Luke 6:20-22 Looking at his disciples, he said: “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. 21 Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh. 22 What happiness it is when others hate you and exclude you and insult you and smear your name because you are mine! 23 Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in Heaven. For that is how their fathers treated the prophets.”
 
AS the end of our previous lesson, I mentioned how Jesus’ teachings on happinesss in these beatitudes – also known as blessings – are opposite of how we view life. Who can be poor, hungry, grieving or hated and still be happy?
   As Matthew wrote of these, we can understand that being poor is poor in spirit. In other words, understanding your sin, you are eager to seek Jesus to heal your spirit. You are thankful God has given you a way out of your sin. To be hungry is to desire to consume God’s Word, eating it to satisfy your soul’s spiritual hunger. To mourn is to grieve over the world’s sin; and so grieving, you are eager to speak the gospel message. In a like manner, if people hate you for your stand on God’s Word, rejoice that the Lord stands alongside  you. You stand on the eternal relationship rather than on pleasing people. All of these terms of physical sufferings can point to spiritual suffering alleviated with God’s blessing – which we understand as his very personal, “face-to-face” relationship with you.
   These blessings will also come from physical suffering as we see them with a Kingdom view. If you are poor and/or hungry, know the blessing of the heavenly life is stored up for you. Even in these grim circumstances, having a Kingdom view of your life will assure you of Christ’s body broken and his blood shed to nourish you into eternal life. Jesus said the prophets endured these great physical and spiritual trials; yet, they have found their eternal reward. This is why all saved in Jesus’ sacrifice can be truly happy.  
    Do you mourn someone’s illness, financial brokenness or death? Then rejoice in the King’s resurrection power and promise to restore all Heaven and earth into a new creation. Pray for his mercy to change those circumstances, and then rest in his response.
   Finally, have you ever felt isolated or abused because you defended and stood for Jesus? Then be happy in the Lord because he has called you as his own child. No one can remove that face-to-face relationship!
   The apostle Paul writes of the gospel’s transforming work in Romans 12:2-3 Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is — his good, pleasing and perfect will.  With a mind set on the King’s ways, you will “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.” (James 1:2-3)
   Rejoice in God’s gospel way above all things. Know Kingdom life is forever.
 
Prayer: Lord God, keep my eyes on you in all circumstances to remember your great love. In Jesus’ name I pray, amen.

Luke 6:20-22 Looking at his disciples, he said: “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. 21 Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh. 22 What happiness it is when others hate you and exclude you and insult you and smear your name because you are mine!”
 
IN Matthew 5:3-11 you can read another account of this same “blessed teaching”. These have also been called the Beatitudes. Some translations use “Happy” for “Blessed”. “Beatitude” means “blessing”.
   What is blessing? The core meaning of blessing goes to every person’s desire to be so intimately with God you are face-to-face with him. See God’s “happy offer” to draw his people back to him in one of the most well-known and used blessings of all from Numbers 6:23-27 Tell Aaron and his sons, ‘This is how you are to bless the Israelites. Say to them: 24 “The Lord bless you and keep you; 25 the Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; 26 the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.’ 27 So they will put my name on the Israelites, and I will bless them."  
   Twice the blessing is spoken to be fulfilled in the Lord’s face upon his people. The priests were to put God’s name on his people. Mindful of God’s name, they would remember and know he is the great Provider, Almighty Creator who freed them from slavery and came to be face-to-face with them in his tabernacle in the desert. If the name of God is on you today, you know him as Savior, King and Resurrection. You know he has come very personally to be face-to-face with you. Believing in Jesus’ love, forgiveness and salvation, you know you can go to him face-to-face, don’t you? He came to the Jews long ago and comes to us today to bless his own with a face-to-face communion.
   Yes, every person longs for this relationship with the holy God. It is in our nature. He has made us that way. To meet with one face-to-face is the most intimate way to talk with that person, isn’t it? We even see this played out in the terms “Facebook” and “Facetime” in our modern communications. These technologies diminish the distance between friends in order to see each other’s faces. Facing someone, we are more prone to be truthful and open. Looking someone in the eyes opens our own heart for that person to see our own heart and to feel close to us.
   Yes, the very personal God created mankind to be face-to-face with him in love, worship and joy. But unhappily, sin formed shame in humanity’s heart. Genesis 3:7 Then the eyes of Adam and Eve were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves. Guilt and shame has turned our face away to hide from God. We can’t be his “friend” in our guilt. God’s perfection makes us very uncomfortable. We do all we can to hide from him. Still, God’s merciful will is to bless mankind with a loving face-to-face relationship.
   Jesus speaks God’s desire in the beatitudes. Through these teachings he offers the way of blessing. Submitting to God’s Kingdom way instead of the world’s way, you will see your shame transformed into love and peace in God’s forgiveness. More and more, as you are a friend with Jesus, you will discover a true, contented happiness in the risen Lord.
   True happiness is not a moment’s pleasure based on material or temporary pleasures, but kingdom happiness is an assurance of our eternal, intimate relationship with God. Happy in Christ, we will peacefully withstand all things that come against us.
   In our next lesson, we’ll talk more of what these particular blessings mean. They seem opposite of our thinking, don’t they?
  
Prayer: I pray, Father, that I am happy in you. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Luke 6:17-19 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 coast of Tyre and Sidon, 18 who had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases. Those troubled by evil spirits were cured, 19 and the people all tried to touch him, because power was coming from him and healing them all.
 
THIS account of Jesus’ teaching is generally considered to be the same sermon Matthew records as the “Sermon on the Mount”. Through these next several lessons, you’ll see the ways Dr. Luke teaches us of Jesus’ famous sermon in similar fashion to the apostle Matthew’s teaching.
   But first, let’s note a difference that has caused some confusion. Luke tells us Jesus “stood on a level place”. This could make us think he is on a flat plain, not on a mountain. Notice, though, that Jesus is on a “level place” and not on a flat plain. We can easily understand this “mountain-flat place” difference as we have just seen how Jesus went up on a mountain to pray. He then came from his solitary place to choose 12 apostles. Then he began to speak to them and many disciples (people learning from Jesus) around him in a convenient level place for a large crowd.
   Remember, too, that these Galilean mountains are more as high rolling hills with plateaus and valleys. When we say we go to the mountains on vacation, sometimes we go to such places as the Ozarks or Appalachian Mountains. But those tree-laden, rolling mountains with level pastures and high valleys are much different than the peaked and much taller Rocky Mountains.
   This is probably too long of an explanation, but I believe it is essential to understand the Bible is written by Holy Spirit-inspired men. They each conveyed their message in the language that fit their personal experiences. Let’s not ever negate the Bible with such debates as “Sermon on the Mount” or “Sermon on the Plain”? It is a foolish waste of time.
   Let’s focus, instead, on God’s power here at work. Wow! This is a incredible turnout to hear the Savior’s sermon. Rejoice and be glad that “a great number of people from all over Judea, from Jerusalem, and from the coast of Tyre and Sidon, 18 who had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases.” These disciples came from foreign countries and far away from within Judea to walk to Capernaum to hear the Lord.
   I wonder. Are we so eager to hear and experience his everlasting truth?
 
Prayer: Lord, I want to hear your teaching. Amen.    
 

Luke 6:13-15 When morning came, Jesus called his disciples to him and chose twelve of them, whom he also designated apostles: 14 Simon (whom he named Peter), his brother Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, 15 Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Simon who was called the Zealot, 16 Judas son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.
 
WE have learned that the word “Pharisee” means “set apart”. Pharisees set themselves apart from the God-opposing rule in Judah, so they could hold firmly to God’s law. Jesus, though, initiated the Kingdom of God as he chose 12 men to be set apart to be apostles of God’s grace. “Apostle” means messenger. They were anointed to tell he good news of forgiveness and salvation in Jesus’ Christ.
   There are many disciples in Jesus’ ministry, but the Twelve (as they are known) especially were chosen and later commanded to proclaim the gospel’s world-changing message: Matthew 28:19 “to go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” Just as God had chosen Noah to build the ark, Abraham to father a nation, Moses to deliver his people and David to be Israel’s most powerful king, God had chosen the Twelve to speak the message of salvation by grace alone.
   Notice that Jesus did this choosing immediately after his night after praying. Certainly he was in prayer seeking for the Father to direct him to his chosen apostles. We see how the Father answered that prayer in John 17:6 “I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word.” Again, directed by the Father and empowered with the Spirit, Jesus acted out God’s love into a broken world. The Trinity is one God in unity to do God’s will on earth.
   We can note three things here: First, the Pharisees acted on their own will and own human strength to set themselves apart. God gave no direction or purpose to their work. The Spirit was not on their work as he was on Jesus’ ministry. Kingdom ministry is impossible without the Father’s direction and Spirit’s authority.
   Second, know that the apostles’ name list looks different in each gospel. This means each particular gospel writer is using a second name to refer to the same man. Or he could be using a Greek form of a name. The different-looking lists are of the same men.
   Third, we always ask, “Why Judas Iscariot? Didn’t the Father know Judas would betray the Son?” Remember. God chooses. Judas was chosen to be an apostle in order to fulfill God’s sovereign plan to save your soul. Always know and remember that the events in Jesus’ ministry and in the entire Bible are God’s ordained will to “be done on earth as it is in Heaven”. (Matthew 6:10) The Lord’s will is to offer a Savior to save his chosen people from Hell. To do so, the Father gave Judas over to Satan: Luke 22:3-4 Then Satan entered Judas, called Iscariot, one of the Twelve. 4 And Judas went to the chief priests and the officers of the temple guard and discussed with them how he might betray Jesus.  
   Now before you might judge Judas or the Pharisees, let me ask, “Are you perhaps betraying God by living under your own “strength”? Are you living in your own will or the Father’s will?” If you confess Jesus, “Savior.” is there something small or big blocking you from fully living into your life as one set apart in Jesus’ salvation?
   Be assured, we all need God’s power and authority in our lives. We need him even more as we seek to tell the gospel to family, friends and community. Seek the Lord’s knowledge. As you learn the Bible’s truths, be prayerful and willing to set apart your life out of your own desires. Call on the Spirit to set you apart into your Lord’s commands. In this way, you will fulfill the purpose for which God has called you in his gracious salvation.
 
Prayer: I pray your will, Father, is done in my life. Open my mind to know you. Open my heart and hands to serve you with wisdom. In Jesus’ name I seek you, amen.

Luke 6:12 One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray and spent the night praying to God.
 
“ONE of those days” Jesus went to pray. That phrase gives me pause to consider the great spiritual warfare that was occurring in response to Jesus’ ministry. We have seen evil opposition confront our Lord through the devil’s temptation in the desert, the overwhelming fatigue Jesus would experience as crowds sought physical healing, and the Pharisees’ persistent effort to negate Jesus’ authority and grace. What is Jesus, the man, do as the spiritual battle looms? What does Jesus, the Lord of Hosts, do as sin strives against the Kingdom of God?
   Jesus goes for help. We again recall that Jesus is not about Kingdom business on his own. The Father and the Spirit are intimately involved. The Father shows to the Son what he must do and say. The Spirit gives him the power and discernment to know how to fulfill the Father’s mission. “The Spirit of the Lord is upon him” (Luke 4:18a) and the Son does as empowered.
   Jesus, the man, needs a revival of his human body and spiritual soul. So he stops “doing his love” for a night in order to receive the Father’s and the Spirit’s reviving power. You could compare his needs to the tired pastor going to his leaders to say, “I need help.” He is the worn-out missionary who longs for rest from the unstoppable oppression around him. He is the husband and father who needs some quiet time to be strengthened in the roles the Lord has given to him. He is as the weary wife and mother who needs revived strength for all the balancing that life requires. The Son of Man needed some quiet, empowering time to be fully engaged with the Father and the Spirit and then fully engaged with his creation. So he prayed.
   King David defines this type of prayer time in response to his weariness. Psalms 109:4 In return for my friendship they accuse me, but I am a man of prayer. Read of David’s life in 1 & 2 Samuel and see the great opposition he faced from his enemies and his own people – and his own family.  He knew where to go to be revived into God’s purpose for his life. (You can note in David’s life that sin came into David’s family when he stopped seeking God’s help.)
   Regardless of the opposition you face today, whether it be false friends, temptation, fatigue, ambivalence, habitual sin, frustration, boredom, etc., be as Jesus, the man, and Jesus, the Lord. He had much to do, still, to fulfill his mission on earth. His work will change the course of human history – and, I pray, your eternal soul. Jesus needed a filling of the Trinity’s power to fulfill the Father’s work, and so do you.
 
Prayer: Humble my heart, Lord, to consistently and lovingly seek your help. In the Spirit’s power I pray, amen.

Luke 6:6-12 On another Sabbath Jesus went into the synagogue and was teaching, and a man was there whose right hand was shriveled. 7 The Pharisees and the teachers of the law were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they watched him closely to see if he would heal on the Sabbath. 8 But Jesus knew what they were thinking and said to the man with the shriveled hand, “Get up and stand in front of everyone.” So he got up and stood there. 9 Then Jesus said to them, “I ask you, which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy it?” 10 He looked around at them all, and then said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He did so, and his hand was completely restored. 11 But they were furious and began to discuss with one another what they might do to Jesus.
 
WE continue from the previous lesson as we ask again, “How could the Pharisees be so blind to not see God’s grace?” Instead of celebrating Jesus’ healing power, they “began to discuss what they might do to Jesus.” Ultimately, we know that their “doing” led to them killing the Healer!
    Other questions we can ask here include: How could these men who held God’s law in high esteem plot against the One who made people well? What was on their minds that they were so adamant to keep Jesus’ grace on the shelf? What caused them to contrive Jesu’s healing as sin instead of a life-filling miracle? Jesus answers these questions with one of his teachings in another Jesus vs. Pharisees. When Jesus’ disciples had told their Lord the Pharisees were offended at his teachings, he responded in Matthew 15:13-14 “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be pulled up by the roots. 14 Leave them; they are blind guides. If a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit.”  
    Sin was blinding the Pharisees’ eyes as it blinds all of us. Although they longed for the Messiah to come, he was different than they expected. They were blind to the true Lord, and became blind leaders. Remember, Jesus said his mission was to Luke 4:18(b) “proclaim…recovery of sight for the blind” He had released a man oppressed with disease to help all see the prophesied Messiah stood in their presence. Jesus was fulfilling all the law spoken about him. But still the sin-blinded Pharisees could not see God’s grace has come in person to lead them “in paths of righteousness for his name's sake.”  (Psalm 23:3b)
    How about you? Maybe you want to see his love, but you close your eyes at his righteousness – his commands and true teachings. Perhaps you are concerned that fully seeing Jesus, you must change some things that keep you blind to his grace. Are you willing to open your eyes to the true Savior? Are you willing to lead others to him? Perhaps you can pray the words of this song, “Open Our Eyes, Lord”. (author unknown)
 
Open our eyes Lord
We want to see Jesus,
To reach out and touch Him
And say that we love Him.
 
Open our ears Lord
And help us to listen,
Open our eyes Lord
We want to see Jesus.
 
Open our eyes Lord
We want to see Jesus,
To reach out and touch Him
And say that we love Him.
 
Open our ears Lord
And help us to listen,
Open our eyes Lord
We want to see Jesus.
 
Prayer: Yes, open my eyes, Lord. In faith, I pray I will clearly see you to follow you on your righteous path. In your name I pray, amen.

Luke 6:6-12 On another Sabbath he went into the synagogue and was teaching, and a man was there whose right hand was shriveled. 7 The Pharisees and the teachers of the law were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they watched him closely to see if he would heal on the Sabbath. 8 But Jesus knew what they were thinking and said to the man with the shriveled hand, “Get up and stand in front of everyone.” So he got up and stood there. 9 Then Jesus said to them, “I ask you, which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy it?” 10 He looked around at them all, and then said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He did so, and his hand was completely restored. 11 But they were furious and began to discuss with one another what they might do to Jesus.
 
HERE again, as in our previous lesson, the Pharisees challenged Jesus’ grace. On a Sabbath day, they were waiting for Jesus to heal, “looking for a reason to accuse Jesus”. There was no specific law that prohibited Sabbath healing, but many religious leaders opposed offering minor cures on that day. To some, healing a debilitating disease was a greater “work” that could wait until the next day. Surely, if healing were to happen, what difference would one day make?
    This “healing-on-the-Sabbath” opposition occurred often in Jesus’ ministry. He had this very same conversation with other Pharisees in Luke 14:3-4 Jesus asked the Pharisees and experts in the law, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not?” 4 But they remained silent. So taking hold of the man, he healed him and sent him away. Note, when Jesus asked the question, the Pharisees had no answer. They didn’t have one specific rule against healing; yet, many condemned Jesus.
    Isn’t this remarkable? God’s creation power had come to earth “to release the oppressed” (Luke 4:18c). Here is the One who spoke the heavens and the earth into existence. He is the One who established a Sabbath. Our Lord graciously was demonstrating his power to graciously bring new, restored life to mankind. Yet, the Pharisees said, “Not today. Do this at a more appropriate time.” Do you think if they had stood with the Living Word at the dawn of creation they would have said, “Let’s wait a bit. The time isn’t right.”
    How could the Pharisees be so blind to God’s grace? We’ll answer that tomorrow. In the meantime, consider this: Do you believe the Lord of Creation can and does make you to be new?  How do you respond to the gracious ways God acts to heal your life?
 
Prayer: Open my eyes, Lord, to see and know the many ways you so graciously heal me. In Jesus’ name, amen.
 
 

Luke 6:1-5 One Sabbath Jesus was going through the grainfields, and his disciples began to pick some heads of grain, rub them in their hands and eat the kernels. 2 Some of the Pharisees asked, “Why are you doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?” 3 Jesus answered them, “Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? 4 He entered the house of God, and taking the consecrated bread, he ate what is lawful only for priests to eat. And he also gave some to his companions.”  5 Then Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”
 
HAVE you ever considered that God’s law as recorded in Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy contains much understanding of God’s grace – his unmerited favor in our lives? This passage refers to two grace elements in God’s law. First, God graciously commanded a Sabbath to be remembered each week (Exodus 20:8 and many other passages). This is God’s favor to give us a day to rest, worship and consider God’s blessing of life to the earth and to the Jews. Consider the impact of this rest day as the Jews in Egypt’s slavery had worked seven days each week. What a gift!
    Second, God’s law also graciously permitted hungry travelers to pluck grain to eat from the fields along a road. Deuteronomy 23:25 If you enter your neighbor's grainfield, you may pick kernels with your hands, but you must not put a sickle to his standing grain. The understanding is, “Take eat as needed but no more.” Graciously, God permitted rest for weary workers and food for hungry travelers. These are the physical ways of salvation. Our Lord always cares for us physically to prepare us to enter into his spiritual resting and feasting.
    But this grace wasn’t enough for the over-zealous Pharisees. They had added 39 rules to God’s Sabbath law! God’s straightforward commands became an impossible pathway in the Pharisees’ man-formed, legalized system.
    As Jesu responds, “The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.” he affirms the Lord’s way needs no additions. Long before the Pharisees’ rules, Jesus, the Living Word, had spoken to establish his gracious care over the Jews on their desert journey from Egypt and into the Promised Land. He spoke again that day to affirm he is the Lord. He has made the law. He requires no instruction from us. We are to listen, learn and live into his gracious, righteous truth. 
 
Prayer: Thank you, Father, for your gracious words throughout Scripture. You love me in so many ways. I praise you for your favor of salvation in my physical body and eternal soul. Amen.

Luke 5:36-39 He told them this parable: “No one tears a patch from a new garment and sews it on an old one. If he does, he will have torn the new garment, and the patch from the new will not match the old. 37 And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the new wine will burst the skins, the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. 38 No, new wine must be poured into new wineskins. 39 And no one after drinking old wine wants the new, for he says, ‘The old is better.’”
 
A memory of my childhood relates to my mother patching my jeans. Growing up on a farm was hard on denim. Doing chores, playing in the dirt, and catching the cloth on a barbed wire fence caused a constant need for my mom to patch jeans for my brother and me. She would take from other worn out jeans to fix the torn clothes. It was good to extend the use of the jeans, but at this point, we knew it was only a matter of time the jeans would be too worn to wear.  
    This parable (an earthly story with a heavenly meaning) is Jesus’ emphasis that he has come to make all things new. The Old Testament of the law is complete as Jesus came to fulfill the law (Matthew 5:17). The law has served its purpose. Patching the law with new laws into God’s perfect law would be ineffective regarding God’s eternal plan of salvation.
    Jesus is beginning the New Testament. His blood became the wine of the new promise of grace. His sacrifice on the cross became a garment of praise. Hear this “new garment” promise in Isaiah 61:3 and provide for those who grieve in Zion – to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor. 
    Rejoice in Jesus’ new garment for you. Who wants to wear the old when we can live under Jesus’ eternal new clothes? Revelation 21:5 “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”
 
Prayer: Thank you, Jesus, for your garment of praise over my soul. I rejoice in the new life you have given to me. I pray I always remember and live in your love. In you name I pray, amen.
 

Luke 5:33-35 They said to him, “John's disciples often fast and pray, and so do the disciples of the Pharisees, but yours go on eating and drinking.” 34 Jesus answered, “Can you make the guests of the bridegroom fast while he is with them? 35 But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; in those days they will fast.”
 
AS in so many conversations with the religious establishment, Jesus clarifies the discrepancies between common practices and God’s truth. God had not commanded fasting as a common practice. His law instructs the Jews to fast only on the Day of Atonement each year. It is a special time of repentance and worship to remove the sin from Israel. It was not wrong to fast. But it was not required in common worship and teaching experiences.
    Our Lord used the marriage metaphor to point to the need for his disciples to “eat” of all he has to teach while he is with them. No one fasts at a wedding feast. Jesus the bridegroom of the church, wants his disciples to feast on his words.
    The gospel of John emphasizes Jesus feeding his truth to the world as it records Jesus teaching he is the Bread of Life. John 6:35 Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.  And Luke records Jesus teaching us to remember his broken body as we eat our daily bread. Luke 22:19 And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.” 
    The disciples feasted personally with Jesus under his teaching. Today, i the Spirit’s power, we can feast daily on Jesus’ nourishing words. We can also take time to fast from our daily food to consider our Lord’s suffering and his salvation. By God’s grace we can feast with the Bridegroom forever.
 
Prayer: Thank you, Father, for feeding to me the eternal Bread of Life through the Son and the Spirit. Amen.