The Sermon on the Plain: An Exposition of Luke 6:17-38
Scholars debate whether this sermon is another version of the Sermon on the Mount. It indeed shares a lot of common themes. Scholars who want to diminish the authority of Scripture try to prove that both evangelists copied and arranged material from an earlier source. Whereas some of these sayings may have been genuine sayings of Jesus on several occasions, they have been redacted and put into another setting. Matthew is especially accused of this practice. But is this true? As a minister og the Gospel, I have been known to repeat sermons from time to time. These sermons were preached at different times and places, yet if one were to examine all of my sermons published at sermoncentral.com and other places will see common material. From a practical point of view then, I can see no reason to see that Jesus preached two sermons that are quite similar in different places and times. He taught on an almost daily basis for up to three years.
When one compares the two sermons, the one from Matthew is the longer and more complete. The sermon recorded in Luke is shorter. Luke is known to summarize sermons as can be seen in the book of Acts. At the Pentecost sermon, for example, It records that Pater made other like exhortations to the people which indicates the actually Pentecost address was actually longer. This may also have been the case here. Let us look further into this sermon.
The sermon is prefaced by Jesus, who had prayed all night on a mountain to choose His Apostles had come down to a level place. This is why this sermon is known as the “Sermon on the Plain.” The sermon recorded in Matthew occurs on a mountain. The sermon is preceded the by a large group of disciples and other people from all of Judaea and Jerusalem as well as the seacoast of what is today Lebanon. This sermon seems to have been delivered in the proximity of Lebanon, although we cannot determine whether it was in Judaea, Galilee, or Lebanon for certain. In comparison, the Sermon on the Mount gathered people from Galilee, Judaea, Decapolis and people from the other side of Jordan. So we can see that we are talking about two different locations and two different groups of people, What is in common though is that both Jews as well as Gentiles had come to hear Jesus and in this case to be healed by Him. The idea of “to the Jew first and also to the Greek did not begin with Paul, but with Jesus Himself.
The text goes on to say that Jesus was healing. He was healing those who were oppressed (literally “crowded”) by unclean spirits. The people in the crowd came up and tried to touch Him. When they did touch Him, power was coming out of Him, and they were all healed. The use of the imperfect tense indicates that this took some time and that these actions were individually repeated. There is a rabbinic legend that those who would touch the fringes of the garment of the Messiah would be healed. This may have been what some thought but we cannot be certain of this. What we do know is that all who touched Hime were healed.
Jesus always considered His teaching to be more important than His ministry of healing. He came to proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD. We see that the desire to hear Him precedes these miracles of healing and exorcism. Also, the amount of space given to these miracles is much less than that of the sermon Jesus was about to address them with.
Jesus, who had spent the previous night in prayer now looks upon His disciples. It is interesting that the sermon is addressed to disciples and not to the crowd which had come. Many people might have heard the words of Jesus who were not disciples. Jesus did not concern Himself with these. Only those who were truly disciples could understand the meaning of the words. The same is true today. Many think that they have heard the words of the gospel, but without faith, all these hear nothing but words. People take tha words of Jesus in all kinds of ways. To some, He is the ultimate pacifist. To others, He is a victim of religious prejudice. To others, He is the supreme liberator who overthrows the rich. The Sermon on the Plain is a favorite of those who seek economic justice. People read the words of Jesus and come up with all kinds of different ideas of what Jesus was about. If they are not disciples of Jesus Christ in the judgment of God and not of man, they do not understand Him at all. Martyn Lloyd-Jones mentions of how in Britain of the 1960’s that the political Jesus who brings justice through His teaching was in vogue. It did not matter whether Jesus actually said it or even lived. What mattered was the teaching. All we need to do is apply these teachings and justice and prosperity would come to all, Wars would end, and the kingdom of peace would arrive. Bonhoeffer opened the door to this along with others. Harvey Cox changed the idea of the City of God in Augustine to “The Secular City, a secularized version of the teaching of Jesus. But will human effort and adhering to the words of Jesus ever bring in the Kingdom?
Jesus begins with a series of blessings. Luke has only four of them which is less than the Sermon on the Mount. The Sermon on the Mount begins the Beatitudes with addressing the beatitudes with the abstract “for theirs is.” It isn’t until Jesus talks about persecution that He switches to the second person “Blessed are you.” The “blessings” start here in the second person plural.
The first of these blessings is quite similar to the first beatitude in Matthew. The difference is that Matthew says “poor in spirit” and Luke simply says “the poor.” Also, as we have noted, it is addressed in the second person “yours.” When we realize that only the disciples actually hear (understand and respond appropriately) the words of Jesus, the use of the second person is appropriate. Is Luke talking about the economic poor? Are all poor people going to heaven? Is it a blessing to be impoverished? We could also look at the 4 woes mentioned in this sermon. The first says “Woe to the rich, because you have already received your consolation? Are the rich going to hell? People who support this idea look at the parable of Lazarus and the rich man. Lazarus was a poor beggar who had nothing except the consolation of eating leftovers and having his sores licked by dogs.
When we see Joseph of Arimathea, for example, in the gospels, we see a wealthy man who appears to be a true disciple when he and Nicodemus make a bold request for the body of Jesus. Joseph placed Jesus in a costly tomb and paid for an extravagant amount of spices to bury Jesus. We can see that Barnabas, who seemed to have some means, sell a field in Cyprus and voluntarily give the proceeds to the Apostles for redistribution. The sin of Ananias and Sapphira was not that they failed to give all when they sold a possession, but rather they lied about the fact that they had held back a portion of it. Peter clearly said that they were free to sell or not to sell. They were free to give part or to give all. We can also see in Luke 8 that there were several wealthy women who underwrote the ministry of Jesus and the Apostles. So whatever is to be said here about the blessings of the impoverished and the curse of the rich is at least tempered by examples that Luke himself provides.
So it seems better to understand that Jesus is referring to our attitudes about wealth and not the wealth itself. It is the love of money that is the root of all evil, not money itself. Hoarding of wealth and depending upon it for one’s sense of security rather than the LORD is what is sinful. In the Christian context, physical wealth goes along with spiritual gifts as means by which the Christian church was to care for each other. This is not a plan for world socialism and mandatory redistribution of wealth. Remember, Jesus is addressing disciples and not those overhearing his words. Socialism has failed everywhere because human beings are sinners, and the government is made up of sinners. George Orwell, himself a socialist, addresses this admirably in “animal Farm.” World socialism always puts power and wealth in the hands of a greedy few to redistribute. Naturally, they save the best for themselves and redistribute poverty to everyone else.
At the same time, Jesus is not endorsing world capitalism either. One might argue whether on the average, the people are better off under capitalism than socialism. There are plenty of poor in capitalist countries as well. Capitalism is run by greedy sinners as much as socialism. Greed is what causes income disparity. Neither capitalism nor socialism addresses this gulf adequately. It is only the leaven of the church, and people who see our love for neighbor as next to our love for God that provides any hope for this world. Indeed, love for neighbor flows from God’s love for us in Jesus Christ and our proper response to this love. Do we really trust God to provide for us? Then let “goods and kindred go, this mortal life also. The body they may kill; God’s truth abideth still. And He must win the battle.” (Martin Luther: A Mighty Fortress is our God) Our generosity may cost us everything in this life. But ultimately, if we were to become poor, we must realize that in the long term we have a greater consolation.
“Blessed are those who are hungry now, for they shall be filled.” This beatitude is paired with “Woe to you that are satisfied now; for you shall go hungry.” This pair goes along with the previous pair about poverty and riches. I cannot say it too much, but this is being preached to the church and not to the world who has overheard these words. Literally, they mean going hungry and being full in a physical sense. This verse is also used for feeding hungry people around the world and denouncing gluttony. When we realize the context of the church we realize that this is to be worked out in the church. Paul had to deal with this problem in 1 Corinthians. There, the love feast was being held in shifts, according to worldly social rank. The rich would eat first and have the best food and wine, and that to the point of gluttony. Then the common people were served poorer quality of bread and wine and were generally satisfied. The slaves got what was left over and went home hungry. Paul tells them that God was so annoyed with this practice that some of them had fallen sick or even died. Paul did not preach the overthrow of the Roman social order. When the assembly went home, the equestrians were still equestrians, the commoners still commoners, and the slaves, slaves. But in the context of the church, social rank was not to be regarded as all were equal in Christ.
There was a social contract in the church, though. We see this in their distribution for widows. Paul commands those in the church who had widows in their family to provide for them and not burden the church as a whole. The church took care of those who were truly widows, but widows were not to be idle. We see Dorcas and other widows at work providing clothing for the poor. We see others employed in the ministry of prayer. Those who would not work should not be fed either. But God holds the church accountable for mistreating those of lesser rank. The gluttons became sick, maybe to the point they could not eat. And God will Himself provide for His poor and they shall be satisfied. Let us joyfully join Him in this work. If we fail to take care of our own, we have no witness in the world.
The third pair blesses those who are in mourning now because they will in the long term laugh. It places a woe on those who are jolly now because they will mourn later. We live in a very depraved world. It always has been deprave. A lot of humor shows insensitivity to those who are being crushed by the rich if not outright disdain. They partied at Belshazzar’s house also. But the laughter was disturbed by the hand writing on the wall. They would soon mourn. They thought themselves secure with the high walls and gates of Babylon. But the Persians had built a canal and diverted the water from one of the rivers flowing through Babylon. The gates over the water failed because they were not built down to the bed of the river. So the Persian troops walked through the dry river bed into the city. We have heard of the legend of Achilles’s heel. We must remember that Jesus says He will come as a thief in Revelation. The city to whom He writes had been caught by surprise before by the same Cyrus who had taken Babylon.
This does not mean that God wants our life to be joyless. But our joy is to be based upon what God has done for us in Jesus Christ. In is in anticipation of the joy and laughter of the Kingdom of Heaven. God does indeed in His mercy provide the Church with a Sabbath from persecution and difficulty. But it is just a Sabbath. Some want to say that surely Jesus cut up with His disciples. The trouble is that there is absolutely no evidence of this. It may of happened, but if it did, it was not important enough to mention.
The fourth set of blessings/woes is unbalanced. The blessing is elaborated more than the woe which pronouncing a warning that you are in real trouble when everyone in the world speaks well of you.In fact, it as the sign of being a false prophet. When we read about what God thought about false prophets in Scripture, we realize that this is indeed a curse. God does not like Worldthink in His Church.
The blessing is indeed rich and really gives the context for the first three blessings. One is truly blessed when men (the world) hates you and wants to separate you from their company. When the world belittles you and throws you out for your witness to Jesus, it is cause to rejoice and not complain. It is a time for joyful dancing and not a funeral dirge. This is a completely irrational idea for worldly people. We see this lived out in Acts when Peter and John return to the believers after being threatened and beaten by the Sanhedrin. They rejoiced that they were counted worthy to suffer for the name. We need to take caution that this rejection and persecution is for the sake of the Son of Man and not for our own lawlessness as Peter reminds us. Then our reward will be great in heaven.
Jesus never candy coats the Gospel, and neither fo the Apostles. Persecution for the name of Jesus is perhaps the best badge of election, certainly more than good works. Good works like feeding the hungry are admirable, but even the pagans will from time to time show charity. We cannot depend upon good works as evidence that we are Christian. But to suffer for the name of Jesus is so contrary to the world, only a true Christian would submit to it. We are promised that all who would live godly in Christ Jesus SHALL suffer persecution. A Christian is one who endures all things because he or she believes in the long-term benefit of following Jesus.
What is our proper response to those who persecute us. They are indeed enemies, but instead of cursing the or taking up arms against them, we should instead pronounce a blessing upon them. This love goes beyond the love we are to have for others in the church. Loving those in the church is indeed a proper witness, but even the pagans will love those who are like them, the Christian is called to the next level of love. We remember what Paul says to us that while we were the enemies of God, Christ died for us. We think of Jesus forgiving His enemies on the cross. He demonstrated love far above what the world is willing to offer. The same goes to our charity. We don’t just give to our brothers and sisters in the chucrh, we give worldly goods to those who hate us. Again the world overhears us. The US enemy, the Taliban in Afghanistan was seen with sacks of US grain. But again, these words are for the Church directly. This is what WE are to do as Christians. We bless rather than curse. If they beat us on one cheek, we are to offer the other. We don’t resist the plundering of our goods. In fact we give those who would rob us even more than they ask for. When they demand your coat, give them your cloak also.
The summary statement here is that Jesus ask us to treat others the way we wish to be treated. The world sees this as the golden rule. But it competes with two other golden rules. One is “He who has the gold, rules.” Another is “Do unto others before they do unto you.” They will often quote the words of Jesus as a means of misdirection as they do when they say: “Jesus says: ‘Don’t judge!.’” The use it as a veneer of civilization as though they really care. We must understand that the Golden Rule is for Christians. It is based upon our being in proper relationship with God. A person who is out of relationship is incapable of truly loving himself/herself. The siner really loathes himself/herself. And what do they do? They pin their faults on others. They castigate those whose sin is worse than theirs. In other words, they are trating others the way they want to be treated themselves. It is only the instinct of self-preservation which gets in the way. But even so, the number of suicides are on the rise. But we can love ourselves, not because of who we were or even are. We love ourselves because God has loved us and has proved this by His sending of the Son. Then we desire that those outside might experience the sacrificial love of Jesus. The love by which we are loved becomes our loving desire that out enemies might be able to experience this forgiving grace.
It is only when we realize that we are loved, and that the grace of Jesus has been poured on us that we can love our enemies. Our Enemy has loved us first. We cal give and lend and show the love of Jesus to the world in spite of how we are treated. To be a disciple of Jesus is to be utterly radical in the sight of the world. But in our utter rejection and persecution, there are those who will come to believe. Like Paul, sometimes our biggest persecutors can become the greatest of proclaimers of the Gospel. Do we really want our enemies to be saved? Are we willing to suffer like so many suffered under the hands of Saul before his conversion?
At the end of the sermon, Jesus says “Give and it shall be given unto you, pressed down and shaken together shall men give to you.” This is one of the most abused Scriptures. Another one in the Sermon on the Mount is likely abused where Jesus says “seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness AND THESE THINGS SHALL BE ADDED UNTO YOU!” I put the latter half in all caps because this is what is emphasized. But it is the first part that ought to be in all caps.” Unless our attitude is right, this verse is wrongly understood in that worldly means is the intent of this verse. It is as if Jesus tells us that if we give lip service to Him, he will rain down acres of diamonds upon us. So many “evangelists” of the health and wealth gospel rob their disciples of lots oftheir earthly goods in a spiritual Ponzi scheme. But when we properly put this verse in context, we realize that Jesus is saying quite the opposite. We shall receive our reward some day. When Jesus promises us that when we follow Him as a disciple and promises that because we have left all to follow Him that we will gain brothers, possessions and lands, he also adds “with persecutions.” What we gain is a large spiritual family from all lands. We voluntarily share our gifts with each other whether they are spiritual or carnal.
Lord, help us learn from your words in this sermon that we might be the special people you have called us to be in Jesus Christ. Amen.
