Morning reading Luke 6:

Luke 6 keeps going with Luke’s story about Jesus’s time in Galilee. It starts off with more examples of Jesus showing his power and authority, but the people in his hometown of Nazareth don’t buy it. Luke then goes on to talk about Jesus calling his Twelve disciples, mixed in with stories of Jesus doing things that go against what the religious leaders want (Luke 5). In Luke 6, Jesus finishes choosing the Twelve and moves on to a big speech where he talks about what it really means to follow him. The chapter ends with Jesus telling everyone to base their lives on him.

In the first part of Luke 6, Jesus gets into trouble with the Pharisees for letting his disciples pick and eat grain on the Sabbath. He basically tells them that even King David broke the rules when he needed food, so it’s not a big deal.

Then there’s another story where Jesus heals a guy with a messed-up hand on the Sabbath. The Pharisees get all worked up about it because they think it’s breaking the rules. Jesus basically tells them that doing good on the Sabbath is more important than following their strict traditions. They get even more mad at him.

After that, Jesus picks the rest of his disciples to join the ones he already chose. They’re the guys who are gonna help him build his church, except for that traitor Judas.

The rest of the chapter is Jesus giving his sermon. It’s kinda like the one he gave on the mountain, but shorter. Jesus talks about how the poor, hungry, sad, and hated people are gonna be blessed, while the rich, full, lucky, and popular ones are gonna have problems. If you’re persecuted for following Jesus, you’re in luck. But if you’re all about getting people to like you, you’re gonna be in trouble. Most of this stuff is gonna happen in the future, though.

Then Jesus goes on to say that we should love our enemies and be nice to them. Even if they treat us badly, we should still treat them well. It’s all about showing mercy and love, just like God does to us. He says we shouldn’t judge others before we’ve dealt with our own issues first.

Jesus talks about how people who follow him need to have a good heart. If you’re good inside, you’ll do good things. It’s like a good tree that gives good fruit. So, if you want to be a follower of Jesus, you gotta be a good person.

Finally, Jesus tells everyone to build their lives on him. If you do that, you’ll be strong and won’t fall apart when things get tough. It’s all about depending on Jesus and doing what he says.

Luke 35-36 really stood out to me today as I pondered. I spent much time not doing this but now I pray for them. It was brought so much more peace.