Lukechapter 6
49 verses · Luke · about AD 62 · The Gospels
But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them, expecting nothing in return. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.
Introduction
Luke, The Gospels, Luke Overview.
Luke writes this chapter for a reader who would recognise a teacher's address on how to live. It opens with two quarrels over the Sabbath and a night spent in prayer on a mountain. Then the teacher comes down to a level place and speaks to a large crowd of disciples. Listen for the blessings and the warnings, set against each other one for one. Listen also for how often the teaching turns to money, to enemies and to judging others. Read it as the pattern of life for those who call Jesus Lord.
Context
- Who
- A Greek reader accustomed to hearing a philosopher's ethical address
- What
- Two Sabbath disputes, the choosing of the twelve apostles, and the teaching given to the disciples on a level place.
- Where
- Grainfields and a synagogue in Galilee, a mountain where Jesus prayed, and a level place below it.
- When
- The Galilean ministry, about AD 28.
- Why
- To show the authority of Jesus over the Sabbath and to set out the life he asks of his disciples.
Historical context
The grainfield dispute was about the day, not about theft. The Law permitted a traveller to pick heads of grain by hand from a neighbour's field so long as he used no sickle. The objection was that rubbing grain in the palms on the Sabbath looked like reaping and threshing, two of the categories of work the teachers had defined as forbidden.
Show the rest of the historical context, 4 more paragraphs
Healing on the Sabbath was allowed only when life was in danger. A hand withered for years was not an emergency by that standard, which is why they watched to see what he would do.
Luke sets the sermon on a level place after a night of prayer on the mountain, and shapes it with blessings answered by matching woes, a rhetorical form a Greek-educated reader would recognise from moral discourse.
The instructions about money are startling in that economy. Lending expecting nothing back cut against a system built on reciprocity, where a loan or a gift created an obligation and a network of favours held society together. Giving to a man who cannot repay meant deliberately declining to earn credit.
The closing picture is a builder's: one man digs deep and lays a foundation on rock, the other builds on the surface, and the river bursts against both.
Significance
Luke's blessings are blunter than Matthew's, blessed are you who are poor, you who hunger now, you who weep, and the woes are aimed at exactly the class Theophilus belonged to: woe to you who are rich, who are full now, of whom everyone speaks well.
Show the rest of the significance, 1 more paragraph
The command to love enemies and do good to those who hate you was not sentimental in a province under occupation, and Luke's readers would go on to need it under persecution. The measure given, he says, is the measure you will get back, pressed down, shaken together, running over, the way a grain merchant fills an honest basket.
The heads below are this chapter's scenes. The numbered points under each are its verses.
Two Sabbath Confrontations
Luke 6:1-2
His disciples began to pick: The disciples picked, rubbed and ate heads of grain, an act Deuteronomy 23:25 permits to a hungry traveler in another man's field. The Pharisees' charge rested on the oral tradition, which counted plucking and rubbing grain as harvest work.
Luke 6:1
“The Lord Jesus begins to divest man [people] of the observation of the old law and clothes him with the new covering of grace not only through the understanding of words but also through the very usage and appearance of actions. Already on the sabbath, he leads him through the cornfields, that is, he brings him to what abounds in fruit. What the sabbath, the standing corn, and the ears mean to him is no small mystery.”
Ambrose of Milan · written before 397 · Commentary on Lukepatristic
3 more voices on this verseWhat preachers and commentators have said about this verse, in their own words.
Luke 6:1
“And it came to pass on the second sabbath day after the first,.... Or "second first sabbath", concerning which interpreters are greatly divided. Some think, that it was either the seventh day of the feast of unleavened bread, or the eighth day of the feast of tabernacles.”
Luke 6:1
“Second sabbath after the first - See the notes at Mat 12:1. This phrase has given great perplexity to commentators. A “literal” translation would be, “on the Sabbath called “second first,”” or second first Sabbath. The word occurs nowhere else. It is therefore exceedingly difficult of interpretation. The most natural and easy explanation is that proposed by Scaliger. The “second day” of the Passover was a great festival, on which the wave-sheaf was offered, Lev 23:11. From “that day” they reckoned “seven weeks,” or seven “Sabbaths,” to the day of Pentecost.”
Luke 6:1
“The first Sabbath - So the Jews reckoned their Sabbaths, from the passover to pentecost; the first, second, third, and so on, till the seventh Sabbath (after the second day.) This immediately preceded pentecost, which was the fiftieth day after the second day of unleavened bread.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
Luke has the Pharisees address the disciples, where Matthew and Mark have them address Jesus. John Gill judges that they spoke to both, first to one and then the other. Bede leaves the question open.
Luke 6:2
“But the Pharisees and Scribes not knowing the Holy Scriptures agreed together to find fault with Christ's disciples, as it follows, And certain of the Pharisees said unto them, Why do ye, &c. Tell me now, when a table is set before you on the sabbath day; do you not break bread? Why then do you blame others?”
Cyril of Alexandria · written before 444 · Catena Aurea by Aquinaspatristic
Luke 6:3-5
Jesus answers with 1 Samuel 21, where David took the consecrated bread, lawful only for the priests, and the history records no rebuke. Then He declared, The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath, claiming authority over the day itself.
Luke 6:3
“And again, the law did not forbid those who were hungry on the Sabbath-days to take food lying ready at hand: it did, however, forbid them to reap and to gather into the barn.”
Irenaeus · written before 202 · Against Heresies (Book IV, Chapter 8)patristic
took the consecrated bread: David ate bread lawful only for the priests. Bonaventure notes that the house of God then meant the tabernacle, as the temple was not yet built. Cyril of Alexandria sees the bread as a type of the bread from heaven.
Luke 6:4
“After this verse, the Codex Bezae and two ancient MSS. quoted by Wechel, have the following extraordinary addition: Τῃ αυτῃ ἡμερᾳ θεασαμενος τινα εργαζομενον τῳ σαββατῳ, ειπεν αυτῳ, Ανθρωπε, ει μεν οιδας τι ποιεις μακαριος ει; ει δε μη οιδας επικαταρατος, και παραβατης ειτου νομου. On the same day, seeing one working on the Sabbath, he said unto him, Man, if indeed thou knowest what thou dost, blessed art thou; but if thou knowest not, thou art cursed, and art a transgressor of the law. Whence this strange addition proceeded, it is hard to tell.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
The saying closes the grainfield dispute. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown call it as open a claim to the authority of the Lawgiver at Sinai as could be made. Matthew Henry connects it with the Sabbath becoming the Lord's day.
Luke 6:5
“Wishing, therefore, to initiate them into this meaning of the law by the restoration of the withered hand, He requires, "Is it lawful on the Sabbath-days to do good, or not? to save life, or to destroy it?”
Tertullian · written before 220 · Against Marcion Book IVpatristic
1 more voice on this verse
Luke 6:5
“Lord also--rather "even" (as in Mt 12:8). of the sabbath--as naked a claim to all the authority of Him who gave the law at Mount Sinai as could possibly be made; that is, "I have said enough to vindicate the men ye carp at on My account: but in this place is the Lord of the law, and they have HIS sanction." (See Mr 2:28.) Lu 6:6-11.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Luke 6:6-8
On another Sabbath Jesus entered: A man was there whose right hand was withered, and Luke the physician alone names which hand. The scribes and Pharisees were watching Him closely to see if He would heal on the Sabbath, turning the man's need into a trap.
Luke 6:6
“Whose right hand was withered - See on Mat 12:10 (note), etc. The critic who says that ξηραν χειρα signifies a luxated arm, and that the stretching it out restored the bone to its proper place, without the intervention of a miracle, deserves no serious refutation. See on Luk 6:10 (note).”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
watching Him closely: Adam Clarke reads the verb as a hostile watching, and finds the same sense in Luke 14:1 and 20:20. The scribes and Pharisees wanted a charge against Him. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown note that Jesus answers their unspoken thoughts in verse 9.
Luke 6:7
“The miracle sometimes converts to faith those who had disbelieved the word, but the Pharisees watched him to see if he would heal on the sabbath. The nature of an envious person is such that he makes the praises of others food for his own disease and is wickedly maddened by their reputation.”
Cyril of Alexandria · written before 444 · Commentary on Luke, Homily 23patristic
1 more voice on this verse
Luke 6:7
“Watched him - Παρετηρουν αυτον, They maliciously watched him. This is the import of the word, Luk 14:1; Luk 20:20, and in the parallel place, Mar 3:2. See Raphelius on the last-quoted text, who has proved, by several quotations, that this is the proper meaning of the term. An accusation against him - Instead of κατηγοριαν αυτου, his accusation, several eminent MSS. and versions add κατα, against, which I find our translators have adopted.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Jesus knew their thoughts: Jesus knows their plan and brings the man into full view. John Gill takes the knowledge as that of God, as they had said nothing aloud. Matthew Henry notes that Jesus appealed to their own conscience on doing good on the Sabbath.
Luke 6:8
“Once more he spoke to this; "he reveals deep and mysterious things; he knows what is in the darkness, and the light dwells with him." And why did he do this? Perhaps it might be to move the cruel and unpitying Pharisee to compassion. The man's malady [his withered hand] perhaps might shame them and persuade them to dispel the flames of their envy.”
Cyril of Alexandria · written before 444 · Commentary on Luke, Homily 23patristic
1 more voice on this verse
Luke 6:8
But he knew there thoughts - He knew their thoughts - their dark, malicious designs - by the question, which they proposed to him, whether it was lawful to heal on the Sabbath-days (Matthew). In “reply” to their question, Jesus asked them whether they would not release a “sheep” on the Sabbath-day if it was fallen into a pit, and also asked “them” whether it was better to do good than to do evil on that day, implying that to “omit” to do “good” was, in fact, doing “evil.”
Luke 6:9-10
which is lawful on the Sabbath: Jesus turns the trap into a moral question, to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy it. The healing came by a word alone, with no touch or labor that a strict Sabbath rule could count as work.
Luke 6:9
"Are you angry at me because I have healed the whole man on the sabbath day?" In this place he revivified with the salutary strength of good works the hand which Adam stretched out to pluck the fruit of the forbidden tree. The hand which had withered through a crime was healed by good deeds. Christ thereby rebuked the Jews who violated the precepts of the law with evil interpretations.
Ambrose of Milan · written before 397 · Commentary on Lukepatristic
The healing comes by a command the man obeys. Ambrose turns the command into a charge to stretch out the hand often to help a neighbour and protect the widow. Bede reads the withered hand as a barren soul.
Luke 6:10
“Whole as the other - Many MSS., both here and in the parallel place, Mar 3:5, omit the word ὑγιης, whole. Griesbach leaves it out of the text. The hand was restored as the other. But had it only been a luxated joint, even allowing, with a German critic, that the bone regained its place by the effort made to stretch out the arm, without the intervention of a miracle, it would have required several weeks to restore the muscles and ligaments to their wonted tone and strength. Why all this learned labor to leave God out of the question?”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
Luke 6:10
“Then you heard the words of the Lord, saying, "Stretch forth your hand." That is the common and universal remedy. You who think that you have a healthy hand beware lest it is withered by greed or by sacrilege. Hold it out often. Hold it out to the poor person who begs you. Hold it out to help your neighbor, to give protection to a widow, to snatch from harm one whom you see subjected to unjust insult. Hold it out to God for your sins. The hand is stretched forth; then it is healed.”
Ambrose of Milan · written before 397 · Commentary on Lukepatristic
the scribes and Pharisees were filled: with rage at a healing that should have drawn praise. The Greek word behind rage means a senseless fury past all reasoning.
Luke 6:11
“And they were filed with madness,.... Both at the cure, and because they could not answer him; nor properly fix a charge upon him, or accuse him before the people, without bringing their resentments on them: and communed one with another what they might do with Jesus: this they did after they came out of the synagogue, and when with the Herodians, as in See Gill on Mar 3:6.”
2 more voices on this verse
Luke 6:11
“Were filled with madness - Probably, 1. Because he had shown his “power” to work a miracle. 2. Because he had shown his power to do it “contrary” to what “they” thought was right. 3. Because by doing it he had shown that he was from “God,” and that “they” were therefore “wrong” in their views of the Sabbath. And, 4. Because he had shown no respect “to their views” of what the law of God demanded. Pride, obstinacy, malice, and disappointed self-confidence were “all” combined, therefore, in producing madness. Nor were they alone.”
Luke 6:11
“They were mad at Christ, mad at the people, mad at themselves. Anger is a short madness, malice is a long one; impotent malice, especially disappointed malice; such was theirs.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
A Night of Prayer; Twelve Chosen
In those days Jesus went out: Jesus spent the night in prayer to God before choosing the twelve. Luke records Jesus at prayer at each hinge of His ministry. He prays at His baptism, at this choosing, before Peter's confession, at the transfiguration and in Gethsemane.
Luke 6:12
“So the Lord prays, not to entreat for himself but to intercede for me. Although the Father placed all things in the power of his Son, yet the Son, in order to fulfill the form of a man, thinks that the Father must be entreated for us, because he is our Advocate.… If he is an Advocate, he must intercede on account of my sins.…It says, "He passed the whole night in prayer." A model is given to you.”
Ambrose of Milan · written before 397 · Commentary on Lukepatristic
3 more voices on this verse
Luke 6:12
“He was long alone with God: He continued all night in prayer. We think one half hour a great deal to spend in the duties of the closet; but Christ continued a whole night in meditation and secret prayer. We have a great deal of business at the throne of grace, and we should take a great delight in communion with God, and by both these we may be kept sometimes long at prayer.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Luke 6:12
“In prayer to God - Or, in the prayer of God: or, in the oratory of God, εν τῃ προσευχῃ του Θεου.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Luke 6:12
“IF any man of woman born might have lived without prayer it was surely the Lord Jesus Christ. To us poor weak erring mortals, prayer is an absolute necessity. But it does not at first sight seem to be so to Him who was "holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners." In some parts of prayer our Lord Jesus Christ could take no share. As for instance in that most important department, namely, personal confession of sin, He could take no portion. There were no slips in His outward life. There were no declensions in His inward heart.”
Luke 6:13-16
When daylight came, He called: He chose twelve of them, a number that echoes the twelve tribes of Israel. Simon called the Zealot likely came from the nationalist resistance and Matthew from service to Rome, and both stand in the same twelve.
Luke 6:13
“These verses describe the appointment of our Lord Jesus Christ's twelve apostles. That appointment was the beginning of the Christian ministry . It was the first ordination, and an ordination conducted by the Great Head of the Church Himself. Since the day when the events here recorded took place — there have been many thousands of ordinations. Myriads of bishops, elders, and deacons have been called to the office of the ministry — and often with far more pomp and splendor than we read of here. But never was there so solemn an ordination as this.”
1 more voice on this verse
Luke 6:13
“The number of the apostles was twelve. Their names are here recorded; it is the third time that we have met with them, and in each of the three places the order of them differs, to teach both ministers and Christians not to be nice in precedency, not in giving it, much less in taking it, but to look upon it as a thing not worth taking notice of; let it be as it lights.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Simon, whom He named Peter: Luke lists the apostles in pairs, and Bonaventure notes that the Lord joined them two by two. Bede says Simon had received the name Peter long before, when Andrew first brought him to Jesus. John Gill explains the name as a rock.
Luke 6:14
“Simon, whom he also named Peter,.... Which signifies a rock, or stone, as Cephas also does, see Joh 1:42 from his constancy, steadfastness, and solidity: and Andrew his brother; who was called at the same time with him, and were brethren, both in nature and grace: James and John: the two sons of Zebedee, who were called next: Philip and Bartholomew; the latter of these is by some thought to be Nathanael.”
1 more voice on this verse
Luke 6:14
“Again, He changes the name of Simon to peter, inasmuch as the Creator also altered the names of Abram, and Sarai, and Oshea, by calling the latter Joshua, and adding a syllable to each of the former.”
Tertullian · written before 220 · Against Marcion Book IVpatristic
Simon called the Zealot: Adam Clarke cites Josephus for Jews who took the name Zealots for their claimed zeal in religion. Bede notes that Luke uses the name Matthew in the list, where the call at the tax booth named him Levi. John Gill identifies Thomas as Didymus.
Luke 6:15
“If you listen to Luke, you will not hear him calling Matthew a publican nor subordinating him to Thomas, for he knows him to be the greater, and puts him first and Thomas second. Mark has done the same.… So Luke honored Matthew, according to what they delivered, who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the Word.”
Eusebius of Caesarea · written before 339 · Proof of the Gospel 3.5.120patristic
2 more voices on this verse
Luke 6:15
“SIMON called the Zealot has apparently two surnames in Scripture but they mean the same thing. He is called Simon the Canaanite in Hebrew—not because he was an inhabitant of Cana or a Canaanite, but that word, when interpreted, means precisely the same as the Greek word, Zelotes. He was called Simon the Zealot. I suppose that he had this name before his conversion.”
Luke 6:15
“Called Zelotes - Some Jews gave this name to themselves, according to Josephus, (War, b. iv. c. iii. s. 9, and vii. c. viii. s. 1), “because they pretended to be more than ordinarily zealous for religion, and yet practised the very worst of actions.” “But this (says the judicious Bp. Pearce) Josephus says of the zealots, at the time when Vespasian was marching towards Jerusalem.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor: Luke names two men called Judas, and Bede says the names stand side by side to tell them apart. Ambrose holds that Judas Iscariot was chosen by providence. Matthew Henry adds that Christ was never deceived in the traitor.
Luke 6:16
“Judas too is chosen, not through inadvertence but through Providence. How great is the truth that not even a hostile minister weakens! How great is the integrity of the Lord, who preferred to endanger his judgment among us, rather than his compassion! For he had assumed the frailty of man, and therefore [he did not] refuse those aspects of human weakness.”
Ambrose of Milan · written before 397 · Commentary on Lukepatristic
Luke 6:17-19
Then Jesus came down with them: Jesus stood on a level place, which gives this sermon its traditional name beside Matthew's Sermon on the Mount. His hearers came from Judea, Jerusalem, and the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon, Gentile territory beside Jewish.
Luke 6:17
“Though it was some scores of miles from Jerusalem to that part of Galilee where Christ now was,--though at Jerusalem they had abundance of famous rabbin, that had great names, and bore a mighty sway,--yet they came to hear Christ.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
1 more voice on this verse
Luke 6:17
“But observe all things carefully, how He both ascends with His Apostles and descends to the multitude; for how could the multitude see Christ but in a lowly place. It follows him not to the lofty places, it ascends not the heights. Lastly, when He descends, He finds the sick, for in the high places there can be no sick.”
Ambrose of Milan · written before 397 · Catena Aurea by Aquinaspatristic
They had come to hear Him and to be healed: The crowd comes for two things, His word and His healing. Bonaventure calls this a right intention, light for the mind and health for the body. Albert Barnes explains that troubled here means deeply afflicted, and the spirits are called unclean for their delight in tormenting.
Luke 6:18
“Vexed - The word “vex” with us means to provoke, or irritate by petty provocations. Here it means, however, to “afflict,” to “torment” - denoting deep and heavy trials. Unclean spirits - Demons that were impure and unholy, having a delight in tormenting, and in inflicting painful and loathsome diseases.”
power was coming from Him and healing them all: Albert Barnes explains the power as healing power and compares Mark 5:30. Bede sets this beside the leper of chapter 5, healed by the Lord's touch, while here the whole crowd is healed by His power. Matthew Henry finds grace enough for all and for each.
Luke 6:19
“And the whole multitude sought to touch him,.... That is, the multitude of those that were sick and possessed; for they were persuaded, and they found it true by experience, that if they could but touch any part of his body, or his garments, they should be cured of their diseases: for there went virtue out of him; in great abundance, as water from a fountain; without his speaking a word, or using any gesture, such as laying his hands on them: and they were healed; in this secret and private way, of whatsoever disease they were afflicted with.”
2 more voices on this verse
Luke 6:19
“But after that the High Priest had made publicly known His choice of Apostles, He did many and great miracles, that the Jews and Gentiles who had assembled might know that these were invested by Christ with the dignity of the Apostleship, and that He Himself was not as another man, but rather was God, as being the Incarnate Word. Hence it follows, And the whole multitude sought to touch him, for there went virtue out of him.”
Cyril of Alexandria · written before 444 · Catena Aurea by Aquinaspatristic
Luke 6:19
“There is a fulness of grace in Christ, and healing virtue in him, and ready to go out from him, that is enough for all, enough for each. 20 And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said, Blessed be ye poor: for yours is the kingdom of God.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Blessings and Woes on the Level Place
Luke 6:20-23
Luke records Blessed are you who are poor, where Matthew's parallel reads poor in spirit, spoken to a crowd that included the poor. The blessings on those who hunger now and weep now carry the reversal that runs through Luke from the Magnificat.
Luke 6:20
“And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples,.... Either the whole company of them, or rather the twelve apostles, whom he saw coming to him, and fixing his eyes on them, he sat, and said; what follows, with many other things recorded by Matthew: blessed be ye poor; not only in the things of this world, having left all for Christ, but poor in Spirit, as in Mat 5:3; see Gill on Mat 5:3, for yours is the kingdom of God; or heaven, so in Mat 5:3.”
3 more voices on this verse
Luke 6:20
“Here it is simply on the "poor" and the "hungry now." In this form of the discourse, then, our Lord seems to have had in view "the poor of this world, rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which God hath promised to them that love Him," as these very beatitudes are paraphrased by James (Jas 2:5).”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Luke 6:20
"Blessed," it says, "are the poor." Not all the poor are blessed, for poverty is neutral. The poor can be either good or evil, unless, perhaps, the blessed pauper is to be understood as he whom the prophet described, saying, "A righteous poor man is better than a rich liar." Blessed is the poor man who cried and whom the Lord heard. Blessed is the man poor in offense. Blessed is the man poor in vices. Blessed is the poor man in whom the prince of this world finds nothing.
Ambrose of Milan · written before 397 · Commentary on Lukepatristic
Luke 6:20
“The discourse of our Lord, which we have now begun, resembles, in many respects — His well-known Sermon on the Mount. The resemblance, in fact, is so striking that many have concluded that Luke and Matthew are reporting one and the same discourse — and that Luke is giving us, in an abridged form, what Matthew reports at length. There seems no sufficient ground for this conclusion. The occasions on which the two discourses were delivered, were entirely different. Our Lord's repetition of the same great lesson, in almost the same words, on two different occasions — is nothing extraordinary.”
Blessed are you who hunger now: The two blessings set those who hunger and weep now against the time when they will be filled and laugh. Bede says Matthew explains the hunger as hunger for righteousness. Ambrose reads the weeping as the tears of a sinner.
Luke 6:21
“Purify yourself with your tears. Wash yourselves with mourning. If you weep for yourself, another will not weep for you.… One who is a sinner weeps for himself and rebukes himself, that he may become righteous, for just people accuse themselves of sin. Let us pursue order, because it is written, "Set in order love in me." I have laid down sin. I have tempered my conduct. I have wept for my transgressions. I begin to hunger. I hunger for righteousness. The sick, when he is seriously ill, does not hunger, because the pain of the illness excludes hunger.”
Ambrose of Milan · written before 397 · Commentary on Lukepatristic
when people hate you: Adam Clarke reads the excluding as excommunication, a separation from the synagogue. Luke names the Son of Man as the cause. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown see Christ binding the cause of righteousness to Himself.
Luke 6:22
“They shall separate you - Meaning, They will excommunicate you, αφορισωσιν ὑμας, or separate you from their communion. Luke having spoken of their separating or excommunicating them, continues the same idea, in saying that they would cast out their name likewise, as a thing evil in itself. By your name is meant their name as his disciples. As such, they were sometimes called Nazarenes, and sometimes Christians; and both these names were matter of reproach in the mouths of their enemies.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
Luke 6:22
“The Lord mentioned persecution already, even before the apostles had been sent on their mission. The Gospel anticipated what would happen. So he forewarns them for their benefit, that even the assault of things grievous to bear will bring its reward and advantage to them. They shall scold you, he says, as deceivers do, and try to mislead you. They shall separate you from them, even from their friendship and society. Let none of these things trouble you, he says. What harm will their intemperate tongue do a well-established mind?”
Cyril of Alexandria · written before 444 · Commentary on Luke, Homily 27patristic
leap for joy: The command to rejoice falls on the same day as the hatred of verse 22. John Gill pictures the leap as the rapture of those given the highest honour. Adam Clarke cites 1 Kings 18:4 and 2 Chronicles 24:21.
Luke 6:23
“Rejoice ye in that day,.... When they should be hated, discarded, reproached, and anathematized: and leap for joy; as if the greatest honour and happiness imaginable had been conferred on them; and as persons do, when in the greatest rapture: for behold, your reward is great in heaven, for in the like manner did their fathers unto the prophets; See Gill on Mat 5:12.”
4 more voices on this verse
Luke 6:23
“It remains for us, lest ancient times may perhaps have had the sacrament (exclusively) their own, to review the modern Christian system, as though, being also from God, it might be different from what preceded, and besides, therefore, opposed thereto in its code of rules likewise, so that its Wisdom knows not to murder her own sons! Evidently, in the case of Christ both the divine nature and the will and the sect are different from any previously known!”
Tertullian · written before 220 · Scorpiacepatristic
Luke 6:23
“Did - unto the prophets - See 1Ki 18:4; 1Ki 19:20; 2Ch 24:21; 2Ch 36:16; Neh 9:26.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Luke 6:23
“They who speak the truth commonly suffer persecution, yet the ancient prophets did not therefore from fear of persecution turn away from preaching the truth.”
Bede · written before 735 · Catena Aurea by Aquinaspatristic
Luke 6:23
“Great and little are measured by the dignity of the speaker. Let us enquire then who promised the great reward. If indeed a prophet or an apostle, little had been in his estimation great; but now it is the Lord in whose hands are eternal treasures and riches surpassing man's conception, who has promised great reward.”
John Chrysostom · written before 407 · Catena Aurea by Aquinaspatristic
Luke 6:24-26
woe to you who are rich: Four woes answer the four blessings point for point, beginning with woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort. Those who are well fed now and who laugh now have taken present satisfaction as the whole reward.
Luke 6:24
“But wo unto you that are rich! - The Pharisees, who were laden with the spoils of the people which they received in gifts, etc. These three verses are not found in the sermon, as recorded by Matthew. They seem to be spoken chiefly to the scribes and Pharisees, who, in order to be pleasing to all, spoke to every one what he liked best; and by finesse, flattery, and lies, found out the method of gaining and keeping the good opinion of the multitude.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
Luke 6:24
"You that are rich are in temptation to set your hearts upon a smiling world, and to say, Soul, take thine ease in the embraces of it, This is my rest for ever, here will I dwell; and then woe unto you. " (1.) It is the folly of carnal worldlings that they make the things of this world their consolation, which were intended only for their convenience.
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Woe to you who are well fed now: The woes answer the blessings line by line. Bede points to the man of Luke 16 who was well fed every day and later knew hunger, begging a drop of water. Matthew Henry describes the full as those who think they need no more.
Luke 6:25
“He inflicts a woe also on "the full, because they shall hunger; on those too which laugh now, because they shall mourn." To these will correspond these opposites which occur, as we have seen above, in the benedictions of the Creator: "Behold, my servants shall be full, but ye shall be hungry "-even because ye have been filled; "behold, my servants shall rejoice, but ye shall be ashamed" -even ye who shall mourn, who now are laughing.”
Tertullian · written before 220 · Against Marcion Book IVpatristic
2 more voices on this verse
Luke 6:25
“Woe to you that are full, for ye shall be hungry. That rich man clothed in purple was full, feasting sumptuously every day, but endured in hunger that dreadful "woe," when from the finger of Lazarus, whom he had despised, he begged a drop of water.”
Bede · written before 735 · Catena Aurea by Aquinaspatristic
Luke 6:25
“Let us therefore call back before our eyes the sins we have committed; let us consider how terrible is the judge who comes to punish these things; let us form our mind for lamentation; let our life become bitter for a time in repentance, lest it feel eternal bitterness in punishment. For through weeping we are led to eternal joys, as Truth promises when it says: "Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted."”
Gregory the Dialogist · written before 604 · Forty Gospel Homilies, Homily 2patristic
when all men speak well of you: The last woe answers the blessing on those whom people hate in verse 22. Chrysostom says woe is a cry of lament, as if Jesus mourned their fate. Bede recalls the Psalm where the sinner is praised.
Luke 6:26
"Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you! for so did their fathers to the false prophets." With equal stress does the Creator, by His prophet Isaiah, censure those who seek after human flattery and praise: "O my people, they who call you happy mislead you, and disturb the paths of your feet.
Tertullian · written before 220 · Against Marcion Book IVpatristic
Love Your Enemies; Give and It Will Be Given
Luke 6:27-31
Love your enemies, do good: to those who hate you, Jesus says, reaching past Leviticus, which commands love for one's neighbor. The struck cheek and the taken cloak are examples of personal insult and legal seizure.
Luke 6:27
“Love is commanded when it is said, "Love your enemies," so that the saying which was uttered already before the church may be fulfilled: "Set in order love in me." For love is set in order when the precepts of love are formed. See how it began from the heights and cast the law undeneath the backs of the gospel's blessing. The law commands the revenge of punishment. The gospel bestows love for hostility, benevolence for hatred, prayer for curses, help for the persecuted, patience for the hungry and grace of reward.”
Ambrose of Milan · written before 397 · Commentary on Lukepatristic
pray for those who mistreat you: Ambrose says Christ kept this command on the cross, where He chose to pray for those who mistreat Him. Bede cites Paul, who would bless those who curse. Chrysostom calls a tongue that curses the foulest thing.
Luke 6:28
“What Christ said in word, he proved also by example. Indeed, when he was on the cross, he said in reference to his persecutors who were slandering him, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing," so that he might pray for his slanderers, although he could have forgiven them himself.”
Ambrose of Milan · written before 397 · Interrogation of Job and Davidpatristic
turn to him the other also: Adam Clarke explains the cloak as the outer garment and the tunic as the one worn beneath it. Bede reads the offered cheek as readiness for a second strike. Revenge, says Cyril of Alexandria, loses the one who strikes.
Luke 6:29
“Thy cloak - thy coat - In Mat 5:40, I have said that Coat, χιτωνα, signifies under garment, or strait coat; and Cloak, ἱματιον, means upper garment, or great coat. This interpretation is confirmed by the following observations of Bishop Pearce. The χιτων was a tunica, or vestcoat, over which the Jews and other nations threw an outer coat, or gown, called a cloak, Mat 5:40, (which is meant by ἱματιον), when they went abroad, or were not at work.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Give to everyone who asks you: Bede limits the giving to what is just. A request for money to oppress the innocent, he says, falls outside it. Matthew Henry reads these verses as a law of the gospel, to do good to those who do evil.
Luke 6:30
“Here it follows, But to every one who seeks, give. Herein however we do not lightly err, when not only we give not to those who seek, but also blame them? Why (you say) does he not work, why is the idle man fed? Tell me, dost thou then possess by labour? but still if thou workest, dost thou work for this, that thou shouldest blame another? For a single loaf and coat dost thou call a man covetous? Thou givest nothing, make then no reproaches. Why dost thou neither take pity thyself, and dissuadest those who would?”
John Chrysostom · written before 407 · Catena Aurea by Aquinaspatristic
4 more voices on this verse
Luke 6:30
“Give to those that are not able to help themselves, to those that have not relations in a capacity to help them." Christ would have his disciples ready to distribute, and willing to communicate, to their power in ordinary cases, and beyond their power in extraordinary.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Luke 6:30
“Ask them not again - Or, Do not beg them off.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Luke 6:30
“See then, first, that He has not commanded you to be solicited or to wait to be importuned, but yourself to seek those who are to be benefited and are worthy disciples of the Saviour. Excellent, accordingly, also is the apostle's saying, "For the Lord loveth a cheerful giver;" who delights in giving, and spares not, sowing so that he may also thus reap, without murmuring, and disputing, and regret, and communicating, which is pure beneficence. But better than this is the saying spoken by the Lord in another place, "Give to every one that asketh thee."”
Clement of Alexandria · written before 215 · Who is the Rich Man that Shall Be Saved?patristic
Luke 6:30
Grant, now, that you marry "in the Lord," in accordance with the law and the apostle-if, notwithstanding, you care even about this-with what face do you request (the solemnizing of) a matrimony which is unlawful to those of whom you request it; of a monogamist bishop, of presbyters and deacons bound by the same solemn engagement, of widows whose Order you have in your own person refused? And they, plainly, will give husbands and wives as they would morsels of bread; for this is their rendering of "To every one who asketh thee thou shalt give!"
Tertullian · written before 220 · On Monogamypatristic
Do to others as you would have them do to you: The rule gathers up the commands of verses 27 to 30. John Gill calls it the sum of the Law and the Prophets, in agreement with Matthew 7:12. John Chrysostom finds it written already in the natural law within every person.
Luke 6:31
“So that, whatever was the ampler scope of His teaching, He received it all in His heritage of the nations. "And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise." In this command is no doubt implied its counterpart: "And as ye would not that men should do to you, so should ye also not do to them likewise.”
Tertullian · written before 220 · Against Marcion Book IVpatristic
1 more voice on this verse
Luke 6:31
“And as ye would that men should do to you,.... In matters of justice and beneficence were they in your case, and you in theirs; do ye also to them likewise: a golden rule this, agreeably to the light of nature, and divine revelation, and is the sum and substance of the law and prophets; See Gill on Mat 7:12.”
Luke 6:32-34
If you love those who love: Jesus asks what credit there is in loving those who love you, since even sinners do that. Even sinners lend to sinners, expecting to be repaid in full, and self-interest can wear the look of virtue.
Luke 6:32
“For sinners also love those that love them - I believe the word ἁμαρτωλοι is used by St. Luke in the same sense in which τελωναι, tax-gatherers, is used by St. Matthew, Mat 5:46, Mat 5:47, and signifies heathens; not only men who have no religion, but men who acknowledge none.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
Luke 6:32
“It is greatly observable, our Lord has so little regard for one of the highest instances of natural virtue, namely, the returning love for love, that he does not account it even to deserve thanks. For even sinners, saith he, do the same: men who do not regard God at all. Therefore he may do this, who has not taken one step in Christianity.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
If you do good to those who do good to you: Doing good in return, Matthew Henry notes, comes from custom and gratitude that sinners share. John Gill adds that no one should count himself righteous for such acts. The command of verse 35 asks for more.
Luke 6:33
“And if ye do good to them which do good to you,.... As one good turn deserves another: what thank have ye? what grace or goodness is there in such an action? what glory or merit is there in it? for sinners also do even the same: wherefore no man should conclude himself a righteous man, or better than sinners, on such an account: this is to be found among the worst of men, and is natural to them, unless they are brutes indeed, to be kind to such as are kind to them.”
if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment: Lending comes third in the series after love and good deeds. John Gill notes that Jews lent to their own people and took interest from Gentiles, and counted even the first a great kindness. Adam Clarke quotes a writer who calls such lending a profit on a neighbour's misery.
Luke 6:34
“And if ye lend to them of whom ye hope to receive,.... The same again, as from their brethren the Jews; or usury, as from the Gentiles: what thank have ye? and yet they looked upon this, in the first instance of it, as a very great kindness, and act of goodness, as appears from the above citation: for sinners also lend to sinners, to receive as much again; or "what is equal", and answerable to what they have lent them; that is, the same, or what is equivalent to it.”
2 more voices on this verse
Luke 6:34
“And now, on the subject of a loan, when He asks, "And if ye lend to them of whom ye hope to receive, what thank have ye? " compare with this the following words of Ezekiel, in which He says of the before-mentioned just man, "He hath not given his money upon usury, nor will he take any increase" -meaning the redundance of interest, which is usury.”
Tertullian · written before 220 · Against Marcion Book IVpatristic
Luke 6:34
Of whom ye hope to receive - Or, whom ye expect to return it. “To make our neighbor purchase, in any way, the assistance which we give him, is to profit by his misery; and, by laying him under obligations which we expect him in some way or other to discharge, we increase his wretchedness under the pretense of relieving it.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Luke 6:35-36
But love your enemies, do good: Jesus tells His hearers to lend, expecting nothing in return, for the Most High is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. The phrase sons of the Most High speaks of family likeness, the child copying the Father.
Luke 6:35
“But love ye your enemies,.... As before urged in Luk 6:27 and do good and lend; not to your friends only, but to your enemies; hoping for nothing again; either principal or interest, despairing of seeing either; lending to such persons, from whom, in all appearance, it is never to be expected again.”
3 more voices on this verse
Luke 6:35
“Now philosophy seems to divide justice into three parts; one towards God, which is called piety; another towards our parents, or the rest of mankind; a third to the dead, that the proper rites may be performed. But the Lord Jesus passing beyond the oracle of the law, and the heights of prophecy, extended the duties of piety to those also who have injured us, adding, But love your enemies. How great the reward of mercy which is received into the privilege of divine adoption! For it follows, And ye shall be the sons of the Highest (Ps. 82:6.).”
Ambrose of Milan · written before 397 · Catena Aurea by Aquinaspatristic
Luke 6:35
“Love ye your enemies - This is the most sublime precept ever delivered to man: a false religion durst not give a precept of this nature, because, with out supernatural influence, it must be for ever impracticable.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Luke 6:35
“In such a case, we must lend, with a resolution not to demand interest for what we lend, as we may most justly from those that borrow money to make purchases withal, or to trade with. But that is not all; we must lend though we have reason to suspect that what we lend we lose, lend to those who are so poor that it is not probable they will be able to pay us again.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful: The merciful Father is the measure of the command. Adam Clarke explains the Greek word for merciful as compassion, a readiness to help the miserable. Cyril of Alexandria says mercy makes people like God and marks the soul as heavenly.
Luke 6:36
“Be ye therefore merciful - Or, compassionate; οικτιρμονες, from οικτος, commiseration, which etymologists derive from εικω to give place, yield, because we readily concede those things which are necessary to them whom we commiserate. As God is ever disposed to give all necessary help and support to those who are miserable, so his followers, being influenced by the same spirit, are easy to be entreated, and are at all times ready to contribute to the uttermost of their power to relieve or remove the miseries of the distressed.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Luke 6:37-38
Do not judge, and you: The good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over, pictures a grain seller filling a fold of the garment. With the measure you use, it will be measured back to you, in judging, forgiving and giving alike.
Luke 6:37
“Judge not - See on Mat 7:1 (note). “How great is the goodness of God, in being so willing to put our judgment into our own hands as to engage himself not to enter into judgment with us, provided we do not usurp the right which belongs solely to him in reference to others!””
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
running over will be poured into your lap: The measure given returns heaped over. John Gill reads the return as coming in temporal or spiritual things, or in both. Bede says Christ Himself repays what is given to the poor.
Luke 6:38
“He has given us full assurance that God, who gives all things abundantly to those who love him, shall reward us with bountiful hand. He said, "Good measure, and squeezed down, and running over shall they give into your bosom." He added this too, "For with what measure you give, it shall be measured to you." There is, however, an apparent incompatibility between the two declarations. If we are to receive good measure, and squeezed down, and running over, how shall we be paid back the same measure we give?”
Cyril of Alexandria · written before 444 · Commentary on Luke, Homily 29patristic
2 more voices on this verse
Luke 6:38
“Give, and it shall be given - “Christian charity will make no difficulty in giving that which eternal truth promises to restore. Let us give, neither out of mere human generosity, nor out of vanity, nor from interest, but for the sake of God, if we would have him place it to account. There is no such thing as true unmixed generosity but in God only; because there is none but him who receives no advantage from his gifts, and because he engages himself to pay these debts of his creatures with an excessive interest.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Luke 6:38
“Those that deal hardly with others must acknowledge, as Adoni-bezek did ( Judg. i. 7 ), that God is righteous, if others deal hardly with them, and they may expect to be paid in their own coin; but they that deal kindly with others have reason to hope that, when they have occasion, God will raise them up friends who will deal kindly with them.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Blind Guides, Good Fruit, and Two Houses
Luke 6:39-40
Can a blind man lead a blind man, Jesus asks, a warning aimed first at the Pharisees who judged without examining themselves. A guide's blindness sets the ceiling for his followers, since everyone who is fully trained will be like his teacher.
Luke 6:39
“We learn, in the first place, from these verses — the great danger of listening to false religious teachers. Our Lord compares such teachers and their hearers to the blind leading the blind, and asks the reasonable question, "Shall they not both fall into the ditch?" He goes on to confirm the importance of His warning by declaring, that "the disciple is not above his master," and the student cannot be expected to know more than his teacher. If a man will hear unsound instruction — then we cannot expect him to become otherwise than unsound in the faith himself.”
2 more voices on this verse
Luke 6:39
“The Lord added to what had gone before a very necessary parable, as it is said, And he spake a parable to them, for His disciples were the future teachers of the world, and it therefore became them to know the way of a virtuous life, having their minds illuminated as it were by a divine brightness, that they should not be blind leaders of the blind. And then he adds, Can the blind lead the blind?”
Cyril of Alexandria · written before 444 · Catena Aurea by Aquinaspatristic
Luke 6:39
“Can the blind lead the blind? - This appears to have been a general proverb, and to signify that a man cannot teach what he does not understand. This is strictly true in spiritual matters. A man who is not illuminated from above is utterly incapable of judging concerning spiritual things, and wholly unfit to be a guide to others. Is it possible that a person who is enveloped with the thickest darkness should dare either to judge of the state of others, or attempt to lead them in that path of which he is totally ignorant!”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
everyone who is fully trained will be like his teacher: Adam Clarke explains the Greek word for fully trained as a term used for setting a joint back in place. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown tie the saying to the blind guides of verse 39. A pupil of a blind teacher shares his ruin.
Luke 6:40
“The disciple is not above his master,.... Or "more excellent", as the Syriac, Arabic, and Persic versions render it; that is, in learning and knowledge; if the master is ignorant, the scholar will be so too; and thus it is with teachers, and their people under their care; if the leaders are blind and ignorant, those under their instructions will remain so likewise. These words are an illustration of the preceding parable, and are used to another purpose here than in Mat 10:24. See Gill on Mat 10:24. but every one that is perfect shall be as his master.”
2 more voices on this verse
Luke 6:40
The disciple, &c.--that is, "The disciple aims to come up to his master, and he thinks himself complete when he does so: if you then be blind leaders of the blind, the perfection of one's training under you will only land him the more certainly in one common ruin with yourselves."
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Luke 6:40
“Every one that is perfect - Or, thoroughly instructed, κατηρτισμενος: - from καταρτιζω, to adjust, adapt, knit together, restore, or put in joint. The noun is used by the Greek medical writers to signify the reducing a luxated or disjointed limb. It sometimes signifies to repair or mend, and in this sense it is applied to broken nets, Mat 4:21; Mar 1:19; but in this place, and in Heb 13:21; 2Ti 3:17, it means complete instruction and information.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Luke 6:41-42
Why do you look at: The speck against the beam sets a splinter beside a timber beam, almost comic before it convicts. First take the beam out of your own eye makes self-examination the condition of correcting another.
Luke 6:41
“Since the great body of (the heretics) do not employ the counsel of the Lord, by having the beam in the eye, and announce that they see when in reality labouring under blindness, it seems to us expedient in no wise to be silent concerning the tenets of these. Our object is, that by the refutation accomplished by us, the (heretics), being of themselves ashamed, may be brought to know how the Saviour has advised (men) first to take away the beam, then to behold clearly the mote that is in thy brother's eye.”
Hippolytus of Rome · written before 235 · Hippolytus Refutation of All Heresies Book VIIIpatristic
4 more voices on this verse
Luke 6:41
“But the Lord introduces another parable taken from the same figure, as follows, But why seest thou the mote (that is, the slight fault) which is in thy brother's eye, but the beam which is in thine own eye (that is, thy great sin) thou regardest not?”
Theophylact of Ohrid · written before 1107 · Catena Aurea by Aquinaspatristic
Luke 6:41
“Those with a very ill grace censure the faults of others who are not aware of their own faults. It is very absurd for any to pretend to be so quick-sighted as to spy small faults in others, like a mote in the eye, when they are themselves so perfectly past feeling as not to perceive a beam in their own eye.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Luke 6:41
“And why beholdest thou the mote - See this explained on Mat 7:3-5 (note).”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Luke 6:41
“But if the bishop himself be an offender, how will he be able any longer to prosecute the offence of another? Or how will he be able to reprove another, either he or his deacons, if by accepting of persons, or receiving of bribes, they have not all a clear conscience?”
Apostolic Constitutions · written before 380 · Constitutions of the Holy Apostles Book 2patristic
First take the beam out of your own eye: Theophylact applies the rebuke to teachers above all, who punish small faults in others and leave their own unpunished. Jesus calls such a person a hypocrite. Bonaventure says the speech is unreasonable when the speaker cannot see.
Luke 6:42
“Now this has reference to the previous parable, in which He forewarned them that the blind cannot be led by the blind, that is, the sinner corrected by the sinner. Hence it is said, Or, how canst thou say to thy brother, Brother let me cast out the mote that is in thine eye, if thou seest not the beam that is in thine own eye?”
Bede · written before 735 · Catena Aurea by Aquinaspatristic
Luke 6:43-45
No good tree bears bad fruit: Each tree is known by its own fruit, and the heart stands as the tree's root. Out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks, and speech is the fruit most easily tested.
Luke 6:43
“If the fruit be good, you may conclude that the tree is so; if the conversation be holy, heavenly, and regular, though you cannot infallibly know the heart, yet you may charitably hope that it is upright with God; for every tree is known by its fruit.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
2 more voices on this verse
Luke 6:43
“Each man's life also will be a criterion of his character. For not by extrinsic ornaments and pretended humility is the beauty of true happiness discovered, but by those things which a man does; of which he gives an illustration, adding, For of thorns men do not gather figs.”
Cyril of Alexandria · written before 444 · Catena Aurea by Aquinaspatristic
Luke 6:43
“Corrupt fruit - Καρπον σαπρον, literally, rotten fruit: but here it means, such fruit as is unfit for use. See on Mat 7:17-20 (note).”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
each tree is known by its own fruit: John Chrysostom notes that the tree produces the fruit, yet the fruit makes the tree known. Bede takes the bad fruit from the list of the works of the flesh in Galatians 5. Figs and grapes cannot come from thornbushes.
Luke 6:44
“Or, I think the thorns and bramble are the cares of the world and the prickings of sin, but the figs and the grapes are the sweetness of a new life and the warmth of love, but the fig is not gathered from the thorns nor the grape from the bramble, because the mind still debased by the habits of the old man may pretend to, but cannot bring forth the fruits of the new man.”
Bede · written before 735 · Catena Aurea by Aquinaspatristic
1 more voice on this verse
Luke 6:44
“On the thorns of this world the fig cannot be found, which as being better in its second fruit, is well fitted to be a similitude of the resurrection. Either because, as you read, The fig trees have put forth their green figs, (Cant. 2:13.) that is, the unripe and worthless fruit came first in the Synagogue.”
Ambrose of Milan · written before 397 · Catena Aurea by Aquinaspatristic
out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks: Cyril of Alexandria says the figure of the tree now passes into the figure of a treasure. Bede identifies the treasure of the heart with the root of the tree. John Gill notes that Matthew places the saying on another occasion.
Luke 6:45
“A good man out of the good treasure of his heart,.... This, because of its suitableness and agreement with what goes before, is placed by Luke here; though, according to Matthew, it was spoken at another time and place, unless it should be a repetition there; See Gill on Mat 12:35. for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh. The Vulgate Latin, Arabic, Ethiopic, Syriac, and Persic versions, leave out the word "his"; and the two latter read "lips", instead of "mouth"; See Gill on Mat 12:34.”
Luke 6:46-49
Why do you call Me: Lord, Lord, but not do what I say sets a title given against a life ordered by it. The same flood tests both houses, and only the house on the rock stands.
Luke 6:46
“Whoever then desires to be reckoned among the disciples, must labor to devote himself, sincerely and honestly, to the exercises of a new life. In the Gospel of Luke, it is a general reproof: Why call you me Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?”
John Calvin · Commentaries (1554)reformed
1 more voice on this verse
Luke 6:46
“Lord, Lord - God judges of the heart, not by words, but by works. A good servant never disputes, speaks little, and always follows his work. Such a servant a real Christian is: such is a faithful minister, always intent either on the work of his own salvation, or that of his neighbor; speaking more to God than to men; and to these as in the presence of God. The tongue is fitly compared by one to a pump, which empties the heart, but neither fills nor cleanses it.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
hears My words and acts on them: The closing parable begins here. It names three steps: coming to Jesus, hearing His words and acting on them. Matthew Henry says those who obey are kept safe through death and judgment.
Luke 6:47
“I will show you - Ὑποδειξω, I will show you plainly. I will enable you fully to comprehend my meaning on this subject by the following parable. See this word explained Mat 3:7 (note).”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
Luke 6:47
“The storms and streams of affliction shall not shock them, for their feet are set upon a rock, a rock higher than they. [3.] Their everlasting welfare is secured. In death and judgment they are safe. Obedient believers are kept by the power of Christ, through faith, unto salvation, and shall never perish.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
laid his foundation on the rock: Augustine retells the scene: the wise hearer digs until he reaches rock and sets his building there against the flood. Bede reads foundations in the plural as the teachers of the Church. The digging is the doing of verse 47.
Luke 6:48
In a certain place in the Gospel, the Lord says that the prudent hearer of His word ought to be like a man who, wishing to build a house, digs deeply until he comes to the foundation of stability on the rock, and there establishes in security what he builds against the violence of the flood; so that, when the flood comes, it may be rather beaten back by the strength of the building than bring ruin on that house by the force of its pressure.
Augustine of Hippo · written before 430 · Tractates on the Gospel of John 23.1patristic
2 more voices on this verse
Luke 6:48
“He is like a man, etc. - See on Mat 7:24-27 (note).”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Luke 6:48
“The rock is Christ. He digs deep; by the precepts of humility He plucks out all earthly things from the hearts of the faithful, lest they should serve God from regard to their temporal good.”
Bede · written before 735 · Catena Aurea by Aquinaspatristic
built his house on ground without a foundation: Hearing without acting builds with no foundation. John Gill says such a builder set his house on the surface of the ground. Cyril of Alexandria calls such ground the quicksand of doubt, washed away by a few drops of temptation.
Luke 6:49
“But he that heareth, and doth not,.... Hears Christ's sayings externally, but does not obey his commands: is like a man that without a foundation built upon the earth: that is, without digging for a foundation, built his house upon the surface of the earth; "upon the dust of it", as the Syriac version renders it; or, "upon the sand", as Matthew says: "against which the stream did beat vehemently, and immediately it fell, and the ruin of that house was great"; See Gill on Mat 7:26. See Gill on Mat 7:27.”
2 more voices on this verse
Luke 6:49
“Or they build upon the earth without foundation, who upon the quicksand of doubt, which relates to opinion, lay the foundation of their spiritual building, which a few drops of temptation wash away.”
Cyril of Alexandria · written before 444 · Catena Aurea by Aquinaspatristic
Luke 6:49
“The ruin of that house was great - On this passage, father Quesnel, who was a most rigid predestinarian, makes the following judicious remark. “It is neither by the speculations of astrologers, nor by the Calvinian assurance of predestination, that we can discover what will be our portion for ever: but it is by the examination of our heart, and the consideration of our life, that we may in some measure prognosticate our eternal state.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
How this psalm is built
The form: A discourse opened by four blessings matched with four woes, the woes being given by Luke alone, as Barnes classes it.
The patterns in this chapter
| Device | What it does | Where to see it |
|---|---|---|
| Four blessings answered by four woes | Verses 20 to 23 bless the poor, the hungry, those who weep and those who are hated. Verses 24 to 26 set a woe against each: the rich, the well fed, those who laugh and those of whom all speak well. The last blessing and the last woe close with the same words about their fathers and the prophets. Albert Barnes notes that Matthew's sermon on the mount leaves out these woes and that Matthew expresses more fully what Luke gives briefly.Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments, 1832 to 1869, on Luke 6:20 to 26. | Luke 6:20, Luke 6:21, Luke 6:22, Luke 6:24, Luke 6:25, Luke 6:26 |
How this chapter is built
1 more paragraph on the patterns
The chapter has two Sabbath disputes in verses 1 to 11, the choice of the twelve in verses 12 to 16, and the teaching on the level place in verses 17 to 49. The teaching opens with four blessings in verses 20 to 23 and four woes in verses 24 to 26, each woe answering a blessing. The last of each closes on the fathers and the prophets. It closes with two builders in verses 46 to 49. Albert Barnes reads the passage beside Matthew 5 to 7 and notes that the woes stand in Luke alone (Notes on the New Testament, on Luke 6:20 to 26).
Keep studying
Studies17
Words12
Subjects1
Sources for this chapter
The summary
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory; John Calvin, Commentaries; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the New Testament and Matthew Henry, Complete Commentary.
The form and classifications
Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments, 1832 to 1869, on Luke 6:20 to 26.
The exposition
Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes; Alexander Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture, Luke; Ambrose of Milan; Augustine of Hippo, TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 23.1; Bede, On the Gospel of Luke; Bonaventure, Commentary on Luke, Chapter 6; Cyril of Alexandria; J. C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on the Gospels, Luke; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Chrysostom; John Gill; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Theophylact of Ohrid, Catena Aurea by Aquinas.