Luk 6:20-35 | TNotes | STEP | Summary for Luke 6:20-23: 6:20-23 God blesses those who acknowledge their inadequacy and weakness and turn to God for strength. The value system of God’s Kingdom is radically different from the world’s value system, in which power and strength represent success. Summary for Luke 6:20-21: 6:20-21 poor ... hungry: Cp. Matt 5:3 , 6 . This statement likely included physical and spiritual poverty. Poverty and suffering tend to make us more dependent on God. The Old Testament includes many promises that God will feed and comfort his people (Pss 22:26 ; 107:36-41 ; 126:1-6 ; Isa 49:10-13 ; 51:3 ; 65:13 ).

Summary for Luke 6:20-23: 6:20-23 ^a God blesses those who acknowledge their inadequacy and weakness and turn to God for strength. The value system of God’s Kingdom is radically different from the world’s value system, in which power and strength represent success.
Summary for Luke 6:20-21: 6:20-21 ^b poor ... hungry: Cp. Matt 5:3 ^c, 6 ^d. This statement likely included physical and spiritual poverty. Poverty and suffering tend to make us more dependent on God. The Old Testament includes many promises that God will feed and comfort his people (Pss 22:26 ^e; 107:36-41 ^f; 126:1-6 ^g; Isa 49:10-13 ^h; 51:3 ⁱ; 65:13 ^j).
6:23 ^k treated the ancient prophets that same way: See thematic note for The Suffering Prophet at end of chapter.
Summary for Luke 6:24-26: 6:24-26 ^l Promises of blessing for the poor and oppressed are balanced in Luke with predictions of sorrow for the rich and powerful. Those who trust in themselves will be humbled, while those who depend on God will be blessed. The Old Testament prophets often pronounced woes against nations and rulers who oppressed God’s people and rejected his sovereignty (e.g., Isa 3:11 ^m; 5:8 ⁿ; Jer 50:27 ^o; Zech 11:17 ^p).
6:27 ^q love your enemies! People were commonly taught in the ancient world to love their family and friends and hate their enemies. Jesus announced a radical new ethic of loving even one’s enemies and overcoming evil through self-sacrificial love for others, not through violence and hatred (cp. Rom 12:14-21 ^r).
6:30 ^s when things are taken away from you, don’t try to get them back: Jesus’ point is that the cycle of hatred and violence that characterizes human nature can only be broken by responding with good, not evil (Rom 12:17 ^t). We win the world through self-sacrificial love. Jesus was not promoting injustice, as though believers should let criminals take advantage of the weak. God established governments to punish evildoers (Rom 13:1-5 ^u).
6:31 ^v Do to others as you would like them to do to you: While the Golden Rule appears in some form in various religious and philosophical traditions, only in Jesus’ teaching is love for all people, including enemies, the fundamental ethic that governs all behavior.
Summary for Luke 6:34-36: 6:34-36 ^w The law of Moses prohibited charging interest on loans to other Israelites in order to prevent exploitation of the poor (Exod 22:25 ^x; Lev 25:35-37 ^y; Deut 23:20 ^z). Jesus further instructed his followers to lend ... without expecting to be repaid. By doing good even to those who do evil, we act as children of the Most High and imitate our Father in heaven, who is kind to all people (cp. Rom 5:8 ^aa).