LUKE 6:17-23 At that time, Jesus 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, who came to hear him and to be healed of their diseases; and those who were troubled with unclean spirits were cured. And all the crowd sought to touch him, for power came forth from him and healed them all.
And he lifted up his eyes on His disciples, and said: "Blessed are you poor, for yours is the Kingdom of God. Blessed are you that hunger now, for you shall be satisfied. Blessed are you that weep now, for you shall laugh. Blessed are you when men hate you, and when they exclude you and revile you, and cast out 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."
The Source of the Text
This text in Luke is parallel to the Beatitudes in the Gospel of Saint Matthew chapter 5 but in a different setting (Matthew is on a mountain, Luke is on a plain) The differences between Luke and Matthew are so great, though, that it would be hard to make a case that they were dependent on a common literary source or that Luke used Matthew as a source.
There is an obvious parallel in this text to Moses coming down off the mountain and delivering the Law to the Children of Israel. The Law of Moses was the great organizing plan for the people of Israel in the land they were to enter. The words of Jesus were so much bigger and grander. These words were the organizing plan for the Church. These words tell us how we should live in this world.
The Message of the Text
Some cast Christ as a revolutionary. In some sense, that was true. His words did overturn the wisdom of that time and still more, the wisdom of our time.
Poverty
Poverty, in this world, is considered a curse. Riches are seen as blessings.
When we consider the riches that Christ left when He became man and look at the poverty he lived in we can see how our temporary humility is nothing in comparison
2 Cor 8:9 For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich.
We are to count the poverty of this world as nothing compared to gaining the richness of the Kingdom of God.
Hunger
Most of us in our comfortable parts of the world don't face hunger. That is not true for much of the world. There are people who go to sleep hungry every night. The Fasts of the Church season are intended to help us see this reality.
A much more significant hunger and thirst is our hunger and thirst for God. Our hunger and thirst is only satisfied with the life of Christ and is found in the sacrifice of the Eucharist where Christ gives His life to us.
John 6:35 And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.
Weeping
In this life we cry and weep. Sometimes for our life's condition. Sometimes for those we have lost. Depression is often just a fear of death. In Christ, the hope of life after death overcomes the ultimate sorrow, that of our own death.
Persecution
If we are seeking to live righteous lives the world will not love that. As the Apostle Paul wrote:
2 Timothy 3:12 ...all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.
Not all persecution is because we are acting godly. Some is the sort of persecution we receive for acting badly ourselves. That is not what is being referred to here.
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