2011 10-16 ‘The Sermon on the Plain – The Beatitudes’ Luke 6 17-26.

THE SERMON ON THE PLAIN – THE BEATITUDES”
LUKE 6:17-26

I. Introduction
I think you’ve all heard of the Sermon on the Mount. The Gospel of Matthew uses three full chapters (5-7) to record all that Jesus has to say in that famous sermon. It begins with the Beatitudes. You know – “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted” (5:3-4).

After the Beatitudes the sermon affirms the perfection and eternal nature of God’s Law. In the process Jesus gives numerous examples of the difference between the letter of the Law and the spirit of the Law. For example, “You have heard that the ancients were told, ‘You shall not commit murder’…But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court…” And, “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery’; but I say to you, that everyone who looks on a woman to lust for her has committed adultery with her already in his heart” (5:21-22, 27-28).

Then in Matthew 6 Jesus teaches us how to pray in what has come to be known as the “Lord’s Prayer” (vv. 9-13), and gives us God’s wisdom about a variety of subjects such as money, worry, judging, and false teachers and their ultimate destruction (6:16-7:27).

But we are studying the Gospel of Luke, and Luke doesn’t record the Sermon on the Mount. Instead he records what has come to be known as the Sermon on the Plain. Both accounts are similar in content so there is some theological debate as to whether Luke is recording the same sermon or referring to one that Jesus preached at a different time.

While the theme of both sermons is essentially the same, the two accounts are somewhat different. This is not a surprise. The differences in content present no real difficulty if we remember that Matthew and Luke were addressed to two different audiences and had two different purposes in mind.

Matthew was written primarily for Jews. It presents Jesus as the Jewish Messiah and emphasizes His Kingship. Luke, on the other hand, was written primarily for Gentiles. It presents Jesus as the Son of Man and emphasizes His humanity. The account in Matthew is longer than the one in Luke. One reason for that is that Matthew includes some of the legal issues that would have been relevant to the Jews of the first century. Those legal issues would have been of little importance to the readers of Luke.

With regard to the two sermons’ similarities, it’s perfectly reasonable to assume that Jesus would have preached the same (or similar) sermons on more than one occasion.

Luke 6:17-49 presents the Sermon on the Plain in three distinct segments. The first seg-ment includes the Beatitudes. Matthew records nine. Luke records only four, but he adds something that Matthew does not. He balances the blessings with woes or curses.
The second segment of the sermon speaks of Kingdom love. This is not the love that is normally found in this world, but is instead the supernatural love that can only come from God’s Spirit working in and through the heart of the true Christian.

The third segment of Jesus’ Sermon on the Plain presents us with two parables. In them Jesus speaks of false teachers, the dire consequences of following them, and the final destruction of those who do. This morning we’ll focus on the first segment, the blessings and the curses. Over the next two Sundays we will look at the other two segments.
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II. Review
But before we begin I want to do a quick review of where we are in Luke’s gospel and how we got here. We began our verse-by-verse study of Luke in September of 2010. Since then we’ve studied the announcements of the births of John the Baptist and Jesus. We’ve looked into the Christmas story, Jesus’ baptism by John, the Lord’s human genea-logy, His temptation in the wilderness, and the beginning of His earthly ministry.

In His early ministry in Galilee we’ve seen His miraculous power over sin and evil, His rejection by the religious leaders in His home town of Nazareth, and finally His choosing of the twelve from among the throngs that were following after Him (Luke 6:14-16). Over the last ten weeks or so we have studied the lives of those twelve men. We have learned much about what God can do with regular people, with sinners just like you and me.
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III. Text
That brings us to our text for today. Jesus has chosen the twelve. Now the next great phase of His ministry on this earth will begin. It begins with a powerful sermon.
*Luke 6:17-26 (Please stand with me in honor of reading God’s Word.)
17 And He descended with them (the twelve apostles), and stood on a level place; and there was a great multitude of His disciples, and a great throng of people from all Judea and Jerusalem and the coastal region of Tyre and Sidon,
18 who had come to hear Him, and to be healed of their diseases; and those who were troubled with unclean spirits were being cured.
19 And all the multitude were trying to touch Him, for power was coming from Him and healing them all.
20 And turning His gaze on His disciples, He began to say, “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.
21 “Blessed are you who hunger now, for you shall be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh.
22 “Blessed are you when men hate you, and ostracize you, and cast insults at you, and spurn your name as evil, for the sake of the Son of Man.
23 “Be glad in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for in the same way their fathers used to treat the prophets.
24 “But woe to you who are rich, for you are receiving your comfort in full.
25 “Woe to you who are well-fed now, for you shall be hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep.
26 “Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for in the same way their fathers used to treat the false prophets.”

This morning’s passage opens with a reminder that real biblical ministry includes com-passion for people as well as the preaching and teaching of God’s Word. God’s love and compassion for people was always on display when Jesus was present. Therefore His popularity grew until He was regularly surrounded by thousands of people. At this point in the Lord’s ministry He would have been the most well-known person in all of Israel.
*Luke 6:17-19
17 And He descended with them (the twelve apostles), and stood on a level place; and there was a great multitude of His disciples, and a great throng of people from all Judea and Jerusalem and the coastal region of Tyre and Sidon,
18 who had come to hear Him, and to be healed of their diseases; and those who were troubled with unclean spirits were being cured.
19 And all the multitude were trying to touch Him, for power was coming from Him and healing them all.

Jesus comes down from the mountain with the twelve, those men whom He has chosen to teach and to prepare for the preaching of the gospel and the establishment of the church after His return to heaven. The sermon He is about to preach will be the apostles’ first formal lesson in their training. But it won’t take place in some secluded classroom. It will be heard by thousands of people who have been drawn to Christ.

In v. 17 Luke tells us that those who will hear Jesus’ sermon have come from as far north as Tyre and Sidon and as far south as Jerusalem. This is significant not only for the dis-tances people are traveling to see and hear Jesus, but because those coming from Tyre and Sidon are not primarily Jews at all. On the contrary, most of them are godless Gen-tiles, well-known for their idolatry and sexual immorality.

All sorts of people are drawn to Jesus. It has always been so. It will always be so. You know that to be true, don’t you? If you’re not sure, just look around you this morning. I don’t say that to be funny. Listen, we all come from different ethnicities and back-grounds. We’ve lived a variety of different lifestyles. We’ve had a diversity of experi-ences, and we have, at one time or another, held vastly different opinions about things like politics, social issues, religion, and morality.

So the masses who would hear Jesus this day consisted of many kinds of people, but the message they were about to hear would apply to each and every one of them – no excep-tions. And Jesus’ teaching was unparalleled. They had never heard anything like it.
Some who came to Jesus to be intellectually stimulated found eternal life.
Matthew 7:28-29
28 The result was that when Jesus had finished these words, the multitudes were amazed at His teaching;
29 for He was teaching them as one having authority, and not as their scribes.

The scribes were only teaching their traditions. That’s all they had. Now ask yourself this. How is that any different in the modern church?
• If the Church of Jesus Christ does not teach the Word of God, who will?
• If the Church of Jesus Christ does not teach the Word of God, what does it teach?
• If the Church of Jesus Christ does not teach the Word of God, what sort of a church do you have?

Let me suggest to you that you have little more than a religious social club teaching the traditions of men. So, of course Jesus was teaching as one who had authority. He’s God in human flesh, isn’t He?

Some who came to Jesus to be physically healed found spiritual healing. Salvation – the healing of the human soul – is infinitely more valuable than the healing of the human body. Jesus physically healed multitudes but relatively few of them were saved. Here is just one example. The Lord healed ten lepers, but only one gave Him the glory for it.
Luke 17:15-19
15 Now one of them, when he saw that he had been healed, turned back, glorifying God with a loud voice,
16 and he fell on his face at (Jesus’) feet, giving thanks to Him. And he was a Samaritan.
17 And Jesus answered and said, “Were there not ten cleansed? But the nine – where are they?
18 “Was no one found who turned back to give glory to God, except this foreigner?”
19 And He said to him, “Rise, and go your way; your faith has made you well.” (“one in ten?”)

Some who came to Jesus to be set free from demons found they could also be set free from sin and the subsequent judgment to come. Jesus repeatedly demonstrated His sove-reign authority over the spiritual realm and over Satan himself by casting out demons.
*Mark 1:23-27
23 And just then there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit; and he cried out,
24 saying, “What do we have to do with You, Jesus of Nazareth? Have You come to destroy us? I know who You are – the Holy One of God!”
25 And Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be quiet, and come out of him!”
26 And throwing him into convulsions, the unclean spirit cried out with a loud voice, and came out of him.
27 And they were all amazed, so that they debated among themselves, saying, “What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey Him.”

It isn’t surprising that people were amazed at Jesus’ teaching. After all, it was the polar opposite of the teaching of men. Then, as now, Jesus’ teaching destroys conventional wisdom and lays bare the real motives of the human heart. Then, as now, most religious leaders found the Lord’s teaching offensive and threatening.

So Jesus Christ is a teacher without parallel, a healer of body and soul, and the Son of the Most High, sovereign, and all-powerful God of creation. He is the One whom the multi-tudes have come to see and to hear. And as Luke 6:19 says, “…power was coming from Him and He was healing them all.”

Can you imagine what it must have been like? Can you picture the scene? Hundreds, if not thousands of people are being healed of every kind of illness and deformity. The deaf hear, the blind see, the mute speak, the lame walk, shriveled limbs are restored, lepers are cleansed, and demonic spirits are cast out. Listen, there is no physical illness beyond the reach of Jesus Christ. But far more importantly, there is no spiritual illness, no sin, no idolatry, and no depravity beyond His reach either. And what does Jesus say?
*Luke 6:20
20 And turning His gaze on His disciples, He began to say, “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.”

Here is the first Beatitude. The word “beatitude” is Latin for “blessing.” The Greek word translated “blessed” is “makariŏs.” You may be surprised to know that it means “to be fully satisfied.” It does not mean, as I have heard some preachers say, “to be happy.” Happy describes someone who has good fortune or enjoys favorable circum-stances. The blessings Jesus speaks of are not about happiness per se, although you may well be happy about them. No, the blessings Jesus speaks of are about the peace and the joy and the quietness of heart that comes only from the indwelling Holy Spirit. These are the things that ultimately satisfy the soul of the true Christian.

Such blessings are not dependent upon good fortune or favorable circumstances. Such blessings belong to the true Christian in spite of fortune or circumstances. The world may be falling down around you but it is in those times that the blessings of Christ will sustain you. Nothing else can.

So now, with a proper understanding of what “blessed” means here, you can see that these Beatitudes apply to Christians alone. They are true for all who are indwelt by God’s Holy Spirit. (back to 6:20) “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the king-dom of God.”
A casual reading leads one to think Jesus is speaking solely to those who have little of the world’s financial resources. He is, but “poor” here means far more than lack of money.
Yes, it speaks of a lack of wealth, but it also speaks of a lack of influence, position, and honor. In this case, the poor are those who are bankrupt in everything the world offers, everything the world believes to be important. It takes humility to admit that about your-self. The prideful of this world just don’t see it. Do you know anyone who thinks like this? “I don’t need your religion. I’m not poor. I make a good living. I’m a good per-son. I have influence. Those who know me honor me. And you to tell me I’m poor?”

Isn’t it ironic that the church of the last days, the church of Laodicea, described for us in Revelation is virtually filled with just such people?
*Revelation 3:17 (Jesus speaking directly to them)
17 “…you say, ‘I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing,’ and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked…” (back to Luke 6)

To whom does the kingdom of God belong? Jesus says it belongs to those who are poor in the things of this world. Do you understand your spiritual poverty? Do you under-stand and acknowledge that all the wealth or influence or power you may have or at some point obtain in this life means nothing in heaven? It is only when you recognize your real spiritual poverty that you will turn to the One who can give you true spiritual riches.

So, “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.” What might some of the joys and blessings of the kingdom of God actually be? How about things like love, grace, mercy, forgiveness, spiritual comfort, everlasting security, and eternal life?
*Luke 6:21a
21a “Blessed are you who hunger now, for you shall be satisfied.”

Now that you’ve seen the spiritual nature of these blessings, it will be easier to grasp the real meaning of the two Beatitudes in v. 21. The first of the two isn’t about being hungry after church. The second isn’t about “crying over spilled milk.” Matthew helps us see that the hunger Jesus is talking about in the first part of v. 21 is for more than food.
Matthew 5:6 (Jeff read this to open the service.)
6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.”

There’s that satisfaction again. It’s so much more than “happy.” Are unbelievers con-cerned about their righteousness before God? No, they’re not. They don’t pursue what they think they already have. While you and I desire to be righteous in God’s sight, the lost could care less. That is, right up until that moment when God opens their eyes and they repent of their sin and put their faith and their trust in Jesus. It is only then that they are concerned about their right standing before God. But of course, by then, they are righteous before God, aren’t they?

If you are truly hungry for God and His righteousness, He promises to fill you up until you can hold no more. King David speaks of it as a thirst for God.
Psalm 63:1
1 O God, You are my God; I shall seek You earnestly; My soul thirsts for You, my flesh yearns for You, in a dry and weary land where there is no water.

And in Psalm 42 David says this… (Tricia) Is knowing God the desire of your heart? Do you long to worship Him in spirit and in truth? Then you are one of those who hungers and thirsts after righteousness, and you shall be fully satisfied. That’s why, in Psalm 34:10, David could say, “…they who seek the LORD shall not be in want of any good thing.” And in Psalm 23:1 he says, “The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want.”

Now look at the third of the four Beatitudes in Luke.
*Luke 6:21b
21b “Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh.”

Here again Jesus is speaking of something more than the temporary despair over personal disappointments or failures. It’s far deeper than even the pain, the grief, and the mental anguish over the loss of a loved one. One commentator calls it the “emotional break-down that follows the recognition of spiritual bankruptcy.” That only happens when a sinner finally comes to know that he or she is lost, without hope and helpless before God.

The Greek here doesn’t describe a little tear running down your cheek. It speaks of loud and uncontrollable sobbing and wailing. Spiritually speaking, this is the mourning of the soul when one comes to realize it has no hope. But this is a good thing because it is the sorrow that leads to repentance. Why would people humble themselves and repent if they don’t know they were sinners? This is the sorrow that the Apostle Paul was talking about in his second letter to the church at Corinth.
2 Corinthians 7:10
10 For the sorrow that is according to the will of God produces a repentance without regret, leading to salvation.

Do you see why a so-called gospel without repentance is no gospel at all? James speaks to this very issue and he hits it “head-on.”
*James 4:9-10
9 Be miserable and mourn and weep; let your laughter be turned into mourning, and your joy to gloom.
10 Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you.

James is saying that true repentance is a clear demonstration of sorrow and mourning for your sin. But there is real beauty in it. It’s seen in v. 10. It is only when you have repented and humbled yourself before God that will He exalt you. So the mourning, the sorrow, and the grief that lead to repentance will be replaced with joyous laughter.
“Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh.” In Jeremiah, while speaking of the day when all of Israel will be saved, God says this.
Jeremiah 31:13b
13b “For I will turn their mourning into joy, and will comfort them, and give them joy for their sorrow.”
And David says…
Psalm 30:5b
5b Weeping may last for the night, but a shout of joy comes in the morning.

So you see, in this context, the life we now live on this earth is somewhat like a long night that is filled with sorrow. But God promises us a morning of great joy and laughter. Yes, there is weeping and sorrow here, but as Paul has said, “…the sorrow that is according to the will of God produces a repentance (that leads) to salvation.”
*Luke 6:22-23
22 “Blessed are you when men hate you, and ostracize you, and cast insults at you, and spurn your name as evil, for the sake of the Son of Man.
23 “Be glad in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for in the same way their fathers used to treat the prophets.

This fourth and final Beatitude may be the most difficult for us to deal with on a personal level because it isn’t about how we see ourselves. It’s about how this world sees us. Being hated, ostracized, insulted, spurned, and called evil is certainly hurtful. But if that is the way the world sees you, then it is proof that the truth of the first three Beatitudes is visibly working in your life. (repeat) Do you remember what Jesus said?
*John 15:18-19
18 “If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you.
19 “If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.”

There is your comfort! There is your hope! There is your future! You have been chosen out of this world and you will one day stand in His presence. That is the promise of God. I hope you can find comfort in the fact that every generation of God’s people has been treated the very same way, even before Christ. Speaking to the Jews, Stephen said…
Acts 7:52
52 “Which one of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who had previously announced the coming of the Righteous One (Jesus), whose betrayers and murderers you have now become…”

When you suffer persecution – and every true Christian will – look to Luke 6:23. “Be glad in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven…” Being glad about persecution and leaping for joy are sure signs to the lost world that you are out of your mind. Thus you will be hated, ostracized, insulted, and spurned, all the more.
But, “…great is your reward in heaven.”

Well, the last three verses of this morning’s text won’t take us long to examine. As there were four blessings for God’s people, so now are there four woes for those who reject the joys of the future for the pleasures of the present. In these verses the word “woe” is synonymous with “cursed.” Have you ever heard Jewish person say, “oy vey?” That’s Yiddish for the Hebrew “ŏuai.” (oo-ah´-ee) It means calamity, disaster, and misery. Jesus is being as direct and as blunt He can be.
*Luke 6:24-26
24 “But woe to you who are rich, for you are receiving your comfort in full.
25 “Woe to you who are well-fed now, for you shall be hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep.
26 “Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for in the same way their fathers used to treat the false prophets.”

Look at v. 24. Do you bask in the best this world has to offer? Are you rich in goods, the world’s favor, and human pride, and have no intention of changing? Is so, then Jesus says you are receiving all the joy and comfort you will ever experience.

Look at the first part of v. 25. Do you have no hunger or thirst for God? Are you satis-fied with your own self-righteousness? Then Jesus says you will starve in eternity.

Look at the second part of v. 25. Are you taking comfort in your religion, those things you call your good works, and your own standards of morality? Then Jesus says your eternity will be one of unspeakable sorrow and mourning.

Finally, look at v. 26. Are you satisfied with having your ears tickled by false teachers and the lies of this world? Then Jesus says you have no hope.
*Jeremiah 5:30-31 (God speaking)
30 “An appalling and horrible thing has happened in the land:
31 The prophets prophecy falsely, and the priests rule on their own authority; and My people love it so! But what will you do at the end of it?”
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IV. Conclusion
What will you do? Listen to Jesus and embrace Him and His Word –
“Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are you who hunger now, for you shall be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh. Blessed are you when men hate you, and ostracize you, and cast insults at you, and spurn your name as evil, for the sake of the Son of Man. Be glad in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven…”

~ Pray ~