Reading I
Jer 17:5-8
Thus says the LORD:
Cursed is the one who trusts in human beings,
who seeks his strength in flesh,
whose heart turns away from the LORD.
He is like a barren bush in the desert
that enjoys no change of season,
but stands in a lava waste,
a salt and empty earth.
Blessed is the one who trusts in the LORD,
whose hope is the LORD.
He is like a tree planted beside the waters
that stretches out its roots to the stream:
it fears not the heat when it comes;
its leaves stay green;
in the year of drought it shows no distress,
but still bears fruit.
Reading II
1 Cor 15:12, 16-20
Brothers and sisters:
If Christ is preached as raised from the dead,
how can some among you say there is no resurrection of the dead?
If the dead are not raised, neither has Christ been raised,
and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is vain;
you are still in your sins.
Then those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.
If for this life only we have hoped in Christ,
we are the most pitiable people of all.
But now Christ has been raised from the dead,
the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.
Gospel
Lk 6:17, 20-26
Jesus came down with the twelve
and stood on a stretch of level ground
with a great crowd of his disciples
and a large number of the people
from all Judea and Jerusalem
and the coastal region of Tyre and Sidon.
And raising his eyes toward his disciples he said:
“Blessed are you who are poor,
for the kingdom of God is yours.
Blessed are you who are now hungry,
for you will be satisfied.
Blessed are you who are now weeping,
for you will laugh.
Blessed are you when people hate you,
and when they exclude and insult you,
and denounce your name as evil
on account of the Son of Man.
Rejoice and leap for joy on that day!
Behold, your reward will be great in heaven.
For their ancestors treated the prophets in the same way.
But woe to you who are rich,
for you have received your consolation.
Woe to you who are filled now,
for you will be hungry.
Woe to you who laugh now,
for you will grieve and weep.
Woe to you when all speak well of you,
for their ancestors treated the false
prophets in this way.”
Meditation: Luke 6:17,20-26
Whenever we read passages like this, it’s helpful to keep one truth in mind: Jesus always spoke from experience.
So when he said that the poor, the hungry, the sorrowful, and the persecuted were blessed, he was not just presenting a fanciful or idealistic set of dreams. He was speaking out of experience about what it was like to have his life shaped by his Father and not by any philosophy of worldly success.
Jesus knew what it meant to be poor and yet have the kingdom of God as his inheritance. He had nowhere to lay his head (Luke 9:58)—but not because he had no other option. No, he chose a life of simplicity because his heart was set on higher riches (Matthew 6:33). He deliberately chose to pray throughout the night (Luke 6:12) and to fast for forty days and nights (Matthew 4:2) because he wanted God to fill him up.
Jesus so wanted to give people everything he had received from his Father that he openly mourned his disciples’ unbelief and Jerusalem’s rejection of him (Mark 9:19; Matthew 23:37). Finally, he knew that, like the prophets, he would be hated, reviled, and persecuted—not because he was obnoxious but because his words struck against the hardness of sin in the human heart. But again, like the prophets, he could not keep from speaking out, so greatly did God’s love for his people compel him.
Jesus didn’t come to earth to be poor, hated, and sad. He came to reveal the kingdom of God to a fallen people. Likewise, he doesn’t call us to become poor, hated, or sad. No, he offers us an experience of his Father’s love so great that everything else pales in comparison. He offers us a kingdom so magnificent that we will willingly endure hardship for the sake of embracing this kingdom and spreading its message into the world. With such promises, why would we ever fear God’s calling?
“Jesus, you said that your Father ‘is pleased’ to give us the kingdom (Luke 12:32). Open my eyes to the treasures of this kingdom. Let me know its blessings as deeply as you do.”
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