Luke 6:17-49 "The Preaching of the Kingdom" Introduction (6:17-19) Too often the "headings" in your Bibles mislead you. Take the ESV headings in your pew Bibles. This section's headings say "The Beatitudes" "Jesus Pronounces Woes" "Love Your Enemies" "Judging Others" "A Tree and Its Fruit" And "Build Your House on the Rock" What do all these have in common? Can you see any pattern here? You might conclude that Luke 6:17-49 is all about Jesus' moral teaching. And don't get me wrong it is! But it winds up sounding like a string of loosely connected moral imperatives. The problem is that we tend to use the most famous line as the title of the heading. What we need to do is ask not only, what is Jesus doing in this passage as a whole, but also, what is Luke doing? After all, Matthew gives us a much longer "sermon on the mount," whereas Luke divides that material into different sermons (and most likely Jesus preached similar sermons in several settings). But why does Luke give us this particular chunk of Jesus' teaching in this place? I've given you a very different outline in your sermon notes. In this outline you can see the movement in Jesus' sermon. It starts and ends with the "two ways"-- indeed the "two ways" motif runs throughout the whole sermon. This was a common feature of Jewish preaching (you see it clearly in Proverbs). And throughout the outline I've tried to help you see that Jesus' preaching puts himself at the center. Last time we talked about the Pharisees. The Pharisees were the orthodox Jews. They were the evangelical middle-class of the Jewish world. (I would guess that if you lived in the first century, you would probably have been a Pharisee: The Pharisees followed a literal interpretation of the Bible; they took God's word seriously and sought to live according to God's law.) When the OT said that Israel was God's servant, and that God would one day bless righteous Israel, and curse the pagans and apostate Israelites, they believed God's word! Their hope their eschatology their view of the kingdom of God was simply good old-fashioned Jewish orthodoxy. But their eschatology their vision of the kingdom of God put themselves at the center. That's another reason why I think we'd like the Pharisees. Because we do the same thing. We put ourselves at the center. What is your eschatology? (I know that for some of you, whenever I use that word, you immediately start thinking of the millennium and the rapture and all that stuff, but I'm going to keep using it until you stop that!) Because eschatology is all about what you are looking forward to. What is your hope? What kingdom are you seeking? Whose kingdom are you seeking? Jesus has just finished alienating the Pharisees by claiming that the kingdom is all about him. He has just called the twelve apostles as the messengers of the kingdom the new family of God. And now Jesus teaches the crowds and heals them (combining the power of Elijah with the preaching of Moses, as it were). 1. The Two Ways (6:20-26) I mentioned Moses for a reason. In Deuteronomy 27-28 Moses had set forth the blessings and the curses of the covenant. The blessings and curses of the Mosaic covenant were given to the twelve tribes, and focused on how Israel treated the law. Those blessings and curses were set forth in parallel form and now Jesus, immediately after calling twelve apostles sets forth blessings and curses in parallel form as well! Perhaps it is worth pointing out that when Matthew gives the sermon on the mount, he gives only the Beatitudes the blessings. Luke gives parallel blessings and curses in the context of Jesus standing "on a level place" (Dt 34 says that Israel was encamped on the "plains of Moab" when Moses preached the sermons of Deuteronomy). But the blessings and curses of the new covenant have a different focus. The blessings and curses of the new covenant are not about conformity to the law, but conformity to Christ. They are not about your outward behavior, but your inward disposition. Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you shall be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh. Blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude you and revile you and spurn your name as evil, on account of the Son of Man. Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for so their fathers did to the prophets. Poverty, hunger, sorrow . . . these are characteristics of the kingdom of God! Isn't that exciting! You have to understand this together with the "woes": Woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation. Woe to you who are full now, for you shall be hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep. Woe to you when all people speak well of you, for so their fathers did to the false prophets. Moses had said that if you loved God and kept his commandments, then you would receive the blessings of the kingdom "Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the field. Blessed shall be the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground and the fruit of your cattle... Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl." (Dt 28:3-5) God had promised that "if you faithfully obey the voice of the LORD your God," then "all the peoples of the earth . . . shall be afraid of you." Now Jesus says that you are blessed if you are poor and hungry and sorrowful! But if you are rich and full and happy, then woe to you! What Jesus is saying is that you cannot get the blessings of the kingdom you cannot receive the covenant blessings except through Jesus. The Son of Man is the one through whom you receive the blessings of the kingdom. And as he was poor and hungry, as he was a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief, as he was hated, reviled and mocked, so also will you be. But rejoice, because those who are thus treated now, will receive great reward in heaven. Jesus central point in this sermon is that you must become like him. And he says this in three ways: a child will be like his father, a disciple will be like his teacher, and a tree will be known by its fruit. 2. A Child Will Be Like His Father (6:27-36) But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. What does it mean to love your enemies? Whenever you see an imperative in the Bible whenever you see a command it is always useful to look for the indicative that it is rooted in! What do I mean? All biblical commands are grounded in a statement of what God has done for us. The 10 Commandments are a great example. "You shall have no other gods before me" and the rest of the 10Com are rooted in the statement (the indicative) "I am the LORD your God who brought you up out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage." So whenever you see a command in the Bible, keep looking for the reason for that command. "You shall have no other gods before me," Because I am the God who saved you! So let's look for the indicative in verses 27-36! Everybody loves their friends. It is easy to be nice to "nice" people. What about your enemies? What about those who curse you? For instance, what about radical Muslims? There you have a clear case of those who curse you and abuse you! Do you pray for them? Likewise, Jesus says that if you only lend to people who can pay you back, then you are not truly children of your heavenly Father. You should lend to those who cannot repay you "expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful. Here is the indicative! God's love for us and his kindness toward all humanity! Love your enemies the way your Father in heaven loved his enemies: in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. We were enemies of God. YOU were God's enemies. But the Father loved us and showed great mercy to us. So also you are to show mercy to the unlovable, to those who hate you. What does it mean to seek first the Kingdom of God? What does it mean to have a Christ-centered eschatology? It means that you are not pre-occupied with your own agenda, and so you are able to love the very people who make your life miserable! partly, in the hope that they might repent, but also because they are God's instruments in conforming you to Christ. Because Jesus doesn't say "only love some of those who hate you." God is kind not only to those who repent, but he is kind to all humanity. He sends the rain on the just and the unjust alike. Yes, there will be judgment in the end, but he is kind to all humanity! Even so, you are to love all your enemies, because you can see the end. 3. A Disciple Will Be Like His Teacher (6:37-42) Then Jesus says "Judge not, and you will not be judged. Condemn not, and you will not be condemned." What does this mean? Again, you have to see the imperative in the light of the indicative. The basic command, the imperative, of verses 37-38 is that you should be gracious to others, because however you treat others is the way you will be treated by God! And the parables of verses 39-42 illustrate this: What happens if you follow a blind man? You'll both end up in a pit! If your teacher is stupid, then you will be just as stupid as he is! Because a disciple a learner when he is fully trained will be just like his teacher. And if you see that your brother has a problem, don't sit there pontificating as though you yourself were so innocent! Rather, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother's eye. Jesus is saying, "be like your teacher." If you listen to me, Jesus says, you will become like me-- gracious and merciful to others. 4. A Tree Will Be Known by Its Fruit (6:43-45) Verses 43-45 then summarize the entire message of the two previous sections: a child will be like his father, a disciple will be like his teacher. For no good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit, for each tree is known by its own fruit. For some reason, that redwood tree in our backyard hasn't produced any apples yet! What is Jesus point here? The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks. We often handle this by saying, look at yourself what sort of fruit do you see? Or even, look at others you can tell whether they are good or bad by how they act. But what is Jesus doing? The verse I left out is crucial! For figs are not gathered from thornbushes, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush. The image of the fig tree or the vineyard or the bramble bush is loaded with implications for Jesus' hearers. Isaiah had spoken of Israel as God's choice vineyard with the finest plants, well tended by God himself. Hear Isaiah's way of putting it in Isaiah 5: My beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile hill. He dug it and cleared it of stones and planted it with choice vines; He built a watchtower in the midst of it, and hewed out a wine vat in it; and he looked for it to yield grapes, but it yielded wild grapes (literally, stink fruit). (Is 5:2) Isaiah goes on to say explicitly: the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel... (5:7) When you notice this, you start looking back over the whole passage and notice the same thing: Isaiah 42:19-20 says "Who is blind but my servant? . . . He sees many things but does not observe them." Israel, the servant of God, is blind. Jesus isn't just talking about how to be a good person! Jesus is saying that Israel has failed to do and to be what Israel was called to do and to be. Jesus is saying to the great multitude of those who have come to hear him and to be healed: Israel was called to be God's servant but who is blinder than Israel? Israel was called to be God's vineyard but Israel keeps producing stinkfruit! As long as your hope is an Israel-centered hope, your hope is in the wrong place! (Incidentally, this is why I believe that dispensationism is so dangerous: Dispensationalism has an Israel-centered hope! Israel is at the center of dispensational eschatology). Jesus is saying I am the good tree. You cannot be a good person apart from me. 5. The Two Foundations (6:46-49) That bothers a lot of people. Is Jesus saying that only Christians can be good?! It depends on what you mean. And Jesus explains this in his conclusion: read 46-49 The two houses look very much alike. Remember who we are talking about. We are talking about two hearers of Jesus it would not be a stretch to say that we are talking about the difference between one of Jesus's disciples and a Pharisee. From the outside a devout Christian and a devout Jew look an awful lot alike! The difference is not so much in their outward appearance. Jews, Mormons, Muslims, atheists, all are capable of being very nice, very good people. When Jesus talks about "the good person" that produces "good fruit" he is not particularly talking about morality. He is talking about eschatology. Because what is the difference between the disciple's house and the Pharisee's house? The disciple laid the foundation on the rock. The Pharisee had no foundation. And so when the flood arose when God's judgment came the disciple's house stood firm, but the Pharisee's house collapsed. Conclusion: Whose Kingdom? What Eschatology? So we come back to that most basic of all questions: what is your eschatology? Again, I'm not talking about your view of the millennium or the rapture. I'm talking about that most basic of questions: what are you hoping for? What are you looking for in life? Whose kingdom are you seeking? The one who hears the words of Jesus, but does not put his hope in Jesus, has no foundation. It doesn't make a difference how good you are! You could be as righteous as the Pharisees, as wise as Benjamin Franklin, as good as Mohatma Gandhi, as spiritually tuned in as Buddha, but if your foundation isn't Jesus, then you have no foundation to withstand the torrents of God's judgment. You see, Jesus is coming to the orthodox Jews of his day, and saying, all of your goodness and all of your law-keeping, isn't good enough! If your house is going to stand on the judgment day, then it needs to be built upon the foundation of Jesus Christ. In this life we get brief glimpses of judgment day. It can happen on a large scale like Hurricane Katrina, blasting homes to smithereens, or 9-11 when death and destruction came hurtling out of the sky or it can happen on a small scale losing a job, losing a loved one, enduring poverty, hunger, and sorrow for the sake of Christ. What is your eschatology? What is your hope? Do you want everyone to like you? Are you afraid of what others think of you? Jesus says, "No, no, no, look over here. Listen to me! Look to me! I am your hope! Don't worry about what they think follow me!" Or are you waiting for someone to serve you? "I won't be content until my needs are met!" Jesus says, "Trust me. Seek first my kingdom look for how you can serve others love those who are not loving you. I will provide!" Remember, Jesus is not calling the "righteous." He is calling sinners. He is calling those who are weak, those who are sick those who admit that they need help! And he says to you, come, follow me!