Commentary on Luke 6:20-31

While perhaps less familiar than the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5–7, Luke’s more compact version, set on “a level place” (6:17), like its Matthean cousin, sets forth Jesus’ bold vision of life and community that expresses the values and commitments of God’s reign. After an all-night prayer session, Jesus has just chosen 12 among his disciples to be specially commissioned apostles (verses 12–16). Now a large crowd assembles, seeking both healing of sickness and the opportunity to listen to a master teacher (verses 17–19).

Initially addressing the disciples (verse 20), the discourse also speaks more broadly to “you who are listening” (verse 27 New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition), culminating in an appeal to hear what Jesus says and to embody it in practice (verses 46–49). The portion of the discourse that forms the lection for the day concludes with the “golden rule” imperative of acting toward others as we would want to be treated ourselves (verse 31; see also Matthew 7:12). As the rest of the discourse shows, this is not a matter of simple reciprocal exchange but instead a grace that treats even different—and difficult—others with unreciprocated kindness.

Topsy-turvy blessing

The passage begins with a balanced set of four declarations of blessing or good fortune (beatitudes) and woe or misfortune (Luke 6:20–26; the longer version of nine beatitudes in Matthew 5:3–12 lacks Luke’s corresponding woes). 

The four declarations of blessing are performative speech: Jesus’ word creates the reality that he is announcing. This is what Jesus’ mission does! So it is characteristic of Luke’s narrative that salvation or deliverance in its various forms—healing, welcome, forgiveness, release from oppression—is said to happen “today” (4:21; 5:26; 19:5, 9; 23:43; see also 2:11; 11:3; 13:16, 32–33; 17:20–21). The full realization of God’s reign lies in the still-awaited future, yet the community of God’s people is called to live even now by the pattern Jesus presents here.

Unlike Matthew’s third-person beatitudes, the entire set of blessings and woes in Luke is cast in the second-person plural “you.” The disciples—and we who listen with them—are addressed directly and intimately. This is about us! And what we hear is a stunningly countercultural vision of the life of those who follow Jesus, of life and relationship within the realm of God. The reversals are extreme:

• Not those who enjoy abundant resources but “you” who are impoverished command a place—even now—in God’s realm (6:20, 24).
• The circumstance of the well-nourished and “you” who experience hunger will be reversed (verses 21a, 25a).
• Grief-laden tears will yield to joyful laughter, while persons who experience delight now will weep (verses 21b, 25b). 
• The situations of those who are despised and beaten now because of their association with Jesus and those who enjoy public favor will likewise be reversed (verses 22–23, 26). 

Mary’s song (the Magnificat) near the beginning of the Gospel announced the dramatic role reversals that God’s activity effects (1:46–55), and Jesus’ mission from its outset proceeds to enact this topsy-turvy reign of God—in bold declaration (for example, 4:16–27 and 9:46–48), acts of healing (for example, 13:10–17), social exchange (for example, 14:11–24), and parable (for example, Lazarus and the rich man in 16:19–31). 

The parable featuring the reversal of roles for Lazarus and his rich counterpart serves as an especially poignant metaphorical enactment of the blessings and woes announced by Jesus in 6:20–26. In our world today, the proximity of great wealth to crushing poverty is all too real. What would it mean if faith communities that seek to follow the way of Jesus stepped in as witnesses to and co-agents of God’s blessing, of God’s provision, for persons in desperate need?

A radical call to love even enemies

Verse 27 shifts to the imperative mood. A string of imperative verbs continues through verse 31: Love, do good, bless, pray, offer (your other cheek), don’t withhold (your shirt), give, don’t ask (for the return of what is yours), do! With the directives to “bless those who curse you,” to “pray for those who mistreat you,” to offer the other cheek, to add one’s shirt to the seized coat (verses 27–30), Jesus is not commending passive submission to abuse. Instead, he advocates a nonviolent, non-retaliatory resistance that deflects public dishonor to those who mistreat one. In a culture that, at least for elite males, tied identity, status, and honor to the ability to exert control over others, this is provocatively countercultural teaching. It is no less countercultural, no less provocative, today. 

That said, it is critical to name and oppose an all-too-common—and dangerous—appropriation of texts such as this that shackles persons abused by (for example) spouses, partners, or parents without escape or recourse to protection. The promise of future (eschatological) blessing that “redeems” and therefore leaves unremedied the wounding of the present is empty.

The radical claim of the passage is perhaps most stark in the call Jesus issues to “love your enemies” (verse 27). The command is remarkable, and it receives added emphasis through its repetition a few verses later (verse 35). How might God’s people in our present, conflict-torn world—and neighborhoods, and families, and (yes) churches—dare to imagine living by this vision? 

This is assuredly not the way the world operates; it is not a comfortable or safe path to walk. We are much more familiar with self-preservation strategies that prioritize our own safety and comfort, perhaps even at the expense of others’ flourishing. We expect to see harm answered with retaliation and revenge. Yet, what is the endgame for cycles of harm and vengeance, writ so large in our own time? There is no soft and easy message to proclaim from this text. It is the sort of message that could get one crucified by the empire. On All Saints Sunday, though, it is perhaps worth remembering those saints across the centuries who have dared to love enemies, even at great personal cost.