Luke 6 begins with Jesus and his disciples being questioned for gathering food to eat, and for performing acts on the Sabbath. As Jesus begins to fulfill his purpose on earth, those in established and, judging, positions become more intent on detecting and admonishing faults and his breakings of holy commandments.
When Jesus and his disciples gather food on the Sabbath, Pharisees ask him, “Why do you do that which is not lawful on the sabbath day?”
When Jesus heals a man on the Sabbath, scribes and Pharisees wait for a reason to condemn him, and understanding that there are people of power and influence seeking to denounce him for doing good in defiance of recorded laws, Jesus speaks, “I ask you, if it be lawful on the sabbath days to do good, or to do evil; to save life, or to destroy?” and knowing he will be judged, but humbling those who seek to condemn by calling them out on their love for God’s laws before God’s Love, Jesus proceeds to heal the man, and those that he called out “were filled with madness; and they talked one with another, what they might do to Jesus.”
After this, Luke 6 speaks of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount and the Beatitudes: “Blessed are…” Jesus speaks of conditions the world would see as undesirable, and calls them blessings. Jesus speaks of prosperity, prominence, and world accolades—when such distance us from God—as curses, for their reward is in the now at a greater after consequence.
Next, Jesus speaks of the necessity to love our enemies. “I say to you that hear: Love your enemies, do good to them that hate you. Bless them that curse you, and pray for them that calumniate you. And to him that striketh thee on one cheek, offer also the other…Give to every one that asketh thee, and of him that taketh away thy goods, ask them not again…if you love them that love you, what thanks are to you? For sinners also love those that love them. And if you do good to them who do good to you, what thanks are to you? For sinners also do this…But love ye your enemies: do good, and lend, hoping for nothing thereby: and your reward shall be great…”
Jesus speaks on further about the necessity and reward for humility and giving of ourselves to others. “Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father is also merciful. Judge not, and you shall not be judged. Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned. Forgive, and you shall be forgiven. Give and it shall be given you…for with the same measure that you shall mete withal, it shall be measured to you again.
Lastly, Jesus speaks in criticism of professed world experts and authorities, “Can the blind lead the blind? Do they not both fall into the ditch?” And of those eager to judge others and are blind/ignorant to their own equal and greater faults, “How canst thou say to they brother: Brother, let me pull the mote out of thy eye, when thou thyself seest not the beam in thy own eye? Hypocrite, cast first the beam out of thy own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to take out the mote from thy brother’s eye.”
Jesus speaks that we as man and woman are judged by the fruit our lives bear, “A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth that which is evil. For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.”
Lastly, Jesus ends with the parable that what we build our lives around defines how we shall stand, or fall, when trials come. He does with the parable of building a house on rock versus soil and earth without strong foundation, and when the floods come, it is the house on the rock that survives.
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This chapter, to me, is pretty packed. First, I think it’s important to always remember—even when we’re doing Good and living what we perceive as God’s purpose and Love for which we’re made—the world will always judge, especially when we’re effective. I think one of these reasons is because living openly an honestly forces others to get honest with themselves, which for some (me when I finally did it) can be an uncomfortable and undesirable beginning point.
When the world judges, keep doing good. In Jesus’ time, just as today, a lot of the world—and especially those empowered by it—use “law” in a way that manipulates and exploits a desired intent and seeks the merit of law for law’s sake and not the protection, service, and improvement of people’s lives and conditions—which was the purpose for which “law” is made.
Then, the world killed Jesus for doing good deeds on the Sabbath. Today, a good amount of the world praises Jesus for the same. People of the world will often manipulate and exploit perceptions to make conditions appear in their favor—for the purpose of preserving their own power and relevance, rather than seeing a Good happen that puts their place at risk. Still do the Good, accept the attacks. Right is still right and wrong is still wrong: and manipulators and self-interested actors in the present are not the authority of which is which. The world will always seek to destroy that which threatens the powers of the present. That is why Eternal Good will always be of a different order and spirit than that which dominates this world—Eternal Good is transcendent, not fixed to the immanent and ephemeral.
As Jesus begins to speak on the mount, he begins with the Beatitudes. “Blessed are ye poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are ye that hunger now; for you shall be filled. Blessed are ye that weep now: for you shall laugh. Blessed shall you be when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of Man’s sake. Be glad in that day and rejoice; for behold your reward is great in heaven. For according to these things did their fathers to the prophets.”
To me the Beatitudes are one of the greatest messages, learning points, and philosophies Jesus gives to us. The message: all in life—especially the challenges—are blessings. This was, and remains, one of the most threatening and disruptive messages to powers of the living world. The Beatitudes, above anything, are a message of Hope, and where there is hope, there is will to continue for it when reason, force, and world decry that you shouldn’t. A person with Hope can defy, and will defy, the world when world seeks to break him. A person with Hope will continue to live in gratitude, and not desperation, when world seeks to break him; and in this Hope, man rises to the Better Creation he was designed by God to be. I believe this is why so much of our world seeks to break this spirit in an effort to shape and control actions, obeisance, and deference of the masses; and when Hope is promised to the masses, it is always for a world-centric and leader-serving purpose. The Beautitudes defy this exploitation and empower every man and woman with the ability to live in Hope amid their present condition; breaking the bondage of whatever world state seeks to control and exploit them for different worldly purpose.
The Beatitudes affirm God’s Love—free will—when man most needs it: in trials, adversity, and doubt. It’s Hope and exercise of our free will that raise us from the trials when the world, in spite of all pretty words and spoken intent, seeks to fix us in our lows.
When Jesus speaks to loving our enemies, and disinterested love is the only true love, I believe this true. If we want or expect something from another, whatever we may call it, it isn’t love. Love is an action on our part, not a trade or exchange where we expect or exploit for receipt. Love is selfless, and it is the selflessness of it that makes it so powerful when we are blessed to be on the receiving end. It is a goodness for no other reason but to offer that goodness.
As Jesus spoke on, about being merciful, not judging, and to give because, whatever we give, it shall be returned to us again.
How many of our life and world problems are orders of consequence in not living this lesson? How many problems do we create as follow-on orders of effect when we are harsh and not merciful to another? I believe part of “justice” is measured and appropriate response, not cold “by the book” punishments.
When we judge, does our judgment, aside from the self-satisfaction of perceiving ourselves greater than another by self-anointed righteousness, change anything? Does condemnation help another to grow and change, or does it cut us off from them an create greater division? What cultivates a greater communion of spirit and exchange, even when spirits may disagree and perceive world conditions different?
In giving, how many of the scarcities in our world and relationships are for something we, ourselves, fail to share? If we want a more loving relationship, do we express our own enough? When we wish people were more helpful, do we offer to others help we can provide? When we wish for more kindness, do we outwardly live this towards others? And should we do so, do we perceive the effects of our givings truly returned to us in measure to which we give?
The qualities of my world improved when I began living and expressing the greater qualities of me. I do believe what we give away returns to us—though not always from where, and how we expect—in measure to what we give away.
Last, when Jesus speaks of our lives being known by the fruit that we produce, and how “out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh,” what do we believe our own lives are producing? From the abundance of our heart, whatever fills it, what are we spreading into the world? Are we happy with our fruit? If so, why? What is our measure? If not, how do we change?
What do you think?
Thank you Mom, love you 🙂
I love this!