Significance of the Sermon on the Plain in Luke
The Sermon on the Plain, recorded in Luke 6:20-49, is a significant discourse delivered by Jesus to his disciples and a large multitude. While it shares many similarities with the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5-7, scholars have debated whether they are the same event or distinct teachings [2, 3]. After a night of prayer on a mountain, Jesus chose twelve apostles from among his disciples [1]. He then descended to a "level place" or "plain" where he delivered this sermon [1, 2].
One key distinction noted by commentators is the setting. Matthew describes Jesus delivering his sermon "on the mountain," while Luke explicitly states he "stood in the plain" [1, 3]. Some interpret "plain" as a high tableland, suggesting it could be the same location as Matthew's account, with Luke offering an abridged version [2]. However, others, like Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, argue that the differences in content, such as Luke's inclusion of woes alongside beatitudes, suggest they are distinct discourses [2]. Adam Clarke also points out that Matthew's account of Jesus sitting down after going up the mountain and Luke's account of him standing on the plain before the discourse are not necessarily inconsistent, allowing for the possibility of the same sermon delivered at different points in time or from slightly different vantage points [3].
The content of the Sermon on the Plain emphasizes themes of blessing and warning. Luke's beatitudes are directed more explicitly to the materially poor and hungry, contrasting with Matthew's "poor in spirit" and those who "hunger and thirst after righteousness" [5]. For instance, Luke records, "Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you will be satisfied" (Luke 6:20-21). This focus leads some to see Luke's version as addressing "the poor of this world, rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which God has promised to them that love Him" [5].
Following the beatitudes, Luke's account includes a series of woes directed at the rich, the full, those who laugh now, and those of whom all people speak well (Luke 6:24-26). These woes are unique to Luke's version of the sermon and further highlight the social and economic reversals inherent in Jesus's teaching [2]. The sermon also contains ethical instructions, such as loving enemies, turning the other cheek, and giving to those who ask (Luke 6:27-30). These teachings underscore a radical ethic of generosity and non-retaliation that challenges conventional wisdom.
The Sermon on the Plain also includes the parable of the blind leading the blind, the speck and the log, and the good and bad trees, culminating in the parable of the wise and foolish builders (Luke 6:39-49). These parables serve to illustrate the importance of not only hearing Jesus's words but also acting upon them. The imagery of building a house on a solid foundation versus one without a foundation emphasizes the consequences of obedience and disobedience to Christ's teachings. Matthew Henry notes that many of Christ's teachings and miracles, including those found in this sermon, are repeated across the Gospels, indicating their significant weight and importance [6]. The sermon, like much of Jesus's public ministry, was delivered to vast crowds from various regions, including Galilee, Decapolis, Jerusalem, and beyond the Jordan, indicating the widespread interest in his message [4].
Sources
- Easton's Bible Dictionary “Easton's Bible Dictionary: Sermon on the mount — After spending a night in solemn meditation and prayer in the lonely mountain-range to the west of the Lake of Galilee (Luke 6:12), on the following morning our Lord called to him his disciples, and from among them chose twelve, who were to be henceforth trained to be his apostles (Mark 3:14, 15). After this solemn consecration of the twelve, he descended from the mountain-peak to a more level spot (Luke 6:17), and there he sat down and delivered the "sermon on the mount" (Matt. 5-7; Luke 6:20-49) to the assembled multitude. The mountain here sp”
- Luke (Presbyterian) “Jamieson, Fausset & Brown on Luke 6:17: in the plain--by some rendered "on a level place," that is, a piece of high tableland, by which they understand the same thing, as "on the mountain," where our Lord delivered the sermon recorded by Matthew (Mat 5:1), of which they take this following discourse of Luke to be but an abridged form. But as the sense given in our version is the more accurate, so there are weighty reasons for considering the discourses different. This one contains little more than a fourth of the other; it has woes of its own, as well as the beatitudes common to both; but abov”
- Luke (Methodist/Wesleyan) “Adam Clarke on Luke 6:17: And stood in the plain - In Mat 5:1, which is supposed to be the parallel place, our Lord is represented as delivering this sermon on the mountain; and this has induced some to think that the sermon mentioned here by Luke, though the same in substance with that in Matthew, was delivered in a different place, and at another time; but, as Dr. Priestly justly observes, Matthew's saying that Jesus was sat down after he had gone up to the mountain, and Luke's saying that he stood on the plain when he healed the sick, before the discourse, are no inconsistencies. The whole ”
- Matthew (Presbyterian) “Jamieson, Fausset & Brown on Matthew 4:25: And there followed him great multitudes of people from Galilee, and from Decapolis--a region lying to the east of the Jordan, so called as containing ten cities, founded and chiefly inhabited by Greek settlers. and from Jerusalem, and from beyond Jordan--meaning from Perea. Thus not only was all Palestine upheaved, but all the adjacent regions. But the more immediate object for which this is here mentioned is, to give the reader some idea both of the vast concourse and of the varied complexion of eager attendants upon the great Preacher, to whom the”
- Luke (Presbyterian) “Jamieson, Fausset & Brown on Luke 6:20: In the Sermon on the Mount the benediction is pronounced upon the "poor in spirit" and those who "hunger and thirst after righteousness" (Mat 5:3, Mat 5:6). Here it is simply on the "poor" and the "hungry now." In this form of the discourse, then, our Lord seems to have had in view "the poor of this world, rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which God hath promised to them that love Him," as these very beatitudes are paraphrased by James (Jam 2:5).”
- Luke (Nonconformist/Puritan) “Matthew Henry on Luke 8 (introduction): Most of this chapter is a repetition of divers passages of Christ's preaching and miracles which we had before in Matthew and Mark; they are all of such weight, that they are worth repeating, and therefore they are repeated, that out of the mouth not only of two, but of three, witnesses every word may be established. Here is, I. A general account of Christ's preaching, and how he had subsistence for himself and his numerous family by the charitable contributions of good people (Luk 8:1-3). II. The parable of the sower, and the four sorts of ground, with ”