Luke 6,12-26

12 In these days he went out to the mountain to pray, and all night he continued in prayer to God. 
13 And when day came, he called his disciples and chose from them twelve, whom he named apostles: 
14 Simon, whom he named Peter, and Andrew his brother, and James and John, and Philip, and Bartholomew, 
15 and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon who was called the Zealot, 
16 and Judas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.
Jesus Ministers to a Great Multitude
17 And he came down with them and stood on a level place, with a great crowd of his disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea and Jerusalem and the seacoast of Tyra and Sidon, 
18 who came to hear him and to be healed of their diseases. And those who were troubled with unclean spirits were cured. 
19 And all the crowd sought to touch him, for power came out from him and healed them all.
20 And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said: “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. 
21 “Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you shall be satisfied. “Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh. 
22 “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! 
23 Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for so their fathers did to the prophets.
24 “But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation. 
25 “Woe to you who are full now, for you shall be hungry. “Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep. 
26 “Woe to you, when all people speak well of you, for so their fathers did to the false prophets. 

Hello everyone, I am kiki. Chinese name of our second phase of the program is “读经大讲堂”. The English name is “Bible study”.
We will adopt a relaxed also enjoyable learning mode to take you into a new learning world.
Each time I will make a personal summary and analysis from the perspective of a learner, and then Sister Ingrid will help me conduct in-depth learning and problem discussions with everybody.
I hope that such an interesting and interactive process can bring new knowledge experience to you all. The following is my interview with sister on related issues. Today is the eleventh lecture on the Gospel of Luke.
Everyone is welcome to leave a message in the comment area for discussion!

2.My summary of Luke eleventh-time study:

Well, everybody! Firstly, is still my today’s personal study summary.
Jesus had just chosen His twelve apostles and then went with them to a level place, where a huge crowd of people from all over gathered to hear Him and be healed.
He looked at His disciples and spoke blessings word over those who normally suffer in this world:
The poor, the hungry, those who weep, and those who are hated because they follow Him.
He promised that though they lack now, in God’s Kingdom they will receive everything they truly need and will rejoice.
Then Jesus warned the reverse is true for those who have plenty now— the rich, the well-fed, those who laugh without care, and those who are praised by everyone.
Because they already enjoy the comforts and approval of this world, they will face loss and sorrow in God’s future Kingdom.
In this “Sermon on the Plain,” Jesus turns common ideas of happiness upside down, showing that true blessing isn’t based on money, food,
or popularity, but on God’s promise to care for those who trust Him, especially in hard times.
Now let Ingrid sister make a go further summary.

3.Sister’s comment from my studying summary:

In this text we hear about how Jesus chose the 12 apostles. He spent the whole night in prayer before taking a decision. That should be an example for us, too, to take a good time in prayer before taking an important decision.

The apostles were 12 men who got a special training from Jesus. He wanted them to preach the gospel after his resurrection and when he will have gone to heaven. So, they were the nearest persons to Jesus while he was on Earth.

A good question is, why he has chosen Judas Iscariot. First, the old testimony says, that one of his nearest wills betray him and Judas decided by his own hand to betray Jesus. Jesus gave him a lot of opportunities for not to do this.

Judas Iscariot is an example, that Jesus gives everybody a chance to be with him, the good ones and the bad ones. Judas wanted to be a betrayer and Jesus did not hold him back.

Then Jesus came down to a field and a multiple crowd from all directions came to him for to touch him and for to be healed, because there was power streaming from him. It is like a fountain, you come to a point with a center there you find water. Here, the people did not find water, they found Jesus who was healing all of them.

Most people went home, but some stayed for to become disciples. To this disciple Jesus tells the beatitudes and the wows.

In this sermon, Jesus explains, what are the costs to be a disciple:
A disciple will be poor, hungry they will weep and they will be persecuted.

If this occurs to us, we shall not be said, because Jesus said, that this will happen and that we get a great reward in heaven if we persevere as a disciple even this is happening to us and he compares us to the real prophets in the old testimony, when we are in this situation.

The wows are for that disciple, that try to avoid to follow Jesus and to come in this situation. Those, who long for to be rich. Those who have their stomach as their God as is it written in other part of the bible. Those who like to laugh and enjoy earthly fun and those who seek, that all people talk well of them.

Of course it is not bad, to have all these things, we may have money and we may have food, but the dangerous thing is, if we are empowering ourselves for to get it and when we are setting it higher as the kingdom of God. Jesus says in other text, than we are not worthy to be his disciples.

To be blessed was a very strong word in the time of Jesus and this caused anger at many people, that just those, who the world sees as inferior and low-worthy are high in the kingdom of God.

4. Q list part: base on Luke 11th items:

Okay. Base on above bible study content, now let me ask sister some related questions.
We hope the following questions can be helpful to our brothers and sisters who have just become Christians.

1. Who did Jesus say are truly “blessed”?

The poor, the Hungry, those who weep and those who are persecuted.

2. Why might the poor and hungry be happier in God’s Kingdom than the rich and well-fed?

When you have a lot of things, you have to leave them at one day. Those who have few earthly things will go with joy to heaven, because a better place is waiting for them there.

A friend of mine was looking after a 104 years old man. And it cost him 4 days of agony for to die, because his heart was full of the things he had on earth and it was difficult to leave the things behind.

Of course, you may have things on earth, but you should not put your heart in those things.

3. What does it mean that “yours is the kingdom of God”?

Jesus describes here the price of following him. When we follow him this way, we get the kingdom of God as a reward in the end of our earthly life.

4. How can someone “rejoice and leap for joy” when they are hated for Jesus’ sake?

We shall be happy, even the utter circumstances are bad, because we get joy and consolation in the word of Jesus which tells us, that we will get great things and our suffering will not be eternal.

5. What warning did Jesus give to those who are rich now?

He says, they already had their prosperity and consolation.

6. How do the “woes” balance the “blessings”?

It is just the opposite. You can choose, do you want to choose to be rich or to poor for example.

7. In what ways does this teaching turn our usual ideas of success upside down?

It is total the opposite what people want to reach in earthly life: Richness, Knowledge…. Jesus says, that all that stuff does not serve for the kingdom of God.

8. How might someone live out these beatitudes in everyday life? Give an example.

In everyday life it is a decision: Am I doing things, that are not lawful to become rich or do I accept the limits that God has set to work as I should for to get the money that I need and not to have it in overflow.

Do I seek my joy to go to the casino or the discotheque, or do I seek my joy in the presence of Jesus.

9. Why do you think Jesus spoke these words “on a level place” rather than on a mountain?

A level place is a field, so everybody could see him and everybody had the option to decide if he want to go or to stay.

10. How does knowing these beatitudes helps you face your own struggles?

They give consolation. Here in the western world, we still don t have so much persecution, apart from the persecution of welfare. But in Asia are many countries there Christians are persecuted and for a persecuted family it is a great consolation, that the best will come when they pass over in the arms of Jesus.