Blessings, Woes, and Pharisees | Sunday, October 19, 2025

He lifted up His eyes toward His disciples, and said: "Blessed are you poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are you who hunger now, for you shall be filled. Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh. Blessed are you when men hate you, and when they exclude you, and revile you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of Man's sake. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy! For indeed your reward is great in heaven, for in like manner 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, for you shall hunger. Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep. Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for so did their fathers to the false prophets." (Luke 6:20-26)

Jesus blesses the poor and warns the comfortable—but first He calls us to find the Pharisee in the mirror.

The Setting on the Plain

Jesus is speaking in the middle of a mixed multitude—Gentiles, Jews, and those He has just called as His disciples. This comes right after He has chosen the twelve, and it's the first major introduction to living out the kingdom of God. It's part of what's called the Sermon on the Plain. We've all heard of the Sermon on the Mount; scholars are divided over whether this is the same message viewed from a different perspective or a separate but similar message. I don't think it matters much. This is the opening portion of a much longer teaching that continues through the beatitudes, the woes, loving your enemies, not judging, and a tree being known by its fruit.

This particular teaching cements Jesus' opposition to the religious leaders of His day. He's already gotten on their bad side by healing on the Sabbath, and now He directly calls them out, making it clear that "I am here and they are there." He focuses on what some people call social justice—a term that makes some squirm, because we live in a world where everything is political and politics is our current blood sport. But what He's talking about is the fulfillment of the message God has spread consistently throughout His Word: we are called to care for those who cannot care for themselves.

There Is No Liberal Jesus, No Conservative Jesus

There is no liberal Jesus. There is no conservative Jesus. There is just Jesus. We live in a society that loves to divide, dissect, and set up boundaries between each other. But Jesus focuses not on those barriers; He focuses on love—love for all people, calling all people to repentance.

I've heard people say, "Well, Jesus supports my belief that..."—and that's already backwards. Jesus doesn't support your belief. As Christians, if you claim the name of Christ, you believe what Jesus said. We need to be careful that we don't use Him to prop up our arguments to the detriment of other people. I am called to have a bond with anyone who claims the name of Christ—a bond that supersedes any political, familial, or other bond we could possibly have. This is the transforming power of the Holy Spirit in our lives, changing us to be more like Him.

This passage has a dual structure: four blessings, then four warnings or woes. There's an earthly, temporal interpretation about what we are called to do, and a spiritual interpretation about becoming more like Jesus. We're going to look at both.

Who Are the Poor?

Growing up, I thought we were poor. We didn't miss meals, but we didn't have a lot, and I had bad shoes while other people had nice ones. Then I got a pair of Reebok Pumps and figured I was a better basketball player—they told me, anyway. Even as I got older, I'd look around and think, "Yeah, we're poor; other people have more." Then in 2014 we went to Mozambique, and I discovered I'm not poor at all. We ministered to people who literally had nothing except the joy of the Lord. It was convicting and life-altering—a moment where I realized my perspective had been off my whole life.

It's easy to look for our own victimhood—to decide we're poor because everyone else at Costco apparently has eighty-five inches of radiating glory and we're stuck with fifty-five. So how poor is poor? Who deserves our help? I look at it this way: who needs my help, and whom am I in a position to help? When those two line up, it's incumbent on me to help. But we also have to ask what help is, because some help is helpful and some help hurts. The best thing we can do is rely on the Holy Spirit and on wisdom.

God has a special concern for the poor. James 2:5 says:

Listen, my beloved brethren: Has God not chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him?

And He rewards those who minister to the poor. Proverbs 19:17 says:

He who has pity on the poor lends to the Lord, and He will pay back what he has given.

God will use our generosity, reward it, and use it to bring others to Him.

The Hungry and the Weeping

Who are the hungry? Those who don't have food. Matthew 25:35-40 says:

For I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me... Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.

Jesus puts Himself in their place and gives us the opportunity to minister to Him. If we look for Jesus in the hungry and the poor, we'll find Him. But if we never look, we'll one day say, "Jesus, I didn't see you"—and He'll answer, "I told you in My Word, that was Me."

Then He speaks of those who weep. Second Corinthians 1:3-4 says:

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.

We don't have to have gone through the same thing to comfort someone. Most of the time we can't fix what they need to be comforted from—but we can be present. We can show up and say, "This is awful. I'm sorry. Can I just sit with you? Can I pray for you?" We call it the ministry of presence, and I've been on both ends of it—it is effective. Sometimes, not knowing what to do, we do nothing, which is the wrong thing. It's okay to simply say, "I know you're hurting, and I'm praying for you."

The Persecuted

Jesus also blesses those who are hated, excluded, reviled, and called evil—those suffering for being righteous. What is persecution? Often it looks like losing family, job, reputation, even your life for faith in Christ. What is it not? It is not persecution if you're ostracized because you're annoying. It is not persecution if you get fired because, rather than doing your job, you were busy proselytizing. Jesus calls us to be good employees, effective in what He calls us to do. When we do things poorly and it reflects badly on Him, that's not persecution. First Peter 4:12-14 says:

Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you; but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ's sufferings... If you are reproached for the name of Christ, blessed are you, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you.

When real persecution comes, we shouldn't be surprised. We pray, we endure, and we glorify God.

Through this passage everything is flipped upside down. The poor, the hungry, the weeping, the hated and excluded—God says, "You are so blessed." I don't feel super blessed when I fit one of those categories, but I'm blessed because He has a special ministry to reach out to us and through us in those situations.

So, point two: we are called to care for the poor, feed the hungry, comfort the hurting, and pray for the persecuted—even when we are those things as well. Sometimes, because we think we're poor, we don't help. Sometimes, because we're hungry, we can't think past our own needs. Sometimes we're hurting and forget to reach out. We are called to minister regardless of the situation we're in.

The Spiritual Interpretation

In the companion passage in Matthew, Jesus speaks not just of the poor but of the poor in spirit. So am I poor in spirit? Do I approach God with a sense of my own self-importance, as though I'm doing Him a favor? Or do I approach Him knowing I have nothing of value to offer and I need everything from Him? To be poor in spirit is to realize God is not getting a deal in me—I am getting the ultimate deal in Him. Our own righteousness, Isaiah says, is filthy rags—not just dirty, but defiling, actually bad for us. Christ offers His righteousness instead.

Do I hunger for Jesus, or only for what He has for me? Is His presence more important than my next meal? Does my soul thirst for God, as Psalm 42 says, or am I distracted? Am I okay with Jesus as long as He stays in His own lane? That one hurts.

Do I weep for what makes God weep—for my own sin and the sin of others? Is God's sorrow over my sin enough for me to change, or do I shrug and say, "He's gracious; we'll work on it tomorrow"? Am I burdened for those who reject their Savior, or content to say, "Those people can rot in hell"? Second Peter 3:9 says:

The Lord is not slack concerning His promise... but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.

That "all" can be problematic, because it includes terrorists, thieves, politicians, Jews, Palestinians, Muslims, Ukrainians, Russians—all of them are who God is calling. If I cannot add my enemy's name to that verse, my heart is in a very bad place.

And with persecution—am I willing to pay the cost? John 15:18-20 says:

If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you... A servant is not greater than his master. If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you.

Second Timothy 3:12 says, "All who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution." If we haven't faced it, there are generally two reasons: either not yet, or nobody has any idea we're following Jesus anyway—which is also problematic. The reward for those who are poor in spirit, who hunger for God, who weep for what breaks His heart, who are persecuted—they will be given the kingdom of God, eternally filled and joyful, rewarded in heaven like the prophets of old. That's the crowd we're included with: Elijah and Elisha, Jeremiah and Isaiah, John the Baptist.

The Woes: Wealth, Fullness, Laughter, Popularity

Then Jesus turns to the woes. Why woe to the rich? Wealth often becomes our security. We see it by who we cry out to first when things get bad. In my life I'm tempted to cry, "Oh Visa, rescue me; oh Discover, save me with thy one percent cash back." Where is my heart? Who is my functional savior? If it lives in my wallet, it's too small to be a savior. Wealth lets us trust in our own sufficiency and keep God at a distance. Jesus said to Laodicea in Revelation 3:17:

Because you say, "I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing"—and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked.

He tells the rich, "You've had your reward, and it's empty and fleeting." Since October 10th, the market cap of cryptocurrency has lost six hundred billion dollars, while gold is at an all-time high—because when other assets seem shaky we turn to precious metals, which hold their value until they don't. Whenever I think about gold, I think of Israel in the desert grinding the golden calf into powder and being made to drink it. Where was all that gold left? In piles in the desert. When we're tempted to trust in gold, remember that. God is faithful to rattle us, to show us our faith is secure in nothing other than Him.

Woe to the full, because you've found satisfaction in something other than Christ. When we've filled our hunger, we're no longer motivated to look for food. Being hungry is a great motivator—you'll dig through the couch cushions for a buck and a half to get a Costco hot dog. But when we fill ourselves with something that isn't good, we lose the motivation to seek something better.

Woe to those who laugh—those who find distraction from Jesus. If I fill my time with junk, I have no time to hear the still small voice. Anybody here suffer from doom-scrolling? Satan uses the algorithm so effectively—just enough dopamine to keep us interested, just enough aggravation to keep us angry at other people. We feel satisfied and angry at the same time, and we've wasted hours. Binge-watching is the same: "We loved this show—fourteen hours over three days." Sometimes we even fill our time with fruitless Bible study meant to build ourselves up but never leading to serving others. It doesn't have to be horrible; it just has to keep us from what God has for us.

Woe to the popular. Whose approval are we looking for? Are we worried about what others think, or what Jesus thinks? Whose disapproval sticks in our brain for weeks? If Jesus loves me, why do I worry so much about them? If everyone likes you, you're probably giving the wrong message. Satan's most effective attacks are sometimes no attack at all—if we're already neutralized by distraction or dissipation, why would the devil or our own flesh rock the boat?

Self-Examination, Repentance, Resolve

Point three: this passage should lead us to prayerful self-examination, repentance, and a renewed resolve to follow Jesus in a lifestyle that fosters following Him. We should pray, "Lord, examine me. What needs to change?" It should lead to repentance: "Lord, forgive me." And it should lead to renewed resolve—"I have decided to follow Jesus, no turning back."

If we set patterns and build structures that help us follow Jesus, it becomes easier. Maybe you set your Bible on top of your phone on the nightstand, so when you wake up you face the choice: move the Bible to check email and Instagram, or pick up the Word of the living God? The little kid song stays in my head: "Be careful, little eyes, what you see; be careful, little ears, what you hear."

The Pharisee in the Mirror

Now, what's the biggest pitfall in the church? The Pharisee in the mirror. In Matthew 23, Jesus confronts the Pharisees and doesn't hold back—He lights them up. It's invigorating to read until you realize you fit some of those categories; then it's convicting, but a good convicting.

The biggest issue was Pharisaical hypocrisy: appearing good on the outside while the heart was far from God. Phariseeism draws the focus from the goodness of God onto the false good of those who claim to follow Him. If our goodness draws attention to us and not to God, we're in dangerous territory.

Phariseeism is not honestly failing and repenting—that's human. God calls us to perfection but understands we can't perform it, so He gives grace and repentance. Phariseeism is pretending you don't fail. It's a pattern of sin evident to others but excused by the one doing it. The Pharisees bound up burdens on others but wouldn't lift a finger to help. It's performative religion meant to be seen, not transformational worship that draws us close to God. It's a drive for recognition over repentance, and it produces converts who become twice the sons of hell. There's a focus on sacrifice while neglecting justice, mercy, and faith—proper appearance while neglecting the heart. Ultimately the Pharisees were behind the attacks on those God sent to call for repentance, including Jesus Himself.

Point four: Phariseeism starts with a focus on the performance of others rather than my personal sanctification. When I'm more worried about how others are walking with Jesus than what's going on in my own heart, that's Phariseeism.

Signs of Early-Onset Phariseeism

Sign one: using Scripture as a weapon instead of a mirror. Hebrews 4:12 says:

For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

We hear "two-edged sword" and think we should use it on other people, forgetting the rest of the verse is about us. In Matthew 7:3-5 Jesus says:

And why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye?... Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.

This doesn't mean we must be perfect to speak to someone else, but we had better be repentant and gentle. The only person we have a snowball's chance of actually changing is ourselves—and we're not even very good at that. Having children taught me I can change behavior, but I cannot change a heart.

Sign two: focusing on outward compliance rather than real transformation. I grew up in a church where you'd make a "profession of faith" in junior high, standing before the church to recite a statement of belief. I knew kids who'd made theirs and saw what they did on Fridays and Saturdays, and decided not to make mine because I wasn't going to change my behavior and didn't want to be hypocritical. But I used their Phariseeism to excuse my own—and that's the danger. First Samuel 15:22 says:

Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams.

Jesus repeatedly violated their Sabbath rules to show that doing good was more important than ceremonial appearance.

Sign three: measuring others by standards we don't live up to—requiring perfection from others while excusing imperfection in ourselves. Psalm 139:23-24 says:

Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my anxieties; and see if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

Notice: search me, try me, lead me—not them. The focus is on ourselves first. Jesus did not come to call the just, but the unjust.

The Kingdom Starts in the Mirror

The cure for Phariseeism from Matthew 23 is fourfold: examine ourselves before instructing others; lead by example, not by demand; fall on the sword ourselves and reach out to others in love; and protect ourselves from the lure of the Pharisees. We should be so focused on our own sanctification, not on outward appearance or reputation.

Jesus calls us to compassion and personal transformation. Yes, we must care for the poor, feed the hungry, comfort the hurting, and pray for the persecuted—but Jesus first calls us to our knees in self-examination and repentance, and to renewed resolve in following Him. The moment we use these verses to measure others' performance instead of pursuing our own sanctification, we become the very Pharisees we despise. The kingdom starts in the mirror, not in the marketplace. It starts with us.

So as we leave here today, may we be ready to serve the needy and surrender to our Savior, because following Jesus requires both—and it begins with us.

Closing Prayer

Father, as we spend time in Your Word, I know for myself it is this strange mixture of comfort and confrontation. There's conviction in there, Lord. There are so many things I see in myself that I wish weren't there. Help me to combat those things. Help me to draw closer to You, Lord Jesus. Father God, I pray for all of us, that our hearts would be burdened to follow You and to minister to those You call us to minister to. Jesus, we just want to spend some time in worship and reflection and thanksgiving for what You've done for us. Amen.