Sunday, October 11, 2026
Text: Luke 6:20–26
“And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said:
‘Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.
Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you shall be satisfied.
Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh.
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.
Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for so their fathers did to the prophets.
But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation.
Woe to you who are full now, for you shall be hungry.
Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep.
Woe to you, when all people speak well of you, for so their fathers did to the false prophets.’”
Today’s passage contains some of the most important words Jesus spoke to His disciples.
Jesus presents two very different ways of living. One is the way of looking toward the eternal blessings of the kingdom of God. The other is the way of following the values of this world—seeking immediate satisfaction, comfort, success, and the approval of other people.
Jesus is not simply describing two different lifestyles. He is calling us to make a choice.
Faith is not simply about attending church. Faith is about choosing the direction of our lives. It is about deciding what matters most to us and what we will give our time, our resources, and our hearts to.
Every day we make choices.
We choose what to buy. We choose our careers. We decide how to use our money. We decide which relationships to maintain. We decide how to respond when difficult situations come into our lives.
But what is the deepest principle behind our choices?
Are we asking, “What is best for me right now?”
Or are we asking, “What pleases God, and what is truly blessed from an eternal perspective?”
Through today’s passage, I pray that we will become people who choose the eternal blessings of God’s kingdom rather than the temporary satisfaction of this world.
1. Who Are the Blessed?
Jesus begins with a surprising declaration:
“Blessed are you…”
This expression is repeated throughout verses 20–22. The repetition tells us that this is extremely important.
But the people Jesus calls “blessed” are not the people whom the world normally considers blessed.
Jesus says:
“Blessed are you who are poor.”
“Blessed are you who are hungry now.”
“Blessed are you who weep now.”
“Blessed are you when people hate you and exclude you and insult you because of the Son of Man.”
From the world’s perspective, these people do not look blessed.
So why does Jesus call them blessed?
First, because the kingdom of God belongs to them.
Jesus says,
“Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.”
The blessing Jesus is talking about is not simply an improvement in someone’s economic circumstances.
Their true blessing is that the kingdom of God belongs to them.
A person may appear to have nothing in this world, yet possess the kingdom of God.
The world tells us that we need many things to be happy. We need a good house, a secure job, enough money, and the approval of other people.
But Jesus gives us a completely different standard.
The most important question is not how much we have, but whose we are.
A person may possess many things in this world but be spiritually poor if he has lost God.
On the other hand, a person may have very little in this world and yet be truly blessed if he belongs to God.
Therefore, biblical blessing is not ultimately determined by how much we possess.
The true question is:
Is God my King? Do I belong to His kingdom?
That is the true measure of blessing.
Second, because God will transform their present suffering into eternal satisfaction.
Jesus says,
“Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you shall be satisfied.”
And,
“Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh.”
There is an important word here: “now.”
You are hungry now.
You are weeping now.
You are suffering now.
You are experiencing hardship now.
But now is not forever.
In the kingdom of God, hunger will be replaced by satisfaction, and tears will be replaced by joy.
Jesus is not minimizing the suffering of people who are poor or hungry.
He is not saying, “You are poor, so you should be happy about it.”
Jesus knows the reality of human suffering. He sees the tears of His people.
But He declares that our present suffering does not have the final word.
The world judges people according to their present circumstances.
If someone has money now, the world calls that person successful.
If someone is healthy now, the world calls that person blessed.
If someone is laughing now, the world assumes that person is happy.
But Jesus does not look only at the present.
Jesus looks at the end.
He sees what God will ultimately accomplish.
Therefore, Christians must not look only at our present circumstances.
We must look beyond “now” to the “then” that God has promised.
This is faith.
Faith does not deny reality.
Faith looks beyond our present reality to the God who is greater than our circumstances.
We may be weeping now, but we look forward to the day when God will wipe away every tear.
We may be lacking something now, but we trust that God will ultimately satisfy His people.
Third, because there is a great reward in heaven.
Jesus says,
“Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven.”
When people hate us, insult us, reject us, or speak evil of us because we belong to Christ, our suffering is not meaningless.
The world may consider our commitment to Christ foolish.
People may not understand our choices.
We may lose something because we choose honesty.
We may appear weak because we choose to forgive.
We may have to give up an opportunity because we want to remain faithful to God’s Word.
But Jesus says,
“Your reward is great in heaven.”
Jesus is not telling us to enjoy suffering for its own sake.
He is not telling us to look for suffering.
He is telling us that suffering endured because of Christ, sacrifices made for the gospel, and losses experienced because of obedience to God’s Word are never forgotten by God.
People may not remember our sacrifices.
Our families may not fully understand what we have given up.
Even in the church, our service may sometimes be taken for granted.
But God sees everything.
He sees the tears we shed.
He sees the prayers we offer when nobody else knows about them.
He sees the decisions we make to remain faithful even when those decisions cost us something.
Therefore, we should value God’s approval more than the approval of people.
However, we need to make one important clarification.
This passage does not mean that every poor person is automatically blessed and every rich person is automatically condemned.
The Bible does not teach that.
Poverty itself does not make a person righteous, and wealth itself does not make a person sinful.
A poor person can reject God.
A wealthy person can love God and use his resources for God’s purposes.
The important question is:
What do we trust, and what do we live for?
A wealthy person can genuinely trust God.
He understands that his possessions have been entrusted to him by God. Therefore, he does not simply accumulate wealth for himself. He uses what God has given him to serve others and advance God’s kingdom.
On the other hand, someone who has very little can still become controlled by money and possessions.
The issue is not simply how much we own.
The deeper question is:
Do our possessions control our hearts?
Jesus’ standard of blessing is not simply the amount of our possessions.
It is the direction of our hearts and our lives toward the kingdom of God.
There is a powerful story that illustrates this.
It is the story of Jim Elliot and his fellow missionaries.
Jim Elliot and several other young missionaries prayed and prepared for years before entering the jungles of Ecuador to bring the gospel to people who had never heard about Jesus.
They gave up comfortable lives and entered a dangerous place for the sake of Christ.
But shortly after beginning their missionary work, they were killed by members of the local tribe.
They were young, capable men who had left their families and entered a dangerous environment, only to lose their lives.
Some newspapers criticized them, saying that talented young men had foolishly thrown away their lives in a reckless missionary effort.
But their families did not respond with revenge or hatred.
Elizabeth Elliot and the families of the other missionaries chose to forgive and love the people who had killed their loved ones. Some of them eventually returned to serve among the very people who had committed the violence.
The love and sacrifice of these Christians touched the hearts of the people.
Many eventually came to faith in Jesus Christ, and a church was established among them.
Even more remarkably, one of the men who had participated in Jim Elliot’s death later became a Christian and eventually served as a pastor, proclaiming the gospel.
From the world’s perspective, the missionaries seemed to have lost everything.
But from Jesus’ perspective, their lives were not failures.
They were truly blessed.
2. Who Are the People to Whom Jesus Says “Woe”?
Jesus now gives the opposite declarations.
“Woe to you who are rich.”
“Woe to you who are full now.”
“Woe to you who laugh now.”
“Woe to you, when all people speak well of you.”
The expression “woe” is not simply saying, “That is unfortunate.”
It is a serious warning of God’s judgment.
Why does Jesus speak so strongly about the rich, the satisfied, the laughing, and those who are praised by everyone?
First, wealth itself is not the problem. Loving wealth more than God is.
The Bible does not teach that becoming wealthy is automatically sinful.
Abraham was wealthy.
Job was wealthy.
David and Solomon possessed great wealth.
The New Testament also speaks about people who used their resources faithfully for God’s purposes.
The problem comes when wealth takes the place of God.
When we trust our possessions more than God, when we use our wealth only for ourselves, and when we ignore people who are suffering around us, wealth becomes spiritually dangerous.
James 4:17 says,
“So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.”
If God has given us resources with which we can do good, but we choose to use everything only for ourselves, we need to take Jesus’ warning seriously.
Therefore, as disciples of Jesus, we should regularly examine how we are using our time, our money, and our abilities.
Second, the “full” person can become so satisfied with himself that he no longer sees the suffering of others.
Today, many of us can obtain food relatively easily.
So Jesus is not saying that simply eating enough food is sinful.
He is warning against a self-centered life in which we focus so completely on our own comfort that we become blind to the suffering of others.
Think about the rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16.
The rich man lived in luxury every day.
At his gate lay a poor man named Lazarus.
Lazarus longed to eat what fell from the rich man’s table, and even the dogs came and licked his sores.
The rich man had more than enough.
He had food, clothing, comfort, and pleasure.
But right outside his own door was a man suffering from hunger and poverty, and the rich man ignored him.
Eventually, both men died.
Lazarus was comforted in Abraham’s presence.
But the rich man experienced terrible suffering and thirst.
This is the tragic end of living only for ourselves.
The same principle applies to the church.
If the church ignores the poor, the lonely, and the marginalized around us, then no matter how beautiful our building is or how many programs we have, we have lost something essential about the love and mercy of Jesus.
Third, it is dangerous when we value people’s approval more than God’s approval.
Jesus says,
“Woe to you, when all people speak well of you.”
Being praised is not always wrong.
It is good to encourage someone who has done something good.
But it becomes dangerous when we compromise God’s truth in order to gain people’s approval.
The people of Israel often preferred false prophets who told them what they wanted to hear rather than true prophets who spoke God’s truth.
The false prophets did not confront sin.
They did not call people to repentance.
They did not warn them about God’s judgment.
Instead, they simply said, “Peace, peace.”
And because the people listened to what they wanted to hear, they did not recognize the judgment that was coming.
Eventually, the northern kingdom of Israel was destroyed by Assyria, and the southern kingdom of Judah was destroyed by Babylon.
The same danger exists today.
When church leaders or pastors become more concerned about popularity than faithfulness to God’s Word, they may begin to say what people want to hear instead of what people need to hear.
A church led in that way is in serious danger.
3. We Must Choose
Jesus presents two paths before us.
The first path is the path of immediate satisfaction.
It is the path of making wealth, comfort, popularity, and pleasure our highest priorities.
This path is very attractive because the results are immediate.
When we get what we want, we feel satisfied immediately.
When people praise us, we feel good.
When we have money, we feel secure.
But Jesus warns us about the destination of this path:
“Woe to you.”
The second path is the path of looking toward God’s kingdom and denying ourselves.
This path can sometimes be narrow and difficult.
We must forgive.
We must wait.
We must serve.
Sometimes we must accept loss.
Sometimes people misunderstand us.
Sometimes we must choose not to prove that we are right because preserving peace in the community is more important.
This can feel like a poor, hungry, unpopular path.
But this is the path of those who follow Jesus.
And Jesus declares that those who walk this path are blessed.
This is the path we are all called to walk.
4. Why Is It So Difficult to Choose the Blessed Path?
Every Christian knows that the blessed path is the right path.
But knowing the right answer and actually walking that path are two different things.
Why is it so difficult?
First, our hearts are naturally drawn toward immediate satisfaction.
It is easier to look at our phones than to pray.
It is easier to watch stimulating videos than to read Scripture.
It is more comfortable to spend our time and money on ourselves than to serve someone who is struggling.
It often feels more natural to hold on to anger than to forgive.
Our hearts naturally pull us toward immediate satisfaction.
That is one reason why the blessed path is difficult.
Second, the path of eternal blessing requires patience and sacrifice.
There is a cross on the path of following Jesus.
Sometimes we must wait.
Sometimes we must give something up.
Sometimes we must accept loss.
And sometimes it is difficult to find people who are willing to walk this path with us.
God’s promises will certainly be fulfilled.
But God does not promise that they will be fulfilled according to our timetable.
Abraham received God’s promise, but he had to wait many years.
Joseph received dreams from God, but he did not immediately become the second-in-command of Egypt.
He had to pass through a pit, slavery, and prison.
David was anointed as king, but he did not immediately sit on the throne.
He spent years running from Saul.
We often hesitate to walk the blessed path because we do not like long periods of waiting and sacrifice.
Third, the world may ridicule the path we choose.
If we live honestly, we may lose something.
If we forgive, people may think we are weak.
If we give our time to God, the world may say we are wasting our time.
If we prioritize worship on Sunday, the world may tell us that we are missing opportunities.
But remember this:
What the world calls foolish, God may call blessed.
What the world calls failure, God may call faithfulness.
What appears to be a meaningless sacrifice in the eyes of people may shine forever like a precious jewel in the kingdom of God.
Therefore, God’s people must not judge their lives according to the world’s standards.
What the world calls success may be failure before God.
And what the world calls failure may actually be faithfulness before God.
5. Practical Ways to Walk the Path of Eternal Blessing
How, then, can we actually walk the path of eternal blessing in our everyday lives?
First, think about God’s will and eternal values before immediate satisfaction.
We should not make decisions simply according to what will make us happy right now.
Before making an important decision, ask:
Does this please God?
Is this consistent with God’s Word?
Will this benefit other people?
Will this have eternal value?
Then make your decision.
That choice may not produce good results immediately.
But that does not mean it is a failure.
Even when it seems that nothing is happening, God may be working.
And as we wait, our faith and trust in God can grow stronger.
Second, when you must make a difficult choice, consider the good of the community.
Sometimes every possible choice is painful.
At such moments, we should put ourselves last and ask:
How will this affect my family?
How will this affect my church?
How will this affect my coworkers and the people around me?
Scripture teaches us not to seek only our own interests, but also the interests of others.
Jesus Himself did not insist on His own rights.
He gave Himself for us.
There was a time when I experienced two resignations from a church.
During the second resignation, some deacons became very upset and even confronted the pastor because of what had happened to me.
But I did not want the church community to become divided and damaged.
So I quietly accepted the resignation and stepped away.
I believed that preserving the health and unity of God’s community was more important than proving that I had been treated unfairly.
In our Christian lives, there may be moments when proving that we are right is less important than sacrificing ourselves for the sake of the community.
That kind of decision may not be recognized immediately.
But in time, it can become evidence that we chose the blessed path that pleases God.
Third, when everything is uncertain, pray and wait patiently.
Not every situation is clear.
Sometimes it is difficult to know what the right decision is.
When that happens, one of the worst things we can do is make a hasty decision.
Instead, take time.
Read God’s Word.
Pray.
Talk with mature believers.
And honestly examine your own heart.
Ask yourself:
“Do I truly want God’s will?”
Or,
“Do I simply want God to approve the decision I have already made?”
God will give us wisdom to discern His good will.
But sometimes we say that we are seeking God’s will when, in reality, we have already made our decision and are simply asking God to approve it.
That is not true prayer.
True prayer is not the time when we force our will upon God.
True prayer is the time when we surrender our will to God.
One of the best ways to discern God’s will is to read the Bible consistently, carefully, and patiently.
As we do so, the Holy Spirit uses God’s Word to guide us toward the blessed path that pleases God.
6. Conclusion
Today’s passage does not simply give us one more lesson about how to live.
Jesus is calling us to make a choice.
Will we choose the path that offers immediate satisfaction but ultimately leads to “woe”?
Or will we choose the path of patience, faith, and hope in the eternal blessings of God’s kingdom?
Therefore, we need to examine ourselves.
When I make an important decision, what do I think about first?
Money?
Comfort?
People’s approval?
Success?
Or God’s will?
What do I want most right now?
Immediate satisfaction?
Or the eternal blessing God has promised?
Do I value people’s approval more than God’s approval?
Am I so comfortable with my life that I no longer see the suffering of people around me?
When I face a difficult decision, do I think only about my own interests?
Or do I consider the good of my family, my church, and my community?
And finally, when God’s will is not clear, am I willing to pray, wait, and trust Him?
Dear brothers and sisters,
The immediate satisfaction offered by this world can be very sweet.
But it does not last.
The wealth of this world will disappear.
The popularity and praise of this world will disappear.
Physical pleasure will disappear.
Everything in this world is temporary.
It is like the morning mist—it appears for a moment and then disappears.
Therefore, let us not live only for what we can see now.
Let us live looking toward what God has promised for eternity.
Let us choose the eternal blessing.
Let us choose the kingdom of God.
Let us choose faithfulness over popularity.
Let us choose obedience over immediate satisfaction.
Let us choose God’s approval over the approval of people.
And let us choose the path of Jesus, even when that path requires patience, sacrifice, and suffering.
For Jesus has promised us:
“Blessed are you…”
And,
“Your reward is great in heaven.”
May God give us the wisdom and courage to choose the blessed path—not merely for today, but for eternity.
Let us pray.