Luke 6:17-26 

Epiphany Six (Revised Common Lectionary) | 13.02.22 | Luke 6.17-26 | by Carl A. Voges |

The Passage

And he (Jesus) came down with them and stood on a level place, with a great crowd of his disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea and Jerusalem and the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon, who came to hear him and to be healed of their diseases.  And those who were troubled with unclean spirits were cured.  And all the crowd sought to touch him, for power came out from him and healed them all.

And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples and said:

“Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.

“Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you shall be satisfied.

“Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh.

“Blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude you and revile you and spurn your name as evil, on account of the Son of Man!  Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for so their fathers did to the prophets.

“But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation.

“Woe to you who are full now, for you shall be hungry.

“Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep.

“Woe to you, when all people speak well of you, for so their fathers did to the false prophets.” ​   [English Standard Version]

“But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep.“​ ​ [1 Corinthians 15.20]

   In the Name of Christ + Jesus our Lord

In this past week, we are struck by the illnesses that keep piling up in a person’s life, by the strains impacting marriages and work, by the inabilities to free up our lives. To get away from such realities, one is tempted to turn into a Super Bowl gathering later today or to run down the latest information from the new James Webb telescope orbiting the earth. Thankfully, however, the Lord’s faithful people have the opportunity this morning to have this passage from Luke 6 cross their lives and flood them with the richness of the Life the Son is bringing to this world’s people.

What has been occurring in these six weeks of the Epiphany season is the growing realization that the Life being brought to this world by the Lord’s incarnation, crucifixion, resurrection and ascension is markedly different from and far superior to the life offered by the world.

Such a realization is drawn out clearly in today’s Gospel. This is an intriguing passage that is much like Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7). This section from Luke 6 is known as Jesus’ Sermon on the Plain. Just prior to this passage Jesus has chosen his twelve apostles. In its teaching our Lord addresses many of the beliefs that were current among the faithful Jews of his day. The Old Testament background for this teaching is seen in Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28.

Leviticus 26 is the concluding part of the Holiness Code (chapters 17-26) where the LORD God addresses his people through Moses. The Code reminds the people that the holy God has come to live in the middle of a sinful people. Deuteronomy 28 is the conclusion of Moses’ second address to the Lord’s people. He calls them to alertness by announcing the blessings that flow from obedience to the LORD God and the curses that emerge from disobedience to him. This Old Testament background positions us to step into Jesus’ sermon.
Jesus is coming down from the mountain with his twelve apostles (biblically, mountains serve as pointers to the presence of the LORD God; in that presence Jesus has called the apostles to serve in his ministry).  Luke tells us he is standing with a great crowd that includes people from all of Judea, Jerusalem, Tyre and Sidon. These people have come to hear Jesus and to be healed of their diseases. Those who are troubled with unclean spirits are being cured and everyone is trying to touch him because his power is radiating from him and healing them all!

Then our Lord says to the disciples:

Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God (remember that “poor” is not just an economic reality, it describes one’s dependence on the LORD God).

Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you will be filled (eating from the world’s life offers just temporary satisfactions; the Lord’s Life offers permanency).

Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh (the stresses of the world’s life trigger all sorts of suffering and affliction; the Lord’s Life frees us from such stresses).

​Blessed are you when people hate you and exclude you, revile you and defame you on account of the Son of Man (this harassment is not triggered by who we are, but because we have been drawn into the Lord’s Life; as a person living more fully in one’s Baptism rather than in the birthed life, this is what will occur).

Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, for surely your reward is great in heaven (that “day” and that “joy” are eternal realities coming into the present life). The hating, excluding, reviling and defaming is what has always been done to God’s people, reaching deeply into the Old Testament.

“Blessed” is a rich biblical word describing the joy that comes to a person who has been pulled into the Life of the Holy Trinity; it reaches far beyond all the definitions that we and our culture attempt to put on it.

Our Lord continues:

But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation (“woe” is a word from eternity describing the never-ending separation from the Holy Trinity; “rich” points to those in the world who are able to improve their economic situation and conclude that they alone made this possible).

Woe to you who are full now, for you will be hungry (“full” describes those who have feasted exclusively on what the world offers and are quite satisfied with what has emerged).

Woe to you who are laughing now, for you will mourn and weep (“laughter” is describing those who believe they have the ability to overcome or avoid any difficulty they encounter).

Woe to you when all speak well of you (again, this “speaking well” means that everything is focused on the self because this is the core of the world’s life). This speaking well among us in the world not only hides what is false and wrong in our lives, it also expands our self-centering and self-asserting.

“Woe” is a rich biblical word that unpacks what occurs when the gods of this world crowd out the real LORD God and push him to side of or away from a person’s life. Those unreal gods unloaded on Jesus when the Father sent him to the world to redeem its people from such self-wrapping. Those same unreal gods unload on Jesus’ people when we attempt to reflect and carry his Life into this world.

While the world was created by the LORD God to be excellent and its people were brought into being to fully live in him, the unholy trio of sin, Satan and death is committed to disrupting the Lord’s intent. 

That’s why today’s passage is clarifying our vision as the Lord’s people and toughening us for the work we are baptized to do. It is clear that overwhelming blessings stream in on those who struggle to be obedient to the Lord who has rescued them (even when the blessings seem to be non-existent or hidden!). It is also clear that overwhelming woes stream in on those who easily follow the obedience to one’s self.

These woes are unbelievably cruel to the world’s people. They insist that if we have enough money we can purchase all kinds of happiness and have a satisfactory life (an insight from C S Lewis). Or if we have good upbringing and intelligence, health and popularity, we can be satisfied with ourselves (again, C S Lewis). But there is so much cruelty and tragedy in these conclusions because they crowd out the real LORD God from people’s lives and offer sorry substitutes from the world’s gods. People who are so wrapped up in themselves have no idea of where their lives are headed or of the deadly emptiness waiting to swallow them up.

That’s why our task, as the Lord’s baptized people, is to live among such individuals and to let the Trinity’s Life radiate through all that we are and do. We cannot barge into the world’s messes and the lives of such individuals with simple prescriptions like – take a couple of ibuprophen and things will improve! Instead, we take the time (sometimes lengthy) to remember how our Lord rescued us from the terrifying realities of being wrapped up in ourselves. He lets us find that wrapping on our own and then steers us to the holy places of his Scriptures and Sacraments, the places that are already significant to the people in Lord’s parishes. 

Remember, we are not in this Liturgy this morning because our lives are roaring successes, we are here because we are continually and painfully finding out how dependent we are on the real LORD God and how vital it is for us to be in his presence!

May our Lord continue to sustain us as we carry the Lord’s Life to this world, making it possible for those who are trapped in their self-absorption to be rescued and to be freed!

Now may the peace of the Lord God, which is beyond all understanding, keep our hearts and minds through Christ + Jesus our Lord!

Pastor Carl A. Voges, STS, Columbia, SC; carl.voges4@icloud.com