I’m getting started late today. I have some things I’ve been anticipating, plus social media had me scrolling way more than I should. I constantly have to remind myself that I want to create more than I consume, but that means focus and work, which is hard.
I’m going to start today by posting a chunk of scripture and let you read it. Then, I’m going to dissect it in what occurred to me as I read it. I found a relatively interesting thing when picking apart some of the words.
20And turning His gaze toward His disciples, He began to say, “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.
21“Blessed are you who hunger now, for you shall be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh.
22“Blessed are you when men hate you, and ostracize you, and insult you, and scorn your name as evil, for the sake of the Son of Man.
Luke 6:20–22 (NASB95)
The interesting thing I found centers around the phrases “you who are poor,” “you who weep,” and the words “men,” “name,” and “of man.” Interestingly, the Greek words use an article that, depending on the context, means a specific one of the thing referenced or divinity/royalty. All entries except “of man” are the specific one, which is important; I’ll dig into that in a second. The last one, “of man,” is coupled with “Son,” using the version indicating royalty or divinity. That’s because they are referring to Jesus. When the Greek language is used this way in scripture, it imparts divinity to Jesus, indicating that the authors who wrote those words considered the subject, Christ, to be God. Let’s look at the other occurrences, though.
20And turning His gaze toward His disciples, He began to say, “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.
Luke 6:20 (NASB95)
It is almost as if Jesus is implying here, “Blessed are you who are poor, and you know who you are….” The emphasis is mine, and those words are added. Jesus did not say those. Based on how the Greek words are written in this text, I am suggesting that the audience of the day to whom Jesus spoke knew exactly who He meant when he said this. Now, what does that mean for us?
Before I tell you what I think it means, let’s look at the other passages first. I want to do this because I think the implication is the same for all three. Let’s get those fresh in our minds before moving to the explanation.
21“Blessed are you who hunger now, for you shall be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh.
Luke 6:21 (NASB95)
In verse twenty, the audience begins to think about whoever comes to mind that they consider “poor.” Next, whoever they think is “hungry.” Let’s look at the last one. It’s kind of the same but has a different twist.
22“Blessed are you when men hate you, and ostracize you, and insult you, and scorn your name as evil, for the sake of the Son of Man.
Luke 6:22 (NASB95)
The lines that tell us when “men hate…” you, ostracize you, and insult you are all related. They are all related to the last word that has this interesting Greek article. The Son of Man, meaning Jesus, the divine representation of God on earth. At once, a man and God because Jesus is how we humans can perceive God in our three-dimensional, earthly world. Let’s sum up those words in verse twenty-two as “persecuted.”
persecuted
pur-si-kyoo-tid
adjective
persistently harassed or oppressed, especially because of religious or political beliefs, ethnic or racial origin, gender identity, or sexual orientation: Having been raised in a frequently persecuted faith, the idea of any state religion makes me very nervous.
verb
the simple past tense and past participle of persecute.
We are blessed who are poor, you know who you are, are hungry, you know who you are, and are persecuted, for the sake of your faith in Jesus Christ. But what does that mean, “you know who you are?” Here’s the answer I hinted at above.
Jesus knows “who you are.” What does it mean to be “poor?” There are many ways to be “poor” and some of them have nothing to do with money. Let’s look at the Greek word used in this passage.
Greek Strong’s Number: 4434
Greek Word: πτωχός
Transliteration: ptōchos
Phonetic Pronunciation: pto-khos’
Root: from ptosso (to crouch, akin to <G4422> and the alternate of <G4098>)
Cross Reference: TDNT - 6:885,969
Part of Speech: adj
Vine’s Words: Beg, Beggar, Beggarly, Poor
Usage Notes:
English Words used in KJV:
poor 30
beggar 2
poor man 1
beggarly 1
[Total Count: 34]
from ptosso (to crouch; akin to <G4422> (ptoeo) and the alternate of <G4098> (pipto)); a beggar (as cringing), i.e. pauper (strictly denoting absolute or public mendicancy, although also used in a qualified or relative sense; whereas <G3993> (penes) properly means only straitened circumstances in private), literal (often as noun) or figurative (distressed):- beggar (-ly), poor.
James Strong, “Πτωχός,” Strong’s Talking Greek and Hebrew Dictionary (WORDsearch, 2020).
Beggarly, someone crouching, cringing, distressed, a pauper, and mendicancy. I’ll do the definition of mendicant. Mendicancy is someone actively engaged in mendicant behavior.
mendicant
men-di-kuhnt
adjective
begging; practicing begging; living on alms.
pertaining to or characteristic of a beggar.noun
a person who lives by begging; beggar.
a member of any of several orders of friars that originally forbade ownership of property, subsisting mostly on alms.
The focus is on someone begging. The focus is not on someone who does not have money. The implication is someone lacks something they need and cannot acquire on their own. They must ask for it from someone else, and they ask to humble themselves through their body posture when they ask, bent over or cringing in fear.
We’ve talked about how, as Christians, we exist in two worlds, the world of the flesh and the world of the spirit. In the fleshly world, we could have fabulous wealth, but in the spiritual world, we are devoid of anything of substance. You see this in people who constantly surround themselves with stuff (I feel a little convicted at that one) and attach their fulfillment to things of this world. However, these people are never happy, never have a smile, never laugh, are constant victims of someone else’s actions, and never see any good anywhere. Could this verse mean people without money? Yes, it could. However, I think Christ was far more concerned with the former type of poverty than the latter. Let’s look at being hungry in the same way.
21“Blessed are you who hunger now, for you shall be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh.
Luke 6:21 (NASB95)
Oh, and I forgot weeping too, which is in this passage. It is the same as poor and hunger. Let’s look at hunger right now. Here is the Greek word behind hunger in verse twenty-one.
Greek Strong’s Number: 3983
Greek Word: πεινάω
Transliteration: peinaō
Phonetic Pronunciation: pi-nah’-o
Root: from the same as <G3993> (through the idea of pinching toil, “pine”)
Cross Reference: TDNT - 6:12,820
Part of Speech: v
Vine’s Words: Hunger, Hungered, Hungry
Usage Notes:
English Words used in KJV:
hunger 10
be an hungred 9
be hungry 3
hungry 1
[Total Count: 23]
from the same as <G3993> (penes) (through the idea of pinching toil; “pine”); to famish (absolute or comparatively); figurative to crave:- be an hungered.
James Strong, “Πεινάω,” Strong’s Talking Greek and Hebrew Dictionary (WORDsearch, 2020).
The root word gives us a lot of insight into this word meaning someone who is famished or craves something. Let’s look at 3993 penes.
Greek Strong’s Number: 3993
Greek Word: πένης
Transliteration: penēs
Phonetic Pronunciation: pen’-ace
Root: from a primary peno (to toil for daily subsistence)
Cross Reference: TDNT - 6:37,824
Part of Speech: adj
Vine’s Words: Poor
Usage Notes:
English Words used in KJV:
poor 1
[Total Count: 1]
from a primary peno (to toil for daily subsistence); starving, i.e. indigent:- poor. Compare <G4434> (ptochos).
James Strong, “Πένης,” Strong’s Talking Greek and Hebrew Dictionary (WORDsearch, 2020).
“To toil for daily subsistence.” Also known as working. Guess what? We all do this. At least in God’s eyes, we all do, and there’s scripture for that.
17Then to Adam He said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree about which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat from it’; Cursed is the ground because of you; In toil you will eat of it All the days of your life.
18“Both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you; And you will eat the plants of the field;
19By the sweat of your face You will eat bread, Till you return to the ground, Because from it you were taken; For you are dust, And to dust you shall return.”
Genesis 3:17–19 (NASB95)
Thanks to Adam and Eve, we all work and toil for our food. Even those with loads of worldly wealth still have to work for it. They may not appear to work as hard as others, but sometimes that is a perspective, and we don’t see how much effort they put in on other fronts to be and stay where they are.
Let’s also look at weep. I forgot to mention that one, but it also has the special Greek article in front of it denoting “you know who you are.” This means Jesus knows who you are, but we also know who “weeps” in our sphere of people we meet daily.
Greek Strong’s Number: 2799
Greek Word: κλαίω
Transliteration: klaiō
Phonetic Pronunciation: klah’-yo
Root: of uncertain affinity
Cross Reference: TDNT - 3:722,436
Part of Speech: v
Vine’s Words: Bewail, Weep, Weeping
Usage Notes:
English Words used in KJV:
weep 39
bewail 1
[Total Count: 40]
of uncertain affinity; to sob, i.e. wail aloud (whereas <G1145> (dakruo) is rather to cry silently):- bewail, weep.
James Strong, “Κλαίω,” Strong’s Talking Greek and Hebrew Dictionary (WORDsearch, 2020).
This covers both crying or complaining that we can hear and the silent kind behind the mask purposely put on, so no one knows. God knows. Jesus knows. The Holy Spirit knows, and we are told they are blessed. In the world of depression, which I have quite a bit of experience with and won’t elaborate beyond that statement, I understand why some may not feel very “blessed.” Helping with that is where we get to be the hands and feet of Jesus. This is where the poor of spirit cross over with the weeping and the hungry simultaneously.
If your situation in the storm seems hopeless, with no way out, you’re out of options, and don’t know where to turn, Jesus is your way out. Prayer is your way out. The people of a good church are the way out. This is why we are not meant to wander through life alone with just a Bible and our own thoughts. We are called to be a peculiar people, a royal priesthood after the order of Melchizedek (have fun looking that one up.) We, you and I, are to continue Christ’s work ministering to those we encounter daily who are “poor” because they don’t understand God’s purpose for their life. We are called daily to help feed those who “hunger” for an explanation of God’s Word. We are called daily to comfort those who “weep” because they can’t see a way beyond today. All this is done in and through The Son of Man, the Ton Theon, The Ho Logos, Jesus, the Christ.
If you know you helped the poor, hungry, and weeping, do you care if the World persecutes you? If you cover those people in a blanket of God’s love, does it matter if they ostracize you in the name of Jesus Christ? If you know you did the right thing for that one person alone on the beach of life, does it matter if they cast you out? The answers to those questions are between you and Christ, just as the consequences of your actions to help, deny, or hinder those same people are between you and Him. God bless you, and Godspeed.