This passage has many similarities to Matthew's Sermon on the Mount.  Luke says that the scene was a 'level place' (Luke 6:17) so some have called it the 'Sermon on the Plain' – although it may well have been a level place on the same mountain.  Jesus is specifically teaching His apprentice apostles, but an eager crowd also gathered to hear what He had to say (Luke 7:1; Matthew 7:28-29).  Ministry would be very hard for the Twelve.  With their Master, they would have to experience hunger and sorrow.  As leaders of the Early Church, many would be persecuted to death, while others suffered all sorts of personal deprivation.  When Jesus talks of hunger, He is referring to every unsatisfied need, including the hunger for everything to be right – the conscience’s deep desire to be holy (Matthew 5:6).

Jesus contrasted the hardship of the apostolic lifestyle with their future hope.  He gave them His personal promise to bless them in the future.  Hunger and sorrow are never good, and they will not exist at all in heaven (Revelation 7:16; 21:4).  But until that time, they are a part of the fallen world we live in.  Satan tempted Jesus to satisfy Himself after fasting for 40 days; but Jesus said that ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God' (Matthew 4:1-4).  Fleshly attempts to find satisfaction can never match the satisfaction of obeying God's Word and receiving His blessing.  Jesus wept too (Luke 19:41), for this world can never redeem itself.  The apostles would share that sorrow for the lost world (2 Corinthians 12:21) as well as deep grief when they thought they had lost their Master (John 16:20).

Full contentment and perfect joy await us in Glory with Jesus (Psalm 16:11).  It is tempting to seek it here, and Satan tries to delude us that we have a right to demand perfection around us now; but it cannot be ours permanently until Jesus comes back to claim us as His own (Revelation 21:1-5).  Through 2000 years, the church has endured exceedingly difficult times because they believed the promise of Jesus, that He would bless them with His presence one day (1 Peter 5:10-11).  That is the 'hope' of the believer.  'Hope' is a technical word in the New Testament which means the confident assurance that what God has promised will be personally fulfilled in His presence one day in the future (2 Timothy 1:12).

Every Christian must hold onto that hope.  It is there to enable us to persevere in the most difficult times. It is the conviction that 'Jesus is the light at the end of the tunnel'.  Do encourage your fellow believers, at work and in the church, who are going through hard circumstances to put their trust fully in Jesus (1 Peter 1:13).  While we want the Lord to answer our prayer and relieve our pain now, if He does not - will you believe that He will eventually fulfil His promise?  Assuring your friend of that is a real ministry of comfort and compassion.