(Luke) Sermon On the Plain - Blessings and Woes Flashcards
how does the sermon begin?
With a series of blessings and woes, in these Jesus talks about the kind of life those who wish to enter into the kingdom of God should try to lead
Whats the sermon basically about?
What it means to be a true follower of Christ
whats a blessing
A gift from God
what are the blessings in the sermon?
A series of statements that praise the values the world seems to dislike and reject the values that the world admires
‘blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God’
- they are spiritually poor - know they must rely on God and they need him
‘blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied’
hes teaching those who know in their hearts that they must seek God to fulfill their inner need will find him and be satisfied
‘blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh’
Jesus offers a blessing to those who see evil in the world and weep at the suffering caused by humanities rejection of God
- one day when Kingdom of God is established this sadness will turn to Joy
what are the woes?
A series of statements in which Jesus warms those people who enjoy the values the world approves of
'’woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort’
warns those who are wealthy seem to think they have everything they need and rely on money rather than God to satisfy their needs
- wont satisfy their inner spiritual emptiness
‘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’
refer to people who feel that they have everything they need and do not rely on God
- they’re unaware of their own spiritual need and will never be satisfied
Widows Offering
Jesus praises widow for giving all she had
‘all these people gave their gifts out of their wealth: but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on’
What did Jesus make clear?
That salvation is God’s gift, given through divine grace - wealth plays no part in salvation
‘woe to you when all men speak well of you, for that is how their fathers treated the false prophets’
- reminding people that the message of God to the world is a difficult and challenging one - if people speak well of them they are not giving out God’s message properly
In past those who spoke God’s word truthfully were seen as?
False prophets + sometimes put to death
true followers of Christ will never be popular in the world because?
they bring a message that is far from comfortable
