What does Luke 6:19 mean?
Luke is giving a synopsis of Jesus' ministry to a great crowd. Here, he describes how Jesus heals and expels demons.People are probably trying to touch Jesus because it works. The woman with an issue of blood does so, and immediately feels herself healed (Mark 5:28–29). She probably touched the fringe on the edge of Jesus' cloak (Matthew 14:35–36). We see similar power in the early church. People line up along the street to try to catch Peter's shadow (Acts 5:15). In Ephesus, the people learn that even a piece of cloth that Paul has touched can heal and expel demons (Acts 19:11–12). That does not validate the modern practice of selling prayer cloths, however. There is a difference between leaders in the early church—whose words the Holy Spirit validated through miracles—and modern false teachers trying to make money.
Theologians debate as to how Jesus has the power to heal: is it His own power as God or does the Holy Spirit work through Him? The discussion widens to ask if Jesus knowing what others are thinking is because of His deity or the Holy Spirit's insight (Luke 6:8). Those who say the incarnate Christ maintains His omniscience and omnipotence say that the passage on Jesus "emptying Himself" refers to His right to demand honor, not His power (Philippians 2:5–7). Those who believe Jesus empties Himself of even His abilities point to passages that say Jesus grew in wisdom (Luke 2:52) or that seem to indicate Jesus doesn't know certain things (Mark 5:30). Christians can hold either position so long as they believe that Jesus is God and that any self-emptying was temporary and voluntary.
Luke 6:17–19 transitions away from the separation of Jesus' followers from His detractors into a series of teachings on the promised blessings for and responsibilities of His followers. This passage is called the ''Sermon on the Plain'' or ''Sermon on the Level Place.'' Matthew's Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5—7) could be the same event; ''plain'' can mean a high plateau. But Luke, writing to a Gentile audience, removes all references to the Jewish law and, as is his habit, summarizes the teachings even more than Matthew. The corresponding passage for this section would be Matthew 4:23—5:1.
Luke 6 contains two main sections of teaching and calls to discipleship. Luke 6:1–16 continues the pattern of Luke 5. The two ways in which Jesus sets aside tradition—this time by taking authority over the Sabbath—are paired with His call for the Twelve disciples. Luke 6:17–49 records Jesus' teaching on the ''level place,'' or His ''Sermon on the Plain,'' and a call to a crowd for general discipleship. Much of this material has parallels in Matthew 5 through 7, but it's not clear if the two accounts are of the same event. As a travelling teacher, Christ likely gave the same general message multiple times.
