Luke 6:17-26: a reflection

17He came down with them and stood on a level place, with a crowd of his disciples and a great number of the people from all Judea and Jerusalem and the sea coast of Tyre and Sidon, who came to hear him and to be healed of their diseases, 18as well as those who were troubled by unclean spirits; and they were being healed. 19All the multitude sought to touch him, for power came out of him and healed them all. 20He lifted up his eyes to his disciples, and said: “Blessed are you who are poor, for God’s Kingdom is yours. 21Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be filled. Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh. 22Blessed are you when men hate you, and when they exclude and mock you, and throw out your name as evil, for the Son of Man’s sake. 23Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven, for their fathers did the same thing to the prophets. 24“But woe to you who are rich! For you have received your consolation. 25Woe to you, you who are full now, for you will be hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep. 26Woe, when men speak well of you, for their fathers did the same thing to the false prophets.

Jesus pronounces a series of blessings and woes that turn the world's values upside down. Blessed are you who are poor, who hunger, who weep, who are hated for his sake, he says; for yours is the kingdom, and you will be filled, and laugh, and have a great reward. But woe to you who are rich, who are full, who laugh, of whom all speak well; for you have received your consolation already. The kingdom's values reverse the world's: God blesses what the world pities, and warns against what the world envies.

Notice the reversal Jesus declares. The world counts the poor, the hungry, the weeping, the hated as unfortunate, and the rich, the full, the laughing, the well-regarded as blessed. But Jesus reverses this: he pronounces blessing on those the world pities, for theirs is the kingdom; and woe on those the world envies, for they have their consolation already, and nothing more to come. The values of the kingdom are inverted from the values of the world.

That reversal searches our own values, which are often the world's. We tend to count the rich, the comfortable, the well-regarded as blessed, and to pity the poor and afflicted; and we tend to seek wealth, comfort, and esteem for ourselves, avoiding poverty and affliction. But Jesus reverses these values: the kingdom belongs to the poor in the world's eyes, and woe awaits those who have their consolation only in this life. Do not measure blessedness by the world's standard, envying the rich and comfortable and pitying the afflicted. The kingdom's values are inverted from the world's; God blesses what the world pities, and warns against what the world envies. Let this reshape what you seek and value: do not set your heart on the wealth, comfort, and esteem the world counts as blessing, which are consolation only for this life; seek the kingdom that belongs to those the world pities, and value what God values, rather than measuring blessedness by the world's inverted standard.

Lord Jesus, you pronounced blessings and woes that turn the world's values upside down: blessed are the poor, the hungry, the weeping, the hated for your sake, for theirs is the kingdom; but woe to the rich, the full, the laughing, the well-regarded, for they have their consolation already. Let that reversal search my own values, which are often the world's. I tend to count the rich, the comfortable, the well-regarded as blessed, and to pity the poor and afflicted; and I tend to seek wealth, comfort, and esteem for myself. But you reverse these values: the kingdom belongs to the poor in the world's eyes, and woe awaits those who have their consolation only in this life. Keep me from measuring blessedness by the world's standard, envying the rich and comfortable and pitying the afflicted. The kingdom's values are inverted from the world's; you bless what the world pities, and warn against what the world envies. Let this reshape what I seek and value: keep me from setting my heart on the wealth, comfort, and esteem the world counts as blessing, which are consolation only for this life; help me seek the kingdom that belongs to those the world pities, and value what you value, Lord, rather than measuring blessedness by the world's inverted standard.