The words of Jesus found in Luke 6:20-26 are the opening statements of His Sermon on the Plain. As with any other passage, there are differences in translation, as well as literary, historical, linguistic, economic, and sociological contexts for this passage. It is sometimes difficult to discern the original or real meaning of biblical passages and Luke 6:20-26, and the beatitudes in general, are no different. The Sermon on the Mount, found in Mark 5-7, is generally cited as the greatest sermon ever preached. Jesus begins his sermon by stating the eight beatitudes, and the passage in Luke 6:20-26 contains a subset of these beatitudes combined with a corresponding set of woes. Two genders are used in this passage. Each of the first four statements begins with “blessed are.” These statements are called beatitudes and are commonly used in the New and Old Testament Scriptures. Each of the last four statements begins with “woe to you who.” The literary form of misfortune functions “as an expression of pity for those who are subject to divine judgment.” (Talbert 70) Every woe in Luke 6:24-26 is the reverse of a blessedness found in Luke 6:20-23. (For example, verses 20 and 24 are corresponding statements). Each misfortune pities the opposite group of people blessed by its corresponding beatitude. This combination of blessings and woes is also found in Ecclesiastes 10:16-17. There are several differences between the New International Version (2011 version), New Living Translation, and the New American Standard Bible translations. At the beginning of verse 20, Jesus looks to his disciples in the NIV, he looked to his disciples in the NLT, and he looked to his disciples in the NASB. These phrases essentially mean the same thing: Jesus was fa...... middle of paper ......ke 6:23, 26 also mentions how the prophets treated the ancestors of the public. In the Old Testament, God's prophets were ignored and persecuted while false prophets of other gods and idols were supported by the people. This set of verses presents a reversal of outcomes based on the person's social acceptance or rejection. Those who are rejected because of Jesus will receive an indeterminate reward in Heaven. The public is asked to rejoice in this fact. Jesus encourages his disciples to be happy when people persecute their faith, because their reward in Heaven is worth any suffering this world can cause. All things considered, Luke 6:20-26 isn't really as countercultural as it seems. When you look at the spiritual meaning of the words rather than the more commonly used economic definitions, you see that these words of Jesus are very insightful..