And *he*, lifting up his eyes upon his disciples, said, Blessed [are] ye poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.
The healings are over, and the Lord turns from the crowd to His disciples to tell them who is well off. He hands the kingdom to people the world would pity — so what does He mean by "poor," and why does Luke leave out the words "in spirit" that Matthew keeps?
Healing power had just swept through the crowd. Hopes of a kingdom arriving at once would rise from that.
There is a striking contrast between "the whole multitude" of verses 17-19 and "His disciples" in verse 20. The great blessing of verse 19 might well excite the disciples with the prospect of the kingdom's glory arriving. The Lord quiets this with words that show they should be ready for poverty, hunger, weeping and persecution. He clearly spoke this at a different time from the sermon on the mount, though it covers similar things in a shorter form. In Matthew He spoke to the crowd; here He speaks to His disciples.
Matthew's version describes a type of person. Luke records words spoken straight to the people in front of Him.
Luke takes a different course. Here the Lord is not laying down principles, or describing the classes of people who can have a part in the kingdom, as in "Blessed the poor." He looks at His disciples and speaks to them as the ones directly concerned: "Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God." It is all personal, spoken to the godly company standing around Him... It was sorrow and suffering now. The One who fulfilled the promises, the psalms and the prophets had been rejected, so the kingdom could not yet come in power and glory.
Luke says "kingdom of God" where Matthew says "kingdom of heaven." The change fits the moment.
Compare Matthew 5:3 with Luke 6:20. We can note the difference and understand the reason for it. When He describes the character of the people the kingdom belongs to, the Lord calls it the kingdom of heaven. But when He tells those in front of Him about blessings already theirs, He calls it the kingdom of God, because that was its character at that time.
The verse gives its own reason in the second half, and the reason is not an empty purse.
His disciples were, however, "the poor." Note they were not blessed because they were poor, but because theirs was the kingdom of God.
Is this about people with empty pockets? One answer reads the verse alongside Matthew's wording and the woe on the rich a few verses later.
The poor here does not mean exactly those we call poor in this world. It means the poor in spirit (Matthew 5:3), those who are aware of their poverty before God — whatever their position or circumstances in life... The true meaning of the word comes out in a contrast the Lord Himself makes: "Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God… But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation."… These are the poor who have nothing to own, nothing to satisfy them, and nothing to enjoy in the things of the world. They have been made to feel that they have nothing for God and can bring nothing to Him.
Some have built a case for holy poverty on those missing words.
The words "in spirit" are left out here. But this text gives no ground for such an idea. It comes from superstition, not from faith... The question is about the inner man as against the outer. A man who is poor in this world's goods may have a proud, unbending spirit, while a rich man may be truly humble. At the same time, we believe the Lord has more often used a man's miseries than his comforts to bring him to Himself. But that is the Lord's doing, and quite another thing.
The blessing falls on one side of a line. That leaves the other side out.
These words of the Saviour set those He calls blessed against all who are at ease in this world. If their hope in Christ were for this life only, they would be the most miserable of all men. Yet they are the only happy few. They stand cut off from everyone else, in relationship with Him who is the source of blessing, so that they may be blessed. If you can make yourselves happy and comfortable in this world which has rejected Jesus, do not count on His blessing.
- Emptied. The poor here know their poverty before God. They have nothing to own or enjoy in this world — whatever their bank balance.
- Addressed. Matthew paints a portrait; Luke reports a personal word to the company standing in front of Him — "yours," not "theirs."
- Owned. The blessing rests on what they hold, not on what they lack. They are blessed because the kingdom is theirs, not because they are poor.
- Now. He calls it the kingdom of God because that was its character then. The blessing was already theirs. Power and glory waited, because men rejected Him first.
- Sided. Comfort built in a world that refused Jesus is a different portion. The blessing runs along His path only.
Blessed ye that hunger now, for ye shall be filled. Blessed ye that weep now, for ye shall laugh.
Luke's list of blessings is short and personal. Here Jesus takes two things everyone tries to avoid — an empty stomach and tears — and calls them the mark of a blessed life, because of what He promises will follow.
Matthew's Sermon on the Mount describes classes of people who belong to the kingdom. Luke's account turns the same words into direct address to the disciples in front of Jesus.
In the Gospel of Luke, another course is followed. Here the Lord does not lay down principles. He does not describe the classes of people who can have a part in the kingdom, as in "Blessed are the poor" and so on. Instead He looks at His disciples and speaks to them as the people directly concerned... It is all personal, with the godly company that then surrounded Him in view. So He says, "Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you shall be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now," and so on. It was sorrow and suffering now, for the One who fulfilled the promises, the psalms and the prophets was rejected. So the kingdom could not yet come in power and glory. "But first He must suffer many things."
The blessings run straight into the woes of verses 24-26. The two lists sort people by where they find their comfort.
These words of the Saviour give the contrast of those He pronounces blessed with all who are at ease in this world. If they had hope in Christ for this life only, they would be the most miserable of all people. Yet they are the only happy few. They are cut off from all others and put in relationship with Him, the source of blessing, so that they may be blessed. This world has rejected Jesus. If you can make yourself happy and comfortable in it, do not count on His blessing.
The reversal cuts both ways.
Those who are full now, stuffed with the things of this present life, will find themselves hungering. Those who laugh now will yet mourn and weep. Things will be fully reversed from what people naturally think today.
Readers often merge this line with Matthew's fourth beatitude, but the two are not worded the same way.
In Luke 6 the Lord addresses His disciples directly. He says in a general way: "Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you shall be satisfied" (verse 21). The fourth of the nine "beatitudes" in Matthew 5 speaks of a particular hunger and thirst — a hunger and thirst after righteousness.
The promise is not a hope that things may improve. Its security rests on the character of the One who said it.
God will fill the hungry so that He may fulfil His word. "Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you shall be satisfied" (Luke 6:21). Has the Lord spoken, and will it not come to pass? As "His compassions fail not" (Lam. 3:22), so He will not let His "faithfulness fail" (Ps. 89:33). If the hungry soul were not filled, the promise would not be fulfilled.
The promise points forward, yet the blessing is spoken now. One writer holds both sides together.
For now, to hunger and thirst is a blessing, for it carries the prospect of being filled. In fact, though there may be painful deprivation, yet the soul may even now be filled with spiritual good. If there is weeping now, it is because our Lord is rejected and absent. In the end that weeping will turn to laughter, when we are with the Lord. So even now, holding this certainty of future hope, we are more blessed than we realise.
Scripture uses laughter in more than one sense.
There is a great deal about laughter in the Bible, and mostly it expresses these two ideas of happiness and contempt. "Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh" — these are the comforting words He speaks to His suffering disciples. But another saying means something very different: "He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord holds them in derision."
The passage says something no one would guess.
His disciples were the poor, the hungry, the weepers, those hated and reproached. A description like this shows that He was already treating His own rejection as a certainty. The sad and rejected are the blessed; the glad and the popular are under judgment. One group follows in the footsteps of the Son of Man and suffers for His sake. The other follows the way of the false prophets.
- Now — The hunger and the tears are dated. Luke's Lord keeps saying "now," because His own rejection sets the season His disciples live in.
- Named — He is not defining a category. He looks at the people in front of Him and tells them they are the blessed ones.
- Filled — The promise stands on God's faithfulness: if the hungry soul went unfilled, God's word would have failed.
- Already — Even before the reversal comes, the soul can be filled with spiritual good. Holding that certainty is itself more blessing than we feel.
- Laughter — Weeping ends in laughter, while those who laugh now end in tears. Where you take your comfort decides which list you are on.
Blessed are ye when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you [from them], and shall reproach [you], and cast out your name as wicked, for the Son of man's sake
The last of Luke's four blessings turns from poverty, hunger and tears to what people do on purpose: hatred, exclusion, insult, and the ruin of a good name. Two questions decide how we read it: who is Jesus speaking to, and what makes such treatment a blessing rather than plain misery?
Luke aims this sermon at the people standing in front of Jesus. One clause that Matthew has is missing here.
Lastly, notice that Luke leaves out persecution for righteousness' sake altogether. That has its fitting, though not exclusive, place in Matthew… Luke keeps only the blessing of those persecuted for the Son of Man's sake. This fits beautifully with the way he speaks directly to his four classes. The blessed here stand right in front of the Lord, and the persecuted here suffer only for His sake. It is all deeply personal.
The effect is to draw a line through the crowd. Everything depends on standing near Him.
He says, if we may put it this way, "I am setting you apart." He is not stating abstract principles, as at the start of Matthew 5. He is speaking to the hearts of those gathered around Him. "I have come as the centre of power and active love. There is only one place of blessing on earth. With Me you are blessed." Others may be lighthearted and cheerful where Christ has no place. But this is a time when a truly spiritual soul can find no good except with Christ.
Two words need explaining. Where the ESV says "exclude" and "spurn your name as evil," older translations read "separate" and "cast out your name as wicked." Commentators differ over how wide the shutting-out is:
"Separate" is usually understood to mean being put out of the synagogue (John 16:2). But the scholar De Wette took it, like the English translation, to mean being shut out of society in general.
The next phrase is about reputation.
To have your name "cast out" is to have it spread around, bringing you into bad repute.
The blessing does not rest on being disliked. It rests on the last phrase of the verse.
More than this, the believer is blessed in persecution — even when hated and shut out, with his very name treated with contempt as though it were evil (v.22). Yet there is a condition here: "for the Son of Man's sake." We can only claim the blessing if the persecution is for His sake. But if it is, the blessing is deeply real and valuable.
That condition also narrows what counts as a cross:
People often use the word "cross" loosely, for every kind of trial and suffering. It is used commonly even by unbelievers and about unbelievers. But in the language of Scripture, no unbeliever bears a cross. The world loves its own; it does not hate them (John 15:19)… Only one thing can be called a cross: suffering or insult that flows from man's unjust judgment on what is like Christ in us.
Verses 24 to 26 answer these blessings with matching woes. The arrangement sorts the hearers into two groups.
Some were identified with Himself and shared His sorrows. Others belonged to the world and shared its passing joys. On the one group He called down a blessing, and on the other a woe. This, of course, involved a tremendous paradox. The sad and rejected are the blessed: the glad and the popular are under judgment.
Jesus says this before any of it has happened to them — which is itself part of the kindness.
Would they be hated for the Son of Man's sake? That only showed whose they were. So they should rejoice. Here the Lord gives them an antidote to the sting of the trial by pointing them up to heaven. It is certainly a trial for anyone to have his name unjustly thrown out as evil. But He provided the antidote before the disciples had begun to feel the sting.
Taken seriously, the verse re-rates the whole experience.
I believe, beloved friends, to be thoroughly hated for Christ's sake is a wonderful thing. When a man is here really for God, and the light, the truth, and the grace of God are streaming through that man, he is sure to be hated, and if he is hated for Christ's sake, let him thank God.
And even a small share of it settles something inside:
It is an immense thing when you see and accept that suffering for Christ is the place of the highest distinction on earth. We may not suffer much. But simply being convinced that suffering is the highest place, and the only place of real progress, will always be healthy discipline and encouragement.
- Cause — The hatred comes from being close to Christ. Luke drops "for righteousness' sake" and keeps only "for the Son of Man's sake." It is personal.
- Company — Being shut out marks whose side you are on: separated from the synagogue or from society, but joined to Him.
- Condition — No condition, no blessing. Suffering that does not flow from what is like Christ in us is trouble, not a cross.
- Comfort — He hands over the antidote before the sting lands. He also turns the world's scoreboard upside down: the rejected are blessed, the popular are warned.
- Crown — Hatred for His sake is the highest distinction on earth, and the reward waits in heaven.
rejoice in that day and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in the heaven, for after this manner did their fathers act toward the prophets.
Jesus tells hated, insulted disciples to leap for joy. Three questions follow. What suffering counts? Why rejoice now? And where is the reward kept?
In Matthew the Lord describes a class of people. Here He speaks straight to the men in front of Him, and that splits His hearers into two camps.
On this occasion the Lord addressed His disciples personally. In Matthew He described a certain class, and says that theirs is the kingdom. Here He says, "yours is the kingdom," identifying that class with the disciples… This of course involved a tremendous paradox. The sad and rejected are the blessed: the glad and the popular are under judgment. But the first group follows in the footsteps of the Son of Man and suffers for His sake. The second follows in the way of the false prophets.
Not all suffering carries this promise. The blessing of verse 22 hangs on one phrase — "on account of the Son of Man" — and that phrase controls verse 23 too.
More than this, in persecution the believer is blessed, even when people hate him and shut him out, and despise his very name as evil (v.22). Yet there is a condition noted here: "for the Son of Man's sake." We can claim the blessing only if the persecution is for His sake. If it is, that blessing is deeply real and valuable. We are urged not to let persecution discourage us, but to rejoice and leap for joy. Being identified with Him this way is worth far more than a popular life on earth.
That condition also corrects a loose habit of speech, where any hardship gets called "a cross."
The word is used loosely, as if it applied to every kind of trial and suffering, and often even by and of unbelievers. In the language of Scripture it is clear that no unbeliever bears a cross… Every believer does bear a cross, but he has only one, and he should bear it not now and then but "daily." It is the reproach of Christ. No suffering or reproach is a cross, except what comes from man's unjust judgment on what is like Christ in us.
Being called evil hurts. Notice the timing of the Lord's remedy: He acts before the disciples feel anything.
Would they be hated for the Son of man's sake? That only showed whose they were. So they should rejoice. Here the Lord gives them an antidote to the sting of the trial by pointing them up to heaven. It is a real trial for anyone to have their name falsely cast out as evil. But He provided the antidote before the disciples had begun to feel the sting.
Full barns once looked like proof of God's approval. The word "heaven" moves the whole inheritance somewhere else.
But the Messiah had come to earth, and men rejected Him. So He began to teach that heaven, not earth, was to be the home of His faithful disciples (Luke 6:23). He taught the heavenly calling. Saints may experience suffering and trials here. These are not to discourage them. Beyond death is their portion, their home. The full barn and the crowded storehouse were now no proof of special Divine approval. They were no sign either that everlasting misery would not be the owners' portion.
The last line of the verse looks back. The disciples get what the prophets got, and that likeness marks them out as belonging to Christ.
His disciples are separated from all the world around them by this fact, that they are His. The world stands against Him and against His own. It hates them, shuts them out, and casts out their name as evil for the Son of man's sake… Yet they may well rejoice, for their reward is great in heaven. On earth they only continue the line of the prophets whom the world rejected long ago.
If that is the line you stand in, insults are not a step down.
It is an immense thing when you see and accept that suffering for Christ is the place of the highest distinction on earth. We may not suffer much; but the mere conviction that suffering is the highest place, and the only one of true progress, will always be healthy discipline and encouragement.
- Cause. The blessing rests on one condition: persecution "on account of the Son of Man." Only suffering that comes from what is like Christ in us counts as a cross.
- Company. Hatred puts you in the line of the rejected prophets. It shows whose you are.
- Antidote. Jesus points His disciples to heaven before they feel the sting, so joy is ready in advance of the pain.
- Place. The reward is kept in heaven, not in full barns on earth — this is where He begins teaching the heavenly calling.
- Result. Suffering for Christ is the highest honour on earth. Even believing that fact strengthens you.
But woe to you rich, for ye have received your consolation.
Luke 6 sets four blessings beside four woes. The first woe falls on the rich — not because wealth is a crime, but because of what the word "consolation" says about a life already paid in full. The question the verse forces is simple: where is your comfort banked, here or in the kingdom?
Luke does not delay the warning. Matthew saves his woes for the end of the Lord's ministry. Luke sets them right after the blessings. One writer ties this to the moral character of Luke's Gospel:
There are only four classes of blessing here — not seven. But four woes follow them. In Matthew those woes come later, kept for a still greater completeness in Matthew 23, at the end of His ministry, for the same dispensational reason he keeps up throughout his Gospel. Luke, on the other hand, gives the blessings first, and the woes right after. It was not the time of ease; judgment was coming. This flows from the moral character of his Gospel. We see the same thing in Deuteronomy, which has a similar purpose: Moses tells the people that he sets before them the blessing and the curse at the same time (Deut. 28).
The woe is not a threat of loss. It is a statement of accounts, and it names what the rich have traded away:
Verse 24 is directly addressed to the rich, not for blessing, but with warning of woe. If men seek riches before the coming kingdom, this is all they have. They ignore the future in order to receive their consolation now. Those who are full now, satisfied with the things of this present life, will find themselves hungering. Those who laugh now will yet mourn and weep. Things will be fully reversed from what people naturally think today.
The word is not a measure of income. Its opposite in the blessings, the poor, is not about income either:
By the poor is meant, not exactly those who are so called in this world, but rather the poor in spirit (Matt. 5:3), those who are conscious of poverty before God — whatever their position or earthly circumstances. The largest numbers of these, it is quite true, will be found among the class we know as the poor (see Luke 4:18; 1 Cor. 1:26-29); but thanks be to God, whose grace is sovereign in its operation, there are such in every rank and station of life. Abraham told the rich man in torment that he had received his good things in his lifetime, while Lazarus in the same way received bad things (Luke 16:25). These are the poor who have nothing to own, enjoy, or find satisfaction in among the things of the world — those who have been made to feel that they have nothing for God and can bring nothing to Him.
This woe is not aimed only at outsiders:
Then follow the woes. "But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation." Nothing is more dangerous than ease and satisfaction in this world. There is no greater snare, even to the disciple. So again: "Woe to you who are full now, for you shall be hungry." This, of course, has its moral bearing. There is leanness for the soul where the heart has all that it desires.
The test is where a person feels at home. The world in view is the one that rejected Jesus:
These words of the Saviour give the contrast between those He pronounces blessed and all who are at ease in this world. If in this life only they had hope in Christ, they would be of all men the most miserable. Yet they are the only happy few. They stand separated from all others, in relationship with Him, the source of blessing, so that they may be blessed. If you can make yourselves happy and comfortable in this world which has rejected Jesus, do not count on His blessing.
There is another kind of wealth, and it decides when a person's comfort comes:
Those who are rich in material things, and are not rich toward God, have received in this life the only consolation they will ever have (Luke 6:24). But those who are poor in this life, yet rich toward God, will have their consolation and portion in the life to come (Luke 16:19-31).
- Paid — "Received your consolation" is a receipt, not a threat. The comfort is paid in full, and no second payment is coming.
- Poor — The rich here are the self-satisfied. The poor know they have nothing to bring God, and grace finds them in every rank of life.
- Snare — Ease in this world is the greatest danger there is, and disciples are not exempt. A heart with all it wants grows lean.
- Home — If you are comfortable in the world that rejected Jesus, do not expect His blessing. The blessed are those set apart with Him.
- Reversed — The full will hunger and the laughing will weep. Those poor now but rich toward God receive their portion in the life to come.
Woe to you that are filled, for ye shall hunger. Woe to you who laugh now, for ye shall mourn and weep.
This verse holds the second and third of Luke's four woes. Both fall on people who have what they want right now — a full stomach and a laugh. Jesus does not call that comfort a blessing. He calls it a woe. Two questions follow: what does "now" mean, and why is being satisfied in this world dangerous at all?
One writer compares how Luke and Matthew arrange the blessings and the woes.
There are only four kinds of blessing here — not seven. But four woes follow them. Matthew holds those woes back until the fuller account in Matthew 23, at the end of His ministry, for the same reason he keeps to all through his Gospel. Luke, on the other hand, gives the blessings first and the woes straight after. It was not a time of ease; judgment was coming.
So what is wrong with having what you want? One writer points to the danger hidden in it.
Nothing is more dangerous than ease and satisfaction in this world. There is no greater snare, even for the disciple. So again: "Woe to you who are full now, for you shall be hungry." This, of course, has its moral bearing. There is leanness for the soul where the heart has everything it desires. "Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep." This carries the danger of man's heart a step further.
One writer explains why hunger is the better place to be now, and how long that "now" lasts.
Meanwhile to hunger and thirst is a blessing, for it carries the prospect of being filled. In fact, though there may be trying deprivation, the soul may even now be filled with spiritual good. If there is weeping now, while our Lord is rejected and absent, that weeping will turn to laughter when we are with the Lord. Even now, holding this certain hope, we are more blessed than we realize.
The laughter Jesus warns about is not ordinary cheerfulness. Writing elsewhere, one writer contrasts a believer's joy with the joy of the world.
It will also rejoice in the daily mercies of God. But it will not be the foolish joy of the world. That joy tries to hide its emptiness and to drown the sense of its misery with laughter. Alone, a person feels the emptiness and often the pain. In company, laughter makes them forget it. People do not like to burden others; they must make them believe they are happy. The world cannot be honest with itself; yet sorrow and affliction are only too real. The Lord could weep but not laugh.
Both halves of the verse promise an exchange.
Those who are full now are satisfied with the things of this present life. They will find themselves hungry. Those who laugh now will yet mourn and weep. Things will be fully reversed from the way people naturally think today.
One writer names what the full have already lost.
No; you who are "full" now — Jesus has no charm for you. But you, disciples, are weeping now; the sorrow and the sin of man distress your spirit: you shall rejoice… But the others! They shall have what they seek. For the full there will be a famine later on, for they have lost God. If you can laugh in a world like this, you will weep when God's time for blessing comes.
So who is warned here, and who is comforted? One writer draws the contrast sharply.
These words of the Saviour set those He calls blessed in contrast with all who are at ease in this world. If they had hope in Christ for this life only, they would be the most miserable of all people. Yet they are the only happy few… If you can make yourselves happy and comfortable in this world which has rejected Jesus, do not count on His blessing.
That makes the verse usable in two directions at once, as one writer applies it.
Let these solemn words run far and wide. They are encouragement and comfort to the poor, the suffering and afflicted people of God. They are loud warnings to those who are seeking their satisfaction and exaltation in this world.
- Now — One word dates every term in the verse: fullness now and laughter now, then hunger and mourning later.
- Full — A heart that has all it wants grows lean in soul; fullness is the loss, not the gain.
- Laughing — The world's laughter is a cover over emptiness; the Lord Himself wept in this world but did not laugh in it.
- Reversed — God overturns what people count as the good life.
- Addressed — The words draw a line: comfort to the afflicted, warning to anyone at ease in a world that rejected Jesus.
Woe, when all men speak well of you, for after this manner did their fathers to the false prophets.
In Luke's account of this sermon, four woes follow the four blessings. The last woe falls on a thing most people want — praise from everyone — and the Lord points back to how the fathers treated the men who prophesied lies.
Luke puts the warnings straight after the blessings. Matthew holds his back until much later.
It was not a time of ease; judgment was coming.
The blessings and the woes split the listeners into two groups. The split turns normal thinking upside down.
A description like this shows that He was already treating His own rejection as certain. The verses that follow (24-26) show that He was dividing the people into two classes. One group was identified with Him and shared His sorrows. The other belonged to the world and shared its passing joys. On the head of the one class He called down a blessing; on the head of the other, a woe. This of course involved a tremendous paradox. The sad and rejected are the blessed; the glad and the popular are under judgment. But the one group follows in the footsteps of the Son of Man and suffers for His sake. The other follows in the way of the false prophets.
Praise from everyone proves nothing about how God sees a person. It may point the other way.
If all speak well of us (v.26), it is no sign of God's approval, but of solemn humiliation to come. Ungodly people spoke well of false prophets and still do so today. Men's approval is empty, and worse, when one does not have God's approval.
The Lord backs the warning with what happened to the prophets before.
Suffering here has always been the lot of the true prophets. Popularity and general acceptance were given to the false ones. The world was not changed. The devil had not altered. Men's hearts were as bad naturally as ever. Faithfulness to God would still bring trouble, and it might be persecution, on those marked by it. Would they be hated for the Son of Man's sake? That only showed whose they were. So they should rejoice.
Ahab's likes and dislikes divide four believers of his day into two pairs.
Ahab called Elijah "my enemy" (1 Kings 21:20), and of Micaiah he said, "I hate him" (1 Kings 22:8). It is really a compliment to be disliked by the wicked. Obadiah and Jehoshaphat were the opposite of Elijah and Micaiah. They were not bold and unflinching, but weak, and given to compromise for the sake of advantage. Ahab hated neither of these, for they were useful to him.
The woe also tests how easily you settle into a world that turned Jesus away.
These words of the Saviour contrast those He calls blessed with all who are at ease in this world. Some would be the most miserable of all people, if their hope in Christ were for this life only. Yet they are the only happy few. They are cut off from all others, and put in relationship with Him, the source of blessing, so that they may be blessed. If you can make yourselves happy and comfortable in this world which has rejected Jesus, do not count on His blessing.
A name won in the Lord's service brings its own danger.
Many who profess faith have fallen because they were taken up with a name. The effort to keep up a name has destroyed many a useful servant. Suppose I have gained a reputation in some area of service. Perhaps as an active evangelist, a gifted teacher, a clear and attractive writer, a man of prayer, a man of faith, a person of remarkable holiness or great devotedness, a generous person — a name for anything, in short. Then I am in serious danger of making shipwreck. The enemy will lead me to make my reputation my object instead of Christ.
- Woe — Luke sets four woes right beside four blessings. Judgment was coming, and it was no time for ease.
- Whose — praise from everyone is not God's approval; it is a warning of humiliation still ahead.
- Why — the fathers welcomed the false prophets and left the true ones to suffer. The world, the devil and the human heart have not changed.
- Which side — the sad and rejected are the blessed. The glad and popular are under judgment. To be disliked by the wicked is a compliment.
- Watch — are you fully at ease in a world that rejected Jesus? Then do not count on His blessing. In service, never let your name take Christ's place as your aim.