2BeLikeChrist Bible Commentary - Luke Chapter 6
Commentary - Luke Chapter 6
Luke 6:1-5
Luk 6:1 On a Sabbath, while he was going through the grainfields, his disciples plucked and ate some heads of grain, rubbing them in their hands.
Luk 6:2 But some of the Pharisees said, “Why are you doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath?”
Luk 6:3 And Jesus answered them, “Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him:
Luk 6:4 how he entered the house of God and took and ate the bread of the Presence, which is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to those with him?”
Luk 6:5 And he said to them, “The Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.”
This same incident is recorded in Matthew 12 and Mark 2.
Matthew’s account records a few more details than Luke’s.
It was the Sabbath Day (Saturday) and the Pharisees accused Jesus’ disciples of doing “work,” which was not allowed on Sabbath.
Sabbath was meant to be a day of rest for the Jews.
God had given specific commands about what should and shouldn’t be done on Sabbath in the Old Testament Law.
Over the years, a lot of man-made rules had been added to God’s Sabbath instructions.
Those additional man-made traditions weren’t always good things.
According to the traditions, not God’s Law, picking a handful of grain on Sabbath fell under the “work” category.
When the Pharisees saw Jesus’ disciples picking grain, they thought they had caught Jesus approving of their Law breaking.
You can imagine how closely the Pharisees must have watched Jesus as they stalked Him every day just waiting for Him to give them some ammunition.
APPLICATION:
When religious commands are weaponized to condemn others, while being stripped of any God focused meaning, we’ve got a problem with our religion.
The Pharisees observed the Sabbath, but not in devotion to God.
They observed the Sabbath so they could look down their noses at other people who didn’t do it as well as them.
We can observe “religious commands” without worship in our hearts, but instead so that we can claim to be the best “Bible followers” and look down our noses at others.
Being a “Bible authoritarian” and a true worshipper of God are two different things.
Jesus was about to lay this out for the Pharisees.
In response to the Pharisees’ accusation, Jesus described a situation where King David ate the “holy bread.”
You can read this account in 1 Samuel 21:1-7.
The holy bread was a special bread made by the priests and it was only to be eaten by priests (Lev 24:5-9).
1 Samuel tells us about a time when David (before becoming king of Israel) ate this special bread, even though he wasn’t a priest.
At the time, he was in desperate need of food because he was running for his life.
Why did Jesus bring this up?
Let me present two explanations for Jesus’ words and later I will tell you which I prefer.
(1) Some argue Jesus brought this example up because David’s actions were condemnable.
The Jewish elite held David in high respect and, while quick to condemn Jesus, they never condemned David for eating the holy bread.
In excusing David, they revealed their hypocrisy when they condemned Jesus’ disciples.
(2) Others argue Jesus brought this example up because David’s actions were not condemnable.
Although not found in Luke or Matthew’s record of this event, Mark records another statement of Jesus in this discourse.
Mar 2:27 And he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.
The Pharisees didn’t understand the Sabbath command.
To them, it was nothing more than a ritual that had to be observed no matter what the cost in human suffering and inconvenience.
Jesus appears to say otherwise.
Men were not created to be servants of the Sabbath. The Sabbath was created as a day of rest for the benefit of men.
In condemning Jesus’ disciples, the Pharisees revealed their ignorance about the true heart of the Law of God.
In my view, the second of the two interpretations is correct.
If verses 3-4 stood alone without context, I would favor the first interpretation.
But in light of Jesus’ statements in all three gospels, I believe the second interpretation is more likely correct.
The disciples had done nothing wrong.
The traditions and man-made rules of the Pharisees did not originate with God, and were therefore not to be bound.
The disciples only needed to be worried about violating God’s commands.
And Jesus, as the “Son of Man,” and the Lord of the Sabbath, did not condemn them.
Jesus’ claim here was bold and shouldn’t be taken lightly.
He was claiming deity in front of the Pharisees.
He was claiming to have authority to speak on the interpretation of Sabbath law because He was the Lord of the Sabbath.
Only God had authority over the laws of God and Jesus was claiming that authority for Himself.
He was claiming to be equal with God.
Luke 6:6-11
Luk 6:6 On another Sabbath, he entered the synagogue and was teaching, and a man was there whose right hand was withered.
Luk 6:7 And the scribes and the Pharisees watched him, to see whether he would heal on the Sabbath, so that they might find a reason to accuse him.
Luk 6:8 But he knew their thoughts, and he said to the man with the withered hand, “Come and stand here.” And he rose and stood there.
Luk 6:9 And Jesus said to them, “I ask you, is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to destroy it?”
Luk 6:10 And after looking around at them all he said to him, “Stretch out your hand.” And he did so, and his hand was restored.
Luk 6:11 But they were filled with fury and discussed with one another what they might do to Jesus.
On another Sabbath day, Jesus went back to the synagogue.
This time there was a man with a withered hand present.
This was probably a type of paralysis or deformity of the hand.
Notice where the attention of the Pharisees was directed in verse 7.
Luke 6:7 And the scribes and the Pharisees watched him, to see whether he would heal on the Sabbath, so that they might find a reason to accuse Him.
They weren’t interested in helping a handicapped man.
They just wanted to catch Jesus doing something wrong so they could accuse Him.
APPLICATION:
Christians and Non-Christians can fall into this same error.
Sometimes we are zealous at catching and calling out “doctrine breakers,” but unconcerned with helping those in need, whether physically or spiritually.
Sometimes we spend all our time focused on what people are doing wrong instead of working to make things right.
Too many people are quick to call out bad doctrine, but slow to extend a helping hand to the needy.
On a previous Sabbath (verses 1-6), Jesus told the Jewish religious leaders the Sabbath was designed for the good of men and it was to be enforced accordingly.
Here, they were trying to form an accusation against Jesus based on Him doing good to a man on the Sabbath day.
What does that mean?
It means they got a big fat F- on their comprehension test!
Jesus was again highlighting the fact that these men didn’t understand the Old Testament Law nearly as well as they thought they did.
A lot of what they thought they knew was based on their traditions, not a comprehension of the intentions of God.
APPLICATION:
We need to be very carefully we don’t fall into the same trap!
It is very easy to interpret God’s words based on the traditions of men (denominational biases, secular influences, etc).
We need to search out the heart and intention of God if we want to read and interpret God’s words accurately.
Jesus knew the evil intentions residing in the hearts of the Pharisees and scribes and He challenged them.
He called the man with the withered hand to Him.
He then spoke to those assembled in the synagogue, “I ask you, is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to destroy it?”
In Matthew’s account of this dialog, Jesus spoke about the willingness of His challengers to pull an animal out of a ditch if it fell in on the Sabbath day.
They valued their animals enough to believe saving them was a valid exemption from the prohibition of “work.”
But in the synagogue, their actions revealed they ascribed less value to this handicapped man than their own animals, because they weren’t about to give Jesus an exemption for what He was about to do.
Humans vs. animals
Jesus was exposing their misaligned priorities in front of the whole Jewish community.
This is why, in verse 11, the text says they were “filled with fury and discussed with one another what they might do with Jesus.”
Jesus put the ugliness of the Pharisees and scribes on display for all their parishioners to see.
He really made them look foolish.
And if there’s anything that angers prideful people, its being embarrassed in front of the people whose respect they crave.
Jesus proceeded to heal the man without a word from His enemies.
APPLICATION:
When somebody reveals corruption in your heart, you can respond in a couple ways.
1. You can seek to destroy or harm the person who exposed you (which I think comes very naturally to people).
2. Or, you can seek to destroy the corruption in yourself.
The religious leaders needed to take option 2, but they chose option 1.
APPLICATION:
Think about the setup of this miracle.
Truth #1 - Jesus created this man.
Jesus knew when He made this man, he would have a withered hand.
Jesus also knew the day would come when He would meet this man in this very synagogue and heal Him.
The miracle brought glory to God and was evidence of Jesus’ identity to those who witnessed it.
Truth #2 - Jesus created you.
Jesus knew when He made you, what deficiencies, struggles, and handicaps you would have.
What if He intended you to exist with your weaknesses for a similar reason?
So that God will be seen in you as you overcome your weaknesses.
So that people will look at your life and praise God for His work THROUGH those weaknesses.
So that your life will be a witness to His presence.
APPLICATION:
Compare yourself to the Pharisees and scribes for a moment.
The Pharisees had just witnessed the miraculous power of God.
How did they respond? They went out and made plans to destroy Jesus!
We ask, “How could they possibly have responded that way?”
They had just observed God’s power!
But all they were concerned about was what that display of power was going to do to their power and influence.
Jesus was stealing their influence and authority and they didn’t like it.
Rather than accepting Jesus, they plotted to get rid of Him.
It is easy to be really harsh on the Pharisees.
But wasn’t their dilemma the same dilemma we all struggle with?
The willingness to accept our unimportance in light of God’s importance?
The willingness to give up our authority and realize there is Someone far greater than us running the show?
The Pharisees had verifiable evidence right in front of their faces and they still chose to run in the opposite direction.
Are we doing the same?
What is at the root of your refusal to come to Christ?
Perhaps you haven’t seen enough evidence.
I assure you, if you take the time to study, you’ll find evidence sufficient for faith in Christ.
Or, at the bottom, is it a hesitation to relinquish sovereignty over your own life?
At the end of the day, human sovereignty is an illusion. You either serve God willingly or you serve God without knowing it (Pharaoh, Pilate, Judas, Nebuchadnezzar, Cyrus, etc).
In the end, we will all confess the same thing… God is king!
The Bible tells us the time to accept that truth is while we are here on earth.
Give allegiance to Him now, so when the time comes, you can greet Him as an ally, not an adversary.
Luke 6:12-16
Luk 6:12 In these days he went out to the mountain to pray, and all night he continued in prayer to God.
Luk 6:13 And when day came, he called his disciples and chose from them twelve, whom he named apostles:
Luk 6:14 Simon, whom he named Peter, and Andrew his brother, and James and John, and Philip, and Bartholomew,
Luk 6:15 and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon who was called the Zealot,
Luk 6:16 and Judas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.
One night, Jesus went up into a mountain to pray.
The nighttime was probably the only time Jesus had to Himself.
He made it a priority to pray.
No doubt, part of Jesus’ time in prayer was spent talking to God about the 12 men He would select as Apostles.
Jesus had 12 men who were especially close to Him and would play a special role in God’s work on earth.
In the book of Acts, these 12 are entrusted with carrying on Jesus’ work after His ascension back to heaven.
They were called “Apostles.”
A general definition of an “apostle” is a messenger or someone who is sent.
Jesus will later send the Apostles out as messengers to the nations, entrusting them to carry the good news of salvation to the world.
We don’t know many details about these men, but we know they played a huge role in the foundation of the early Church.
Secular history tells us the majority of these men were martyred for their faith.
There are many traditions about the later lives and deaths of the 12 Apostles. Not all of them can be verified, but I thought I would include some of the theories below to spark some interest in early Church history:
Peter (Simon) – Martyred by being crucified upside down.
Andrew – Went to Russia to preach the gospel, eventually crucified.
Thomas – Preached as far as India, killed with a spear.
Philip – Taught the gospel in Carthage (North Africa), killed by a Roman official.
Matthew (Levi) – Went to Persia and Ethiopia, some say he was not martyred while others say he was stabbed to death.
Bartholomew – Travelled extensively to India, Armenia, and Arabia, no clear tradition on how he died.
James (son of Alpheus) – Preached in Syria, stoned or clubbed to death.
Simon the Zealot – Ministered in Persia, killed after refusing to offer sacrifices to a false god.
Matthias (replaced Judas) – Preached in Syria, burned to death.
John – Traveled to Ephesus, died of old age.
James (son of Zebedee) – Killed by Herod (verified by the Bible).
Judas Iscariot – Killed himself after betraying Jesus (verified by the Bible).
If you read through the Bible, you won’t find a lot of personal details about the Apostles.
We don’t know their backstories.
We aren’t told much about their individual service to the Church.
APPLICATION:
It isn’t important that the world knows you, your life, your accomplishments…
It is important that the world knows your God and the good news about Jesus coming and dying for their sins.
Luke 6:17-19
Luk 6:17 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,
Luk 6:18 who came to hear him and to be healed of their diseases. And those who were troubled with unclean spirits were cured.
Luk 6:19 And all the crowd sought to touch him, for power came out from him and healed them all.
When Jesus finished selecting the 12, He came down from the mountain with a large group of followers and people who had come from Judea, Jerusalem, and the region of Tyre and Sidon.
They brought their sick and demon possessed friends to be healed.
Jesus had so much power, just touching Him was enough to receive healing.
Luke 6:20-23
Luk 6:20 And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said: “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.
Luk 6:21 “Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you shall be satisfied. “Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh.
Luk 6:22 “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!
Luk 6:23 Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for so their fathers did to the prophets.
If you are familiar with Matthew 5 and the Sermon on the Mount will find very similar language in Luke 6:20-49.
Some think this is Luke’s record of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount.
Others believe this is a record of a different but similar sermon.
It wouldn’t be strange if Jesus preached similar messages more than once.
His audience would have been somewhat different every day, so it is possible He taught similar things on different occasions to different audiences.
Preachers do this all the time in modern churches.
Jesus told the crowd, “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the Kingdom of Heaven.
Those who are poor can have difficulty acquiring certain things or joining certain groups.
But being a member of God’s Kingdom is achievable for even the poorest of the world.
In fact, the Bible teaches becoming a citizen of the Kingdom is more easily obtainable for the poor.
Isn’t that interesting?
In this world, money makes almost everything more accessible.
But when it comes to spiritual things, money actually makes it more difficult to get to heaven.
APPLICATION:
A text like this should make us rethink what it means to be “blessed.”
We almost always equate blessing with money.
There is a sense in which that is true.
But if it is easier for a poor man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven (Matthew 19:23) who is really blessed?
APPLICATION:
Consider this…
In the west, we see a comparatively rich (disadvantage) population with a lot of exposure to the gospel (advantage).
In the east, we see a comparatively poorer (advantage) population with a limited exposure to the gospel (disadvantage).
We have a tendency to look at one group or another and give them the spiritual advantage.
But maybe it all evens out in the end.
Perhaps everyone’s chance to go to heaven is equal.
*I don’t know…this is an oversimplified analysis… there are certainly more variables than these to consider… just something to think about.
“Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you shall be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh.”
The good news of salvation and an eternal home with God are a blessing to those who are struggling in the world.
God will make right what a world tainted by sin got wrong.
God promises to give us a new home, one without sin.
Hunger from lack of food and weeping from sorrow are a part of this world and will always be a part of this world because sin will always be a part of this world.
In Luke 6, Jesus was telling the people God had sent Him to the earth to initiate a plan to fix the problems.
“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!”
Nobody likes to be hated by other people, but sometimes people hate you because you stand for what is right.
Those who are hated by the world for standing up for what is right will be blessed by God.
APPLICATION:
Whose favor are we more interested in?
The people of the world?
Or the Creator of the world?
“When they exclude you”
There are definitely people who “hate” Christians and express their hatred openly, but others are more subtle.
Some will leave you out of a group or an activity because they know about your faith.
It can be hard to be left out.
Jesus reminded those who were sad due to exclusion that they had not been forgotten by God.
“Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for so their fathers did to the prophets.”
God watches out for the destitute.
God watches out for those who are mistreated for the sake of His Son.
He tells them to rejoice because their reward is coming.
Jews being persecuted by their own people for doing God’s will was not a new thing.
God’s prophets in the Old Testament were mistreated by their fellow Jews.
Many Jews who became followers of Jesus would be persecuted.
The same was true for Gentile believers.
Luke 6:24-26
Luk 6:24 “But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation.
Luk 6:25 “Woe to you who are full now, for you shall be hungry. “Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep.
Luk 6:26 “Woe to you, when all people speak well of you, for so their fathers did to the false prophets.
I don’t think Jesus was condemning rich people, people who had plenty to eat, or people who were happy in verses 24 and 25.
It isn’t a sin to have a full stomach.
It isn’t a sin to be full of joy.
I believe He was condemning those who put their trust in their riches.
Those who search for fullness and joy on the earth without giving attention to what awaits them in eternity.
They are satisfied in the immediate moment.
They are happy and full of laughter in the immediate moment.
But woe to those who consider only the immediate moment.
Who find their comfort in the immediate and temporal, not the eternal.
Those who fail to consider eternity in the present will be sad they didn’t when it arrives.
APPLICATION:
There are a lot of people like this!
They devote all of their thoughts and attention to this world.
They exhaust themselves seeking immediate fulfillment and happiness.
They give no thought to eternal/spiritual things.
Are you a person like that?
“Woe to you, when all people speak well of you, for so their fathers did to the false prophets.”
It is human nature to want other people to speak well of us.
And there is a sense in which Christians should want others to speak well of them.
A Christian shouldn’t be a person who has a bad reputation.
Nobody should be able to bring a legitimate accusation of crime or bad behavior against a Christian.
But there is another sense in which, if you stand for what is right and true, people will speak evil of you.
There will be times in every Christian’s life when they will have to stand against sin.
Those who love sin aren’t going to be friendly to the people who oppose what they love.
Their anger and vitriol will be directed at the people who disapprove of their evil-doing.
Jesus went so far as to say, “If that doesn’t happen to you… something is wrong” (paraphrase).
If no one is ever mad at you…
If no one ever gets angry at the message you teach…
You aren’t teaching Jesus’ message faithfully.
How did Jesus know that?
He knew the majority of people wouldn’t come to God to have their sins forgiven because they loved their sins.
The majority of people would reject His call to repentance and transformation and wouldn’t be interested in hearing Him or anyone else teach about the danger of their sins.
APPLICATION:
This is very relevant for modern Christians.
In our culture, offending someone is considered the ultimate “sin.”
Even anti-religious people preach about how we shouldn’t offend anyone.
Christians have bought into this message in a lot of ways.
Some Christians think being a follower of Jesus means you should never offend anyone.
In the last few weeks I’ve had conversations with several “Christians” who claimed Jesus’ whole message was love and acceptance.
Interestingly, Jesus didn’t teach the same message our culture teaches.
He guaranteed the gospel would be offensive, so much so the world would speak evil of its preachers.
Jesus called His disciples to accept truth.
The only way to never offend anyone is to discard the concept of truth.
You must believe there is no right and wrong and everyone can live however they want and rejoice in whatever sin they find most appealing.
Jesus called sin what it is… an abomination to God that will destroy the human soul.
He told the people He could save them from their sins.
To accept Jesus is to accept mankind’s need for a Savior.
You are destined to offend people when you tell them their sin places them in the crosshairs of God’s wrath and their soul will be destroyed unless they repent and let Jesus save them.
Luke 6:27-30
Luk 6:27 “But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,
Luk 6:28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.
Luk 6:29 To one who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also, and from one who takes away your cloak do not withhold your tunic either.
Luk 6:30 Give to everyone who begs from you, and from one who takes away your goods do not demand them back.
These commands aren’t particularly difficult to understand but they are very hard to apply.
Jesus instructed people to be about doing good even when others were doing evil to them.
Jesus instructed His hearers to love their enemies.
He wanted them to love the people who opposed them and their message.
He told them to bless the people who cursed them.
To pray for the people who abused them.
Consider, in those days, how much easier it would have been to get away with abuse.
Physical abuse, legal abuse, psychological abuse, sexual abuse, financial abuse, etc…
There were no cell phone cameras, security cameras, email records, no DNA analysis, etc…
Unpunished abuse was probably significantly higher than in our culture.
That said, even today, there are many cases of abuse.
You can probably think of someone who has abused or is currently abusing you.
The most natural tendency for someone who has experienced injustice is to seek revenge against the one who wronged them.
But these verses reshape the way we are to think about someone who has wronged us.
Jesus told us to pray for those who mistreat us.
Pray that they will change.
Pray that they will get help.
Pray that they will repent and seek the Lord.
The natural thing to do is to wish evil on them.
Jesus wanted His disciples to respond differently.
It is incredible that Jesus wanted His disciples to take time out of their day to go to God on behalf of people who were mean to them.
He was saying, “You take your time to petition God on behalf of a messed-up person.”
“Devote your mental energy to consider what that person might need and then pray about it.”
Disciples are to turn the other cheek.
If someone hits you on the cheek, offer the other also.
I don’t think Jesus was encouraging disciples to get themselves beat up.
I believe the principle was, disciples were to turn the other cheek, as opposed to lashing out in retaliatory vengeance against someone who hit them.
They were to prefer an injustice done to them to a chance to get even with someone at the expense of losing their influence.
The principle behind the cloak and tunic is similar.
If someone takes something that belongs to you, it is preferable to give them even more than what they took, rather than resorting to extreme physical or legal measures to recover your property.
Physical property and personal rights were not to be the disciple’s priority.
The same principle is taught in verse 30 along with a command to be generous, “Give to everyone who begs from you…”
Why? Why should I live like this?
I think a lot of people who have been the target of grievous abuse may immediately convulse upon hearing these commands.
“I will not do that!”
“You don’t know what its like to suffer at the hands of an evil person.”
Why shouldn’t I, as a Christian, take vengeance on another person?
Why should I be nice to someone who harms me?
Why should I bless them, pray for them, give to them, spend my time and energy being nice to them when they are terrible to me?
Why shouldn’t I villainize them in my mind and wish for 1,000 horrible things to happen to them?
We will find out as we continue reading…
I think a lot of people read these commands and they think, “Well if I follow these principles, I’m not going to have anything!”
“People are going to take advantage of me!”
“I could lose valuable things.”
“What about my rights? I need to protect myself!”
I think Jesus would say exactly what He said while teaching on the mountain in Matthew 6.
Mat 6:25 “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life…”
Mat 6:33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
God has always taken care of His disciples.
Be honest, do you know any Christians that are destitute because they apply this command too seriously?
I haven’t met one.
There’s a reason the Bible is filled with reassurances that God will care for His servants.
It’s so we will learn to trust God enough to live the life He called us to live!
To trust He isn’t throwing us out into the world to fend for ourselves.
Luke 6:31-36
Luk 6:31 And as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them.
Luk 6:32 “If you love those who love you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them.
Luk 6:33 And if you do good to those who do good to you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners do the same.
Luk 6:34 And if you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to get back the same amount.
Luk 6:35 But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil.
Luk 6:36 Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.
Why should I love my enemies and do good to the people who mistreat me?
Jesus’ life is the reason His disciples ought to apply this principle.
This principle will never hit home hard enough unless you understand what Jesus did for you.
Until you understand Jesus’ sacrifice for you, you have no reason to apply these principles in your life.
When you understand Jesus’ sacrifice for you, you have every reason to apply these principles in your life.
Why should we love our enemies?
Because Jesus died for us even though our sins made us God’s enemies.
Rom 5:10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.
Why should we take time out of our day to pray for someone who mistreats us?
Because Jesus prayed for those who mistreated Him.
He devoted 33 years to bless people who cursed Him.
Why should we be willing to surrender our right to the things that belong to us?
Because Jesus, as a sinless man, deserved to be treated well.
He didn’t deserve being murdered on a cross.
He had the right and the power to stop the injustice against Him but chose not to exercise that His right.
Why?
For our benefit!
To treat people better than they deserved.
To bless His enemies.
“But love you enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great…”
If you live in obedience to Jesus’ words, there will likely be times when you get the short end of the stick.
There are evil people and dishonest people who will mistreat you.
But God promises our losses will not go unaccounted.
We may suffer monetary or physical loss but we will be given a “great” reward.
Jesus was calling His listeners to a lifestyle that was in a lot of ways contrary to human nature… He was calling them to God’s nature.
Anyone can be nice to someone who is nice to them.
Anyone can do good things for someone who does nice things for them.
That is human nature.
But Jesus came to earth to teach the world about God’s nature.
He raised the bar and called people to a higher standard.
To love like God and to be merciful like God.
If God, who is perfect, can extend mercy to His enemies, how can we, who are imperfect do less?
How can we be outraged when Jesus told us to love our enemies?
How can we not treat others the way we want to be treated (verse 31)?
When we understand Jesus’ sacrifice and God’s goodness to us, these commands go from being an outrage to being a privilege.
It is a privilege that we would even be given the opportunity to participate in the nature of God.
“for He is kind to the ungrateful and the evil.”
It is incredibly hard to be kind to ungrateful people.
But God has been kind to a largely ungrateful world.
That is how good God is.
“and you will be sons of the Most High, for He is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. Be merciful, even as your father is merciful.
We become “sons of the Most High” when we embrace our Father and His offer of salvation.
As children, we mimic our Father, giving mercy freely in light of the mercy we’ve received.
Luke 6:37-38
Luk 6:37 “Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven;
Luk 6:38 give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.”
A significant portion of the gospels are devoted to dealing with hypocritical judges (Pharisees, Sadducees, scribes, Herodians, etc…).
Jesus constantly engaged with people who judged one way and lived another.
Hypocrites in Jesus’ day, like today, are often quick to judge others while being guilty of the very things for which they judge others.
In some cases, the religious leaders of the Jews were making up rules and laws in addition to God’s laws and then telling the people they needed to follow both.
Jesus sternly warned these types of people.
He told them if they judged others harshly and unjustly, they would receive harsh judgment in return.
Those who judged without mercy would receive no mercy.
In contrast, the generous would receive generosity.
What does the first part of verse 38 mean?
“Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap.”
This is definitely a unique phrase but one I think we can understand.
“Good measure”
When people give to you, they will measure out a generous portion.
They aren’t going to short you or be stingy.
“Pressed down”
In order to fit more in your suitcase, you sit or stand on the contents to compact them.
In order to fit more into a trash bag, you smash the contents to make additional room.
The generosity of the gift you receive will be such that the giver will compress the contents to fit as much as possible.
“Shaken together”
Sometimes you shake the contents of a bag to remove empty space so you can fill it to its maximum volume.
In this case, the person doing the giving shakes the bag to make more room to give even more.
“Running over”
The contents are overflowing.
After giving a good portion, compacting the contents, shaking the bag, the giver fills the bag to overflowing before placing it in your lap.
If you are a generous person generosity will come back to you.
In what sense?
In a spiritual sense?
Yes, God will reward those who were generous to others.
In a physical sense?
Yes, when a person who has been generous and caring for years finds themselves in a situation where they need generosity, those who have been recipients of their generosity will come to their aid.
There is a beautiful picture of this principle in a classic movie.
Perhaps you’ve seen the movie “It’s a Wonderful Life.”
The main character’s name is George Bailey.
Throughout his life George sacrifices a lot of the things he wants in order to care for others.
He cares about doing the right thing even at personal expense.
But one day there is an accident and George finds himself in financial trouble.
He becomes suicidal and he begins to think his life has been meaningless.
But when the people of the town find out George is in trouble they rally to fix the problem.
They give “good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over.”
Then George realizes his life hasn’t been wasted and he is surrounded by people who appreciate the sacrifices he made.
In some ways these verses sound like the Golden Rule.
“Do unto others as you would have them do to unto you.”
Imagine if we only judged others with a standard we would like to be judged with.
Our judgement would probably be much less harsh, much less assuming, and much more merciful.
An important point here is to recognize humans have no authority to judge one another.
We can’t make up rules and hold other people accountable to those rules.
We don’t have that kind of moral authority.
I (personally) am not anyone’s moral judge.
I don’t have moral superiority over any other human being.
Humans, specifically Christians, only have authority to make statements about what is right and wrong based on the words of God.
Luke 6:39-40
Luk 6:39 He also told them a parable: “Can a blind man lead a blind man? Will they not both fall into a pit?
Luk 6:40 A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone when he is fully trained will be like his teacher.
Jesus used similar language to rebuke the Pharisees in Matthew 15.
Mat 15:14 Let them alone; they are blind guides. And if the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit.”
The Pharisees were blinded by their traditions and self-righteousness.
Jesus said they voided the word of God with their traditions, taught their traditions as if they were doctrines of God, and worshipped in vain (see Matthew 15:6-9).
I suspect Jesus had them in mind when speaking these words in Luke 6.
He was warning His disciples of the deception the Pharisees had fallen into.
The Pharisees thought they were religious leaders.
But a blind person can’t lead another person.
They were in no condition to guide anyone else spiritually.
In regards to verse 40, A student/disciple can only learn as much as his teacher knows.
If the teacher is misguided, the student will end up misguided.
Generally speaking, a student’s mind will be shaped by his/her teacher.
A rotten teacher can corrupt the thinking of a lot of people (just look at universities).
The Pharisees were rotten teachers.
Jesus spoke plainly about their incompetence.
Mat 23:15 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel across sea and land to make a single proselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves.
The disciples needed to be careful they didn’t fall into the same error and end up equally as blind.
APPLICATION:
We need to take teaching very seriously.
We need to be diligent in a constant assessment of ourselves and our motives if we are going to be teaching other people.
God takes this so seriously that He warned people through His disciple James that teachers will face a stricter judgement.
Jas 3:1 Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.
Luke 6:41-42
Luk 6:41 Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?
Luk 6:42 How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take out the speck that is in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the log that is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother's eye.
Jesus didn’t want His followers to be the kinds of teachers that can identify a problem in another but not in themselves.
This is very common!
It’s easy to see the faults of others while completely missing our own.
It’s easy to try to fix other people before fixing ourselves.
Jesus gave an illustration of a man who identified a speck in his brothers eye without paying any attention to the “log” in his own eye.
Like a man with an arrow protruding out of his eye insisting he be allowed to help another man remove a grain of sand from his eye.
The arrow is going to inhibit the person’s ability to help anyone else.
Jesus called people like this “hypocrites.”
The Pharisees fell into this category.
They wanted to nit-pick and correct the common people for not keeping the finer details of the Law, while they completely ignored other more important points of the Law.
If you can’t see properly, get your own eyesight fixed before you try to work on others.
APPLICATION:
We need to constantly be going to the eye doctor (God) and asking Him to help us check our eyes for logs and blind spots.
The Pharisees would not go in for a checkup.
They were sure they could see clearly, but God called them blind.
Checkups are important and we shouldn’t ever rule out the possibility our lenses may need adjusted.
APPLICATION:
The godly way to approach correcting another person is to first look at yourself.
Do you struggle with a similar problem?
If so, correct it in your own life first.
Then, rather than passing unhelpful judgement on another, you will know how to help them escape the sin that ensnares them.
God doesn’t pass judgement on us without offering help.
We shouldn’t pass judgement on others without offering to help.
Luke 6:43-45
Luk 6:43 “For no good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit,
Luk 6:44 for each tree is known by its own fruit. For figs are not gathered from thornbushes, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush.
Luk 6:45 The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.
Jesus used almost this exact language in a discussion with the Pharisees in Matthew 12:33-37.
He compared teachers to trees in an orchard.
A good tree produces good fruit.
A good teacher/guide can be identified by his good works (good fruit).
A bad tree produces useless fruit (poor quality or rotten).
A bad teacher/guide can be identified by his bad work (bad fruit).
A good tree will not produce bad fruit year after year.
A bad tree will not produce good fruit year after year.
“You will recognize them by their fruits” (Matthew 7:16).
Words are cheap and aren’t a good gauge of whether a person is genuine.
But watching a person’s actions/work over time will reveal their heart.
Luke 6:46-49
Luk 6:46 “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you?
Luk 6:47 Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and does them, I will show you what he is like:
Luk 6:48 he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when a flood arose, the stream broke against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built.
Luk 6:49 But the one who hears and does not do them is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the stream broke against it, immediately it fell, and the ruin of that house was great.”
In this last section of chapter 6, Jesus addressed His hearers and the way they responded to His words.
There were many who called Him “Lord” but not all of them heeded His commands.
Their words affirmed Jesus’ importance, but their lives and actions didn’t.
Jesus gave a parable to illustrate the difference between a person who heard and applied His words vs. a person who heard but didn’t apply.
The man who hears and applies is like a man who builds a house on a deep foundation.
The man who hears and doesn’t apply is like a man who builds his house on top of the soil without a foundation.
Those who hear His words and DO THEM will have a solid foundation on which to build their lives.
If you have a sturdy foundation you can be confident about what you are building.
No tragedy or storm of life will be able to topple a life devoted to God.
Not even death can capsize what Jesus protects.
Those who hear His words and DO NOT DO THEM will have their foundation torn from under them.
You can’t have confidence in the lasting value of what you are building if you aren’t building it on the foundation of Jesus.
Those who choose to build their houses on something other than the doctrines of Christ can, in this life, have their sense of worth and purpose torn away from them.
There hearts can topple from atop their earthly treasures.
Eternally speaking, all who refuse to heed Jesus’ words and build their lives on Christ will lose their lives in eternity.
Building your life on Christ is the only thing guaranteed to hold up through the storms of life and the storm of God’s judgement leading into eternity.
