What a wonderful gift it is to be able to study the Word. Last night we were studying the period of time when Jesus was preparing His disciples for his upcoming crucifixion. What we were studying is not the subject today. The way we were studying is.

In the past I have focused on what I saw as the “discrepancies” in the Bible from one author to the next. Pastor/Teacher opened The Word and the beautiful way that each author contributed to a complete account of an event. In our quest to study to show ourselves approved, we opened our minds and hearts and the Holy Spirit enlightened us in a glorious way.

Pastor reminded us that we had heard preaching and/or teaching on some of the scriptures many times by many different teachers/preachers and that the focus of each was different. She compared this to having many witnesses at one event and asking each of them to tell what happened. Each of us would see an event differently because of many factors…our background, our particular mind set, what perceptions were strongest and other factors.

When we study the Word we remind ourselves always of the background of the author, the primary audience of the author and the events surrounding the account. These factors bring a much richer understanding of the text.

Yesterday we looked at the Beatitudes from Matthew’s perspective. Today, we will look at the same topic as seen by Luke. What is different? Let us look at the account according to Luke and excerpts from a commentary by Dr. Ralph F. Wilson.

Luke 6:20-26
[20] Looking at his disciples, he said:
"Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.
[21] Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied.
Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh.
[22] Blessed are you when men hate you,
when they exclude you and insult you
and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man.
[23] "Rejoice in that day and leap for joy,
because great is your reward in heaven.
For that is how their fathers treated the prophets.
[24] "But woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort.
[25] Woe to you who are well fed now, for you will go hungry.
Woe to you who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep.
[26] Woe to you when all men speak well of you,
for that is how their fathers treated the false prophets.


Poor vs. Rich (6:20, 24)
Hungry vs. Well-Fed (6:21a, 25a)
Weeping vs. Laughing (6:21b, 25b)
Hated vs. Praised (6:22-23, 26)


Dr. Ralph F. Wilson used as his title for his look at the Beatitudes “Blessings and Woes” (Luke 6:20-26) and his work was interesting to study. (His complete article is found at http://www.jesuswalk.com/lessons/6_20-26.htm.)

We are aptly reminded by Dr. Wilson that “The truth is that Jesus was an itinerant preacher. He often spoke for several hours per day, several days a week, to crowds in one village and then on to the next, all over Galilee and the Jordan, as well as Judea. He was teaching his hearers the basic truths of the good news of the Kingdom. Do you think he ever once repeated himself? Do you think he got up early each morning to write a brand new sermon for the day's teaching? Of course not! He spoke without notes, repeating the same truths over and over again. Certainly, with different parables and illustrations, and endless variations of them. But the same basic teaching.” This is very much in harmony with our studies.



Studying the Word from the perspective of each of the gospel writers with open hearts and minds will enrich our lives.

May God be a blessing in your life!!!