Luke 6:17-36 "Discipleship 101"

Everybody’s pretty sure they got the basic idea of what Jesus is all about. I don’t care who you talk to, whether they grew up going to VBS, Sunday School, watching Veggie Tales, and going to church every Sunday—or if all their information comes from TV preachers, mega-church billboards, What Would Jesus Do bumper stickers, or some guy their sophomore year who tried to convince everyone they were going to hell if they kept passing out on the mini-keg at frat parties. Church people, unchurched people, liberals, conservatives, rockers, kickers, metalheads—everyone thinks they already know everything they need to know about Jesus.

That’s a problem because they don’t. You don’t. I don’t.

It’s a problem because you can’t learn something you think you already know.

My favorite comedian, Mitch Hedberg, said, “I saw a commercial on late-night TV, it said, "Forget everything you know about slipcovers." So I did. And it was a load off my mind. Then the commercial tried to sell me slipcovers, but I didn't know what they were.”

Maybe I should tell you to forget everything you know about Jesus so you can hear this sermon the way the disciples heard it. This is His most basic teaching.” Discipleship 101, and none of us are passing the class.

Prayer: Father in heaven, help us hear the words of Jesus today as if we can actually learn something from Him. As if we actually need what He has for us. AMEN

Luke 6:17

He went down with them and stood on a level place. A large crowd of his disciples was there and a great number of people from all over Judea, from Jerusalem, and from the coastal region around Tyre and Sidon, who had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases. 

We’re picking up from where we left off. Jesus had gone up on a mountain, prayed all night, and then He picked The Twelve from the giant crowd of disciples who were following Him around. This is Jesus at the height of His popularity about a year before the cross. Picture thousands of people coming from all over. Jesuspalooza. They’ve been camping for days. They want to get a glimpse of Him, be healed, hear Him speak. Devout Jews, pagan Gentiles, Romans, Greeks. It’s a very mixed crowd from all over the country. 

This is Luke’s version of the Sermon on the Mount. Some people call it the Sermon on the Plain because it says He stood on a level place. Luke says Jesus came down from the mountain with the freshly chosen Twelve. Matthew says Jesus went up on a mountainside and taught the disciples. That’s hardly a contradiction. Jesus found a level place on the side of a mountain that made a nice amphitheater for teaching all the people that came to Jesuspalooza. Verse 18:

They came to hear Him teach and be healed of their diseases. Those troubled by impure spirits were cured, and the people all tried to touch him, because power was coming from him and healing them all. Luke 6:18-19

Thousands of people. All hoping for something. You need to let the full weight of what you just heard hit you: they were all cured. They were all healed. Everyone who came expecting to get something from Jesus got what they needed. Not just the people who touched Him, not just the ones who made it to the front row. All the demons were cast out and all the people were healed. This is a lot better than Coachella or Burning Man. Woodstock pales in comparison.

Okay, here we go, the teaching of Jesus. The basic instruction for everyone who says they’re His follower. Everyone who considers themselves to be His disciples. Christians. You ready? Verse 20:

Looking at his disciples, he said: “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh. Blessed are you when people hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man. “Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For that is how their ancestors treated the prophets. Luke 6:20-23

Blessed you poor. Blessed you hungry. Blessed you weeping. Blessed you hated, excluded, and insulted because you believe in Jesus. Cheer up when everything in your life sucks because great is your reward in heaven.

So, what does this mean? Do we need to be poor, hungry, weeping, hated, excluded, and insulted in order for Jesus to bless us? Do we?

I know we certainly don’t want that to be what it means. But isn’t that what it says?

Let’s start with blessed are the poor. That’s not really the best way to translate what it says. Luke actually says something more like, “blessed are the beggarly” — people who are like beggars. You could translate the word as “poor,” it’s not wrong, but it doesn’t really get at what Jesus is saying. Matthew says it a little different, he says, “blessed are the poor in spirit.” 

It means literal poor people, beggars. It also means spiritually poor people. People who need to beg for God’s help.

You have to picture the setting. Thousands of people showing up to get something from Jesus. Like beggars. They didn’t buy a ticket. They can’t afford to pay the price of what they need from Him. He either gives it to them free or they’ll have to do without. 

This is how we all need to come to Jesus. As beggars. We have nothing to offer Him. We need what He has for us. We come to His table hungry. It’s not a potluck. We didn’t bring anything. We’re freeloaders. Sounds wrong, doesn’t it? Kicks us right in the pride. 

We think if we go to lunch with Jesus that we’re going to pick up the check. That’s not going to happen. Jesus always picks up the check.

And here’s another way we get this wrong. We always think we can earn His blessing. You can’t earn His blessing. You can’t earn it by being good. You can’t earn it by being bad. You can’t earn it by being poor, hungry, sad, or rejected either. He either gives you His blessing free or you don’t get it.

So all these people showed up hoping to get something from Jesus—and He gave it to them.

Let’s talk about the word “blessed.” 

#blessed. What do people even mean by that? Lucky? Fortunate? People compliment our house or our family—whatever—and we say, “I’m very blessed.” What do we mean? That God has been kind to us? That He’s given us “blessings?” Gifts? That we have it better than other people? 

Forget everything you know about the word blessed. Ha.

In the Old Testament and the New Testament, it means that God has shown you favor. It’s a synonym for “saved.” It means God has shown you grace and mercy. It means you have been given the goodness and kindness of God. 

It also means you’re going to be happy about it—you’re going to be filled with joy. You will be glad. Delighted. It means you’re going to be filled with gratitude and thankfulness. Not out of obligation but as a direct result of God blessing you. His blessing creates the joyfulness.

To be “blessed” is to receive God’s blessing in such an overwhelming way that you experience peace and joy. It’s always a gift. You can’t earn it. You don't have to fake it, it’s not a burden. But it changes how you look at everything else.

You might be poor, you might be hungry, you might be sad, you might be rejected—in this world, in your current circumstances. But because of the hope you have in Jesus by faith, because you’re saved, because you’re blessed, it doesn’t matter. You can do all things through Christ Jesus who strengthens you and gives you hope. You can take anything this world has to dish out because you know all the pain and suffering of this world is temporary. He promises that in your eternal future in the kingdom of God, you’re going to have everything you need. You’re going to sit at His table, eat your fill of good food, laugh with friends, and leap for joy. Jesus paints the picture of a beautiful, glorious wedding feast. 

[For that is how their ancestors treated the prophets] Also, don’t miss that He compares all His disciples to the prophets of old. They boldly spoke the message God gave them and they were rejected—He knows the same thing’s going to happen to all of His followers who speak the Gospel message. Like the prophets, we have a job to do anyway.

In this life, sometimes things are going to suck. Sometimes we won’t have enough, there will be sad days filled with tears, there will be no end of people who say and do hateful things. But everyone who believes in Jesus knows that’s not the end of the story. There are no tragic endings in the kingdom of God. Your story is going somewhere good. 

Show up with open hands expecting Jesus to fill them and you will be blessed. Lay down your pride and you will be blessed. We are all beggars. Verse 24:

“But woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort. Woe to you who are well fed now, for you will go hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep. Woe to you when everyone speaks well of you, for that is how their ancestors treated the false prophets. 
Luke 6:24-26

Woe to you. Warning to you. Woe is the opposite of blessed. If you think you know everything you need to know about Jesus—woe to you! If you think you’re okay, you don’t need anything from Him—woe! 

There was a little mission church in New York that was close to a jailhouse. Convicts and lawyers were always coming and going. The pastor told me that a lot of times prisoners would be released on Sundays and it was pretty common for them to show up at Sunday worship. Desperate. Looking for a new start. Looking for hope. You know what never happened? According to him, not once—not one lawyer ever walked out of the jailhouse and decided to pop into a church service.

I think that’s what Jesus is getting at. Wealthy people don’t think they need Him. They’re too comfortable. Too well fed. Life’s already a party. Everything’s a joke. Everyone sucks up to rich people because they want something from them. They’re too well respected in this world to be concerned about the next one.

Woe to you who are rich. Warning. In the strongest possible way, Jesus is warning you. Do not get too attached to all that stuff you have. You either put all of your wealth on the altar and ask God what He wants you to do with it, or it will be tied to your neck and drag you away from Him.

Notice these “woes” line up with the “blesseds.” Beggarly/rich, hungry/well-fed, weep/laugh, rejected like the prophets of old/spoke well of like the false prophets. We’re all going to have times in our life when we’re on one side or the other of these things. He wants us to remember which side is the dangerous one—which side is a trap and which side tends to lead us closer to Him.

It’s not what we would have expected, is it? We would think it would be easier to live for God if we were rich than poor. Jesus says when it comes to following Him, we tend to get it backward.

So, this is Jesus giving an introduction lesson to His disciples about what it’s supposed to look like to follow Him. If He has blessed you, what is your #blessed life supposed to look like?

Remember, this isn’t how you get the blessing. This is what you do with it. 

Forget everything you know about what it looks like to be a Christian. At least for a moment, see if you can hear this next part and take it at face value. Verse 27:

“But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. (Enemies. Who are your enemies? People who don’t like you. People who are mean to you, rude to you. People who cut you off. People at work who try to get you fired. People who talk smack about you behind your back. People who think you’re stupid. Toxic people. People who jump on your social media posts and attack your political ideas. People who have different political opinions than you do. People who hate Jesus and are trying to destroy the church and ruin the country. Jesus says to do good to them. Even people who walk right up to you and curse you to your face…you’ve heard this next verse before…) If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn to them the other also. (This is the instruction manual for what we’re supposed to do with the blessed life. We’re supposed to take crap off people. Insults. Threats. You might be under the impression this would be weakness. “I don’t take crap off anyone!” It takes a lot more strength to not respond with anger and violence. As followers of Jesus, we’re supposed to use these kinds of situations to shock and amaze people with kindness, mercy, self-control, and… I don’t know about you, but I suck at this. You’ve probably heard sermons where they read what Jesus says here, and then spend the whole sermon watering it down. Taking the teeth out of it. Trying to find some way to make it not say what it plainly says. I’m not going to do that. Let’s underline the whole Bible and just deal with it. This section is a punch to the gut. We need to feel the impact. It gets worse. Verse 29:) If someone takes your coat, do not withhold your shirt from them. Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. (Someone steals from you, let them keep it. If they ask for something, give it to them. Yikes! How you doing with this #blessed life so far? I know I’m more like Gollum with his precious ring than the person Jesus is describing here. Someone walks up to you and takes your phone, what do you do? “Okily dokily, enjoy my phone, neighbor! Wait, let me get you the charger—you don’t want the battery to die!” No, we become a fiend. “My precious! Gollum!” Verse 31…) Do to others as you would have them do to you. (There it is, the “golden rule.” Everyone knows it, no one does it. Notice that you’re supposed to make the first move. “Do to others as you would have them do to you.” You go first. Not “do to others if they do for you.” Not, “be good to them if they’re good to you.” This isn’t about being “fair.” This is the opposite of “fair.” It’s treating people, especially people who don’t like you and are mean to you, treating them better than they deserve. You ready for me to keep going? Discipleship 101 is a hard class. Jesus ain’t letting up…Verse 32:) “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that. And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, expecting to be repaid in full. But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. (God’s not impressed with all our business as usual. If you’re nice to people who are nice to you, so what? Big whoop. Everyone does that. Jesus expects His followers to go above and beyond with that blessed life He gave us. He wants us to surprise people with unexpected grace and kindness. Better than they deserve. 

Here’s the point of all this, it’s the most amazing part. Don’t miss it…) Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

It’s not going to be pleasant to take all that abuse. God knows that. I mean, He really knows that. You going to need to focus on the reward. Focus on the promise of being His beloved children. 

Also, don’t focus on how miserably bad you are at doing all those really difficult commands to be kind to people who are mean to you.

That long list of things Jesus expects His people to do with their blessed lives—showing love and kindness to people we don’t like. We suck at it. Discipleship 101—we all failed. But it’s clearly what God commands us to do. If we don’t do good to people who are bad to us, if we don’t turn the other cheek, if we don’t do to others as we would want them to do to us—then we are in disobedience. Sin. If we don’t treat people the way Jesus told us to treat people, then we’re the ungrateful and wicked ones. You and me. He blessed us and we don’t care, we just selfishly live however we want to live.

Every time Jesus mentioned people who are ungrateful, wicked, enemies—he was describing us. That’s who WE are to Him. Selfish enemies of God.

Forget everything you know about how God’s going to treat His enemies.

Because here’s the most surprising part. God is kind to us anyway.

Verse 35: “He is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.”

As we have perfectly illustrated—that’s us. That’s you and me. He has shown you mercy. He has blessed you. He has promised you the kingdom of God.

The way to really understand what Jesus is saying in all this is to turn it all on Him. He was describing Himself. Did He love His enemies? He did. As He was hanging on the cross being mocked and laughed at, being rejected, He prayed “Father forgive them they don’t know what they’re doing.” About the people who were murdering Him. They did more than slap Him on the cheek, and He let them. They took His cloak and they gambled for His tunic and took that, too. They took everything from Him, and He let them.

God loved you while you were still lost in your sin, He came to you and blessed you. Right where you were. Just as you were. You’re not supposed to stay there, though. You were a sinner. You were defined by your sin. But not anymore. Now you’re blessed.

All those people showing up at Jesuspalooza to hear Jesus and be healed. They all needed something. They all begged. He didn’t turn any of them down.

Ask and you shall receive, seek and you shall find. Jesus promises to give to everyone who asks.

This week’s lesson is a perfect example of what we try to do here every week. Remind us that we are unbelievably blessed by the kindness and mercy of God because of Jesus. Look at how He has commanded us to live, how He has told us to treat each other—what He’s told us to do with these new blessed lives He gave us. And then remind us that our standing with God doesn’t depend on how well we perform. He is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. 

But I’m not going to let you off the hook for this high calling Jesus has for you. There’s nothing easy about it but you have to do it anyway. There’s always going to be selfish, wicked people in this world and they’re going to be in your face everywhere you go. Cool. Think of all the surprising possibilities of sharing your faith in Jesus with them—simply by treating them better than they deserve. Just like you have been. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

When you find yourself poor, take heart and remember the promise of hope—the promise of a better future. When you have enough or more than enough, be warned that those things can poison your faith. 

Forget everything you know about how to live a mediocre typical Christian life. Remember who you are and be thankful for the mercy and kindness God has shown you because of Jesus. It will be a load off your mind.

AMEN