“Blessed are ye that hunger now: for ye shall be filled. Blessed are ye that weep now: for ye shall laugh.”
My Notes
What Does Luke 6:21 Mean?
Luke's version of the Beatitudes is sharper than Matthew's: "Blessed are ye that hunger now" and "blessed are ye that weep now." The word "now" appears in both blessings, grounding them in present-tense experience. This isn't about people who will someday hunger or might someday weep. It's about people who are hungry and crying right now.
The promises — "ye shall be filled" and "ye shall laugh" — are future tense, creating a contrast between present suffering and future reversal. The hunger is now; the filling is coming. The weeping is now; the laughter is coming. The time gap between the two is where faith lives.
Luke's Beatitudes are more directly economic and social than Matthew's spiritual versions ("poor in spirit" becomes simply "poor" in Luke 6:20). The hunger here may include literal physical hunger, not just spiritual longing. The weeping may include grief over real, tangible loss. Jesus blesses the actually suffering, not just the theoretically humble.
Reflection Questions
- 1.What are you hungry for right now — and can you hear Jesus calling that hunger 'blessed'?
- 2.What are you weeping about right now — and do you believe laughter is coming?
- 3.How does the 'now/will be' tension challenge you to hold present pain and future promise together?
- 4.Why does the reversal exceed the original condition (filled, not just fed; laughing, not just not-crying)?
Devotional
Blessed are you who are hungry right now. Not metaphorically hungry. Not spiritually hungry in a comfortable sense. Hungry. Now. Your stomach is empty and your situation hasn't changed. And Jesus says: you're blessed. Because you will be filled.
Blessed are you who weep right now. Not people who had a bad day. People who are weeping. Now. The tears are falling as Jesus speaks. And he says: you're blessed. Because you will laugh.
The "now" is what makes these Beatitudes cut so deep. They don't address a general human condition. They address your current situation. If you are hungry right now — literally, for food, or for justice, or for something essential that's been withheld — the blessing applies to you in this moment. If you are weeping right now — over loss, over injustice, over the gap between what is and what should be — the blessing is yours today.
The future tense of the promises is where faith does its hardest work. You will be filled. You will laugh. Not you might be. Will be. The certainty of the future reversal is Jesus' answer to the pain of the present reality. The gap between now (hungry, weeping) and then (filled, laughing) is the space where you trust or despair.
Jesus doesn't say the hunger and weeping will end today. He says they'll end. And what replaces them won't be adequate compensation. It'll be overflow: filled, not just satisfied. Laughing, not just not-crying. The reversal exceeds the original condition.
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
Blessed are ye when men shall hate you,.... For the sake of Christ, and his Gospel:
and when they shall separate you…
See this passage fully illustrated in the sermon on the mount, in Matt. 5–7. Luk 6:21 That hunger now - Matthew has it,…
Here begins a practical discourse of Christ, which is continued to the end of the chapter, most of which is found in the…
Blessed are ye that hunger now Comp. Luk 1:53; Psa 107:9. St Matthew here also brings out more clearly that it is the…
Cross References
Related passages throughout Scripture