Kingdom Values (Beatitudes)
Luke 6:17-23
17 And he 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, 18 who came to hear him and to be healed of their diseases. And those who were troubled with unclean spirits were cured. 19 And all the crowd sought to touch him, for power came out from him and healed them all. Luke 6:17-19 (ESV)
Warren Wiersbe: The blessed life comes not from getting, or from doing, but from being. The emphasis is on godlike character. Isaiah 61:1-3 (ESV)
1. Blessed in poverty
20 And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said: “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.” Luke 6:20 (ESV)
Ptochos (fromm ptosso) relates to the concept of “to cringe” or cower in fear. In Matt 5:3 he refers to the poor in spirit. These individuals have a bankrupt condition of the soul.
Laodicean church:
17 For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. Revelation 3:17 (ESV)
2. Blessed in hunger
21 “Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you shall be satisfied” . . . Luke 6:21 (ESV)
This hunger here is probably not necessarily from a lack of food but a lack of righteousness.
1 O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water. Psalm 63:1 (ESV)
3. Blessed in sorrow
21 . . . “Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh.” Luke 6:21 (ESV)
Matthew says those who weep will be comforted. Luke takes it a step further and includes that they will laugh.
3 to grant to those who mourn in Zion— to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit. . . Isaiah 61:3 (ESV); Jeremiah 31:13 (ESV); Isaiah 53:3; Luke 13:34
4. Blessed when scorned
22 “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! 23 Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for so their fathers did to the prophets.” Luke 6:22-23 (ESV)
The verbs of hate, exclude, revile, and spurn sums up the hostility and animosity that Christ’s disciples endure.
40 and when they had called in the apostles, they beat them and charged them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. 41 Then they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name. Acts 5:40-41 (ESV); Acts 16:25 (ESV); Col. 1:24 (ESV)
Wiersbe: What people most need is not a change in circumstances but a change in their relationship to God and in their outlook on life.