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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadPaul Kretzmann Commentary - Luke 6:20 - 6:23
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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
The beginning of the sermon:
v. 20. And He lifted up His eyes on His disciples and said, Blessed be ye poor; for yours is the kingdom of God.
v. 21. Blessed are ye that hunger now; for ye shall be filled. Blessed are ye that weep now; for ye shall laugh.
v. 22. Blessed are ye when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of Man's sake.
v. 23. Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy; for, behold, your reward is great in heaven; for in the like manner did their fathers unto the prophets.
This discourse is commonly considered as an extract of the Sermon on the Mount, but it is not essential to regard it as such. The Lord may well have spoken on the same subject and in much the same words upon different occasions. The words were addressed chiefly to His disciples, but the other people were also within reach of His voice and had an opportunity to take with them the golden truths which the Lord here uttered. Blessed the poor: Not so much those that are poor in the goods of this world, although the truly poor are usually found among these, but those that are poor in spirit, that in themselves and in the whole world neither have nor find what can truly delight their souls. This poverty has a glorious promise: For yours is the kingdom of God. They will receive the true riches of the grace of God in Christ Jesus. Blessed that now hunger: Not spoken of physical hunger, but of that greater desire for the food from on high, the hungering and thirsting after righteousness. They will be filled: The bounteous riches of the beauty of God's table are theirs. Blessed those that weep now: Such as feel deeply the distress of sins and their consequences and live in constant sorrow because of them. For they shall laugh: The joy of the Redeemer will be theirs, filling them with a happiness beyond all human comprehension. Blessed are ye if the people hate you; if they show this hatred by withdrawing from you, by ostracizing you as people afflicted with a malignant disease; if they vituperate you and cast your name out from them and their society on account of the Savior. Note: So thoroughly has the amalgamation of the world with the Church been done, so far has it progressed, that such isolation is rare in our days, more's the shame! People that call themselves Christians will rather confine their Christianity and its profession and practice to a few hours on Sunday than to bear the reproach of the Lord, for the sake of the Savior. The spirit of martyrdom seems to have left the Church entirely. Denials of Christ are practiced daily, confessions for the sake of the Christian principle are rare. Rejoice in that day and leap: That is a reason for being happy, that the world refuses to recognize the Christians as belonging to them, that they accuse them of narrowness and bigotry, that it withdraws from them; that is an evidence of Christian profession. For, behold, your reward will be great in heaven. Just because it is a reward of mercy, it will be all the more acceptable. When Christians suffer such persecutions, they are but following in the footsteps of the early martyrs, those that preferred death to the denial of the Lord and the Christian doctrines and practices.