Luke 6
1 Now on the second Sabbath after the first, he was going through the grain fields. His disciples plucked the heads of grain, and ate, rubbing them in their hands.
2 But some of the Pharisees said to them, “Why do you do that which is not lawful to do on the Sabbath day?”
3 Jesus, answering them, said, “Haven’t you read what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him;
4 how he entered into God’s house, and took and ate the show bread, and gave also to those who were with him; which is not lawful to eat except for the priests alone?”
5 He said to them, “The Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.”
6 It also happened on another Sabbath, that he entered into the synagogue and taught. There was a man there, and his right hand was withered.
7 The scribes and the Pharisees watched him, whether he would heal on the Sabbath, that they might find an accusation against him.
8 But he knew their thoughts; and he said to the man who had the withered hand, “Rise up, and stand in the middle.” He arose and stood.
9 Then Jesus said to them, “I ask you, is it lawful on the Sabbath day to do good, or to do harm? To save a life, or to destroy it?”
10 He looked around at them all, and said to him, “Stretch out your hand.” He did so, and his hand was restored as healthy as the other.
11 But they were filled with rage, and talked with one another about what they might do to Jesus.
12 In these days, he went out to the mountain to pray, and he continued all night in prayer to God.
13 When it was day, he called his disciples, and from them he chose twelve, whom he also named apostles:
14 Simon, whom he also named Peter; Andrew, his brother; James; John; Philip; Bartholomew;
15 Matthew; Thomas; James the son of Alphaeus; Simon, who was called the Zealot;
16 Judas the son of James; and Judas Iscariot, who also became a traitor.
17 He came down with them, and stood on a level place, with a crowd of his disciples, and a great number of people from all Judea and Jerusalem and the sea coast of Tyre and Sidon, who came to hear him, and to be healed of their diseases;
18 as well as those who were troubled by unclean spirits, and they were being healed.
19 All the multitude sought to touch him, for power came out from him and healed them all.
20 He lifted up his eyes to his disciples, and said, “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the Kingdom of God.
21 Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be filled. Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh.
22 Blessed are you when men hate you, and when they exclude and mock you, and throw out your name as evil, for the Son of Man’s sake.
23 Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven, for their fathers did the same thing to the prophets.
24 “But woe to you who are rich! For you have received your consolation.
25 Woe to you, you who are full now! For you will be hungry. Woe to you, you who laugh now! For you will mourn and weep.
26 Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for their fathers did the same thing to the false prophets.
27 “But I tell you who hear: love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,
28 bless those who curse you, and pray for those who mistreat you.
29 To him who strikes you on the cheek, offer also the other; and from him who takes away your cloak, don’t withhold your coat also.
30 Give to everyone who asks you, and don’t ask him who takes away your goods to give them back again.
31 “As you would like people to do to you, do exactly so to them.
32 If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them.
33 If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same.
34 If you lend to those from whom you hope to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to receive back as much.
35 But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing back; and your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High; for he is kind toward the unthankful and evil.
36 Therefore be merciful, even as your Father is also merciful.
37 “Don’t judge, and you won’t be judged. Don’t condemn, and you won’t be condemned. Release, and you will be released.
38 Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over, will be given to you. For with the same measure you measure it will be measured back to you.”
39 He spoke a parable to them. “Can the blind guide the blind? Won’t they both fall into a pit?
40 A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone when he is fully trained will be like his teacher.
41 Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but don’t consider the beam that is in your own eye?
42 Or how can you tell your brother, ‘Brother, let me remove the speck that is in your eye,’ when you yourself don’t see the beam that is in your own eye? You hypocrite! First remove the beam from your own eye, and then you can see clearly to remove the speck that is in your brother’s eye.
43 “For there is no good tree that produces rotten fruit; nor again a rotten tree that produces good fruit.
44 For each tree is known by its own fruit. For people don’t gather figs from thorns, nor do they gather grapes from a bramble bush.
45 The good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings out that which is good, and the evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings out that which is evil, for out of the abundance of the heart, his mouth speaks.
46 “Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and don’t do the things which I say?
47 Everyone who comes to me, and hears my words and does them, I will show you who he is like.
48 He is like a man building a house, who dug and went deep, and laid a foundation on the rock. When a flood arose, the stream broke against that house, and could not shake it, because it was founded on the rock.
49 But he who hears and doesn’t do, is like a man who built a house on the earth without a foundation, against which the stream broke, and immediately it fell, and the ruin of that house was great.”
Luke 6 Commentary
Chapter Overview
Luke 6 brings Jesus’ authority into direct conflict with religious interpretations that had lost sight of mercy. Two Sabbath disputes show that he is not careless about God’s law. Rather, as Lord of the Sabbath, he reveals its purpose and refuses to let rules intended for life become excuses for withholding good.
After spending the night in prayer, Jesus chooses twelve disciples and names them apostles. He then ministers to a large and diverse crowd before directing a demanding sermon especially toward his disciples. The order matters: those called to represent Jesus must first receive his teaching and be shaped by his character.
The blessings and woes overturn ordinary measures of success. Present poverty, hunger, grief, and rejection do not mean that God has abandoned his people, while wealth, satisfaction, laughter, and public approval can hide spiritual danger. Jesus teaches his followers to live by the coming Kingdom rather than by immediate comfort or reputation.
The rest of the chapter describes the life produced by that Kingdom: love for enemies, generosity without calculation, mercy modeled on the Father, humble self-examination, good fruit flowing from a renewed heart, and obedience that survives testing. Hearing Jesus is essential, but the secure life is built by doing what he says.
Key Themes
The disciples pluck grain as they walk through a field, an action permitted for travelers under Deuteronomy 23:25. The controversy concerns doing this on the Sabbath. Some Pharisees regarded rubbing the grain in their hands as work, so the dispute is about Sabbath interpretation rather than stealing. Jesus answers from 1 Samuel 21, where David and his hungry companions ate consecrated bread normally reserved for priests. The example does not make every command optional whenever someone feels need; it shows that Scripture itself understands ceremonial restriction in light of human necessity and God’s larger purpose.
Jesus’ statement that the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath is the decisive claim. He does not merely offer a more relaxed opinion among competing teachers. He claims authority to interpret the Sabbath rightly. The day belongs under his lordship, and its proper use must agree with his saving and merciful work.
The second Sabbath scene exposes the moral direction of Jesus’ interpretation. A man with a withered right hand stands before the synagogue, while the scribes and Pharisees watch for grounds to accuse Jesus. Their attention has shifted from the suffering person to the possibility of using his healing as evidence against the healer.
Jesus asks whether the Sabbath is for doing good or harm, saving life or destroying it. Refusing a possible act of mercy is not morally neutral. While his opponents plan destructive action, Jesus restores the man openly. The contrast reveals that rigorous rule-keeping can coexist with a heart moving against God’s purpose.
Before choosing the Twelve, Jesus spends the night in prayer. Luke repeatedly emphasizes prayer at important moments in Jesus’ ministry. The scene does not imply that prayer guarantees easy outcomes; Judas Iscariot is included among those chosen. Prayer expresses dependence on the Father while walking faithfully into a mission that will include opposition and betrayal.
Jesus names the twelve “apostles,” meaning commissioned or sent representatives. The number twelve recalls the tribes of Israel and signals the renewal of God’s people around Jesus. These men receive a particular representative role, yet they come from varied backgrounds, including Simon called the Zealot and Matthew, previously identified as a tax collector. Their earlier associations could have placed them on opposing sides, but Jesus forms a community whose primary allegiance is not political identity, occupation, or social group but loyalty to him.
Jesus teaches on a level place after crowds come from Judea, Jerusalem, Tyre, and Sidon. Luke’s sermon has strong similarities to the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5–7, alongside differences in setting, wording, and length. Jesus may have taught similar material more than once, or the Gospel writers may arrange shared teaching for their distinct purposes.
The blessings are addressed directly to Jesus’ disciples. Luke says “you who are poor,” while Matthew records “poor in spirit.” Luke gives serious attention to actual deprivation, yet poverty itself does not save. The blessed are needy people whose hope rests in God’s Kingdom. Hunger, weeping, and rejection are likewise interpreted through God’s promised reversal. Jesus does not call suffering pleasant or tell believers to seek misery; he assures faithful sufferers that present lack will not define their final future. Fullness, laughter, and heavenly reward belong to the future God brings.
The hatred described in verses 22–23 is specifically “for the Son of Man’s sake.” Not every experience of criticism proves faithfulness; people may be rejected because of foolish or harmful behavior. Jesus blesses those who suffer because of genuine allegiance to him and places them in continuity with the persecuted prophets.
The four woes correspond to the blessings and warn those whose comfort is complete in the present age. Wealth, food, laughter, and a good reputation are not automatically sinful. The danger is treating them as final security, becoming indifferent to need, or adjusting one’s message so thoroughly that everyone approves, as people did with false prophets.
Jesus commands love toward enemies in concrete forms: doing good, blessing, praying, giving, and lending without making repayment the controlling motive. This love is not warm sentiment or approval of evil. It is a chosen refusal to imitate hostility, grounded in the character of God, who remains kind even toward the ungrateful and wicked.
Turning the other cheek and surrendering additional clothing describe radical freedom from personal retaliation and possessiveness. They should not be used to command someone to remain in immediate danger or to prevent lawful protection of the vulnerable. Jesus confronts the instinct to answer insult, exploitation, or loss with revenge and escalating hatred.
The Golden Rule in verse 31 is active rather than merely restrictive. Jesus does not say only to avoid doing what we dislike; he tells disciples to take initiative in treating others as they themselves would rightly wish to be treated. Kingdom love moves first instead of waiting for reciprocity.
Loving only those who return love does not distinguish Jesus’ followers from ordinary social exchange. The word translated “credit” can carry the sense of grace or favor. Christian love becomes visible when it is extended where no repayment, appreciation, or restored advantage can be guaranteed.
“Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful” summarizes the section. Being children of the Most High describes family resemblance, not a way to earn God’s fatherhood by moral achievement. Those who belong to God are called to reflect his generous disposition in their treatment of difficult and undeserving people.
“Don’t judge” does not abolish moral discernment, since Jesus soon speaks about good and evil fruit and about helping a brother remove a speck. He forbids a condemning posture that ignores one’s own sin and applies a harsh measure to others. Correction must begin with honest repentance and clear sight.
The image of good measure, pressed down and overflowing, comes from generous measuring in a marketplace. In context, it concerns the measure believers use in giving, forgiving, and judging. It is not a promise that every financial gift will produce greater material wealth; it warns and encourages disciples that their manner of dealing with others matters before God.
The blind guide, the disciple and teacher, and the speck and beam all stress formation and self-awareness. People become like those they follow, and unexamined blindness spreads. Jesus does not forbid helping another person; he commands the would-be helper to confront the larger obstruction in his or her own life first.
The tree and fruit illustration moves from isolated actions to the heart that produces them. Words reveal what has been stored within. Good speech cannot be sustained indefinitely by technique alone; disciples need inward transformation so that mercy, truth, and obedience arise from a genuinely renewed character.
The final contrast is not between hearers and non-hearers but between two kinds of hearers. Both encounter the storm, and both have constructed something that appears to be a house. The difference is hidden until testing comes: one has dug deeply into obedient practice, while the other has left Jesus’ words without a foundation.
Important Verses
Verses 5 and 9–10 reveal Jesus’ authority and the purpose of the Sabbath. As Lord of the Sabbath, he restores rather than destroys. His question exposes the false neutrality of refusing mercy when good can be done.
Verses 20–26 present blessings and woes that challenge present appearances. God’s Kingdom brings hope to faithful sufferers and warns those who mistake comfort, plenty, entertainment, or popularity for proof that all is well.
Verses 27–36 define enemy-love through action and ground it in God’s mercy. The disciple’s standard is not the behavior of the enemy or the possibility of repayment but the generous character of the Most High.
Verses 37–42 join forgiveness with humble discernment. Jesus condemns hypocritical correction, not all correction. Clear help becomes possible only after the would-be guide submits his or her own life to searching repentance.
Verses 46–49 make obedience the test of a true response to Jesus. Calling him “Lord” while refusing his words produces a structure without foundation. Practiced teaching, not religious vocabulary alone, prepares a life to withstand pressure.
Practical Applications
Use spiritual practices in ways that serve God’s merciful purpose. Rules, schedules, and traditions can protect what is good, but they can also become substitutes for love. Ask whether an interpretation helps people honor God and receive necessary good, or whether it mainly protects pride and control.
Pray before major decisions without expecting prayer to remove every hardship. Jesus prayed through the night before choosing the Twelve, yet the path still included conflict and betrayal. Prayer aligns the disciple with the Father for faithful action; it is not a guarantee of painless circumstances.
Measure life by the promises of God rather than present comfort. Lack is not proof of divine rejection, and abundance is not proof of spiritual health. Receive good gifts gratefully while refusing to build identity, security, or moral confidence upon them.
Respond to hostility without becoming like the hostile person. Enemy-love may include prayer, truthful kindness, refusal of revenge, firm boundaries, and appropriate pursuit of justice. Its defining feature is that another person’s evil does not gain authority to reproduce itself in the disciple’s heart.
Examine yourself before correcting others. Repentance does not require silence about every wrong, but it changes the spirit and clarity with which correction is offered. A person aware of receiving mercy is better prepared to help than one using another’s fault to avoid facing his or her own.
Turn Jesus’ teaching into practiced obedience before the storm exposes the foundation. Repeated hearing, agreement, and religious language can create an appearance of strength. The deep foundation is formed through daily choices that embody mercy, generosity, truth, enemy-love, and trust in Christ.