Jesus contrasts the faithful prophet with the false prophet
in Luke 6:20-26 .
Then He lifted up His eyes toward His disciples, and said:
“Blessed are you poor, For yours is the kingdom of God
It is true that these words have a
general application to all disciples (v.20), but in context there is a specific
application to those who claim to speak for God. Jesus has prayed all night before
strategically selecting twelve men to be His apostles (read Luke 6:12-16 ). He has begun to show them the nature of their
ministry by His own example of healing the hurting, delivering the demonized
and now teaching the truth. At the
outset, He will paint the contrast in stark hues with these words.
The faithful prophet is marked by:
- Humility—as they admit their bankruptcy. They are “poor” possessing nothing of themselves to enrich a
congregation. Such men will beg God
to give them His power. They bow in
submission to the King for they know their ministry is about “the
- Hunger—for the message of God to proclaim and the
might of God to preach it. Faithful
prophets “hunger now.” But, the promise of God is that those
who empty their souls of self will be full of the Spirit, “you shall be filled.” As John the Baptist, we will make much
of Jesus by making less of us. “He
must increase, but I must decrease.” (
- Brokenness—as we grieve over that which grieves the heart of God. The man of God takes sin seriously and will “weep now.” He mourns over its affront to Holy God and consequence to man. The faithful prophet is contrite concerning his own wicked heart first and then weeps over the evil of others. God plows his servant with the sharp harrow of Scripture, to make him receive the seed of the Word—and the result of this will be a harvest of holiness in his ministry. That will give cause then to wipe away the tears in celebrating the goodness of God and “you shall laugh.”
- Rejection—for the servant is not greater than his Master. If Jesus was rejected then we may expect no better treatment. “Blessed are you when men hate you, And when they exclude you, And revile you, and cast out your name as evil, For the Son of Man’s sake. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy! For indeed your reward is great in heaven, For in like manner their fathers did to the prophets.” Prophets are honored by few, and hated by most. If you expect other than bearing a cross, then don’t bother answering the call to follow Christ.
- Prosperity—as
they are “rich.” They have an abundance of this world’s
goods by fleecing the sheep rather than feeding them. No mansion awaits them in eternity for
they have built one on earth. They
are a “hireling” who is about
getting benefits rather than a “shepherd”
who is about giving blessings (read
- Passion—in being “full” of all that their flesh craves. They are like those Paul warned about:
For many walk, of whom I have told you often,
and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of
Christ: whose end is destruction, whose god is their belly, and whose glory is
in their shame—who set their mind on earthly things. (Philippians 3:18-19 )
- Pleasure—as the false prophet will “laugh now.” He can be entertaining—a clown in the pulpit. He is a party animal in shepherd’s clothing. The hireling laughs all the way to the ank. Does he not know that everlasting sorrow awaits?
- Popularity—as a Christian celebrity
is his delight. Such are religious rock
stars. Is God impressed with their
notoriety? “Woe to you when all men speak well of you,
For so did their fathers to the false prophets.” They
receive accolades because they tell people smooth words. Such are ear-ticklers who tell others what
they want to hear, so that the congregation will tell the preacher what he
wants to hear—about how wonderful he is.
His name may be noted in man’s media, but there is no record of it in
the Lamb’s Book of Life. You can have
the applause of humans or the approval of heaven—which would you choose? You won’t have both.
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