Luke 6:27-49

6:27-30 | Jesus was not speaking to a general audience but to those who were aligning themselves with Him. To them He gave a standard of behavior impossible to achieve except through the Holy Spirit. Christians should respond to hatred with love and to antagonism with blessing. This rule applies to individual believers, not to states or governments assigned with keeping the peace.

6:31 | The “Golden Rule” cited here did not originate with Jesus, although He gave it its most memorable form. Years before Christ, Rabbi Hillel was said to have instructed his pupils that they should not do to others what they did not want done to themselves. Jesus put this principle in a positive context.

6:32-35 | A person’s behavior reveals the true nature of his or her relationship to God. The first-century world operated by an “I give to you so that you might give to me” equation; Jesus turned such thinking on its head. Those who are children (sons) of the Most High will behave in an others-centered way.

6:36 | Throughout Luke’s presentation of the Beatitudes, the underlying theme remains the same: those who claim to know God should act as God does. Since God is merciful, His children should be merciful (1 John 4:20).

6:37 | This principle expounded by Jesus extends through all of life: those who judge others should not be surprised when they are judged in return. The command to Judge not does not relieve Christians of their responsibility to be discerning but instead warns against harboring a contemptuous, condemning attitude.

6:38 | The “Law of Investment” – Give and it shall be given – works wherever it is put into practice. A person who puts godly financial principles into practice will know some measure of God’s blessing in this realm (He gives back running over).

6:39-40 | Jesus warned His followers that they should not expect better treatment from the disciples of the Pharisees than Jesus received from the Pharisees themselves, because if the teacher was blind, the followers would be too. Proteges can be expected to act in fundamentally the same way as their teachers.

6:41-42 | Others’ faults seem so obvious (specks) that it is human nature to judge and try to change one’s brother or sister while being unaware of or justifying one’s own sins (planks). Once believers have dealt with the sins in their own lives, they can help others with theirs. People will be more receptive to the words of someone who is honest about his or her own struggles.

6:43-45 | The fruit of a person’s life – their words and actions – reveals who is and is not a true disciple of Jesus. A believer’s actions must match his or her professions (Rom. 8:5-8).

6:45 | One of the best ways to tell what is in someone’s heart is to observe what comes out of that person’s mouth, especially in times of stress or difficulty. How a person speaks in unguarded moments says a great deal about his or her spiritual life (Prov. 6:12-19; 10:11; 16:27; James 3:1-12).

6:46 | To call someone Lord is to acknowledge that person’s authority. To call someone Lord and then disregard that person’s instructions is to live as a liar and hypocrite.

6:47-49 | Hardships and tragedies quickly reveal those who have put Jesus’ words into practice, rather than merely hearing and agreeing with them (James 1:22).