By Dave Sims

Luke 6:12-49

A large crowd gathered to see Jesus, drawn by reports of His remarkable abilities. On this occasion, He healed many among them and, as was His custom, taught them (vv. 17-20). Jesus’s teachings were set against the backdrop of His compassion for suffering, demonstrated through healing.

A common theme in all of Jesus’s teachings was the present availability of the Kingdom of God (Mark 1:15; Matthew 4:17; Luke 10:9). Jesus’s declaration stirred hope among the Jews because the ancient prophets had spoken of God’s rule, which would one day bring restoration, wholeness, justice, reconciliation, harmony, and peace. They also spoke of a Messiah who would usher in these realities (Isaiah 11:1-9). Jesus’s healings and teachings reminded His listeners of Israel’s great prophets and His words were captivating, though sometimes difficult to understand. Everything about Jesus aroused this hope (Matthew 4:23-25; 7:28-29).

This sermon consisted of the counterintuitive message: the blessedness of loss—poverty, hunger, and sadness, likely due to death or injustice (vv. 20-21). Jesus was not glorifying these painful conditions but showing that they can cultivate a posture of dependence and receptivity to God’s rule. Loss can cause us to recognize our need for God and motivate us to seek him. Jesus pronounced this posture as blessed, emphasizing that God’s presence can satiate hunger in ways that even the greatest riches cannot and that God’s rule offers a hope that, if Tolkien is right, will one day make all hurt become untrue.

The hope Jesus spoke of was not focused on improved circumstances but on an inner transformation now and a reformed society in the future—a better hope (Hebrews 7:19). These challenges we strive to avoid, Jesus was saying, can provide conditions for inner reformation.

Jesus spoke of the Kingdom of God as if it were untouchable by thieves, tyrants, or loss. From our post- resurrection perspective, we understand that God’s Kingdom first takes residence within us (Colossians 1:27), making His abundance continually accessible (Galatians 2:20). The presence of the triune God within us can empower the poor to experience joy and love, and His presence can grant resilient endurance in the face of persecution and slander, resulting in a glorious reward in the coming Kingdom (Luke 6:22-23).

God’s Kingdom provides the abundance needed for a person to flourish internally—with joy, peace, andhope—leading to a transformed outlook, motivation, and lifestyle, regardless of circumstances. His rulewithin enables us to live and love as we were designed.

Next in His sermon (v.24ff), Jesus switched to talk about the woeful condition the rich are in—not due to their wealth, but because their riches insulate them from God’s Kingdom. Their wealth dulls their awareness of their need for God’s rule; their full bellies silence their hunger for God, and their good fortune shields them from longing for the world to come. This might have reminded some listeners of Ecclesiastes, where the author speaks of the vanity of having everything yet being unsatisfied.

In summary, Jesus wanted His listeners to recognize how their inverted value systems were truly upside down compared to the right-side-up values of God’s Kingdom—losses leading to God’s abundance, hunger to satisfaction, and inevitable losses that cannot diminish a person’s hope. Jesus further emphasized that while riches provide many things, they do not provide the ultimate things. The good things of creation bring comfort and pleasure, but only the Creator can fill the deeper void within. No one is immune to loss, and a life anchored in the avoidance of loss will eventually lose hope. The critical question not being, “Can I avoid loss?” but, “Am I equipped to deal with loss?”

In the remainder of the sermon, Jesus taught how God’s rule would shape His followers’ lives. He called them to love the unlovely—those who offend and even those who are enemies. He warned against assuming moral superiority that leads to unjust judgment and exhorted them to examine their own faults before criticizing others. He encouraged living generously and hospitably from God’s abundance. By embracing humility, generosity, and hospitality as a lifestyle, our lives can be rich with meaning, anchored in hope, motivated by love, empowered by joy, and filled with peace.

Jesus concluded his teaching by declaring that those who live according to His teachings are wise. Their lives will withstand the inevitable storms of life.