Sometimes we just don’t get it. We only want to see the nice things Jesus did. We only want to hear the nice things Jesus had say and even now speaks through Scripture and the Spirit.

In case you missed the beginning of this series, we are following the early days of Jesus’ public ministry. We have looked at His early calling of the people to repentance and followed Jesus to his rejection (and near murder) by the people of Nazareth.

Doctor Luke records in chapters 5 and 6 a list of some of Jesus’ early miracles. (How we use these all-too-frequently to attract the multitudes to our church buildings! The bigger the blessings for the multitudes, the bigger the building we need.)

I related an often used part of a favorite teaching of Jesus in an Advent preparation series on The Beatitudes. Oh how we love to point out the miracles of His feeding the 5000 and the feeding the 4000; while we forget that Jesus’ message is to REPENT! Turn back to God, our Father. He sends us the bread from Heaven. Jesus is the Bread of Heaven. His Word is what we MUST digest.

“Blessed are you… Happy are you: This we want to hear. 🙂

We turn now to Luke 6.

Jesus has been preaching repentance. He has performed many miracles. He has shown compassion for many individuals and even compassion for the hungry crowds.

People will follow Jesus anywhere, IF only He will keep performing miracles for them. (You remember, his own neighbors and friends in Nazareth were angry enough at Jesus to want to throw Jesus off the cliff to His death.) Why? We want to be entertained. We want blessings and not curses. We want proof.  (Forget faith!) He would NOT perform for the multitudes of for even his hometown neighbors and family.

Jesus Ministers to a Great Multitude

17 And he came down with them and stood on a level place, with a great crowd of his disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea and Jerusalem and the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon, 18 who came to hear him and to be healed of their diseases. And those who were troubled with unclean spirits were cured. 19 And all the crowd sought to touch him, for power came out from him and healed them all.

[Here is the nice part we all love:]

The Beatitudes

20 And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said:

“Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.

21 “Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you shall be satisfied.

“Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh.

22 “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! 23 Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for so their fathers did to the prophets.

Amen! Yes, we need this Jesus.

(Lord bring us a miracle and bring us your reward. Prove you Power to us and we will follow You.)

Ah, but you with ears to hear, hear what Jesus says next:

Jesus Pronounces Woes

24 “But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation.

25 “Woe to you who are full now, for you shall be hungry.

“Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep.

26 “Woe to you, when all people speak well of you, for so their fathers did to the false prophets.

So you want to be rich, do you? You want Jesus to bless your house with plenty and laughter and good reputation for you and your family… Are you sure? Do you really want it all NOW?

Dear brothers and sisters of His church, of the multitudes of christians;

Hear what you do not recall (and I will shorten it for our short memories; but read it all, if you will:)

Love Your Enemies

27 “But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.

Have you been abused? Sexually? Physically?  Verbally? Financially? Emotionally?

Do some hate you? (Certainly a fellow believer or sister who claims Christ ought not?)

LOVE THEM.

Though they are your enemies, love them. That is what Christ Jesus commands. (Are you still with us, christian of the crowds and multitudes?)

What is this ‘love’ to which Jesus (IF He IS our Lord) calls us?

• Welcome them (perhaps into your homes, but certainly into your life. (How else will they see Christ in you?)
• Entertain them. No, not like TV or a sport or your cell phone; just do not ignore your enemies as if they are not real people created by God, perhaps for a later winning into His Kingdom.
• Be fond of them. Admit it; you know people who are enemies of Christ Jesus whom you admire and like. Are they not also deserving as you of His love as shown through you?
• Love them dearly. Yes, your enemy; that the love of Christ Jesus may shine into the darkness of their life.

Not only, “love them,” do good to them.

Sure, we all remember the story of the good Samaritan; but Jesus’ point was not so much that a hated man did good for a man, but that men (and women) who claim to be “good” do not often do the good act of mercy, as had the Samaritan unbeliever. Therefore Jesus continues in Luke 6:32

32 “If you love those who love you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. 

33 And if you do good to those who do good to you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners do the same…  35 But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, 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. 

36 Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.

Jesus’ personal love is also personal love for the unbeliever and for the unsaved, as you and I were once unsaved and an enemy of God (though our profession may have been false and our faith rebellious).

REPENT! Show mercy, as our Heavenly Father has shown us mercy.

and LOVE, as Christ Jesus has loved us.

For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. – Romans 5:10 KJV

No, repentance is not such a bad message for each of us; therefore, be reconciled to your brother in Christ. Be reconciled to your sister in Christ. Be reconciled even to your enemy! Love them.

And just two additional things (from Luke 6:27) added next in v. 28:

28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.

Abuse (of all kinds and of varying degrees) is a terrible thing, an offense between two human beings, both created by God. The word often translated ‘abused’ by this and other versions of the Bible in the KJV reads: “them which spitefully use (you).” It is a better translation (unencumbered by the world’s spin on the meaning). Listen to the meaning from Jesus’ words:

Outline of Biblical Usage

Forgive us our trespasses,

As we forgive those who trespass against us.