12 In these days he went out to the mountain to pray, and all night he continued in prayer to God. 13 And when day came, he called his disciples and chose from them twelve, whom he named apostles: 14 Simon, whom he named Peter, and Andrew his brother, and James and John, and Philip, and Bartholomew, 15 and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon who was called the Zealot, 16 and Judas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.
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, 18 who came to hear him and to be healed of their diseases. And those who were troubled with unclean spirits were cured. 19 And all the crowd sought to touch him, for power came out from him and healed them all.
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.
21 “Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you shall be satisfied.
“Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh.
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! 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.
24 “But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation.
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.
26 “Woe to you, when all people speak well of you, for so their fathers did to the false prophets.
(ESV)
STOP! Think a little 🤔 What is God saying to you?
- What is the writer saying?
- How do I apply this to my life?
In these days refers to the period in which opposition to Jesus’ ministry was beginning to ramp up. Jesus withdrew to a mountain and prayed. Jesus needed strengthening and so He spent all night in prayer with the Father. When you’re tired and weary and in need of strength, is prayer your first port of call? If Jesus needed much time in prayer in order to fulfil what God had given Him to do, we would be wise to spend much time in prayer as well.
When Jesus came down from His time of prayer, He gathered all His disciples and chose the twelve He called apostles. No doubt a significant part of His time in prayer was beseeching the Father for wisdom on who He should choose to form part of His close circle and the first leaders of the church. The first three apostles mentioned are the three who were part of Jesus’ inner circle of close friends: Peter (and his brother Andrew), James, and John. In the twelve there were two pairs who are separately identified. James, brother of John and James, son of Alphaeus. And Judas the son of James and Judas Iscariot who later became a traitor.
As Jesus came down with his apostles, a great crowd of disciples and other people from Judea, Jerusalem, and the coast of Tyre and Sidon gathered to hear His message and to be healed from their diseases and spirits. The crowd all wanted to touch Jesus because he exuded power that healed them all.
Then Jesus began to teach His new message that was the new wine of the new wineskins that stood in contrast to the old wine of the Pharisees. This sermon is similar to the Beatitudes of Matthew 5-7 but with significant enough differences that it is not likely the same message. Jesus probably gave similar messages in different contexts and Matthew and Luke record different events. His message began with four blessings and four woes that paralleled each other. The beatitudes describe man’s fortunate state before God and are expressed as a present state in light of the future. We are blessed now because of what the future holds in God’s promises.
The poor (in spirit, physically because they’ve left everything to follow Jesus) are blessed because they are guaranteed their entrance into the kingdom based on their simple belief in the Messiah and His promise of the kingdom. They staked everything on Jesus’ promise to deliver. Not all poor people are blessed but “you” who are poor. Jesus was speaking to those who had chosen to follow Him.
God’s promised kingdom would alleviate the physical need and pain that Jesus’ followers experienced. All who choose to follow Jesus are guaranteed to suffer persecution (2 Tim 3:12) but can rejoice now because their reward is gathered and stored for them in heaven.
The four woes speak to those who reject the Messiah. Their reward and blessings are temporal and fulfilled now and they will have no future reward. Instead, when their life on earth comes to an end, they will mourn and weep because they have received everything they will receive in this life and face mourning and regret in the next.
Where is your focus in the blessings and reward cycle? Are you looking to “suck the marrow out of life”? Are you trying to be happy, popular, and wealthy? 1 John 2:15-17 warns us not to love this world because it is passing away. Instead we should be storing up our treasures in heaven (Mat 6:19-21). What do you need to do to move from “Woe to you…” to “Blessed are you…”?
Major Stories of the Bible Reading Plan
David and Bathsheba: 2 Samuel 11-12