Epiphany 6 Luke 6:17-26 Divine Paradox
Jeremiah 17:5-8 1 Corinthians 15:12-20 Luke 6:17-26
We all have medical problems of one sort or another. Our eyesight is not perfect and our hearing may not be as good as it should be. Collectively, we have aches and pains from work or play, arthritis or back problems. Some of us have allergies or colds while still others have serious or even life threatening ailments. Others contend with depression and anxiety and other emotional imbalances.
Even in this day and age, with all of our medical expertise, we still have medical problems. So you can understand that many people suffered to an even greater extent from various aliments and diseases during the time that Jesus physically walked upon the earth.
And you can understand how eager people were to meet someone who could heal them. So when Jesus came down from the mountain after praying with His apostles, there was a large crowd of people with various diseases and ailments anxiously awaiting His healing power. People from all over the area came to hear His message and to be healed of their diseases and Jesus did not let them down.
As He spoke words of comfort, Jesus cured them. He had no need to lift up His hands or examine them to know what manner of healing they needed, He just healed them. People who got close enough to touch Him were cured of every infirmity as healing power flowed out from our Lord. Neither did Jesus hold back any of His power but let it flow freely from Him to the surrounding crowds. Our lesson says He healed them all; not one person was turned away, and not one person who came to Jesus left with any kind of infirmity.
The crowds had been blessed by believing that Jesus could heal them. Those who were present were healed by being in close proximity to Jesus Christ. Then, after the crowds were healed and blessed in a physical manner, Jesus turned to His disciples with wise and caring eyes and began to teach them about the blessings of Heaven.
"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. (Luke 6:20-23)
His words are divine and practical, Heavenly and earthly, mystical yet useful. Jesus speaks in a divine paradox. His words have a spiritual meaning that is quite the opposite of what the physical realm perceives. Even so, His words are intended to comfort afflicted believers in this world with the assurance that God knows their troubles, looks upon them with favor, and will deliver them safely into the next world, while filling their needs in this life with spiritual blessings to the point of overflowing. He speaks to His disciples as already possessing these blessings through faith in His promise.
Jesus had just given them a physical example of how those who suffer for His sake in this world will be just as easily healed in heaven. Later he would feed the crowds with just a few loaves and fish. Again Jesus used a physical example of how in the same way that He fulfilled the needs of physical bodies, He would also fulfill the needs of their eternal souls. The answer to his paradox is simple; Just as those who were ill and hungry are satisfied by faith and reception of His power, those who feel the illness of their sins and hunger after righteousness, have their sins forgiven and their souls filled with virtue.
These guaranteed blessings have not yet been fully realized in this world however, but will come later as the faithful enter into heaven. In fact Jesus does not promise any worldly advantage to his disciples and implies that the Christian may well be at a disadvantage in this life when compared to the life of the unbeliever.
However, the blessings and trials of Earth are not worth comparing with what awaits the believer in heaven. Jeremiah tells us, “Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart turns away from the Lord.” Jesus teaches His disciples likewise:
“But 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.” (Luke 6:24-26)
Jesus is not saying that economic poverty and hunger are good, anymore than he is saying that economic wealth and a full stomach are bad. Jesus wants to be clear about right and wrong, good and bad, blessings and curses from God’s perspective. His listeners would naturally think of wealth as good and poverty as bad. His reversal of that concept gets their attention. However, Jesus is neither condemning all rich people nor making saints of all poor people. Concerning those who turn away from God, Jesus would later say, “This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God.” (Luke 12:21)
So then, the wealth or poverty of an individual is not the real issue. Rather Jesus is speaking about the attitudes of all men toward God and His plan of Salvation.
God knows that everyone needs a certain amount of material goods in order to live a decent life. Sometimes however, people accumulate so much that all that they have acquired becomes an obstacle to their salvation. The people who lack little or nothing in their physical lives run the risk of neglecting their spiritual lives. In other words, people who are self made millionaires often forget about the Creator who made them. It is easy to forget about eternity when you are enjoying each and every day, basking in your riches and enjoying your prestige and wealth.
On the other side of the issue are those who lack material goods or who are in physical need of healing. They can see their need of a Savior more clearly. Just as they have physical and emotion needs, they can also look with hope to a time when all of their needs will be fulfilled.
Hence they see in Jesus Christ, the One who can supply their needs, now through their prayers and then in eternity. However, those that have little may be lazy, bad stewards or are poor because of their sinful lifestyles. Rather than turning to God for help, they may turn to immoral and illegal methods.
Ironically, both the rich and the poor who reject God and His salvation ridicule and laugh at those Christians who turn to God. Just as Christians mourn over the poverty, pain and suffering that occurs in this sin filled world, they also weep over those who refuse to repent of their sins. Jesus is saying that those who persecute, ridicule, belittle and take advantage of others will find that in eternity what goes around comes around.
When our Lord returns, those who laugh now at the plight of those less fortunate, will be weeping throughout eternity. The people who will laugh in eternity will be the ones who because they remained faithful to Jesus Christ were laughed at on earth, not that they will be laughing at the plight of others but because they will be filled with joy through the One who has given them eternal life.
How has He given you eternal life?
Let me paraphrase our reading from Luke to tell you. Jesus who was surrounded by all of the riches and splendor of heaven came down and humbled himself to become a helpless child born of a poor woman. Even though He was very God of very God, He grew up in wisdom and stature as a human being. When the time was right He began using His power and riches to teach and to heal the people on earth. Those who hungered after what was right, saw their need for a Savior, came close to Him, believed in Him and were healed.
Those who refused to believe not only rejected Him and were not healed; they laughed, ridiculed, tormented, criticized and eventually crucified Him on the cross. Jesus humbled Himself and became obedient to His Father, even to death on the cross. Jesus left all of the riches and Glory of heaven out of His love for all mankind and He gave all that He had so that you could have everlasting life.
For the sake of His one and only Son Jesus Christ, God has given you all He has. You are rich beyond measure through the saving work of Jesus Christ. Whether you are speaking about material possessions or happiness of your soul, there is no poverty in heaven. Riches, happiness and joy throughout eternity await you. Everything in heaven is yours shared equally with all of your brothers and sisters in Christ in such abundance that you will never be envious or lacking in any way.
Even the richest people in the world are poor in comparison to what awaits those who are heirs of heaven. You are essentially a rich person whose home is in heaven who is roughing it here on Earth; camping here among the poor who do not yet know that they too can share in the riches that await all who are in Christ Jesus.
Everything good, everything pure and everything heavenly is yours to share. Every good and perfect gift given to you from God the Father are yours to give. What exactly are those gifts? Grace, forgiveness, daily bread, healing, comfort and all things beautiful are yours to give in the name of and for the sake of Jesus Christ.
Every one of you has been given talents, time and money to use for yourselves and to help those who are in need, in accordance with the Father’s will. These are all gifts that God has freely given you to enjoy and to increase the joy of those less fortunate. Even when you are going through ‘dry times’ as Jeremiah calls them, you can be like a tree planted by the life giving waters of Jesus--because your strength comes not from yourself but from the Lord.
To Jesus Christ be all glory, praise and honor, Amen.