These verses introduce the section of Luke’s
Gospel known as the Sermon on the Plain, which runs from Luke 6:20–49. Much of
this material is also found in Matthew’s famous Sermon on the Mount, though
Luke’s version, coming in at just thirty verses, is much shorter than
Matthew’s, which covers most of Matthew 5–7. And as the names of these sermons
indicate, whereas Matthew’s Jesus offers his discourse from the top of a
mountain, Luke’s Jesus comes down from the mountain and speaks to his disciples
“on a level place” (v. 17).
The fact that two distinct versions of this
sermon exist, each of varying length and content and appearing in different
contexts, has suggested to many biblical scholars that these teachings may not
have originally been part of a single, unified sermon at all. Rather, the
individual units that now make up this speech may have originated at different
times and places in Jesus' ministry. It isn't only modern liberal scholars who
hold this view. Even John Calvin, when commenting on the different versions of
the sermon in Matthew and Luke, suggested, “Both Evangelists had the
intention of gathering into one single passage the chief headings of Christ’s
teaching, that had regard to the rule of godly and holy living,” and that here
we have “a short summary of the teaching of Christ, gathered from his many and
various discourses.”
The passage we will be studying this week
contains a list of blessings—otherwise known as the Beatitudes—and a list of
woes. In this instance it is interesting again to compare Luke with Matthew.
Whereas Matthew’s Jesus blesses the “poor in spirit” (Matt 5:2) and
those who “hunger and thirst for righteousness” (5:6), Luke’s Jesus is
concerned with those who are literally poor and physically hungry. It is often
thought that Luke more faithfully represents the words of Jesus here and that
Matthew later “spiritualized” these teachings. Further reflecting his concern
for the destitute, Luke also has Jesus condemning the rich and comfortable in
the words of woe, which are absent from Matthew’s Gospel.
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