[6:32–35]
Jesus argues from the lesser to the greater to show the reasonableness of his high standard of ethical behavior. If even sinners love those who love them, how much greater love should those trying to avoid sin have? Thus, if people like the Pharisees who look down on “sinners” (5:30) fail to accept Jesus’ command—love your enemies—they ironically remain at the same level as sinners. Jesus’ Golden Rule is likewise a challenge to rise above the reciprocity of sinners who only do good to those who do good to them. The same applies for his command to lend expecting nothing back. In all these cases, there is not much credit (literally, “grace”) otherwise. The standard that Jesus proposes is one of imitating God, who himself is kind to those who are evil: “Good and upright is the LORD, / therefore he shows sinners the way” (Ps 25:8). Those who do so become children of the Most High, hence also imitating Jesus, who is “Son of the Most High” (Luke 1:32). The reward (literally, “wage”; see 10:7) for those who follow such a standard will be great, not necessarily in this life but “in heaven” (6:23).
[6:36]
The imitation of God also requires disciples to be merciful, just as God the Father is merciful: “The LORD, the LORD, / a God merciful and gracious, / slow to anger, / and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness” (Exod 34:6 NRSV; see Pss 86:15; 103:8). With this imperative, Jesus is interpreting another Torah commandment—“Be holy, for I, the LORD your God, am holy” (Lev 19:2)—in terms of the divine attribute of mercy. God’s mercy was emphasized earlier in Luke (see 1:50, 54, 58, 72, 78). Later, Jesus will illustrate the command to be merciful, like his teaching on love of enemies, in the parable of the good Samaritan (10:33, 37). By contrast, for the Pharisees (in Hebrew, perushim, meaning “separatists”), holiness meant separation from anything that could render a person unclean. Such a difference underlies the controversies over table fellowship with tax collectors and sinners (5:30; 7:39; 15:2; 19:7), where Jesus, by being merciful, leads sinners back to God.
[6:37–38]
Concretely, being merciful means that one will stop judging, stop condemning, and forgive. The result for behaving in this way is that a person will not be judged or condemned but rather forgiven—by God. This teaching is similarly expressed in the Lord’s Prayer: “Forgive us our sins / for we ourselves forgive everyone in debt to us” (11:4).
Give is repeated as the last command in this series (see v. 30). By giving to others, a person will receive gifts back from God in recompense (see v. 35), indeed to an overflowing degree. Jesus summarizes his teaching with a corollary, as it were, of the Golden Rule: the measure with which you measure will in return be measured out to you.
Reflection and Application (6:27–38)
Be merciful. St. John Paul II explains that Luke’s “Gospel has earned the title of ‘the Gospel of mercy.’”8 The merciful Jesus (7:13) reveals the Father’s mercy (15:20) and calls us likewise to be merciful (6:36; 10:37). How can I better live out this call to mercy?
Sermon on the Plain, Part 3: The Two Ways (6:39–49)
39And he told them a parable, “Can a blind person guide a blind person? Will not both fall into a pit? 40No disciple is superior to the teacher; but when fully trained, every disciple will be like his teacher. 41Why do you notice the splinter in your brother’s eye, but do not perceive the wooden beam in your own? 42How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me remove that splinter in your eye,’ when you do not even notice the wooden beam in your own eye? You hypocrite! Remove the wooden beam from your eye first; then you will see clearly to remove the splinter in your brother’s eye.
43“A good tree does not bear rotten fruit, nor does a rotten tree bear good fruit. 44For every tree is known by its own fruit. For people do not pick figs from thornbushes, nor do they gather grapes from brambles. 45A good person out of the store of goodness in his heart produces good, but an evil person out of a store of evil produces evil; for from the fullness of the heart the mouth speaks.
46“Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ but not do what I command? 47I will show you what someone is like who comes to me, listens to my words, and acts on them. 48That one is like a person building a house, who dug deeply and laid the foundation on rock; when the flood came, the river burst against that house but could not shake it because it had been well built. 49But the one who listens and does not act is like a person who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the river burst against it, it collapsed at once and was completely destroyed.”
NT: Luke 8:21; James 1:22–25. // Matt 7:3–5, 16–27; 10:24–25; 12:33–35; 15:14
Catechism: the two ways, 1696, 1970; fruits of grace, 2005
Lectionary: Luke 6:39–45: Eighth Sunday Ordinary Time (Year C)
[6:39–40]
In this last passage of the sermon, Jesus teaches in parable style using a variety of vivid images. In the first, he points out that a blind person cannot guide a blind person, since both will fall into a pit. Jesus is metaphorically speaking about a teacher and disciple relationship. The parallel saying in Matthew specifically applies to the Pharisees as false teachers (Matt 15:12, 14). The same is likely true here, in view of the series of five controversies with the Pharisees (Luke 5:17–6:11), which also mentioned the “teachers of the law” (5:17). Jesus himself will be called “teacher” about a dozen times in Luke (e.g., 7:40; 9:38; 10:25). Since every disciple will be like his teacher, Jesus is setting before his listeners the choice between following him as teacher or following others.
[6:41–42]
The image of the splinter in a brother’s eye and the wooden beam in one’s own eye teaches the lesson of not judging others’ faults without first addressing our own worse faults (see 6:37; Matt 7:1–5). Otherwise, one is a hypocrite. Jesus is ruling out not fraternal correction (see Luke 17:3) but rather a critical spirit. The context suggests a specific reference to those Pharisees who are on the lookout so as to accuse others (6:7).
[6:43–45]
The choice between two ways of living, one good and one evil, is now set forth with the image of a tree that is known either by its good fruit or its rotten fruit. The early Christians used this biblical theme of two ways as a means of instruction in moral conduct.9 It is rooted in Old Testament passages that similarly contrast the ways of life and death (Deut 30:15–20), even using the imagery of a tree with its fruit (Ps 1).
[6:46–49]
However, whereas Old Testament teaching on the two ways involves doing what God has commanded, now Jesus says: do what I command. Teaching with such authority is only possible for one who is Lord, Lord, like the God who revealed himself to Moses (Exod 34:6). The focus on Jesus in these concluding verses (indicated also by the pronouns me and my) thus reminds readers that the sermon is more than a collection of moral teachings. It involves a way of discipleship in obedience to a divine teacher, so as to become like him (Luke 6:40).
A final image of two people building a house illustrates this way of discipleship and its opposite. A true disciple of Jesus is one who listens to his words, and acts on them, not like the one who listens but does not act. The first is like one who lays the foundation on rock,10 whereas the second is like one who builds without a foundation. Only the first house can withstand the torrential flood of the overflowing river (see Rev 12:15); the other is completely destroyed. With this image in mind, all disciples of Jesus can consider their own response to Jesus’ words.
Reflection and Application (6:39–49)
Building our lives on rock. Do I listen to Jesus’ words—the Word of God in Scripture—and act accordingly (see 6:47; 8:21; 11:28)? Pope Benedict XVI writes that “those who build their lives on his word build in a truly sound and lasting way. . . . Many things in which we trust for building our lives . . . prove ephemeral. Possessions, pleasure, and power show themselves sooner or later to be incapable of fulfilling the deepest yearnings of the human heart. In building our lives we need solid foundations.”11 God’s word gives us this firm foundation: “Your word
, LORD, stands forever; / it is firm as the heavens” (Ps 119:89).
1. Michael E. Fuller, The Restoration of Israel: Israel’s Re-gathering and the Fate of the Nations in Early Jewish Literature and Luke-Acts (Berlin: de Gruyter, 2006), 239–45; Richard Bauckham, “The Restoration of Israel in Luke-Acts,” in The Jewish World around the New Testament (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2010), 354–61.
2. The material in Luke 6:20–8:3 is largely absent from Mark.
3. François Bovon, Luke, trans. Christine M. Thomas, Donald S. Deer, and James Crouch, 3 vols., Hermeneia (Minneapolis: Fortress, 2002–13), 1:216.
4. Tim Gray, Mission of the Messiah (Steubenville, OH: Emmaus Road, 1998), 63.
5. David A. Fiensy, Christian Origins and the Ancient Economy (Eugene, OR: Cascade, 2014), 23.
6. Vatican II, Optatam Totius (Decree on the Training of Priests) 16.
7. Servais Pinckaers, The Pinckaers Reader: Renewing Thomistic Moral Theology, ed. John Berkman and Craig Steven Titus (Washington, DC: Catholic University of America Press, 2005), 129.
8. John Paul II, Dives in Misericordia (On the Mercy of God) 3.
9. Didache 1–6; Barnabas 18–20.
10. The word “rock” (petra) may be linked to the name Peter (Petros) at the beginning of this section (Luke 6:14). See, e.g., David E. Garland, Luke, ZECNT (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2011), 273. Despite his denials of Jesus in the hour of trial, Peter will return and strengthen the others (22:31–34).
11. Benedict XVI, Verbum Domini 10.
Jesus the Great Prophet
Luke 7:1–50
After Jesus’ teaching in the Sermon on the Plain, the focus turns to Jesus’ deeds, which reveal that he is a great prophet. His miracles (7:1–17) recall those of the prophets Elijah and Elisha, mentioned by him at Nazareth. Jesus also discusses the prophetic role of John the Baptist in relationship to himself (7:18–35). A Pharisee with whom he dines wonders whether Jesus is really a prophet when a woman anoints his feet (7:36–50). Actually, Jesus is more than a prophet. Whereas some come to faith in him (7:9, 50), others have questions about his deeper identity (7:19–20, 49). These questions, like earlier ones (4:36; 5:21), push the Gospel narrative forward in this lengthy section (4:14–9:50) toward an answer in Peter’s confession of Jesus as Messiah (9:20).
Jesus Heals the Centurion’s Servant (7:1–10)
1When he had finished all his words to the people, he entered Capernaum. 2A centurion there had a slave who was ill and about to die, and he was valuable to him. 3When he heard about Jesus, he sent elders of the Jews to him, asking him to come and save the life of his slave. 4They approached Jesus and strongly urged him to come, saying, “He deserves to have you do this for him, 5for he loves our nation and he built the synagogue for us.” 6And Jesus went with them, but when he was only a short distance from the house, the centurion sent friends to tell him, “Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof. 7Therefore, I did not consider myself worthy to come to you; but say the word and let my servant be healed. 8For I too am a person subject to authority, with soldiers subject to me. And I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come here,’ and he comes; and to my slave, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” 9When Jesus heard this he was amazed at him and, turning, said to the crowd following him, “I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith.” 10When the messengers returned to the house, they found the slave in good health.
OT: 2 Kings 5:1–15
NT: Luke 23:47; Acts 10. // Matt 8:5–13; John 4:46–54
Catechism: preparation for Communion, 1386; faith, 2610
Lectionary: Ninth Sunday Ordinary Time (Year C)
[7:1–2]
After his preaching tour, Jesus returns to Capernaum (4:31, 42). Because it was a border town with a customs post (5:27), it may have had a garrison under the command of a centurion.1 Centurions, who oversaw up to one hundred soldiers, are often favorably portrayed by Luke (23:47; Acts 10:1–2, 22; 27:1, 3, 43). Whereas those encountered in the New Testament are generally Roman centurions, this one likely served instead under Herod Antipas, the tetrarch who ruled Galilee as a client of Rome. In any case, he is a Gentile, and his slave,2 whom he holds in high regard, is ill and about to die.
[7:3–5]
The centurion, who has a good relationship with the Jews, sends the village elders to Jesus to intercede on his behalf. These are local Jewish leaders, distinct from the elders who are members of the Jerusalem †Sanhedrin (Luke 9:22; 20:1; 22:52, 66). They present two reasons why he deserves or “is worthy of” the favor: he loves the Jewish nation and built the Jewish synagogue in Capernaum (4:33). Their remarks indicate his relative wealth compared to the townspeople, but also show that Jews and Gentiles, traditionally enemies, can love each other, as Jesus has just taught (6:27, 35). In Acts, Luke will describe another centurion, Cornelius, “respected by the whole Jewish nation” (Acts 10:22), whose baptism leads to peaceful coexistence between Jews and Gentiles in the Church (Acts 11:18; 15:7–11). God’s universal plan of salvation thus unfolds through these two centurions (see Luke 2:30–32; 3:6), as Jesus had earlier foretold by mentioning Naaman, the Gentile officer healed by Elisha (4:27; 2 Kings 5:1–15).
[7:6–8]
As Jesus approaches the house, more envoys from the centurion relay a message. No doubt the centurion is aware of the traditional prohibition for a Jew to visit a Gentile (Acts 10:28; 11:3).3 Addressing Jesus respectfully as Lord (Luke 5:8, 12), he humbly says, through his friends, that he is not worthy or fit to have Jesus enter his home. He then reiterates that he did not consider himself worthy to approach Jesus (despite what the elders said about him, v. 4). However, as a military man, he understands authority. He therefore suggests that his servant be healed simply by the authority of Jesus’ word (4:32, 36).
Figure 7. Synagogue in Capernaum (fifth century AD), built over a first-century synagogue. [© Baker Publishing Group]
[7:9]
Jesus praises the centurion’s faith as greater than anything he has seen in Israel. Jesus had witnessed the faith of the men carrying the paralyzed man (5:20), so how is the centurion’s faith greater? Perhaps his faith goes beyond belief in Jesus’ healing power (even when not physically present) to a deeper recognition of Jesus’ “authority” (7:8; see 5:24) and identity. Since the centurion is not Jewish, his faith also shows that God has “opened a door of faith to the Gentiles” (Acts 14:27 RSV), one that will continue to open wider in the course of Luke-Acts.
[7:10]
On their return, the messengers find the slave in good health. Like Elisha, who sent a message to Naaman regarding his healing (2 Kings 5:10), Jesus has healed from a distance, without even meeting the centurion. However, as the next passage will show, Jesus is even greater than Elisha and other Old Testament prophets.
Reflection and Application (7:1–10)
Receiving Jesus under our roof. The centurion’s words are paraphrased in the prayer recited by the faithful just before receiving Communion (Catechism 1386): “Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof, but only say the word and my soul shall be healed” (see Matt 8:8; Luke 7:6–7).4 Do I receive Communion with a faith in Jesus like that of the centurion (7:9)?
Raising the Son of the Widow of Nain (7:11–17)
11Soon afterward he journeyed to a city called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd accompanied him. 12As he drew near to the gate of the city, a man who had died was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. A large crowd from the city was with her. 13When the Lord saw her, he was moved with pity for her and said to her, “Do not weep.” 14He stepped forward and touched the coffin; at this the bearers halted, and he said, “Young man, I tell you, arise!” 15The dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother. 16Fear seized them all, and they glorified God, exclaiming, “A great prophet has arisen in our midst,” and “God has visited his people.” 17This report about him spread through the whole of Judea and
in all the surrounding region.
OT: 1 Kings 17:10, 17–24; 2 Kings 4:32–37
NT: Luke 1:68, 78; Acts 9:39–42; 20:9–12
Catechism: pledge of the resurrection, 994; God’s visitation, 1503
Lectionary: Tenth Sunday Ordinary Time (Year C); All Souls; Masses for the Dead; St. Monica (optional)
[7:11–12]
Luke’s penchant for grouping stories about men and women is seen here. After healing the almost-dead slave of the centurion, Jesus raises the dead son of a widow, a miracle that only Luke recounts. The setting is a small village about six miles southeast of Nazareth called Nain, a journey of some twenty-five miles southwest from Capernaum (7:1). The meeting at the gate of the city recalls a similar episode with Elijah and a widow at the gate of a city (4:26; 1 Kings 17:10 RSV).
The scene is a confrontation between life and death.5 Jesus, full of power (Luke 4:14; 5:17; 6:19), is headed into the town, together with his disciples and a large crowd, while the dead man is being carried out of the town, accompanied by his mother and a large crowd. Without a husband and now without her only son, the woman has also lost her means of support. Perhaps Jesus sees in the situation a foreshadowing of the sorrow of his own widowed mother at the death of her only son.
LIVING TRADITION
The Tears of a Mother
The Gospel of Luke Page 18