People often compare and contrast Luke 6, with the Sermon on the Mount. It seems so familiar on the one hand, and yet the two passages seem to differ in some significant ways. It’s the sort of thing that can cause some measure of anxiety, and that can undermine people’s confidence in the Scriptures. So at the risk of sounding like I’m comparing myself to Jesus (which I’m honestly not!), let me try and chart a way through the conundrum.
Over the years, I’ve written a lot of sermons. There’s a couple that I really enjoy preaching. So on the odd occasion that I am invited to preach elsewhere, if I’m given the choice, I’ll get one of those out and have a look at it. It’ll need to be re-worked a bit, and if I have time I’ll try and adapt it to the context I’ll be preaching in. And I might change some of the illustrations if there’s a local interest. And of course, because I don’t stick rigidly to the notes, I’ll end up putting things a bit differently every time I preach it. If you listened to the recordings / watched the videos of those occasions you’d recognise the same material, but also a number of differences – some intentional, others simply by virtue of the way I preach. There’d be a lot that familiar, but also some differences.
Looking at the structure of the Gospels, it seems that Jesus’ public ministry focussed on five periods of itinerant preaching, interspersed with time invested with the disciples and in rest. It also appears that Jesus developed His material ahead of each preaching tour and then delivered it repeatedly as He went through Galilee and down into Judah. The Gospel writers give us a record of Jesus’ teaching from each section of His ministry, but they don’t always do it from the same event in each tour. Hence Matthew is clear that the teaching-event he is recording from Jesus’ first ‘tour’ is taken from a time when Jesus ‘went up on a mountainside and sat down’ (Matt.5:1). Luke also records the teaching Jesus delivered during His first ‘tour’, but has in mind a different occasion, possibly earlier in the ‘tour’ and I suspect further north, when Jesus ‘stood on a level place’ (Lk.6:17).
When you look at the details, it’s actually quite strange that people sometimes think they are the same event, and that they go to some length to try and reconcile the two passages. I think it much more natural to recognise that these are two events from early in Jesus’ ministry, during His first preaching tour, but distinct and at different times and places in that tour.
Both Luke and Matthew are reliable and trustworthy as they hold out their Spirit-inspired accounts of Jesus and His ministry. You can relax!
Questions:
Can you follow Jesus’ ‘train of thought’ from the previous section of teaching (vv.20-26)? What sort of situation does Jesus have in mind as he gives the teaching in vv.27-36? Or do you think this teaching is appropriate in all and any situation? Are there times when Jesus teaches we shouldn’t turn the other cheek?
or you might find it more helpful to think through more specific issues, such as:
Does this passage preclude you seeking justice if someone commits a crime against you?
Does this passage mean someone should stay in an abusive marriage?
Does this passage mean that if someone sins against you, you should just accept that?
Can Christians join the military?
Can you think of times when you have heard or seen this teaching applied in ways that Jesus would not approve of?
How would you reconcile this passage with passages such as Matt.18:15-20, where Jesus advocates a much less passive approach to sin?
In a situation where you had enemies, people cursing you, ill-treating you, taking from you etc. would you want to put Jesus’ teaching in to practise? How can we get to the place where we want to do what Jesus says, even when it cuts so deeply across our ‘natural’ desires and tendencies?
How would you counsel someone who was consumed with bitterness about how they had been treated?
How does Jesus’ teaching us how to live reflect the life and example of the Lord Himself (see I Peter 2:19-24)? How does the way He has treated us shape the way we now treat others?
Read Rom.12:18-21. What does Paul teach that helps shape our response to mis-treatment by others? How compelling do you find this passage?
What is the end result Jesus is hoping to achieve as we behave like this?
