Upside-Down Christmas: Luke 6

Luke 6

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If there was ever an upside-down kind of teaching from Jesus, it’s the beatitudes. “Beatitude” just means something like “blessed” or “happy.” And that’s what makes it so weird, actually. Because Jesus is saying blessed is this person or happy is that person. But then the people he identifies that way are not the people you’d expect.

This podcast series is called Upside Down Christmas. And we’re working our way through the Gospel of Luke one chapter at a time, and just reflecting on this theme of how Jesus turns things upside down from what we would expect. And I encourage you to follow along not only by listening but by reading a chapter a day for yourself.

Now, the beatitude that I want to focus on here is the first one. “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.”

Now even with our modern sensibilities, this doesn’t really make a lot of sense. Because who wants to be poor? Who would say that it’s a blessing to not have the money that you need to buy clothes or afford health insurance? Who says it’s a blessing to not be able to afford your groceries? Of course it’s not a blessing to be poor!

But in Jesus day, it was worse. Because the prevailing idea was that if you were poor it was because you weren’t favored by God. And if you were rich it was a sure sign of God’s blessing. In fact, if you were rich it almost proved that you were right with God, that you were in God’s good graces.

And then here comes Jesus turning that whole idea on its head. Blessed are the poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. What’s going on here?

Well, the first thing Jesus wants from us—and we see this in other parts of his teaching—is to uncouple this idea of blessedness and wealth. While it’s true that wealth is a gift of God, it’s also something that corrupt people gain for themselves through grift, usury, and the like. Wealth is often something people accumulate to themselves because they are greedy, or because money is an idol for them. Money in itself is not bad. But as the Apostle Paul once wrote, “Money is the root of all kinds of evil” (1 Timothy 6:10).

And if that’s true then what that means is that a lot of people are poor not because of their own sins, not because they are cursed by God, but because they have been defrauded out of their rightful due by someone else who’s hoarding more than what is right.

And that means that what’s implicit in Jesus’ teaching about the poor possessing the kingdom of God is that things will not always be this way. Later on, Jesus pronounces a series of “woes” which mirror the beatitudes. The first one is “But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation” (Luke 6:24). The rich are having their reward now while the poor suffer. But in reality, the rich—who look blessed now—will be the ones who are out of luck when the kingdom of God comes in full. Jesus is saying, The rich look blessed now and the poor look cursed. But the reality of the coming kingdom turns all that on its head.

Let’s pray. Lord, thank you that you have revealed to us that there will be justice in the coming kingdom, that those who have been robbed of their due, defrauded out of what is rightfully theirs—that they will have their day in the kingdom of God. And we pray with you as you taught us to pray—that you kingdom would come and that your will would be done on earth as it is in heaven. Amen.

Family Devotion:

Read Luke 6:20-23

These things that Jesus said are called the Beatitudes. I know that you don’t understand all of these things but here is what I want you to remember: The Beatitudes teach us to BE kind, BE humble, BE loving, and BE gentle.

Can you say that with me? Be kind, Be humble, Be loving, and Be gentle.

What does it mean to be kind? Humble? Loving? Gentle?

Can you think of any times Jesus showed us how to be kind? Humble? Loving? Gentle?