Gospel of Luke Study – Chapter 6 (Part 2)

6:27-35 – Love your enemies
We know now that God has a great concern for the poor, for the hungry, for those in need; and a warning for all who are receiving their salvation banquet in this life already, while others go without. Followers of Jesus take care of the poor. Now Jesus continues to teach and beginning off he is teaching to those who will “listen.” Obviously after the Blessings and Woes section there are some who have turned Jesus OFF, and are not listening!

After taking care of the poor and needy, the followers of Jesus are to LOVE their ENEMIES. Then Jesus outlines what that would look like with four ways of putting this into practice. Each of these ways of practicing seems a bit outlandish if we were to actually put these into practice. The first couple are possible, though most of us are not to keen on actually blessing those who hate us, and we would grudgingly pray for someone who is abusing us. On 9/11 the Christian community in the United States was really taxed on this account, and we still are as we fight in Iraq, and Afghanistan. Jesus goes even further than just asking us to move from a place where we are grudgingly prayer for enemies. Next we are to be strong enough not only to not fight back when someone attacks us, but we are called to willingly take the abuse, and to give more opportunity for such (turning the cheek). Turning the cheek doesn’t mean here to forgive, but to provide an easy opportunity to be injured to the other person who is doing the offending. On the face of this it may seem as though this is a bit of reverse psychology, and possibly this may work, however, we know the end of this story and as Jesus did turn the other cheek he was killed. Of course it changed the course of human history, and that is Jesus’ point. Jesus wants us to be willing to change human history; sadly for us it could possibly mean death. The striking of the cheek was an expression of insult, and the turning of the cheek breaks that violence that could occur (ie. Watch a hockey game as to what happens when someone strikes the cheek!). There are few of us willing to allow ourselves to be subjected to such things. Martin Luther King, Jr. & Gandhi come to mind as a few who actually have, of course along with Jesus.

For the person stealing from us, we are called to give them more than they are stealing, and to not call it stealing!! Here is another place where Jesus words are immeasurably more challenging to us than we are comfortable with usually. Jesus does not want us to press charges against the other person, but actually it seems he wants us to practice forgiveness on the spot, and then to offer more than the person could have imagined, sounds like GRACE. Someone wants your coat; give them your whole outfit. Give to everyone who begs from you. And finally we have the “golden rule,” “do to others as you would have them do to you.”

Consider what the world would be like if we actually practiced the words in these few verses? What would it look like? What kinds of things in our society would disappear? What are the possibilities?

Jesus is calling upon his disciples to be different than the society around them. Sinners like those who like them, are good to those who are good to them, lend to those who can pay them back. Duh, the system of business and capitalism is built upon these things. They are not necessarily Christian, however. Jesus calls us to be different. Luke presents these in a way that makes Jesus assume that those who are still listening want to be better than those “sinners.” To see the irony in this statement you have to remember how Jesus has treated “those sinners?” He has eaten with them, & invites them to be disciples. Jesus doesn’t really want us to have an US/THEM mentality. He wants us to stop this kind of thinking and acting. The US/THEM mentality is designed to keep hate and violence going. Jesus basically takes what is the common piety among “good folk;” take care of family, take care of friends, take care of your community; charity begins at home; etc; and Jesus says we are called to do much more. This kind of piety is actually nothing! Jesus is going to show us what much more really is.

The differences lie in Loving our enemies, doing good (which translated here means going out of our way for the people we don’t like, and who don’t like us!!), and we are called to lend without any expectation of repayment (this one strikes at the heart of our business and capitalistic establishment, and if practiced would have prevented the depressions/recessions we have experienced). I say this being an Accounting major with an Economics minor!

There is a reward from Jesus for our following these instructions, and that is that we will “children of the most high.” Ultimately this is the way God behaves with us, and all the people of the world, and thus we would be following in His footsteps to lives as God lives with us. This is the nature of LOVE!

“the character of God dictates that we practice a love that is not limited by others’ responses to us,” (Culpepper, New Interpreters Bible, p. 147) Nor are we limited to acting only for those who act and behave in upright ways. We are given free reign to BE LOVING TO EVERYONE, just like God!! How often do we allow ourselves that kind of freedom?? What would that look like even on a small scale?

Jesus seems to be breaking the cycle of hate with these teachings, and to instruct us that in dealing with those who do not like, or even hate, our actions can actually help to change our feelings. Jesus never says to change our feelings, but to act toward those who are our enemies as if they were our friends. The cycle of violence can change, the cycle of hate can change, the cycle of retaliation and vengeance can change. Jesus says to change it you just stop practicing it! Instead practice LOVE and love will grow.

6:36-38 – Be Merciful, as God is Merciful
We are to imitate God in the way we relate to others. Jesus does suggest that Judgment is something reserved for God. In essence we are to even go beyond the “golden rule” here because Jesus is telling us to treat others the way we want God to treat us!! Don’t judge, don’t condemn --- because if you do you will be judged and condemned!! Instead, forgive and give, you will be forgiven and you will receive from the hand of God. Remember how the healings occurred. Jesus tells the person to stand, to put out your hand, and as they obeyed they were healed. Could this be the way forgiveness happens, as we practice forgiveness towards others forgiveness happens to us?

God will give to us the way an extremely generous person would. The measuring cup is first filled up, then pressed down to create room for more, then shaken to create room for more, then filled up to to the point of running over the brim. This is how we wish to receive from God, so therefore we are called to give our LOVE this extravagantly!! Just as someone in the marketplace may request that the seller use the buyer’s measure so that the buyer is not cheated, here Jesus says God will use the same measure we use towards others, with us. We get what we give.

“With what measure you measure it shall be measured back to you.” - Greek equivalent (Vinson, p.190).

Through these sections being linked together we get the impression that Luke is telling us that, “Oppression of the poor, materialism, and the presumption that problems can be settled by violence and force are all related. (Culpepper, p. 149). Jesus is providing a different answer to each of these.

6:39-42 – Teaching & Learning
The continuation here is a series of four parables to expand on the earlier section of being a disciple, and what it means, what it entails, and how we should go about it.

The first parable suggests the leader must be able to see ahead to be able to lead. If the leader can’t see ahead it isn’t going to work, and the leader must also be better qualified, have grown closer to the teachings of the teacher. It is not possible for us to become better than “the teacher” (Jesus), but the goal of discipleship is the base our lives upon Jesus’ life and teaching and to become “like” Jesus (not Mike). The leader must be more learned, closer to Jesus’ life and teaching than the student.

Next is the graphic description of what human beings typically do. We really enjoy pointing out other people’s faults, and problems. This parable connects to the earlier injunction about not judging others! We, all too often, spend our time telling others they should be better, when we ourselves are grossly hypocritical (log in our eye). The disciple of Jesus must be sincerely humble, aware of their own faults, their own failures, their own struggles, and only when truly working on yourself should be even dare suggest to someone else that they have a speck that they may want to work on! The disciple is ultimately deferential. This is the reason why support groups really only work with people who have struggled with the similar problem. Weight loss groups only work when the people in them recognize their struggles with weight and are truly humble and respectful towards those struggling with the very same issues. All other support groups work the same, Divorce, Grief, Alcoholics Anonymous, etc. The key to these groups is respect for people, respect for the struggles real human beings have, and a willingness to admit we fail and fail frequently.

6:43-49 – Walk the Talk – One is what One does
Jesus then further expands upon the job of faith work in discipleship. It doesn’t just involve removing those “logs,” but a transformation of the heart so that what we produce with our lives is the stuff of God, not ourselves. What we do and who we are are inseparably linked together. As a sinner we produce sin, as a transformed person by the grace of God we produce love, grace, peace. Ultimately this is the life of a disciple that our lives be transformed into a Christ-like life. In that Christ-like life there will be sacrifice for the sake of others.

Finally, Jesus suggests that discipleship really is the wise thing to do. He uses the building of a house with/without a foundation, and suggests to us which is wiser, which is better, which will withstand the storms of life? Obviously we all know which is better, wiser. In the wake of the earthquake in Haiti we need to realize that Jesus is not making a value judgment on the lives of those who build inadequate housing that crumble, but rather which is the wiser way of constructing a building. It is obvious from Haiti that a strong building, properly constructed is best, safest, etc. And for Jesus the same is true of the building of our lives. We need a good foundation, and Jesus is the foundation that we need! None of us will be able to choose what storms of life will come our way, but here Jesus is suggesting that whatever the storm we will need a good foundation for our lives, so we will not be lost in those storms. This too is evident in the survivors of Haiti, and those who are clinging to God, and the comfort and hope God is providing.

Just saying Jesus is Lord is not enough here. Our lives need to be transformed with this good foundation. We need to build on this foundation. Without it our words are empty and our actions will not produce the fruit that would be produced coming from the roots of a foundation in Jesus (mixing my metaphors here). Hearing Jesus and acting upon what we hear is important. They really go together. Hearing without doing is not helpful. It may be possible that doing without hearing may be helpful, and may draw someone into hearing.Ultimately discipleship requires a strong foundation which can help us to weather life and produce godly fruit and lead others with an immense sense of humility, love, and care. Jesus turns all the conventional wisdom on its head through the Sermon on the Plain, and calls his disciples to learn something different.