Luke · chapter 6 of 24
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Luke 6 shows Jesus claiming to be Lord of the Sabbath, healing a withered hand, and spending the night in prayer before choosing his twelve apostles. On a level place he then teaches the blessings and woes, love for enemies, mercy, not judging, the tree known by its fruit and the parable of the two houses.
After the conflicts of Luke 5, tension with the Pharisees grows around the Sabbath. Jesus answers with authority, forms the group of the twelve and delivers what is called the Sermon on the Plain, Luke's version of teachings similar to the Sermon on the Mount. The chapter describes what life looks like for someone who follows Christ.
On a Sabbath the disciples pick heads of grain and eat them, and some Pharisees criticize them. Jesus recalls that David ate the bread of the presence when he was hungry, and declares that the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath. On another Sabbath, in the synagogue, there is a man with a withered hand. While the teachers of the law watch him, Jesus tells the man to stretch out his hand and heals him, asking whether it is lawful on the Sabbath to do good or harm, to save a life or destroy it. They are filled with fury.
Jesus spends the night praying on the mountain and in the morning chooses twelve, whom he names apostles: Simon, whom he calls Peter, Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Simon the Zealot, Judas son of James and Judas Iscariot, who became the traitor. On a level place, crowds come to hear him and be healed, and Jesus teaches. He declares blessed the poor, the hungry, those who weep and those who are persecuted, and pronounces woes on the rich, the full, those who laugh and those whom everyone praises.
He then commands love for enemies, blessing those who curse, giving without expecting return and treating others as one wants to be treated. He asks us to be merciful as the Father is merciful, not to judge or condemn, and to forgive. He warns against removing the speck from another's eye with a log in one's own, and teaches that a tree is known by its fruit. He ends with the parable of the man who builds on rock, in contrast to the one who builds with no foundation.
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
Jesus declares that the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath. He does not abolish the day of rest but asserts his authority to interpret it, and does so by fulfilling its purpose of giving life.
Jesus commands us to love our enemies, do good to those who hate us, bless those who curse us and pray for those who mistreat us. It is a radical demand that goes beyond ordinary reciprocity.
Jesus teaches us to treat others as we want to be treated. This golden rule sums up how to act generously, beginning with ourselves instead of waiting for the other person to change first.
Jesus asks why they call him Lord if they do not do what he says. Whoever hears and practices his words is like one who digs deep and builds on rock, and withstands the flood.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: They picked heads of grain, rubbed them in their hands and ate them. — Luke 6:1-2
Answer: That the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath. — Luke 6:5
Answer: He spent the whole night in prayer to God on the mountain. — Luke 6:12-13
Answer: Judas Iscariot. — Luke 6:16
Answer: The poor, the hungry, those who weep, and those persecuted on account of the Son of Man. — Luke 6:20-22
Answer: A man who dug deep and laid the foundation on rock, so the house was not shaken by the flood. — Luke 6:47-48
Luke 6 challenges us to live against our instincts: love the one who hurts us, give without expecting, forgive. That is only possible when we remember how much mercy we have received. In a class you can ask whom it is hard for us to love today and what a concrete step of blessing would be.
The closing parable puts an honest question to us: it is not enough to call Jesus Lord; we must practice what he teaches. Listening to sermons or studies without obeying leaves a house without a foundation. Pick one teaching from this chapter and put it into practice this week.
Luke 6 ends with the house that stands because it was built on the rock of Jesus' words. In Luke 7 those same words have power: Jesus heals a centurion's servant and raises a widow's son at Nain.
Matthew 5 to 7 places the teaching on a mountain and is longer; Luke places it on a level place and is shorter. They may be the same discourse summarized differently or teachings repeated on different occasions. Luke includes woes that Matthew does not mention.
He does not condemn wealth itself, but those who already have their comfort in what they own and feel no need of God. It is a pastoral warning like the Beatitudes: what looks like success now may be loss before God.
It is a strong way of saying we should not answer evil with revenge. It is not a rule to tolerate abuse without limit; it is an invitation to break the cycle of violence with a generous response, guided by love for the enemy.