Looking up at His disciples
This phrase sets the scene for Jesus' teaching, indicating His direct engagement with His followers. The Greek word for "looking up" is "anablepō," which implies a deliberate and attentive gaze. This suggests that Jesus is about to impart something significant. The context here is crucial; Jesus is addressing His disciples, those who have chosen to follow Him closely. This moment is intimate and personal, emphasizing the importance of the message that follows. Historically, this setting is part of what is often referred to as the "Sermon on the Plain," paralleling the "Sermon on the Mount" in Matthew, highlighting the consistency and importance of Jesus' teachings across different settings.

He said
This simple phrase introduces the authoritative teaching of Jesus. The Greek verb "eipen" (He said) is in the aorist tense, indicating a definitive action. Jesus' words are not just casual remarks; they are declarations with authority. In the Jewish tradition, a rabbi's words carried weight, and here, Jesus speaks with even greater authority as the Son of God. This introduction prepares the listener for the profound truths that are about to be revealed.

Blessed are you who are poor
The word "blessed" comes from the Greek "makarios," which conveys a sense of divine favor and happiness. This blessing is not merely a superficial happiness but a deep, spiritual joy that comes from being in right relationship with God. The term "poor" in Greek is "ptōchos," which refers to those who are economically disadvantaged and dependent on others for support. However, in the biblical context, it also signifies spiritual poverty—a recognition of one's need for God. This statement is revolutionary, as it turns worldly values upside down, suggesting that true blessedness is found not in material wealth but in spiritual dependence on God.

for yours is the kingdom of God
The phrase "kingdom of God" is central to Jesus' teaching. In Greek, "basileia tou Theou" refers to God's sovereign rule and reign. This kingdom is both a present reality and a future hope. Jesus declares that those who are poor, in spirit or materially, are already part of this kingdom. This promise offers hope and assurance, affirming that God's kingdom is accessible to all, regardless of their earthly status. Historically, this would have been a radical message to Jesus' audience, who lived under Roman rule and societal structures that favored the wealthy and powerful. Jesus' words offer a vision of a new order where God's values prevail.

(20) Blessed be ye poor . . .--See Notes on Matthew 5:1. The conclusion there arrived at--that the two discourses differ so widely, both in their substance and in their position in the Gospel narrative, that it is a less violent hypothesis to infer that they were spoken at different times than to assume that the two Evangelists inserted or omitted, as they thought fit, in reporting the same discourse--will be taken here as the basis of interpretation. It was quite after our Lord's method of teaching that He should thus reproduce, with more or less variation, what He had taught before. The English, "Blessed be ye poor," is ambiguous, as leaving it uncertain whether the words are the declaration of a fact or the utterance of a prayer. Better, Blessed are ye poor. We note at once the absence of the qualifying words of St. Matthew's "poor in spirit." Assume the identity of the two discourses, and then we have to think of St. Luke or his informant as omitting words, and those singularly important words, which our Lord had spoken; and this, it is obvious, presents a far greater difficulty than the thought that our Lord varied the aspects of the truths which He presented, now affirming the blessedness of the "poor in spirit," now that of those who were literally "poor," as having less to hinder them from the attainment of the higher poverty. See Notes on Matthew 5:3. It seems to have been St. Luke's special aim to collect as much as he could of our Lord's teaching as to the danger of riches. (See Introduction.)

Note the substitution of the "kingdom of God" for the "kingdom of heaven" in St. Matthew.

Verses 20-49. - St. Luke's report of the discourse of our Lord commonly termed the sermon on the mount. We consider that the discourse contained in the following thirty verses (20-49) is identical with that longer "sermon on the mount" reported by St. Matthew (5.). Certain differences are alleged to exist in the framework of the two discourses. In St. Matthew the Lord is stated to have spoken it on the mountain; in St. Luke, in the plain. This apparent discrepancy has been already discussed (see above, on ver. 17). The "plain" of St. Luke was, no doubt, simply a level spot on the hillside, on the fiat space between the two peaks of the hill. The more important differences in the Master's utterances - of which, perhaps, one of the weightiest is the addition of St. Matthew to that first beatitude which explains what poor were blessed - the" poor in spirit " - probably arose from some questions put to the Master as he was teaching. In his reply he probably amplified or paraphrased the first utterance, which gave rise to the question; hence the occasional discrepancies in the two accounts. It is, too, most likely that many of the weightier utterances of the great sermon were several times reproduced in a longer or shorter form in the course of his teaching. Such repetitions would be likely to produce the differences we find in the two reports of the great sermon. The plan or scheme of the two Gospels was not the same. St. Luke, doubtless, had before him, when he compiled his work, copious notes or memoranda of the famous discourse. He evidently selected such small portions of it as fell in with his design. The two discourses reported by SS. Matthew and Luke have besides many striking resemblances - both beginning with the beatitudes, both concluding with the same simile or parable of the two buildings, both immediately succeeded by the same miracle, the healing of the centurion's servant. It is scarcely possible - when these points are taken into consideration - to suppose that the reports are of two distinct discourses. The theory held by some scholars, that the great sermon was delivered twice on the same day, on the hillside to a smaller and more selected auditory, then on the plain below to the multitude in a shorter form, is in the highest degree improbable. No portion of the public teaching of the Lord seems to have made so deep an impression as the mount-sermon. St. James, the so-called brother of Jesus, the first president of the Jerusalem Church, repeatedly quotes it in his Epistle. It was evidently the groundwork of his teaching in the first days. Barnabas, Clement of Rome, Ignatius, and Polycarp, the nameless author of the recently found 'Teaching of the Apostles,' whose writings represent to us most of the Christian literature which we possess of the first century after the death of St. Paul, quote it often. It may be taken, indeed, as the pattern discourse which mirrors better and mere fully than any other portion of the Gospels the Lord's teaching concerning the life he would have his followers lead. It is not easy to give a precis of such a report as that of St. Luke, necessarily brief, and yet containing, we feel, many of the words, and even sentences, in the very form in which the Lord spoke them. What we possess here is, perhaps, little more itself than a summary of the great original discourse to which the disciples and the people listened. Godet has attempted, and not unsuccessfully, to give a resume of the contents of St. Luke's memoir here. Still, it must be felt that any such work must necessarily be unsatisfactory. There appear to be three main divisions in the sermon:

(1) A description of the persons to Whom Jesus chiefly addressed himself (vers. 20-26).

(2) The proclamation of the fundamental principles of the new society (vers. 27-45).

(3) An announcement of the judgment to which the members of the new kingdom of God will have to submit (vers. 46-49). Verse 20. - Blessed be ye poor: for yours is the kingdom of God; better rendered, blessed are ye poor, etc. It is the exact equivalent of the well-known Hebrew expression with which the Psalms begin: אַשְׁרֵי הָאִישׁ, which should be rendered, "Oh the blessedness of the man," etc.! This was probably the exact form in which Jesus began the sermon: "Blessed are the poor." He was gazing on a vast congregation mostly made of the literally poor. Those Standing nearest to him belonged to the masses - the fishermen, the carpenters, and the like. The crowd was mainly composed of the trading and artisan class, and they, at least then, were friendly to him, heard him gladly, came out to him from their villages, their poor industries, their little farms, their boats. The comparatively few rich and powerful who were present that day in the listening multitude were for the most part enemies, jealous, angry men, spying emissaries of the Jerusalem Sanhedrin, men who hated rather than loved the words and works of the Galilaean Teacher. The literally poor, then, represented the friends of Jesus; the rich, his enemies. But we may conceive of some like Nicodemus, Joseph of Arimathaea, Gamaliel, or the wealthy patrician centurion, in that listening crowd, gently asking the Teacher as he taught, "Are only the poor, then, to be reckoned among thy blessed ones?" Some such question, we think, elicited the qualifying words of Matthew, "Blessed are the poor in spirit,' with some such underlying thought as, "Alas! this is not very often the character of the rich." It certainly was not while the Lord worked among men. While, then, the blessedness he spoke of belonged not to the poor because they were poor, yet it seemed to belong to them especially as a class, because they welcomed the Master and tried to share his life, while the rich and powerful as a class did not. It runs indisputably all through the teaching of Paul and Luke, this tender love for the poor and despised of this world; full of warnings are their writings against the perils and dangers of riches. The awful parable of the rich man and Lazarus gathers up, in the story form best understood by Oriental peoples, that truth of which these great servants of the Redeemer were so intensely conscious, that the poor stand better than the rich for the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God. Not here, not now. Just a few drops from the river of joy which flows through that kingdom will sprinkle the life of his blessed ones while they live and struggle to do his will on earth; but the kingdom of God, in its full glorious signification, will be only enjoyed hereafter. It is an expression which includes citizenship in his city, a home among the mansions of the blessed, a place in the society of heaven, the enjoyment of the sight of God - the beatific vision.

Parallel Commentaries ...

Looking up
ἐπάρας (eparas)
Verb - Aorist Participle Active - Nominative Masculine Singular
Strong's 1869: To raise, lift up. From epi and airo; to raise up.

at
εἰς (eis)
Preposition
Strong's 1519: A primary preposition; to or into, of place, time, or purpose; also in adverbial phrases.

His
αὐτοῦ (autou)
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Genitive Masculine 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 846: He, she, it, they, them, same. From the particle au; the reflexive pronoun self, used of the third person, and of the other persons.

disciples,
μαθητὰς (mathētas)
Noun - Accusative Masculine Plural
Strong's 3101: A learner, disciple, pupil. From manthano; a learner, i.e. Pupil.

[Jesus]
αὐτὸς (autos)
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Nominative Masculine 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 846: He, she, it, they, them, same. From the particle au; the reflexive pronoun self, used of the third person, and of the other persons.

said:
ἔλεγεν (elegen)
Verb - Imperfect Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 2036: Answer, bid, bring word, command. A primary verb; to speak or say.

“Blessed [are]
Μακάριοι (Makarioi)
Adjective - Nominative Masculine Plural
Strong's 3107: Happy, blessed, to be envied. A prolonged form of the poetical makar; supremely blest; by extension, fortunate, well off.

[you] who are
οἱ (hoi)
Article - Vocative Masculine Plural
Strong's 3588: The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the.

poor,
πτωχοί (ptōchoi)
Adjective - Vocative Masculine Plural
Strong's 4434: Poor, destitute, spiritually poor, either in a good sense (humble devout persons) or bad.

for
Ὅτι (Hoti)
Conjunction
Strong's 3754: Neuter of hostis as conjunction; demonstrative, that; causative, because.

yours
ὑμετέρα (hymetera)
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Nominative Feminine 2nd Person Plural
Strong's 5212: Your, yours. From humeis; yours, i.e. Pertaining to you.

is
ἐστὶν (estin)
Verb - Present Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 1510: I am, exist. The first person singular present indicative; a prolonged form of a primary and defective verb; I exist.

the
ἡ (hē)
Article - Nominative Feminine Singular
Strong's 3588: The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the.

kingdom
βασιλεία (basileia)
Noun - Nominative Feminine Singular
Strong's 932: From basileus; properly, royalty, i.e. rule, or a realm.

of God.
Θεοῦ (Theou)
Noun - Genitive Masculine Singular
Strong's 2316: A deity, especially the supreme Divinity; figuratively, a magistrate; by Hebraism, very.


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NT Gospels: Luke 6:20 He lifted up his eyes to his (Luke Lu Lk)