Luke 6:20 meaning

The parallel Gospel account for Luke 6:20 is Matthew 5:3.

Having demonstrated that Jesus is the Son of God by His miracles of healing, casting out of demons, and conflicts with the Pharisees over Sabbath authority, Luke now gives his audience the opportunity to encounter Jesus’s teachings for themselves (Luke 6:20-49). This is the first section of extended teaching from Jesus found in Luke.

The parallel scriptures of this extended teaching (Luke 6:20-49) can be found in Matthew 5-7. Matthew’s account of Jesus’s teachings in Matthew 5-7 are commonly referred to as Jesus’s “Sermon on the Mount.” Luke’s account of Jesus’s teachings in Luke 6:20-49 are sometimes called Jesus’s “Sermon on the Plain” because just before Jesus began teaching, Luke reports that “Jesus…stood on a level place” (Luke 6:17)

Matthew 5-7 and Luke 6:20-49 could be different accounts of the same occasion, or Matthew and Luke could be describing similar yet different moments from Jesus’s ministry.

The similarities between Jesus’s teachings in Matthew 5-7 and Luke 6:20-49 are:

• They both were directed towards Jesus’s disciples.
  (Matthew 5:1, Luke 6:20)

• Both were public teachings where outsiders could hear what Jesus taught.
  (Matthew 7:28, Luke 7:1)

• The setting for both teachings appears to have been in Galilee in the vicinity of Capernaum.
  (Matthew 4:23, Luke 7:1)

• Moreover, they both were delivered on or near a mountain.
  (Matthew 5:1, Luke 6:12, 6:17)

• Much of the teaching principles and illustrations within these two accounts are strikingly similar to each other.

However, there are material differences between “the Sermon on the Mount” as recorded by Matthew and “the Sermon on the Plains” as recorded by Luke.

The most immediately apparent difference is in the amount of teaching each Gospel writer includes in their sermon account. The overall content of Jesus’s teachings recorded by Matthew is considerably longer than the total content of Jesus’s teachings recorded by Luke in this sermon. Jesus’s sermon recorded in Matthew has 107 verses of teaching compared to only 30 verses of teaching recorded by Luke.

But there are also significant thematic differences between each sermon.

Jesus’s sermon as recorded in Matthew 5-7 is considerably more Jewish in its content and expression than the sermon recorded in Luke 6:20-49.

1. Matthew’s Gospel presents Jesus as the Jewish Messiah, who is the second Moses delivering the Messianic Law in fulfillment of prophecy (Deuteronomy 18:18-20). Luke does not seem to do this.
   
   
2. Matthew’s Sermon has numerous explicit references to the Messianic kingdom. For instance, the word “kingdom” appears in Matthew’s record of Jesus’s “Sermon on the Mount” nine times compared to only once in Luke’s record of Jesus’s “Sermon on the Plain” (Luke 6:20-49).
   
   
3. Matthew’s sermon account includes Jesus’s teaching about how He came to fulfill the Law of Moses (Matthew 5:17), while Luke’s sermon account does not focus on Jewish Law.
   
   
4. Matthew’s sermon account mentions the Pharisees and their hypocritical practices multiple times, while Luke never seems to do this.
   
   
5. Finally, Matthew’s Sermon is full of Jewish idioms and expressions a Rabbi might use, while Luke minimizes these Jewish figures of speech. Matthew’s has numerous explicit references to the Messianic kingdom. For instance, the word “kingdom” appears in Matthew’s record of Jesus’s “Sermon on the Mount” nine times compared to only once in Luke’s record of Jesus’s “Sermon on the Plain” (Luke 6:20-49).

By omitting many of these Jewish interests and expressions, Luke’s Gospel presents Jesus to his primarily Gentile audience not unlike a Greek philosopher who is teaching moral principles that lead to “the Good Life.”

If Matthew and Luke are describing the same occasion, Matthew’s Gospel indicates that Jesus withdrew from the larger crowd after performing miracles (Matthew 5:1). If so, Jesus seems to have withdrawn with His disciples in order to provide them some spiritual benefit. In the previous chapter, Jesus was teaching in the synagogues and healing among the people. Now Jesus begins to teach His disciples outside either on a mountain, or a level place.

The picture Luke presents indicates that Jesus first demonstrated His divine power through healing, then sat down to explain a greater power to His disciples. Physical healing has a temporary benefit. But the inner power to heal souls has a lasting benefit.

And turning His gaze toward His disciples, He began to say (v 20a).

Jesus’s sermon appears to only be addressed to His disciples. The phrase His disciples is not necessarily limited to the “twelve disciples” whom Jesus selected in Luke 6:13-16. Context determines which disciples are being referred to. Jesus had a substantial number of disciples. This can be seen in John 6:66, when a large number of disciples ceased walking with Jesus while the twelve remained.

In the context of Luke 6:20, His disciples is clearly a broader reference to those who have been following Jesus with some regularity and/or demonstrated a greater level of commitment to Him than the wider crowds. We know this because Luke just reported that “there was a large crowd of His disciples” (Luke 6:17) who were with Him.

“The Sermon on the Plain,” like its parallel “the Sermon on the Mount,” is therefore primarily an internal message whose recipients already belong to the movement Jesus is founding and leading.

While Luke indicates that this message was toward His disciples, it was also public. Luke closes this section with an observation that “His discourse [was] in the hearing of the people” (Luke 7:1).

His teachings serves as a deeper initiation for His disciples where Jesus reveals to them the vision for life that He offers. Among the moral principles Jesus presents include:

• “Love your enemies”
  (Luke 6:27)

• “Treat others the way you want others to treat you”
  (Luke 6:31)

• “Pardon [others] and you will be pardoned”
  (Luke 6:37)

Luke shares the record of Jesus’s message to His followers to introduce his audience to Jesus’s vision for the Good Life.

And turning His gaze toward His disciples, He began to say, “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God (v 20).

Jesus begins speaking to His disciples with a series of statements describing the Good Life (Blessed Life) as it is understood in His Kingdom.

Before going further, it is interesting to note that in Matthew’s Gospel, the “Blessed” statements found in Matthew 5:3-10 are organized into a “chiasm.” A chiasm is a poetic pattern of statements or ideas whose arrangement resembles the left half of the form of the Greek letter “Chi” which looks like the English letter “X.” Chiasms are a mirrored pattern that follow an A-B-C…C’-B’-A’ format. The main idea of chiasms is located in their center so that as they narrow, chiasms get closer in proximity and significance to their most important statement, before they unwind. Chiasms are found throughout scripture. They were a common thought form that Jews used to express their thoughts.

Luke’s account of the Blessed statements are different and the list is shorter than those found in Matthew’s Gospel.

Matthew’s more expansive list of Blessed statements might have resonated more with his Jewish audience who would have observed the parallels to the Mosaic Law delivered by God on Mt. Sinai. Jesus and His Sermon on the Mount are a fulfillment of Moses’s prophecy in Deuteronomy 18:15-19. Jesus’ objective in encouraging His disciples to live according to His words is so that they will be Blessed or fulfilled. Similarly, Moses exhorted the covenant people of Deuteronomy to “choose life” by walking in obedience.

Luke’s Greek audience may not have appreciated the Jewish historical parallels to the prophesied Messiah as Matthew’s did. Luke also does not use the chiasm format for the Blessed statements as Matthew does. This could be because Matthew’s Gospel is written to Jews for whom the chiasm format holds more significance.

Even though Luke’s account does not include the chiasm format, he does present this section of Jesus’ teaching in a specific structure. For each of the Blessed statements included in Luke 6:20-22, there is a parallel Woe statement found in Luke 6:24-26. The Woe statements and their implications will be discussed in further detail in the Luke 6:24-26 commentary.

In English, each of the following statements begins with the word Blessed. The Greek word translated Blessed is μακάριος (G3107—pronounced “mak-ar'-ee-os”). Makarios describes a complete and total fulfillment in life. It does not refer to a passing happiness or good fortune. It is an enduring state or condition that is unassailable.

Makarios is an interesting word choice to describe Jesus’s vision for the kingdom and the Good Life.

A major figure in the Greek worldview was Alexander the Great’s teacher—Aristotle. Luke’s Greek Gentile audience would have been distinctly aware of Aristotle’s teachings and philosophy of the “Good Life.” Aristotle begins one of his most famous books, “Ethics,” asking the question, “Can virtue [good habits] make one happy?” In other words, “Does living a moral life and being morally good lead to the good life?” Aristotle concludes that virtue does make one happy (Greek word: “Eudaimonia”) but it cannot make one Blessed (Makarios). According to Aristotle, Makarios is only possible by the combination of one’s virtue and circumstantial bliss. The worldview of Aristotle assumed Makarios was at least partially external.

But in Luke’s Gospel, Jesus says it is entirely internal, which is the opposite of Aristotle. Jesus taught that Makarios comes from the inside out. It cannot be extracted from earthly circumstances. This would have been revolutionary for Luke’s audience to hear.

Jesus rejected the fake, earthly, and elusive Makarios assumed by Aristotle and many others. The Makarios that Jesus taught was real, heavenly, and available. The kingdoms of the earth had missed the Good Life in their efforts to rule or overthrow. Those who inhabit the Kingdom of Heaven would find the Good Life through humbly serving one another in love.

Jesus says Makarios (happy and fulfilled) are you who are poor. To be poor means to lack something. If we are poor, then we have need. We often use the word poor to describe someone who needs more money in order to have a sufficient livelihood. While Jesus did perform many miracles of physical healing, He was concerned with addressing spiritual need far more than physical need (Luke 5:30-32).

Matthew’s gospel further defines this idea by including the phrase “poor in spirit” (Matthew 5:3). By simply stating Makarios are you who are poor instead of saying poor in spirit, Jesus’s statement in Luke’s gospel is a direct challenge to Aristotle’s notion that those who are poor cannot be Makarios.

To be poor in spirit is to realize spiritual poverty, and therefore have a sense of our great spiritual need. To be poor in spirit means to reject having a false opinion of self-sufficiency. To realize spiritual need is the opposite of self-sufficiency. It leads to spiritual dependence. To be filled with God’s Spirit, we must first empty ourselves of “self.”

Jesus teaches that the poor are Makarios because theirs is the kingdom of God.

The kingdom of God refers to the new spiritual and political order that Jesus has come to bring. If we do not recognize our spiritual need, we will not seek the benefits of the kingdom of God. The benefits of the kingdom of God come through spiritual dependence. When we live in spiritual dependence we serve one another, which results in the principles of God reigning on earth.

One of the reasons Luke uses the phrase kingdom of God instead of Matthew’s “kingdom of heaven” is that the kingdom of God reflected a claim that God is the One True God, and was therefore over all other gods. The phrase “kingdom of heaven” could have been heard by Gentiles to include the many pagan gods that dwelt in the heaven of the Greco-Roman pantheon. This would have been an important distinction for Luke’s Greek Gentile audience.

For further discussion on this distinction, please see our Tough Topics Explained article: “The Kingdom of Heaven vs. the Kingdom of God.”

The kingdom of God is unlike the kingdoms of this earth who are ruled by those rich and full of themselves. Those who seek power for themselves squabble and fight one another for the position to rule the kingdoms of the earth. In Luke’s parallel “Woe” statement, Jesus says:

“But woe to you who are rich, for you are receiving your comfort in full”
(Luke 6:24).

Once attained, the earthly rulers exhaust their energy clinging to power or selfishly exerting their power at the expense of those beneath them. While these earthly rulers may experience the shallow but visible benefits of physical wealth, they lack spiritual comfort and peace. As Shakespeare says, “Uneasy lies the head that wears such a crown.” This is the opposite of the comfort that those who reign in the kingdom of God will experience.

The kind of people most recognized as being poor might have been slaves or servants. They would have been considered physically poor as well as spiritually poor. Servants had only the authority granted them. Servants were expected to quietly and simply do what they were asked without making a fuss. Jesus will use servants in many parables to describe how to live kingdom principles. Jesus teaches, paradoxically, that in the kingdom of God, the servants are the rulers.

Jesus is saying that those who serve others rather than demand of them, those who lay down their own claims for the sake of loving their neighbor, those who have an attitude of being poor in spirit have full reign in the kingdom of God. The servant-hearted are the rulers in God’s kingdom. It is these servant kings who are happy and fulfilled (Makarios) because God created mankind to rule with Him in harmony with others. It is Satan who embodies the spirit of tyranny.

It is interesting to note that Jesus uses the present tense. When believers serve, they are ruling from the standpoint of the kingdom of God. It is a matter of faith to have the eyes to see that true greatness lies in serving.