Chapter BY Chapter

Luke 6:1-26 – Jesus Blesses the Crowd

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This passage is as follows:

 

On a Sabbath, while he was going through the grainfields, his disciples plucked and ate some heads of grain, rubbing them in their hands.  But some of the Pharisees said, “Why are you doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath?”  And Jesus answered them, “Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him: how he entered the house of God and took and ate the bread of the Presence, which is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to those with him?”  And he said to them, “The Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.”

 

On another Sabbath, he entered the synagogue and was teaching, and a man was there whose right hand was withered.  And the scribes and the Pharisees watched him, to see whether he would heal on the Sabbath, so that they might find a reason to accuse him.  But he knew their thoughts, and he said to the man with the withered hand, “Come and stand here.” And he rose and stood there.  And Jesus said to them, “I ask you, is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to destroy it?”  And after looking around at them all he said to him, “Stretch out your hand.” And he did so, and his hand was restored.  But they were filled with fury and discussed with one another what they might do to Jesus.

 

In these days he went out to the mountain to pray, and all night he continued in prayer to God.  And when day came, he called his disciples and chose from them twelve, whom he named apostles: Simon, whom he named Peter, and Andrew his brother, and James and John, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon who was called the Zealot, and Judas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.

 

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, who came to hear him and to be healed of their diseases. And those who were troubled with unclean spirits were cured.  And all the crowd sought to touch him, for power came out from him and healed them all.

 

And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said:

 

“Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.

 

“Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you shall be satisfied.

 

“Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh.

 

“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!  Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for so their fathers did to the prophets.

 

“But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation.

 

“Woe to you who are full now, for you shall be hungry.

 

“Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep.

 

“Woe to you, when all people speak well of you, for so their fathers did to the false prophets.”

 

(End of passage)

 

So far in Luke, we had the purpose of the gospel, the birth of John the Baptist foretold, the birth of Jesus foretold, Mary visits her cousin Elizabeth and John the Baptist leaps for joy while still in his mother’s womb.  Mary sings a song of praise.  John the Baptist is born and his father, Zechariah prophesies about him.  Jesus is born, and this is witnessed by some shepherds that watched a multitude of heavenly hosts sing about him and an angel of the Lord told them where to find him.  Jesus was presented at the temple and a prophet and a prophetess identify him as the Messiah.  When Jesus was 12 he sat at the temple and the teachers were amazed at his understanding and answers.  John the Baptist prepared the way by preaching repentance from sin and baptism.  The genealogy of Jesus, by the way, makes Jesus a biological descendent of David.  Jesus was tempted by the Devil and did not succumb to the Devil.  Jesus started teaching in all the synagogues around Galilee.  Jesus healed many people with illnesses and even those possessed with demons.  The demons identified Jesus as the Holy one of God, or the Son of God.  Jesus went to preach in other towns all the way down to Judea.  Jesus called his first disciples while they were fishing in their boats.  Peter did not feel worthy and asked Jesus to leave him.  Jesus said, “Do not be afraid, from now on you will be a fisher of men.”  Jesus heals a leper, the leper proves to the priests that he was healed, and now even more people come to hear Jesus or be healed by him.  Jesus heals a paralytic to prove that he can also forgive sins.  Jesus calls Levi to follow him, who is later called Matthew.  Levi makes a great feast, and the Pharisees complain that Jesus is eating with tax collectors and sinners.  Jesus says that he came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.  The Pharisees complain that Jesus’ disciples do not fast.  Jesus replies that you cannot make the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is still with them.  Jesus gives them some comparisons showing that what the Pharisees are doing is inappropriate.  So, the message that Jesus is preaching is about forgiveness and repentance from sin.

 

Now we come to chapter 6.  Let’s see what happens next.

 

Verses 1-5,

 

On a Sabbath, while he was going through the grainfields, his disciples plucked and ate some heads of grain, rubbing them in their hands.  But some of the Pharisees said, “Why are you doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath?”  And Jesus answered them, “Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him: how he entered the house of God and took and ate the bread of the Presence, which is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to those with him?”  And he said to them, “The Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.”

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According to Deuteronomy 23:25, one could pluck the grain in his neighbor’s field and eat it.

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“If you go into your neighbor's standing grain, you may pluck the ears with your hand, but you shall not put a sickle to your neighbor's standing grain.”

 

According to Exodus 34:21, regular work was forbidden on the Sabbath:

 

“Six days you shall work, but on the seventh day you shall rest. In plowing time and in harvest you shall rest.”

Simple meal preparation was allowed on the Sabbath.  However, the Jews had started to make an oral tradition, called the Mishna to further define the Torah.  One of the thing they had forbidden was the separation of the grain from the chaff (https://www.lcg.org/lcn/2000/september-october/did-jesus-profane-sabbath-plucking-heads-grain).  Perhaps they had in mind the idea of doing this on the threshing floor.  The Pharisees applied it to what the disciples were doing for personal use.  Jesus reminds them that David ate the bread of the Presence in the temple, which was only legal for the priests to eat.  Jesus concludes that “the son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.”  What is Jesus claiming by saying this?

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1. That he beat them at the argument.

2. Human needs are more important than rituals.

3. That he is lord of the Sabbath.

4. That he is God.

 

Jesus also has another confrontation with the Pharisees about the Sabbath.

 

Verses 6-11,

 

On another Sabbath, he entered the synagogue and was teaching, and a man was there whose right hand was withered.  And the scribes and the Pharisees watched him, to see whether he would heal on the Sabbath, so that they might find a reason to accuse him.  But he knew their thoughts, and he said to the man with the withered hand, “Come and stand here.” And he rose and stood there.  And Jesus said to them, “I ask you, is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to destroy it?”  And after looking around at them all he said to him, “Stretch out your hand.” And he did so, and his hand was restored.  But they were filled with fury and discussed with one another what they might do to Jesus.

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Notice that the Pharisees watched Jesus to see whether he would heal on the Sabbath.  Maybe it was rigged.  Maybe they made sure that the man with the withered hand would be there just so they could make their accusation.  What does Jesus do about this?

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1. Jesus knows their thoughts.

2. He tells the man with the withered hand to stand by him.

3. He asks the Pharisees what is lawful on the Sabbath – to save life or destroy it?

 

What do the Pharisees have to say about this?

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1. Nothing – they are dumbfounded.

 

According to Deuteronomy 22:4, the Israelites were commanded to rescue their neighbor’s ox if they found it in a ditch, and not just leave it there.  This would apply to the Sabbath as well.  How much more important is human life?  How did the Pharisees respond after Jesus healed the man’s hand?

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1. They were filled with fury and discussed what they might do to Jesus.

 

Here they thought they had it all rigged, but they lost.  So, they are filled with anger and talk about doing harm to the person that outsmarted and out-proved them.  Sound familiar?

 

What personal application can we find from this event?

 

In this event, Jesus equates failing to help someone when you have the ability to help them is to do harm.  What sort of things have we done in our life to help those in need?  Do you have a story?  Have you ever passed by helping someone when you could have helped?

 

The next thing we find is Jesus making a special calling.

 

Verses 12-16,

 

In these days he went out to the mountain to pray, and all night he continued in prayer to God.  And when day came, he called his disciples and chose from them twelve, whom he named apostles: Simon, whom he named Peter, and Andrew his brother, and James and John, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon who was called the Zealot, and Judas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.

 

What can we glean from this?

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1. The names of the 12 apostles.Note: they are now apostles, not just disciples anymore.

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Peter
Andrew
James
John
Philip
Bartholomew
Matthew
Thomas
James, son of Alphaeus
Simon the Zealot
Judas son of James
Judas Iscariot

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1. How did Jesus choose his 12 apostles?

   • From among his disciples.

2. Jesus had many other disciples then.

 

Let’s see if we can find out more about how many disciples Jesus had.

 

Verses 17-19,

 

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, who came to hear him and to be healed of their diseases. And those who were troubled with unclean spirits were cured.  And all the crowd sought to touch him, for power came out from him and healed them all.

 

So, Jesus came down with them.  Who is them?  His apostles he just appointed.  Who else was there when Jesus came down?

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1. A great crowd of his disciples.

2. A great multitude of people from:

   • Judea

   • Jerusalem

   • The seacoast of Tyre and Sidon

 

Why did they come?

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1. To hear Jesus

2. To be healed of their diseases

 

What was the result?

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1. People with unclean spirits were healed

2. Even if people touched him, power came out from him to heal them all.

 

How could Jesus do that?  There must have been several people touching Jesus at the same time.  Notice what it says “power came out from him and healed them all.”  This could be translated “power came out from him and he healed them all.”  Could Jesus think of the whole multitude at once while healing them in this fashion?

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Notice that Jesus heals them all first, then he teaches them.  Now let’s look at the teaching part.

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Verses 20-26,

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And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said:

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“Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.

​

“Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you shall be satisfied.

​

“Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh.

​

“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!  Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for so their fathers did to the prophets.

​

“But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation.

​

“Woe to you who are full now, for you shall be hungry.

​

“Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep.

​

“Woe to you, when all people speak well of you, for so their fathers did to the false prophets.”

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First notice that he lifted up his eyes on his disciples.  The 12 are now apostles.  So, he is looking at a whole crowd of disciples.

It is obvious what Jesus thinks of the rich.  How would Jesus have figured that someone was rich in his day?  Someone that has a lot of possessions, or someone that has stored up much more than what he needs?

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Have you ever been poor?  Have you ever been hungry? Have you ever wept?  Have you ever been Hated and reviled on account of the Son of Man?  Do you have a story?