What does Luke 6:47 mean?

Jesus completes His challenge to a crowd who came to be healed and stayed to hear His words. "Everyone who comes to me and hears my words" is a bookend to the opening words, "a great multitude of people…came to hear him" (Luke 6:17–18). The crowd has learned that to follow Jesus means not only persecution but that they must forgive their persecutors, be slow to judge them, and work for their benefit. This is a difficult command to follow. Yet Jesus shows them the benefit.

This is not the first blessing Jesus promises His followers. Earlier in the Sermon on the Plain, He said that those who weep will laugh. Those who are hungry will be satisfied. Those who are poor will inherit the kingdom of God, and those who are persecuted will receive a great reward in eternity (Luke 6:20–23). If they can love their enemies, they will be called children of the Most High (Luke 6:35).

Here, Jesus explains that if they make the hard choice to obey His words, their lives will be steady. No matter what hardships deluge their lives, they will not be shaken (Luke 6:48). Paul will write, "And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:7). When we obey Christ, we receive an inner peace that is resistant to the challenges of the world. Even more, we receive an eternal peace with God that nothing can take away (Romans 8:38–39).