holy One needs to be obtained and passed along through the vast host of humanity for the truth as it should be to remain as it truly is.
   So, Jesus is speaking to those who had been ‘left out’ so to speak. He is saying that the plan of God was to make the kingdom of God accessible to all who would desire the Truth, not just some specialized religious oligarchy. This principal is absolutely foundational to the teaching of Christ, and the operation of His church in its proper form.

   Heavenly Father, we tend to grab rather than letting go. Give us a heart like Yours! You are at the same time generous and discerning. You know the best for each of us. You know the very content of our souls. Everything we will ever understand, even in heaven one day, is simple and plain to Your mind. You are beyond all our imagining, and yet to know You is still the best use of our faculties. Your praise is the most important thing in our lives. Out of that flows all that we need for every situation. It is that which is the target of the enemy, only because of jealousy. And it is that which we each crave for ourselves, but withhold selfishly from others. I praise You for You are Mighty above all! In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

Luke 6:19 “And the whole multitude sought to touch Him, for power went out from Him and healed them all.”

   We know Jesus can heal people without touching them. He and His disciples did it more than once. But, it generally wasn’t done that way? Why? There is a message in the touching. Though it is not a limitation for Him, it is for us. We need contact with the Divine. It makes a difference to us that He is reachable and touchable. We like the feeling that He knows and understands us on a human level. He is not just far away and unapproachable. Though Holy beyond all imagining, Jesus made it possible for us to reach out and have contact with Him. And, even now with the Spirit here to fill us we have that opportunity for contact. It is so vitally important to understand that we can have a personal relationship with the Eternal God.

   Heavenly Father, thank You for Your amazing wisdom! You know how we are and what we need. It is just wonderful how You reach to us. And it is all to and for Your glory! In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

Luke 6:18 “as well as those who were tormented with unclean spirits. And they were healed.”

   Jesus has absolute power. As we study His life it is important to keep this in mind. We tend to forget because we are limited and would expect Him to do different things if He was really that powerful and authoritative. But, He is also Holy and infinitely wise. And as a result He doesn’t ask our permission on how to use His power. He knew exactly what to do and what not to do while He was here on earth. Though He had the power to cast out the enemy, He limited what he did. The mission before Him was what He focused on. But, make no mistake, all evil will flee before His face.

   Heavenly Father, thank You for Your plans and ways. Though we don’t often understand everything, we can appreciate Your perfect timing and guiding on things. You know best, and we trust that. In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

Luke 6:17 “And He came down with them and stood on a level place with a crowd of His disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea and Jerusalem, and from the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon, who came to hear Him and be healed of their diseases,”

   Notice here several groups of people. First, there were the twelve just listed, whom Jesus came down with. Then there was the crowd of disciples. Third we see two groups who came to see Jesus from Judea and from the seacoast. These two groups that came to see Him were then not yet His disciples. And though they did come to be healed, we are also told they came to hear Him.
   Though surely today people still come to Christ for healing, do they still come to church or a preaching service or whatever to ‘hear’ something? I know people will come to hear what they want to hear, to have their ego stroked or their sins minimized, or things of that nature. But do they come to hear something like what they heard from Christ? In our day it seems as if we must do anything and everything to draw a crowd, but our teaching is not one of the things we use. Should it not be the primary and purest way? Should it not be the chief attempt? Should it not be our focus?
   The day needs to come in which people visit church or are come to activities with Christians because of what they will hear. They will come to hear something that cannot be heard anywhere else. Ah, but so often the message of the gospel minister and the message of the world sounds so similar. Have we modified our message thinking that making it sound like the rest of the world will make it more attractive? Or has the enemy just counterfeited it so successfully that it is hard to pick out from the chorus of voices? These are questions we must grapple with. But, rest assured, the truth still attracts a crowd, though they who then stay and become disciples will be fewer in number.

Heavenly Father, in this confusing day we need Your wisdom. Good is being called evil and evil is being touted as good. I praise You for the clarity we find in Scripture. If we will but look under the direction of the Spirit, we will find things new and old to pull out and wonder at. You have given us what we need because Your wisdom is perfect. You haven’t forgotten anything, and you have revealed all that you needed to. Thank You for how You work in our lives. Your mercy and grace are truly amazing. You draw people to Yourself and Your timing is perfect. We need Your teaching because we need Your thinking. Ours is so twisted and confused. Thank You for the truth! In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

Luke 6:16 “Judas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot who also became a traitor.”

   Judas Iscariot is listed last for a reason. But this reason had nothing to do with him being marginalized. Though sure enough he wasn’t a member of the inner circle (Peter, James, And John) we have reason to believe he was considered great among the group. He was the treasurer. He sat near Christ at the last supper. He was more familiar than most with he day to day operations of Christ’s ministry. Thus, there was nothing about him to suggest to his associates that he would be anything less than loyal.
   But notice that he ‘became a traitor’ according to Luke. This is an interesting way to put it, but is surely quite accurate. For one thing, though we are all born sinners (and capable of treachery), nobody is born a traitor. You have to grow into it, though some of us begin to practice at an early age. But, secondly, it seems that Judas was at first quite interested in the message of Christ, and would have considered himself dedicated to the cause. But, over time as it became clearer that Jesus had something altogether different in mind than the popular concept of the Messiah, his leanings the other way developed. Jesus was fulfilling the biblical view of the Messiah, not the popular view.
   No condition is more pitiful than a man who has forsaken much for a cause, only to decide in the process that he is completely against it. Indeed, as with Judas, he must come to a place of self-deception, thinking that good is evil, and evil good. And in this way it is possible for the apparent servants of Christ to become something else entirely.

   Heavenly Father, thank You for Your protection from lies! You constantly remind us of the truth. What a mercy that is! We praise you for rescuing us from the deception that this world lives in every day. Only by Your truth may we see what is real and find what is valuable. Thank You! In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

Luke 6:15 “Matthew and Thomas; James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon called the Zealot;”

   Jesus selected His special group from a good sampling of a cross section of Jewish society. As we look at the list of names, we are struck by a couple of things. One, He did not choose many who would be considered ‘important people’. Several of His choices were from the bottom rung of society so to speak. Secondly, He chose a good mixture of persons. The group was representative of Jewish society with the exception of the religious elite, from among whom He gained few followers.
   This mix serves to remind us that the Lord uses people from all walks of life. He doesn’t profile certain types of individuals. The thing that His Apostles had in common was not some normal feature of personal description. Instead, the common denominator was faith. These men believed that Christ was the Messiah.

   Heavenly Father, thank You for helping us understand what You truly want for our lives. We get sidetracked on things that don’t matter and fail to focus on Your glory. It is a glory to You that persons from all over the world praise and worship You in the same way, in Spirit and Truth. I magnify Your great love and power! You have called together a people for Your Name. In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

Luke 6:14 “Simon, whom He also named Peter, and Andrew his brother; James and John; Philip and Bartholomew;”

   Peter James and John figure prominently into the earthly ministry of Christ. they go on to become what we generally refer to as the ‘inner circle’, the group closest to Christ, though Jesus Himself makes no official distinction. James and John were also brothers, the sons of Zebedee.
   There are a few instances throughout Scripture where people receive name changes. However, this is rare enough to be highlighted as having special significance. Abraham and his wife, Peter, Paul, and Jacob. There are several others in Scripture who have some name changes or alternate names. But, these did not receive their alternate name directly from God. Therefore, because it is just this select few, we can make a couple of observations. First, it is probably not advisable for Christians to change their names as a way of symbolizing a change or calling. Though it happens in the Bible, since it is limited to this select few, emulation is not wise. This was a very specific choice God made at very significant times with certain persons. We will all receive our ‘new name’ when we get to heaven.
   Secondly, the re-naming of these individuals does seem to be God’s way of indicating that He is doing something new. It is a sign of a new beginning. This becomes obvious right away because Abraham and Sarah stand with Jacob at the beginning of the Jewish nation. Then, much later, Peter and Paul are the representative leaders of the beginning of the church of the Lord Jesus. So, it seems that the Lord specifically chose to change these names to indicate His Divine actions were taking a ‘new’ course from the perspective of humanity.

   Heavenly Father, thank You for the new things You have done! The history of the salvation You have brought about is truly wondrous and beautiful. Every detail is important to us and Christ is the Center of it all. Thank You for Your church and the great blessings You have poured out on mankind by the power of the work of the Lord Jesus in our lives. You have turned the progression of evil on its head and we can see the good purpose You have intended all along. Thank You! In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

Luke 6:13 “And when it was day, He called His disciples to Himself; and from them He chose twelve whom He also named apostles:”

   Jesus selects a small group from among His disciples to serve in a special capacity. Though I think we need to help all members of the church understand that they should serve in some capacity, we need to remember that there will be a special group of representatives that are selected for special service. This does not condone a ministerial synod or hierarchical leadership structure in which a small oligarchy runs all of the churches of Christ. However, it does give us a precedent for church leadership. The church as an institution is not to be governed by mob rule. Duly appointed persons are to have the rights of leadership, primary service roles, and the privilege of representation of the church.
   Jesus called them Apostles. This was His idea, to call this special group the ‘sent ones’. Are we not all sent? Are we not all Apostles? Well yes, really we are. But, Jesus reserved this name for a certain limited group that represented His church to the world as it began. So, in that sense there will be no more Apostles, though really we all are as spiritual descendants of these men.

   Heavenly Father, I thank You for order in what You do. You are not haphazard with us. You give us a structure that we can understand and work with. Your understanding of our limitations is due to Your great mercy. I praise You for it! In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.