Daily Bible Reading 3rd June 2026 // Luke 6:20-26
20 And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said:
“Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.
21 “Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you shall be satisfied.
“Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh.
22 “Blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude you and revile you and spurn your name as evil, on account of the Son of Man! 23 Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for so their fathers did to the prophets.
24 “But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation.
25 “Woe to you who are full now, for you shall be hungry.
“Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep.
26 “Woe to you, when all people speak well of you, for so their fathers did to the false prophets.
It is worthwhile to look further at the second point made in the previous Note about discipleship being presupposed in these verses. Consider, for example, Paul's teaching in Romans 12:14, 17, 19, 20, 21. These verses are very similar to our Lord's teaching here, and for Paul they represent the implications, the practical outworking of the gospel which he has unfolded in Romans 1-8. In all his epistles, we have first of all an exposition of the truth of the gospel, and following this, the exhortation and command to live in a certain fashion, to be a certain kind of people on the basis of that truth. And so it is here, in our Lord's teaching. Furthermore, we should note the emphasis on ideas of discipleship, as for example in 39, where He speaks of 'the blind leading the blind' and 43, where He speaks of 'bearing fruit'. These link up with the earlier emphasis in 5:10, 'I will make you fishers of men'. In other words, what Jesus is saying is, 'This is what true 'fishers of men' will have to be like, and live like'.
And the incentive to such service? The multitude around them at that point (17) - all kinds of needy people. Living, vital discipleship is the only way for God to get through to the needs of the world. Here, then, is the picture presented in these verses: a mighty Christ in the midst of human need and the prospect of a living, vital Church in the midst of it, becoming the channel of divine grace to men. This is the setting of our Lord's words, and this is the background against which we need to understand the thrust of the passage.