The Chosen Key Word in this Chapter is “Woe” it comes from the Greek Word “ouai” which means “woe, an expression of grief or warning.”
Jesus teaches a crowd on level ground, and turns the world’s values completely upside down. Welcome to Bible Life Basics Chapter Reviews, I am Chris and this is Luke 6.
When Pharisees criticize Jesus’ disciples for plucking grain on the Sabbath, He responds that “the Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath.” He later heals a man’s withered hand in the synagogue on the Sabbath as well, provoking the religious leaders’ anger. After spending a whole night in prayer, Jesus chooses twelve apostles from among His disciples, then comes down to a level place and delivers His sermon to a great multitude.
Jesus pronounces blessing on the poor, the hungry, those who weep, and those who are hated for His sake, promising that their reward in heaven will be great. He then pronounces the opposite, woes, “ouai” in Greek, an expression of grief and warning, on the rich, the full, and those who laugh now, since their comfort in this life is all they will receive. Jesus calls His followers to a radical standard of love, “Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you,” lending without expecting return, and treating others exactly as they wish to be treated themselves.
Jesus warns against judging others harshly, since the measure used will be measured back, and tells the parable of the blind leading the blind, and of a speck versus a beam in someone’s eye. He closes with the familiar image of two builders, one whose house survives the flood because it is built on rock, and one whose house collapses completely because it lacked any real foundation, comparing this directly to those who hear His words and actually do them versus those who merely listen.
Jesus’ blessings and woes in this sermon reverse almost every worldly assumption about what makes a good life. Wealth, comfort, and popularity are treated as risks rather than rewards, while poverty, hunger, and rejection for His sake are treated as genuine blessing. His kingdom simply measures success differently than the world does.
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