Saturday, March 30, 2013

Lesson Recap: Blessings and Woes - February 17, 2013



Hey guys,
               Today we had a Bible Study regarding Blessings and Woes found in Luke 6:17-26. This is the first teaching of the Sermon on the Mount (many refer to Luke's account as the Sermon on the Plain) which is recorded in more depth in Matthew 5-7.

We started off mentioning how Jesus had reached rock star status with “a large crowd of his disciples” present and “a great number of people from all over Judea, from Jerusalem, and from the coastal region around Tyre and Sidon”(v. 17). Specifically, they came to hear him teach, be healed of their diseases, or have demons taken out of them. Note: This is familiar stuff as we 1st heard of Jesus’ popularity when Jesus went back to his hometown of Nazareth to teach. The same situation is going to happen here as Jesus has the choice to either preach the truth (ie that He the Christ came to save non-Jews) or say things to win their approval.

Okay, so far not too bad...

But Jesus suddenly turns to his disciples (ie the crowd of disciples, there were many who had decided to follow him, not just the 12 Disciples) to teach them what being a disciple entails.

Keep in mind these definitions:
Blessings – God’s favor and protection, approval, encouragement
Woes – great sorrow or distress
Oddly Jesus says that the “blessed” are:
          i.    the poor                             ii. who hunger now
iii. who weep now                 iv. when people hate you

And in contrast, Jesus says "woe" to you if:
i.                 you are rich                        ii. well fed now
iii.           laugh now                          iv. When people speak well of you

 Clearly the list runs counter-to what we have been shaped and influenced to believe as success. Why would a poor an hungry person be blessed? Why would we say woe to someone who is rich? 

This is where confusion started in class. I mentioned that this sermon was also in the Sermon on the Mount, but Matthew's account is known as the Beatitudes which mean happy, fortunate, or blissful. We focused on Luke's account which is a study of Blessings and Woes. Both are about our temporary suffering and our future prize in heaven, but one is more about the physical (Luke's take) and the other the spiritual life (Matthew's take). It's worth mentioning that The Beatitudes found in Matthew is the more well known of the two (because it's part of the complete Sermon on the Mount teaching/series and studied as a whole) and has been a source of hope for millions suffering in this world.  

Jesus’ teachings are very deep and require a lot of thought and reflection to understand. Often he used parables. Even though this wasn't a parable, here's a quote about parables : "Scholars have commented that although these parables seem simple, the messages they convey are deep, and central to the teachings of Jesus. " 

I'll do my best to try to explain this passage. I believe the key to unravel this passage is verse  23, which comes directly after Jesus lists the people who are “blessed.” Jesus says “Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, BECAUSE great is your reward in heaven (my emphasis). With the mention of heaven, I think Jesus is trying to teach us how much greater the rewards in heaven are compared to the rewards on earth. My reasoning is because Jesus later says says “woe to those who are rich, for your have already received your comfort.” This is kind of like expressing sorrow or distress for people who think they have received the best,  but in truth their riches are only temporarily and don’t compare to heaven’s treasures. 

Now this concept is mindboggling because it’s so counter-intuitive to the world we live in. Let me try to illustrate with an example. Imagine you were back in Elementary or Middle School and you had your first crush. You think you are suddenly in Love! But of course at that age you don’t really know what love is, you just have a superficial concept of love. In truthfulness, you just like that particular person. Now imagine that Love and treasures in heaven are the same in that Jesus’ is expressing sorrow for those people who are only going to be experiencing a crush/riches of this world as opposed to real love (agape love) and the treasures of heaven which are much more fulfilling and valuable. 

Once again, It’s hard to wrap our minds around why Jesus’ would say woe to people like: the rich, those who are well fed now (but will go hungry later v. 25a), those who laugh now (but will mourn and weep v. 25b), and those who are well spoken of (because they are false prophets v. 26) because we only know of this world and have been so influenced by it. We don’t naturally have eternity/heaven in mind but Jesus does and is trying to teach us about heavenly rewards. 

Next week, we will continue on with the Sermon on the Mount series and see what Jesus says about how we should treat our Enemies. There you shall see more clearly how this sermon series greatly influenced MLK and Gandhi.

Note: From this passage, Jesus does not mean if you are rich, well fed, laugh now, and have a good reputation that those are bad things. This was a study of contrasts of Eternal Rewards in Heaven vs. Temporary Treasures on earth. There are many Christians who are rich, well fed, laugh well, and have good reputations, and that is fine, as long as they are not false prophets! (v.26)
Last Note: Something that I found in my preparation for this week’s class that is worth a read:
“When Jesus sat down on the Mountain the multitudes were there, but this message was for his disciples, often the crowds turned away when they found out what following Jesus meant. Jesus was clear, being his follower [disciple] means more than a superficial commitment. Being a follower of Jesus means dedicated faith.”


Bible Verse: Colossians 3:2 – Set your mind on things above, not on earthly things.

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