Luke 6: Is your Focus on God or the World

Admin
Oct 13
11 min read

The word "Beatitudes" means “blessings,” and is found in Matthew 5, outlining a set of behaviors. Luke 6 lists four of them, with a curse for those who are not operating in certain ways. All are linked to the state of our hearts: are we focused on God or the world? They represent the theme of this chapter.

The chapter begins by revealing the hearts of the Pharisees, the corrupt religious leaders of the day. They were determined to find fault with Jesus and chose to focus on His actions on the Sabbath.

This is the commandment God gave about the Sabbath. In this Amplified Classic version, parentheses ( ) signify additional meanings found in the original language that provide a deeper understanding of the word, phrase, or clause.

[Earnestly] remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy (withdrawn from common employment and dedicated to God). Six days you shall labor and do all your work, But the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God; in it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, your daughter, your manservant, your maidservant, your domestic animals, or the sojourner within your gates.

For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. That is why the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it [set it apart for His purposes]. (Exodus 20:8-11 AMPC)

From this version of the Bible, we learn that we must remember who God is by keeping the Sabbath holy, which means not doing the normal type of work we usually do on that day. By refraining from working, we are acknowledging that God created the Earth in six days and then rested as we rest in Him, recognizing that He is the one who is able to do all things.

In the first sixteen verses of Luke Chapter 6, Jesus and His disciples picked grain as He walked through a field to eat it, and He healed a man with a withered hand. This was not their usual “work.” Peter wasn’t fishing, and Matthew wasn’t collecting taxes. They were doing what was necessary to eat and helping someone who was hurt.

In Judaism, saving a life (Pikuach Nefesh) takes precedence over all other laws, based on the principle that God mandates that we shall live by his rules, not die by them. The only law we cannot violate to save a life is to worship another God. The basis for this belief is found in several scriptures, which quote “we shall live.” This is one:

I gave them my statutes and made known to them my rules, by which, if a person does them, he shall live. Moreover, I gave them my Sabbaths, as a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the Lord who sanctifies them. But the house of Israel rebelled against me in the wilderness. They did not walk in my statutes but rejected my rules, by which, if a person does them, he shall live; and my Sabbaths they greatly profaned. “Then I said I would pour out my wrath upon them in the wilderness, to make a full end of them. (Ezekiel 20:11-13 ESV)

We are expected to live by God’s rules, the Ten Commandments. In Ezekiel, immediately following the statement about living by God’s rules, we are told we should not “profane” the Sabbath. The Hebrew word for profaned is ḥālal, which means to make common, defile, pollute, or to dishonour. We should honor God one day out of six. We need to remember that our God created the Earth on the seventh day, and it is through Him we are made holy! It is on the Sabbath, one day out of seven, that we set aside time to refocus on God and honor Him.

Each one of the Beatitudes listed in the book of Luke is based on this principle: where is our focus on God, or man, or this world? Jesus quotes four of the beatitudes and pronounces a curse with the opposite effect on a particular focus. These blessings have both spiritual and physical applications. Usually, it is the spiritual aspect that people focus on:

Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.	But woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort.	Do we know all we need to about God or is learning about Him a necessity?
Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied.	Woe to you who are well fed now, for you will go hungry.	Are we hungry to have more of God or satisfied where we are?
Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh.	Woe to you who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep.	Did your spiritual state before Jesus make you sad or are you happy with it?
Blessed are you when people hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of Jesus.	Woe to you when everyone speaks well of you, for that is how their ancestors treated the false prophets.	Are we like the others in the world, so that they accept and like us or do we follow Jesus and are mocked because of it?

The blessings are principles that reveal the state of our heart. How we look at life determines how much honor we give to God. Let’s examine each of these closely.

The Poor

We can be spiritually poor by the amount of spiritual wisdom we have or that we feel we need. If we are spiritually satisfied with what we have, then we are not spiritually poor, and the curse above applies to us. How do we know if we are “spiritually poor?”

Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” (1 Peter 1:13-16 ESV)

If you consider yourself to be spiritually “poor” and in need of learning and growth, then your focus will be on God, on learning and applying His ways. When we begin learning about God, the more we know, the more we realize that we will never know everything. We also realize that without Jesus, we have no access to God: we are spiritually bankrupt. Our only hope of Heaven is through the grace provided by Jesus.

These two realizations should motivate us to be more focused on Him than on the world. We must be willing to follow God’s ways, giving up our old sinful behaviors and passions. This is what it means to be “holy,” it means to be set apart for God.

We can also be physically poor if we don’t have a lot of material possessions. When we don’t have anything on earth, it is often easier to focus on the next life. When we have a lot of money, it can cause us to be distracted by life’s entertainment. Luke speaks to this directly following the Beatitudes.

“But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. To one who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also, and from one who takes away your cloak do not withhold your tunic either. Give to everyone who begs from you, and from one who takes away your goods do not demand them back. And as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them. (Luke 6:27-31 ESV Strong’s)

If your focus is on God, then you will not be focused on what others do to you. If you have a lot of resources, you won’t be so focused on what someone has taken from you that you become unforgiving. You will trust that God is your provider and that He will restore what the enemy has taken through others. Knowing that you have been forgiven much, you will forgive others. When you consider the Son of God was tortured and killed for you, then you will find it much easier to pray for those who abuse you, just as Jesus did when He hung on the cross:

And when they came to the place that is called The Skull, there they crucified Him, and the criminals, one on His right and one on His left. And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” (Luke 23:33-34 ESV)

Jesus showed us how a man who is perfectly righteous before God should behave. God is love. Even after they tortured and crucified Him on the cross, He prayed for them and asked God to forgive them. The more we focus on God, learn, and apply His ways, the easier it will be to walk as He did. This is how to determine whether you are implementing the first Beatitude: if you can walk with others in this way.

The Hungry

Luke continues with a list of instructions from the Lord about how we are to interact with others when we have an abundance, or when we have much. It concludes with this:

But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for He is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful. (Luke 6:35-36 ESV Strong’s)

The next set of instructions describes what we have in this world. If we are focused on being “well fed” and living in luxury because of what we have, we will have a hard time receiving the blessing of being hungry. To understand how this differs from being financially poor, we must comprehend the principle of mammon.

No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money. (Matthew 6:24 ESV)

The word “mammon” is used in the King James Bible instead of the word “money” to refer to wealth that is trusted in. If you are not trusting in wealth for a luxurious life, you will be able to lend to those who need it, give to those who are unable to work for the basic necessities of life, and be kind, even to your enemies.

Those who Weep

Luke continues quoting Jesus about how we should interact socially with others. Weeping refers to a sorrowful heart that is mourning a loss. Laughter refers to a carefree lifestyle, those who do not take God seriously; they are not thoughtful concerning their relationship with Him. This can be reflected in how they look at others.

“Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.” (Luke 6:37-38 ESV Strong’s)

Forgiveness and judgment are two very powerful spiritual principles that are connected to acknowledging your spiritual state. If you have not considered how much God has forgiven you, you may go through life with levity, seemingly without a care in the world, until someone wrongs you. Then, because you have taken God’s part in your life lightly, you may judge others harshly.

Knowing that without Jesus, you were bound for Hell brings a serious perspective to how we view the world. We see others with a focus on their final, eternal destination. If they have not found freedom through Jesus, we know that the enemy has access to them, no matter how happy they seem on the outside. We are well aware of where they will end up if they do not turn to the Lord. For this reason, well, it may be easier to judge others with much grace.

Those Who are Hated

The final blessing concerns other people hating us because we are following Jesus. This is not being hated for just any reason. It must be related to being hated for adhering to Christian values. Why would they hate us?

“If the world hates you, know that it has hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. (John 15:18-19 ESV)

If we truly follow Jesus, we will not go along with the sinful acts that are “just the way things are now.” We will be holy unto God and different from those in the world. This is why they will hate us. The Lord began to explain the basics of this in Luke:

A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone when he is fully trained will be like his teacher. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?

How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take out the speck that is in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the log that is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother's eye. (Luke 6:40-42 ESV Strong’s)

We should be focused on becoming “like” Jesus. That is our goal. When you are focused on the sins of others, what is in their eye, we may hate them or look down upon them. If you focus on your own issues and how you are looking at the world, it will be much easier to help others. The Lord continues to show us why this is important:

“For no good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit, for each tree is known by its own fruit. For figs are not gathered from thornbushes, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush. The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks. (Luke 6:43-45 ESV Strong’s)

When we focus on our own walk, we become more like Jesus and bear good fruit. If we still have a “log” in our eye, what we say or corrections we bring may come with thorns. It can be hard to receive. Those in the world will hate us because they first hated Jesus. We can only stand this criticism from others if we have a solid foundation in the Lord. How do we get that solid foundation to stand despite persecution?

“Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you? Everyone who comes to me and hears My words and does them, I will show you what he is like: he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when a flood arose, the stream broke against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built.

But the one who hears and does not do them is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the stream broke against it, immediately it fell, and the ruin of that house was great.” (Luke 6:46-49 ESV Strong’s)

Digging requires effort and time. To stand strong in our faith, we must be willing to spend precious time and effort listening to what Jesus has said and do it. Jesus is the Word: so this means learning about the Word of God and doing it. If we don’t, then we will not be able to stay close to Jesus when the storms of life hit us!

The four blessings come when we have the right focus in life. If God is the focus, we will receive a reward in Heaven. If we are more concerned about others or what we have, then when trouble comes, as it often does, we will find our faith shaken and be tempted to fall away. Focusing on God by listening to and applying what Jesus says is the key to maintaining unshakable faith amid turbulent times.