the OTHER one : Blessed are . . . What did you say ?
Luke 6:12-19
One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God. When morning came, he called his disciples to him and chose twelve of them, whom he also designated apostles: Simon (whom he named Peter), his brother Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Simon who was called the Zealot, Judas son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.
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, who had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases. Those troubled by evil spirits were cured, and the people all tried to touch him, because power was coming from him and healing them all.
NIV
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
"One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God."
It was getting dark, the last bits of light fading at the horizon. The sky was deep turquoise, the hills and trees a silhouette against the sky. Wrapping his cloak around his head and letting it settle across his shoulders, Jesus grabbed a small loaf of bread and a chunk of cheese left on the table from dinner. Slipping outside, he left the rumbles of his friends chatting by a fire and closed his eyes, listening and probing in his spirit for his Father's voice. A brisk walk up the mountain side, the quiet -- the comfort -- of being alone with just his Father ~ he loved it. The tension and intensity knotted in his muscles melted away with each step and every breath. He didn't stop until he reach the ridge where he could look out onto the surrounding hills, where all the sounds of the village melted away. He breathed in. "Father ~ "
Luke tells us (Luke 5:16) that this was one of the things Jesus did ~ all the time: "But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed. " This time he had a very important discussion with the Father: the choosing of the 12. Surely by now he had a good idea which of the men who were in the group of disciples were going to be THE ones ~ the 12 disciples that he designated as apostles. But he went and spent the night with his Father -- it doesn't say this, but I am sure during that night he gained deep insight, God giving him discernment and revelation about each man. We don't know what he heard about each of them . . . I wonder about the discussion. Did they talk about the inevitable conflicts between, say, Simon the Zealot, and Levi the former publican/tax collector? Did they talk about the transformation that was going to change Simon the brash fisherman into Peter the rock? And. . .what did they say about Judas? What ever the discussion, Jesus came down the mountain with a list of names.
When morning came, he called his disciples to him and chose twelve of them, whom he also designated apostles: Simon (whom he named Peter), his brother Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Simon who was called the Zealot, Judas son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.
How did they feel, as it dawned upon them there in the early morning sun, that they were THE inner circle. They had already left lives and jobs and predictable futures. They had seen stunning miracles. I am sure they were convinced that Jesus was the Messiah of God. But, it is clear from the story of the gospels that they didn't know ... well, they clearly didn't know MUCH more than they did know. And it is certain, they had no idea that Jesus would die, certainly not that he would die on a cross. I suspect that as they scanned the others in the group -- catching each other's eyes, puzzling over the choices in some cases -- to a man, I think, they were thinking, "He chose me! This going to be great!"
Then he takes them up to a hillside to a level place where they can see the crowd that had gathered. I am sure that these new apostles expected to sit and hear one of his sermons. Straightening cloaks and standing just a bit more straight and tall, they waited -- perhaps -- for Jesus to tell the crowd about this momentous decision before he started teaching. But he didn't~ no announcement, no getting the crowd to settle and sit for a sermon. Something amazing, something awesome began to happen instead.
" ... a great number of people from all over Judea, from Jerusalem, and from the coast of Tyre and Sidon, who had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases. Those troubled by evil spirits were cured, and the people all tried to touch him, because power was coming from him and healing them all. "
... power was coming from him and healing them all.
Can you see it? A woman who has been blind all her life suddenly sees ~ and for the first time see her mother's face, her husband's face, sees her baby. She begins to sob and cry out their names, the family's voices rising to match hers as it dawns them she can see them. A man who lived in the madness and torment of an evil spirit is suddenly calm and feels joy rise for the first time in years -- his friend who brought him to beg Jesus for deliverance, fighting the hopelessness of the years spent battling the evil, looks and sees his friend, his eyes clear and free. They embrace, tears soaking their beards. A woman sits up, then stands, color rises in the cheeks of her face that had been grey as death from the cancer that had been wasting her life. Her daughter screams in joy, "Mama! Mama!" They spin and dance. A man who came deaf grabs his ears, covering them from the sudden roar of this crowd. And there is a roar, the thunderous roar of women and men and children sobbing and laughing and screaming in joy and shock. It is loud, deafeningly loud. He healed them all. Not one single blind man, not one lame man taking up his bed to walk home through a thick crowd : EVERY ONE! Every blind person, all the demon possessed, all the lame, and the deaf, all those at death's door. The crowd had come to hear Jesus, but they are not listening to him now. No one in that crowd is paying any attention to Jesus or this group of 12 men standing near him. They are ~ each of them ~ isolated in the enraptured moment of the healing they each received.
How did this group of 12 men -- the new apostles -- how did they feel? What were they thinking? Did they think, "This is it now! THIS is what life is going to be like. What do the Pharisees and Sadducee's have to match this? How will Rome stand against power like this?" Did they catch each other's eyes? Did they stand gob-smacked?
Jesus turns, and gathers his men, his new apostles, and he starts this other Sermon on the Mount. (Luke 6:20) Looking at his disciples, he said: ...
This is not a sermon for the crowd. He set these guys up ... it was as if he said, "What are your wildest dreams of life in ministry with me? Something like ~ gesturing to crowd ~ that? What do you think? What do you expect?" Then he begins. It sounds familiar...for 2 words: Blessed are ...
Did they think, "yeah, yeah, ' the poor in spirit, meek...yeah, we know" ? But that isn't what Jesus says. He says
Luke 6:20ff
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 men 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 fathers treated the prophets.
Did Matthew sit up and think, "Wait...what? Don't you mean, 'poor in spirit? Wait, hunger ... like really hungry, like no food ? ? ~ but you said, 'hunger and thirst for righteousness ... didn't you?" This was NOT the gospel of Matthew Sermon on the Mount. This was not for the crowd. This was "Be an Apostle and Follow Jesus" 101. And then lest they miss the stark message, and try to spiritualize his point...
"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 all men speak well of you, for that is how their fathers treated the false prophets.
Jesus was pouring this new, fresh, totally unexpected wine into the old settled, established, what-I thought-all-my-life wine skin in their hearts. He had to let the old burst. They had to be clear and know what they were signing on for. They would be poor, hungry, full of grief, and hated! If they wanted to be his disciples there would be comfort and satisfaction and laughter and honor and a Kingdom to inherit ~ BUT it would not be now.
"But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also. If someone takes your cloak, do not stop him from taking your tunic. Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. Do to others as you would have them do to you.
Up front ~ black and white. "You will be hated, and I expect you to forgive and bless. Your actions can not be mere reactions. This is what it means for you to be the 12. Because...
"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. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.
This is NOT the Messiah laying out the value system of his Kingdom for a crowd. This is Jesus call his Disciples and being honest right up front.
"You will get to see the Kingdom...you will get to know the power of heaven. But, if you are in it for fame, if you are following hoping for the adulation of the crowd, if you see ministry as a cushy life where you are the center of attention -- think again."
This is the OTHER sermon.
One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God. When morning came, he called his disciples to him and chose twelve of them, whom he also designated apostles: Simon (whom he named Peter), his brother Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Simon who was called the Zealot, Judas son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.
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, who had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases. Those troubled by evil spirits were cured, and the people all tried to touch him, because power was coming from him and healing them all.
NIV
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
"One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God."
It was getting dark, the last bits of light fading at the horizon. The sky was deep turquoise, the hills and trees a silhouette against the sky. Wrapping his cloak around his head and letting it settle across his shoulders, Jesus grabbed a small loaf of bread and a chunk of cheese left on the table from dinner. Slipping outside, he left the rumbles of his friends chatting by a fire and closed his eyes, listening and probing in his spirit for his Father's voice. A brisk walk up the mountain side, the quiet -- the comfort -- of being alone with just his Father ~ he loved it. The tension and intensity knotted in his muscles melted away with each step and every breath. He didn't stop until he reach the ridge where he could look out onto the surrounding hills, where all the sounds of the village melted away. He breathed in. "Father ~ "
Luke tells us (Luke 5:16) that this was one of the things Jesus did ~ all the time: "But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed. " This time he had a very important discussion with the Father: the choosing of the 12. Surely by now he had a good idea which of the men who were in the group of disciples were going to be THE ones ~ the 12 disciples that he designated as apostles. But he went and spent the night with his Father -- it doesn't say this, but I am sure during that night he gained deep insight, God giving him discernment and revelation about each man. We don't know what he heard about each of them . . . I wonder about the discussion. Did they talk about the inevitable conflicts between, say, Simon the Zealot, and Levi the former publican/tax collector? Did they talk about the transformation that was going to change Simon the brash fisherman into Peter the rock? And. . .what did they say about Judas? What ever the discussion, Jesus came down the mountain with a list of names.
When morning came, he called his disciples to him and chose twelve of them, whom he also designated apostles: Simon (whom he named Peter), his brother Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Simon who was called the Zealot, Judas son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.
How did they feel, as it dawned upon them there in the early morning sun, that they were THE inner circle. They had already left lives and jobs and predictable futures. They had seen stunning miracles. I am sure they were convinced that Jesus was the Messiah of God. But, it is clear from the story of the gospels that they didn't know ... well, they clearly didn't know MUCH more than they did know. And it is certain, they had no idea that Jesus would die, certainly not that he would die on a cross. I suspect that as they scanned the others in the group -- catching each other's eyes, puzzling over the choices in some cases -- to a man, I think, they were thinking, "He chose me! This going to be great!"
Then he takes them up to a hillside to a level place where they can see the crowd that had gathered. I am sure that these new apostles expected to sit and hear one of his sermons. Straightening cloaks and standing just a bit more straight and tall, they waited -- perhaps -- for Jesus to tell the crowd about this momentous decision before he started teaching. But he didn't~ no announcement, no getting the crowd to settle and sit for a sermon. Something amazing, something awesome began to happen instead.
" ... a great number of people from all over Judea, from Jerusalem, and from the coast of Tyre and Sidon, who had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases. Those troubled by evil spirits were cured, and the people all tried to touch him, because power was coming from him and healing them all. "
... power was coming from him and healing them all.
Can you see it? A woman who has been blind all her life suddenly sees ~ and for the first time see her mother's face, her husband's face, sees her baby. She begins to sob and cry out their names, the family's voices rising to match hers as it dawns them she can see them. A man who lived in the madness and torment of an evil spirit is suddenly calm and feels joy rise for the first time in years -- his friend who brought him to beg Jesus for deliverance, fighting the hopelessness of the years spent battling the evil, looks and sees his friend, his eyes clear and free. They embrace, tears soaking their beards. A woman sits up, then stands, color rises in the cheeks of her face that had been grey as death from the cancer that had been wasting her life. Her daughter screams in joy, "Mama! Mama!" They spin and dance. A man who came deaf grabs his ears, covering them from the sudden roar of this crowd. And there is a roar, the thunderous roar of women and men and children sobbing and laughing and screaming in joy and shock. It is loud, deafeningly loud. He healed them all. Not one single blind man, not one lame man taking up his bed to walk home through a thick crowd : EVERY ONE! Every blind person, all the demon possessed, all the lame, and the deaf, all those at death's door. The crowd had come to hear Jesus, but they are not listening to him now. No one in that crowd is paying any attention to Jesus or this group of 12 men standing near him. They are ~ each of them ~ isolated in the enraptured moment of the healing they each received.
How did this group of 12 men -- the new apostles -- how did they feel? What were they thinking? Did they think, "This is it now! THIS is what life is going to be like. What do the Pharisees and Sadducee's have to match this? How will Rome stand against power like this?" Did they catch each other's eyes? Did they stand gob-smacked?
Jesus turns, and gathers his men, his new apostles, and he starts this other Sermon on the Mount. (Luke 6:20) Looking at his disciples, he said: ...
This is not a sermon for the crowd. He set these guys up ... it was as if he said, "What are your wildest dreams of life in ministry with me? Something like ~ gesturing to crowd ~ that? What do you think? What do you expect?" Then he begins. It sounds familiar...for 2 words: Blessed are ...
Did they think, "yeah, yeah, ' the poor in spirit, meek...yeah, we know" ? But that isn't what Jesus says. He says
Luke 6:20ff
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 men 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 fathers treated the prophets.
Did Matthew sit up and think, "Wait...what? Don't you mean, 'poor in spirit? Wait, hunger ... like really hungry, like no food ? ? ~ but you said, 'hunger and thirst for righteousness ... didn't you?" This was NOT the gospel of Matthew Sermon on the Mount. This was not for the crowd. This was "Be an Apostle and Follow Jesus" 101. And then lest they miss the stark message, and try to spiritualize his point...
"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 all men speak well of you, for that is how their fathers treated the false prophets.
Jesus was pouring this new, fresh, totally unexpected wine into the old settled, established, what-I thought-all-my-life wine skin in their hearts. He had to let the old burst. They had to be clear and know what they were signing on for. They would be poor, hungry, full of grief, and hated! If they wanted to be his disciples there would be comfort and satisfaction and laughter and honor and a Kingdom to inherit ~ BUT it would not be now.
"But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also. If someone takes your cloak, do not stop him from taking your tunic. Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. Do to others as you would have them do to you.
Up front ~ black and white. "You will be hated, and I expect you to forgive and bless. Your actions can not be mere reactions. This is what it means for you to be the 12. Because...
"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. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.
This is NOT the Messiah laying out the value system of his Kingdom for a crowd. This is Jesus call his Disciples and being honest right up front.
"You will get to see the Kingdom...you will get to know the power of heaven. But, if you are in it for fame, if you are following hoping for the adulation of the crowd, if you see ministry as a cushy life where you are the center of attention -- think again."
This is the OTHER sermon.
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