Luke 6:17, 20-26

Gospel Summary

It is instructive to compare Luke’s Beatitudes with those of Matthew (5:2-11). Luke offers just four Beatitudes while Matthew gives us eight. But the four that Luke shares with Matthew are considered the oldest version and contain the essential teaching. Luke also adds four Woes, not found in Matthew, and intended to re-enforce, by contrast, the message of the previous Beatitudes.

The most important word in all the Beatitudes is the subject of the first one, namely, the “poor.” This English word, suggesting economic destitution, does not at all capture the full meaning of the Hebrew word from which it is ultimately derived. In that fuller sense, the poor are the “afflicted ones” or, more specifically, the “powerless ones.” This often includes the economically destitute but it includes also those who recognize their radical poverty when it comes to the matter of final salvation. In the gospel, the poor stand in contrast to the Scribes and Pharisees who, though themselves far from materially rich, were so “full of themselves” and so smug about salvation that they effectively closed themselves to the free gift of the Kingdom.

In essence, therefore, God gives salvation to those humble ones who know how powerless they really are in spiritual matters and who are ready to turn humbly to God who is more than willing to give them the Kingdom. The “hungry” and the “weeping” and the “persecuted” are variations on the poor ones. The hungry know that only God can satisfy their needs and do not try to place that burden on any merely human creature. The weeping know that God’s command to love often leads to grieving…and who love nonetheless. The persecuted, or ridiculed ones, gladly embrace the “foolish” wisdom of unselfish service because they realize that God’s gift is only for the generous ones.

Life Implications

The seemingly benign appearance of these well-known Beatitudes conceal a very harsh judgment on many of the attitudes of the secular culture in which we live and by which we are probably influenced far more than we realize. This secular culture (and our natural instincts) lead us to place a very high premium on control. A metaphor for this in our contemporary world is the remote control for our TVs. There is a pleasing sense of power in being able to “zap” advertisements and people on the screen with whom we disagree.

This tendency could be relatively harmless except when we allow it to influence our relationship with God and our attitude toward other people. An excessive yearning for control is clearly a prideful attitude and it is pride, more than anything else, that blocks our access to the free gift of salvation. It can also destroy the delicate fabric of our loving relationship with other people.

The opposite of our passion for control is our willingness to love to the point of vulnerability. Machismo is unhealthy because it is so out of touch with reality. We are living in a dangerous illusion when we think that we must always be in control. The fact is that we do not control the most important realities in life, such as love, happiness and life itself. These are wonderful gifts and we should be happy to accept them as such. When we try to seize them, they inevitably slip through our fingers.

We need to understand the true role of power. It can be very useful but it must always be guided by love. When that happens, we can also let go of it, when the time comes, and thus be ready for the exquisite gift of God’s Kingdom.

Demetrius R. Dumm, O.S.B.

Image: James Tissot, The Beatitudes Sermon, c. 1890, Brooklyn Museum