As I read through this gospel passage, I cannot help but think, “Boy, am I in trouble.” This variation on the beatitudes, which are also found in Matthew, cuts to the chase of what is expected of us as followers of Christ.

“Blessed are you who are poor.” Uh oh, I know where I will lay my head tonight in relative safety, unlike a great portion of the world population.

“Blessed are you who are hungry now.” Again, that’s not me. I certainly know where my next meal is coming from.

“Blessed are you who weep now.” Ah, now we are getting somewhere. Living in the corporeal world is difficult. I weep plenty. Maybe there is hope for this poor sinner…
But then, “Woe to you who are rich… full… laughing… and [of whom] others speak well.” If I were to score myself on the qualities of Luke’s beatitudes, I would fall miserably short of blessedness.

To better understand (and frankly, rationalize) this, I look at it in the context of the times. The Gospel of Luke was written in the late first century. These were tough times for Christianity. Being an early Christian meant almost certain persecution, violence, and quite possibly a premature and grisly death at the hands of those who did not believe.

What we need to take away from this scripture is that persecution, hunger, poverty, pain, and sorrow are part of the human experience. All of those trials should lead us to pray for deliverance, which will bring us closer to God. Like these trials, fame, wealth, abundance and popularity can also be fleeting.

God calls us to enjoy our lives and those of our loved ones when things are going well and we should respond to those blessings with thanks and praise. But, in this gospel, Luke reminds us that those who suffer are close to God in a special way. What God says to them amounts to a promise: “surely, your reward is great in heaven.”