The Gospel of Luke

by Pablo T. Gadenz

  The Twelve and the Sermon on the Plain

  Luke 6:12–49

  The restoration of Israel with its twelve tribes is now officially instituted with Jesus’ choice of the twelve apostles. Jesus then teaches the law for the renewed Israel in the Sermon on the Plain, instructing the Twelve and many others about the kingdom of God and the way of discipleship.

  Jesus Chooses the Twelve Apostles (6:12–16)

  12In those days he departed to the mountain to pray, and he spent the night in prayer to God. 13When day came, he called his disciples to himself, and from them he chose Twelve, whom he also named apostles: 14Simon, whom he named Peter, and his brother Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, 15Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, Simon who was called a Zealot, 16and Judas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.

  OT: Exod 19:3

  NT: Acts 1:13, 26. // Matt 10:1–4; Mark 3:13–19

  Catechism: Jesus at prayer, 2600; twelve apostles, 551, 765, 880, 1577

  Lectionary: Saints Simon and Jude

  [6:12]

  As he will do at the transfiguration (9:28), Jesus goes up the mountain, though in neither case is the mountain specified. At the transfiguration, Moses appears (9:30) and Jesus is presented as the prophet like Moses to whom people should listen (9:35; Deut 18:15). Here there is a similar comparison. Moses would go up Mount Sinai to speak with God (Exod 19:3; 24:12–18; 34:1–4) and then would come down the mountain to speak to the people (19:25; 32:15; 34:29–32); he also set up twelve stones for the twelve tribes of Israel (24:4). Jesus now similarly goes up the mountain to pray and comes down to teach (Luke 6:17); he also chooses the twelve apostles (v. 13).

  On this occasion (see 3:21; 5:16), the extent of Jesus’ prayer is emphasized: he spent the night in prayer to God. His choice of the Twelve is thus the fruit of prayer and also serves as a lesson for Christians making important decisions (see Acts 1:24).

  [6:13]

  The night of prayer is followed by a day of action. From among his many disciples, Jesus chooses Twelve. The number has a symbolic significance: through the Twelve, Jesus is regathering the twelve tribes of Israel in fulfillment of Israel’s hope for restoration.1 This connection is made explicit at the Last Supper where Jesus says that they “will sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel” (Luke 22:30). In Acts, Matthias will be chosen as a replacement for Judas, in order to maintain twelve as the foundational number (Acts 1:26). The Twelve are named apostles. The word “apostle” means “one who is sent.” As Jesus has been sent by God (Luke 4:43), so will he soon send out the apostles on a mission (9:2).

  [6:14–16]

  The lists of the Twelve always begin with Simon, whom he named Peter (see Matt 10:2; Mark 3:16; Acts 1:13). Luke has already recounted his call (Luke 5:1–11). The new name petros, meaning “rock,” indicates Peter’s specific mission (see Matt 16:18; John 1:42). Listed second is Peter’s brother Andrew, otherwise unmentioned in Luke. Next are the other brothers, James and John, Zebedee’s sons and Simon’s fishing partners (Luke 5:10). Peter, James, and John will form an inner circle of the Twelve in key episodes (8:51; 9:28). Peter and John also appear together in another episode in Luke (22:8) and various times in Acts (3:1–4:23; 8:14–25). Most of the other apostles are mentioned in Luke only here, since they function more as a group than as individuals. Bartholomew is identified in Christian tradition with Nathanael (John 1:45–49; 21:2), and Judas the son of James with Thaddeus (Matt 10:3; Mark 3:18). The tax collector Levi (Luke 5:27) is here called Matthew, as in all lists of the Twelve. Simon who was called a Zealot refers to “the Cananean” (Matt 10:4; Mark 3:18), an epithet derived from the Hebrew root qana’, meaning “to be zealous.” This could simply mean that he was zealous for God and the law (Acts 21:20; 22:3), or it may identify him with the nationalists who harbored sentiments of revolution against Rome, even though such Zealots were apparently not an organized movement until the years leading up to the Jewish revolt in AD 66. As always, listed last is Judas Iscariot, whose surname may indicate his family’s town of origin (Kerioth: Josh 15:25; Jer 48:24; see John 6:71). He is identified as the future traitor (Luke 22:3, 47–48).

  Sermon on the Plain, Part 1: Beatitudes and Woes (6:17–26)

  17And he came down with them and stood on a stretch of level ground. A great crowd of his disciples and a large number of the people from all Judea and Jerusalem and the coastal region of Tyre and Sidon 18came to hear him and to be healed of their diseases; and even those who were tormented by unclean spirits were cured. 19Everyone in the crowd sought to touch him because power came forth from him and healed them all.

  20And raising his eyes toward his disciples he said:

  “Blessed are you who are poor,

  for the kingdom of God is yours.

  21Blessed are you who are now hungry,

  for you will be satisfied.

  Blessed are you who are now weeping,

  for you will laugh.

  22Blessed are you when people hate you,

  and when they exclude and insult you,

  and denounce your name as evil

  on account of the Son of Man.

  23Rejoice and leap for joy on that day! Behold, your reward will be great in heaven. For their ancestors treated the prophets in the same way.

  24But woe to you who are rich,

  for you have received your consolation.

  25But woe to you who are filled now,

  for you will be hungry.

  Woe to you who laugh now,

  for you will grieve and weep.

  26Woe to you when all speak well of you,

  for their ancestors treated the false prophets in this way.

  OT: Isa 61:1–2

  NT: Matt 4:24–25; Mark 3:7–10; 6:56. // Matt 5:3–12

  Catechism: power from Christ, 695, 1116, 1504; beatitudes, 2444; blessed are the poor, 2546; woe to the rich, 2547

  Lectionary: Luke 6:17, 20–26: Sixth Sunday Ordinary Time (Year C)

  [6:17]

  Jesus comes down the mountain with the Twelve and proceeds to teach them, as well as many other disciples and people. The setting for his discourse is a stretch of level ground, hence the name “Sermon on the Plain.” The crowds have come not only from the whole land of Israel (all Judea in the broad sense, 4:44), but also from Gentile territory: the coastal region of Tyre and Sidon (modern-day Lebanon). The mention of these two cities, historically enemies of Israel (1 Macc 5:15; Isa 23; Ezek 26–28), foreshadows the apostles’ later mission to the Gentiles.

  [6:18–19]

  As before, the crowds come not only to hear Jesus but also to be healed (Luke 5:15), both of diseases and unclean spirits (4:40–41). Jesus’ touch communicates power for healing them all, as it did for the leper (5:13).

  [6:20, 24]

  Jesus has been teaching frequently (4:15, 31; 5:3, 17; 6:6), but only now does Luke present in an extended way the content of his teaching. The Sermon on the Plain (6:20–49)2 can be divided into three parts: beatitudes and woes (6:20–26), commands on love and mercy (6:27–38), and teaching on the two ways (6:39–49).3 The discourse has many parallels to Matthew’s Sermon on the Mount (Matt 5–7), though it is much shorter. Both begin with a set of beatitudes, but Luke’s list has only four and is immediately followed by a corresponding set of woes. Moreover, the context is rather different, with Luke’s sermon coming after the choice of the Twelve.

  The Beatitudes are directed toward his disciples, providing instruction on what it means to follow Jesus. One can try to imagine the expectation of the disciples who had witnessed his healings and perhaps understood the symbolism of the Twelve. Jesus had already spoken about the kingdom of God (Luke 4:43). Did that mean that he was about to restore the Davidic kingdom of Israel (see Acts 1:6), overthrowing the yoke of the Romans?4

  Blessed are you who are poor. Jesus’ first words are hardly those of one fomenting a rebellion (see Luke 23:19)! His words are nonetheless revolutionary as they involve a re
versal of values regarding what constitutes true happiness. Indeed, the word “blessed” refers to those who are “happy” or “fortunate” in God’s sight (see comment on 1:45). Some measure of economic poverty, not necessarily destitution, was a familiar reality for most people in Galilee at the time.5 The lack of material resources would typically lead the poor to greater reliance on God (hence, the “poor in spirit” of Matt 5:3). These pious poor, or †anawim (Isa 61:1), are those to whom Jesus comes to bring glad tidings (see comment on Luke 4:18–19). Their closer relationship with God is what makes them blessed. True happiness does not come from possessing the kingdoms offered by the devil (4:5–6) but from the kingdom of God, which Jesus says is theirs at the present time. In particular, this kingdom belongs to disciples like Peter, James, John, and Levi, who leave “everything” (5:11, 28)—that is, who voluntarily become poor—in order to follow Jesus.

  LIVING TRADITION

  Blessed Poverty

  “Holy Poverty puts to shame all greed, avarice, and all the anxieties of this life.”a St. Francis of Assisi not only wrote about evangelical poverty but lived it. Commenting on the beatitude about the poor, Pope Benedict XVI singles out St. Francis as “the figure whom the history of faith offers . . . as the most intensely lived illustration of this Beatitude.” He continues with a lesson on biblical interpretation:

  The saints are the true interpreters of Holy Scripture. The meaning of a given passage of the Bible becomes most intelligible in those human beings who have been totally transfixed by it and have lived it out. . . . Francis of Assisi was gripped in an utterly radical way by the promise of the first Beatitude, to the point that he even gave away his garments. . . . For Francis, this extreme humility was above all freedom for service, freedom for mission, ultimate trust in God. . . . It is above all by looking at Francis of Assisi that we see clearly what the words ‘Kingdom of God’ mean. . . . It is in figures such as he that the Church grows toward the goal that lies in the future, and yet is already present.b

  a. Francis of Assisi, The Praises of the Virtues, in St. Francis of Assisi: Writings and Early Biographies, ed. Marion A. Habig (Chicago: Franciscan Herald Press, 1973), 133.

  b. Benedict XVI, Jesus of Nazareth: From the Baptism in the Jordan to the Transfiguration, trans. Adrian J. Walker (New York: Doubleday, 2007), 78–79. See also Benedict XVI, Verbum Domini 48.

  The beatitude is better understood by considering its opposite: woe to you who are rich. A “woe” is a warning of coming judgment. The one who finds consolation now in earthly riches typically does not rely on God. Thus, it is difficult for the rich to enter the kingdom (18:24–25), though with God it is possible (18:27; 19:2, 9). For example, among the early Christians, those with wealth came to the aid of those in need (Acts 2:45; 4:34–35).

  [6:21, 25]

  The next two beatitudes further describe the poor and the happiness that will be theirs through their reliance on God. They include those who are now hungry, since Jesus promises that they will be satisfied. Jesus himself experienced hunger (Luke 4:2) but resisted the devil’s temptation. Mary, who put her trust in God, expresses this beatitude in her Magnificat: “The hungry he has filled with good things” (1:53). In some cases, such as that of the poor Lazarus, “who longed to satisfy his hunger” (16:21 NRSV), the promise is fulfilled only in the afterlife (16:22). However, Jesus will provide a sign of this heavenly banquet by feeding the five thousand so that all are “satisfied” (9:17).

  The poor are also those who are now weeping on account of their difficult situation. This promise also looks to the future: they will laugh. Nevertheless, Jesus will again provide a present sign of the promise when he brings the weeping of mourners to an end by raising their loved ones from the dead (7:13–16; 8:52–56).

  The second and third woes correspond to these two beatitudes. Those who are filled now and laugh now, but rely on themselves and live for themselves, will in the future be hungry, grieve and weep (see 12:15–21; 16:19–31). This reversal was already announced in the Magnificat: “The rich he has sent away empty” (1:53).

  [6:22–23, 26]

  The last beatitude concerns the persecution that Jesus’ disciples will experience from those who hate them on account of the Son of Man (see 21:17). Jesus, who has likened himself to a rejected prophet (4:24), similarly compares his disciples to the prophets who were mistreated. In response, they should rejoice because of the reward they will receive in heaven. The apostles will later fulfill this command: “They left the presence of the Sanhedrin, rejoicing that they had been found worthy to suffer dishonor for the sake of the name” (Acts 5:41). Others, like Stephen, will experience martyrdom and so win their heavenly reward (Acts 7:54–60).

  The corresponding woe warns that when all speak well of individuals, it is because, like the false prophets, they are not truly speaking God’s word, preferring “human praise to the glory of God” (John 12:43).

  As a whole, the Beatitudes reverse the world’s understanding of true happiness, showing that it is found not in riches, gratification, entertainment, and fame, but in God. Learning this lesson on discipleship requires faith, since the promises and rewards may not be experienced until the heavenly kingdom. It also requires charity, as those with economic means are exhorted to tend to the needs of the poor, the hungry, and the weeping.

  Reflection and Application (6:17–26)

  Beatitudes and Christian life. The Second Vatican Council called for a renewal of moral theology, saying that instruction on Christian living should draw more on the Scriptures.6 One fruit of this renewal is the retrieval of the teaching that the Beatitudes reveal God’s plan for our eternal beatitude, happiness in the life to come (Catechism 1716–29).7 A person learns to live the Beatitudes by practicing, with the aid of God’s grace, the theological virtues (faith, hope, and charity; see 1 Cor 13:13) and the moral virtues (prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance; see Wis 8:7), and by being empowered by the Holy Spirit’s gifts (see Isa 11:1–2), so that the fruits of the Spirit, such as love, joy, and peace (see Gal 5:22), become manifest in one’s life.

  Sermon on the Plain, Part 2: Love and Be Merciful (6:27–38)

  27“But to you who hear I say, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. 29To the person who strikes you on one cheek, offer the other one as well, and from the person who takes your cloak, do not withhold even your tunic. 30Give to everyone who asks of you, and from the one who takes what is yours do not demand it back. 31Do to others as you would have them do to you. 32For if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. 33And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do the same. 34If you lend money to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit [is] that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, and get back the same amount. 35But rather, love your enemies and do good to them, and lend expecting nothing back; then your reward will be great and you will be children of the Most High, for he himself is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked. 36Be merciful, just as [also] your Father is merciful.

  37“Stop judging and you will not be judged. Stop condemning and you will not be condemned. Forgive and you will be forgiven. 38Give and gifts will be given to you; a good measure, packed together, shaken down, and overflowing, will be poured into your lap. For the measure with which you measure will in return be measured out to you.”

  OT: Exod 34:6; Lev 19:2, 18

  NT: Mark 4:24; Acts 20:35; Rom 12:14, 20–21. // Matt 5:38–48; 7:1–2, 12

  Catechism: Golden Rule, 1789, 1970; the sacrament of mercy, 1458; forgiveness and mercy, 2842

  Lectionary: Luke 6:27–38: Seventh Sunday Ordinary Time (Year C); Luke 6:36–38: Monday Second Week of Lent

  [6:27–28]

  With a series of imperatives, Jesus now addresses all those who hear him. As with the Beatitudes, his commands would have unsettled his listeners: Love your enemies. To those who may have e
xpected Jesus to lead a revolt against Rome, Jesus was in effect saying: “Love the Romans.” This was and remains a difficult message. It also expands the scope of the law of Moses: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Lev 19:18). Jesus will similarly interpret this commandment of Moses to include love of enemies in the parable of the good Samaritan (see Luke 10:25–37). Of course, Jesus’ message also means loving enemies within the community. Even among the apostles there was probably a need for this instruction, since the Twelve included both a tax collector and someone zealous for the law.

  Three more commands give concrete examples of what it means to love one’s enemies: do good to them, bless them, pray for them. Jesus is again further developing Old Testament teaching (Exod 23:4–5; Prov 25:21–22; see Rom 12:20). He himself will set the standard by praying for those who crucify him (Luke 23:34). The early Christians will follow Jesus’ teaching and example (see Acts 7:60; Rom 12:14; 1 Pet 3:9).

  [6:29–30]

  Examples of nonretaliation further explain love of enemies. By turning the other cheek or giving one’s tunic (the inner garment) to someone who takes the outer cloak, one refuses to “be conquered by evil” and instead conquers “evil with good” (Rom 12:21). At the individual level, a person thus trusts in God to settle accounts, relatively unconcerned about preserving one’s own honor and reputation. Such selfless behavior is also marked by a magnanimous attitude: one is ready to give to everyone who asks and not demand things back.

  [6:31]

  Summarizing the foregoing instructions is the Golden Rule: Do to others as you would have them do to you. Again, Jesus’ teaching extends beyond a typical Jewish formulation (which is therefore sometimes called the Silver Rule): “Do to no one what you yourself hate” (Tob 4:15). One should do good to others and not only abstain from mistreating them. This rule applies even when they do not reciprocate.