TotP - Talk on the Plain
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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 coastal region around Tyre and Sidon, 18 who had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases. Those troubled by impure 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 people 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 ancestors 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 everyone speaks well of you, for that is how their ancestors treated the false prophets. -
Who is Jesus
As a young boy, one of the first biography’s I read was CT Studd (Norman Grubb). He was born into wealth, inherited a fortune. He was a successful cricketer. Captained England, he played in the first Ashes Test in 1882.
He gave it all up to become a missionary in China, and later set up WEC (World Evangelisation Crusade). He said
“Christ’s call is to feed the hungry, not the full, to call sinners, not scoffers to repentance not to build comfortable churches at home… to rock Christian professors to sleep with clever essays … but to raise living churches of souls among the destitute…. And snatch them from the very jaws of hell, to enlist and train them for Jesus…..This can only be accomplished by a red hot Holy Spirit religion where…only Christ and him crucified are worshipped and preached….” CT Studd understood the Blessedness of being poor.
On a Plain in northern Israel, Jesus spoke 4 Blessings and 4 Woes. He taught that Blessedness is not based on what we have, how well we eat, how happy we are or how well we are thought of – No, Blessedness is based on who we are in Christ and how distinctive we are through the transforming work of the Holy Spirit in our lives.
Let us look at Jesus’ message in Luke 6 which on the face of it seems to be good news for those who are poor, who are hungry, who grieve and even those who are disliked because of following Jesus.
Understanding the Message. Understanding Blessedness. Understanding the Challenge
1 Understanding the Message
2 Understanding Blessedness
3 Understanding the Challenge
Understanding the Message
Lukes TotP (Plain) probably different to SOTM (Sedrmon on the Mount). Jesus may have preached a similar message on different occasions. Luke 6v17 Jesus went down to them & stood on a level place (TotP). Jesus had just started his ministry and was gaining in popularity. Large crowds were gathering. He had just picked out his apostles (Luke 6:12-16), many disciples, others inquisitive.
Notice the Structure 4 x Bless & 4 x Woes. Should not try and make it fit with SOTM (Matthew) this is on the Plain (Luke). Matt says ‘poor in spirit’ Luke ‘poor. ‘Treat each Gospel in it’s own context. Luke = Luke & Matt = Matt. Luke 6:20 addressed to disciples ie not poor in general.
If you follow Jesus: you are blessed - Blessed are 1.poor 2.hunger 3.weep 4.hated. Blessing flows from knowing & following & from the promises not from the condition. Poor: yours is the Kingdom, Starving: you will be satisfied – someday, tears now? You will laugh again you will rejoice. The grounds for rejoicing is not that you are hated but because you are my disciples. So not everyone who is hated is blessed. Sent off in a football match & hated is not blessed! It is only wrt our devotion to Jesus - on account of the son of man (v22). If Poor hungry weeping hated (as categories) are blessed then we don't need Jesus we just need to be in one of these categories. Surely not. Main point is not that poverty, hunger, weeping, or hated are means of blessing - the point is you are my disciples and you are blessed. There will be persecution eg Open Doors. CSW JC is speaking to disciples saying blessing flows from the promises - yes poor now but yours is the Kingdom so do not let poverty, hunger, tears, hated quench your rejoicing.
Now, look at the woe’s: 1.Rich 2.Well-fed 3.Laughing 4.Spoken well off - is everyone of those to be pitied or worse cursed woe to those? It can't mean this.
Let us dig deeper, look deeper. When Jesus says to those who are hated he says rejoice in that day. Leap for joy (v23). So the woe type of laughter is different to the leap for joy laughter. What is the difference?
The first joy is on account of the son of man, second laughter does not flow from Son of man and is to be pitied. If you live for merriment, entertainment and raucous laughter – you are in trouble.
The first hunger is a hunger for God and may include fasting, or going without so that others can be fed.
However, if you are well fed it will not keep you from believing and following in the Lord, but if the comfort of being wined and dined is your joy and delight – woe betide you (idol).
In Luke 18:24 when Jesus Looked at a rich man and let him walk away, it wasn’t because he was rich. It was because his wealth was his Lord, woe betide him, it was his idol.
If you are well-liked, fear not, the Lord can call you to witness and draw people to him. But if you need to be liked, have a few minutes fame or whatever – then Luke 6:23 says pity you, there is no reward for you in heaven.
CT Studd understood the transformation from being well off to poor, well liked to hated. He had it all and gave it up for the joy of serving Jesus in China.
Perhaps you are asking why would Jesus speak more clearly about this. Elsewhere eg Matthew 13:10-13 he explained why he speaks in (say) riddles or parables, “Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand.” Jesus speaks like this because he wants us to look and look and dig deeper and seek and yearn to see the depths of his word and his love for us.
Understanding Blessedness
The crowd was a cross-section of humanity: Apostles, disciples and others - rich and poor, sad & happy, starving & well fed, young and old, diff races. Yet, as different as they all were, they all wanted ‘MAKARIOS’ (Greek word translated as happiness or blessedness). The misunderstanding is that people think happiness is to do with outer circumstances. The Worlds beatitudes may be:
1. Blessed is the one who makes a fortune, or who wins the lottery.
2. Happy is the one who has a second house on the IoW.
3. Blessed is the one whose life is hunky-dory
4. You are Blessed if you are well-liked, 5 minutes fame, minor celebrity in society.
But when Jesus spoke the 4 B’s and 4 W’s, he taught that Blessedness is not based upon what we have or what happens to us. Blessedness is based on who we are in him and who we are becoming through the HS transforming us.
So you are blessed if you are prepared to be poor, prepared to be hungry, weep with those who weep, even to be disliked because of following Jesus.
Blessedness is not the riches you have it depends on what you do with your riches.
The first person to become a billionaire (at the age of 50) became ill three years later, aged 53. Alopecia and in severe pain. He couldn’t sleep, couldn’t eat, couldn't smile, life meant nothing. Doctors said he had less than a year to live. One night, he dreamt about not being able to take anything with him (in death). He repented of self-centred life and became a Christian, attended a Baptist Church. He met with his accountant and Legal team and announced that he wanted to give all his wealth away to hospitals, research and mission. The J.D. Rockefeller Foundation was formed. Remarkably, when he began to give it all to the Lord his body chemistry changed. He recovered, he lived till he was 98. The richest man in the world understood blessedness - do you?
Jesus can take poverty, hunger, grief, exclusion, and be your ever-present helper - he can turn adversity into victory, those very things can in turn be blessedness.
That is how we are meant to understand Makarios, blessedness.
Understanding the Challenge
The challenge of this TotP is that Christianity is to be distinct from the world.
When I was a chaplain and doing ward rounds in the hospital people often said ‘I’m not Religious.’ However, I did not reply ‘neither am I’ because in the worlds eyes my dog collar means ‘religiou's’ and because you go to church, your friends and neighbours think you are religious. It is not important to have a debate about the meaning of religious but what is important is that we are different from the world. The challenge of this TotP is to be distinctive.
Remember Jesus is speaking to his disciples (v20). What are the followers of Jesus supposed to look like? The answer, is “different” - peculiar. Different from those who are not the followers of Jesus.
Deuteronomy 14:2 KJV ‘For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God, and the LORD hath chosen thee to be a peculiar people unto himself, above all the nations that are upon the earth.’
1 Peter 2:9 But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that you should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light. KJV
From a letter to Diognetus ~AD130 titled - Christians in the World
"Christians are indistinguishable from others either by nationality, language or customs…… And yet there is something extraordinary about their lives…… They live in poverty, but enrich many; they are totally destitute, but possess an abundance of everything. They suffer dishonour, but that is their glory. They are defamed, but vindicated. (Nn. 5-6; Funk, 397-401)
Throughout the history of Christianity, we find that the church has been at its most effective when the people of God have been so radically different from the world. Take for example Covid Lockdown when HTB launched the ‘Love Your Neighbour’ service providing food and essential supplies to the doorstep.
When we spend time among non-Christian friends, it is not an opportunity for us to be like them – in food and drink, in merriment, debauchery. Yes we may look the same, live in similar houses, drive similar cars The challenge is to be distinctive.
One of the reasons why Christianity in UK is not as effective as elsewhere is our failure to take seriously the radical difference that Jesus asks of us.
My friend Stan thought he was paying me a compliment when he said “you are no different to me.” Was he talking about money, eating well, grief, laughter, ambition, friendship, overall lifestyle? I felt wounded. V Challenging. TotP is a hard passage.
Jesus says to us today – I want you to be moved by different things from what other people are moved by. 1 Pet 2:9 ‘You are a holy nation, a peculiar people’ he also says, ‘I want you to love me with all your heart and love your neighbours’ (Luke 10:27).
At the end of Luke 6:46, Jesus says, “You call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and you do not do what I tell you.” You’re supposed to be different but you laugh at the same jokes! You watch the same sordid films, drink and eat the same way! What’s the difference?” That’s what Stan was asking: “Kelvin why is it, that I’m supposed to believe your Lord Jesus that makes a difference?”
Jesus said these things in the Talk on the Plain because he chose you and I to show that He is alive today and he lives through us in the world (we are his witnesses). The four Beatitudes are designed to turn the worlds values on their heads – these beatitudes will draw people to God if these beatitudes are active and visible in your life!
