Luke 6:20-26

Do you desire to know the mind of Christ? 

Absorb the Beatitudes!

In Luke, these beatitudes focus on the socioeconomic conditions of first-century Palestine. Luke includes woes to accompany the beatitudes—these are commonly called antitheses to the beatitudes. Using a common apocalyptic motif, Jesus declares that the present circumstances of the rich and poor will be reversed in the future. Faithlife Bible.

Identification with Jesus usually leads to rejection and hardship, but the disciple who has left all to follow Jesus understands what placing Jesus first means. He or she also recognizes that God is aware of all suffering.

Jesus began His sermon with an attention-grabbing, irony-filled series of blessings that have intrigued and puzzled Bible scholars and laymen for centuries. Often referred to as the Beatitudes, these statements contrast worldly goods and values with a heavenly estimation of people’s affairs. The Beatitudes provide us with a heavenly perspective, evaluating the present in the light of eternity. They remind us that things are not always what they seem, and certainly not what they will one day be. NKJ Bible.

Luke 6:20–26 (NKJV)

²⁰ Then He lifted up His eyes toward His disciples, and said:

“Blessed are you poor,

For yours is the kingdom of God.

²¹ Blessed are you who hunger now,

For you shall be filled. 

Blessed are you who weep now,

For you shall laugh.

²² Blessed are you when men hate you,

And when they exclude you,

And revile you, and cast out your name as evil,

For the Son of Man’s sake.

²³ Rejoice in that day and leap for joy!

For indeed your reward is great in heaven,

For in like manner 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,

For you shall hunger.

Woe to you who laugh now,

For you shall mourn and weep.

²⁶ Woe to you when all men speak well of you,

For so did their fathers to the false prophets.

Matthew 5:6 (NKJV)

⁶ Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,

For they shall be filled.