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“Beatitudes and Woes in Luke”
Categories: Bulletin Articles, M. W. Bassford
Luke 6:20-49 is often described as the Sermon on the Plain, as opposed to the Sermon on the Mount. There are many explanations for the similarities and differences in content between the two sermons, but I believe the simplest one is the best. Like most preachers, Jesus was willing to preach the same sermon to different audiences, adapting his content to the need of the moment.
One of the most obvious differences between the Beatitudes as presented in Luke 6:20-21, rather than Matthew 5:3-10, is the physical focus of the former. Matthew 5:3 speaks of the poor in spirit; Luke 6:20 speaks simply of the poor. Matthew 5:6 is about those who hunger and thirst for righteousness; Luke 6:21 is about those who are hungry.
So too, the woes of Luke 6:24-26 are concerned with the physical condition of the hearers. It is those who are literally rich, well-fed, happy, and honored who should be concerned.
At first glance, this appears to be class warfare written into the pages of the New Testament. Poor = good, rich = bad. However, such a flat reading harmonizes poorly with other texts, such as 1 Timothy 6:17-19. There, Paul is quite clear that in order to please God, the rich don’t have to become poor. They merely have to become rich in good works. The rich can be righteous, and the poor can be wicked.
Instead, we need to read Luke 6 not only in the context of the rest of the text of Luke, but in the context of its time and place. Here, as in many places in the gospels, the Great Revolt and the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70 is lurking just offstage. We must consider Jesus’ words with that calamity in mind.
During that time, though the Romans certainly did destroy Jerusalem, their work was not limited to its immediate area. Instead, they crushed the Jewish rebellion throughout Galilee and Judea. Nor were the legions troubled by modern-day concerns like good optics and minimizing collateral damage. From their perspective, collateral damage was a feature, not a bug. The more horribly the Jewish people suffered, the less likely other subject peoples would be to defy the majesty of Rome.
As a result, the decade around the destruction of the Temple was a pretty terrible time to be a prosperous Jew. If you had it, the Romans were going to take it away from you. Jesus’ prophecy proved exactly correct. The rich did become destitute. The well-fed did become hungry. The laughing did weep.
Because everybody was going to end up with nothing, those who started with nothing had an important advantage. In Jesus’ time, the literally poor, hungry, and grieving were most likely to listen to Him because they didn’t like the status quo. Even today, people whose lives aren’t going well are more likely to listen to the gospel than people who are prospering. Hard times predispose people to change.
As a result, even though they didn’t realize it, the poor who followed Jesus were making the best preparations possible for the painful years ahead. On the other hand, the rich thought they had everything figured out but weren’t truly prepared. Poverty is nobody’s idea of a good time, but even it can be blessed if it causes us to turn to the Lord.
