<p>6:20 <i>Then he lifted up his eyes toward his disciples, and said- </i>The way the Lord Jesus had of lifting up His eyes was something which evidently struck the Gospel writers (Lk. 6:20; Jn. 6:5; 11:41; 17:1 cp. the emphasis upon the eyes of the risen Lord in Rev. 1:14; 2:18; 5:6; 19:12). The Hebrew phrase &quot;to lift up the eyes&quot; is used very extensively about the Abraham family; and the Lord was the seed of Abraham. Most Bible characters have the term used at most once or twice about them; but the Genesis record emphasizes this characteristic of this family. It's as if we're being bidden to really visualize them as a family, and to enable this we're even given an insight into their body language. Consider the emphasis on the way this family had of lifting up their eyes:<br />Lot lifted up his eyes (Gen. 13:10)<br />Abraham lifted up his eyes (Gen. 13:14)<br />Abraham lifted up his eyes and noticed the Angels (Gen. 18:2)<br />Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place of sacrifice (Gen. 22:4)<br />Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the ram caught (Gen. 22:13)<br />Isaac lifted up his eyes and saw camels coming on which Rebekah was riding (Gen. 24:63)<br />Rebekah, as part of a marriage made in Heaven, lifted up <i>her</i> eyes and saw Isaac at the same moment (Gen. 24:64)<br />Jacob lifted up his eyes and saw the vision of the speckled cattle (twice recorded- Gen. 31:10,12)<br />Jacob lifted up his eyes and saw Esau coming (Gen. 33:1)<br />Esau lifted up his eyes and saw Jacob's family (Gen. 33:5)<br />Jacob's sons lifted up their eyes and saw the traders coming (Gen. 37:25)<br />Joseph lifted up his eyes and saw Benjamin (Gen. 43:29)<br />Of course the classic epitome of this feature is when Abraham lifts up his eyes to Heaven and is asked to count the stars, and there and then believes God's word of promise that &quot;so shall thy seed be&quot;. Yet <i>we</i>, as Abraham's family, his children by faith, are likewise asked with the same Hebrew words to lift up <i>our</i> eyes to Heaven and consider the stars, and take strength from the fact that their creator is our God (Is. 40:26; 51:6; 60:4).&nbsp; Surrounded by huge crowds, the Lord focused upon teaching the disciples. This was typical of Him, and occurred also at the time of the sermon on the mount.</p><p><i>Blessed are you poor- </i>The poverty in view is spiritual poverty; those who wish to be spiritually rich but are not. It is no blessing to simply be poor materially; for such poverty can distract people from spiritual focus just as much as wealth can. Our prayers should be like those of a man on death row in a dark dungeon, waiting to die, but groaning for salvation (Ps. 102:17,20). This is the extent of our desperation. We are &ldquo;the poor&rdquo; (Gk. &lsquo;the crouchers&rsquo;), cringing in utter spiritual destitution (Mt. 5:3). And yet we have a terrible tendency to only occasionally&nbsp;<i>really</i>&nbsp;pray, content with prayer on a surface level. The Lord's parables invite us to see ourselves as, e.g., the desperate widow woman pleading for deliverance from her oppressive landlord (Lk. 18:3).</p><p><i>For yours is the kingdom of God</i>- The Lord's prayer used the same phrase &quot;Yours is the Kingdom&quot; in addressing God. But &ldquo;Blessed are you poor, for <i>yours</i> is the Kingdom <i>of God</i>&rdquo;. The Lord thereby assures us that the Father wants to give <i>His</i> Kingdom to those who are poor in spirit, to the broken, to the self-doubters, the uncertain, those uncomfortable with themselves, the unbearably and desperately lonely, the awkwardly spoken&hellip; the poor in spirit. Those who would be the very last to believe that God would give <i>them</i> what is evidently <i>His</i> Kingdom. But not only <i>will</i> the Father do this, but Jesus stresses that it <i>is</i> ours right now. The certainty of the glory that will be revealed for us means that we cope better with suffering; as Paul writes, they &ldquo;are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us&rdquo; (Rom. 8:18).</p><p>The similarities with the sermon on the mount are many; but this sermon is delivered on the plain. The Lord is repeating in the Jerusalem area what He had taught in Galilee.</p>