Chart A

Pedagogical Insights from the Sermon on the Plain

Luke 6:20-49.

The so-called “Sermon on the Plain” employs several teaching methods that are used throughout the Gospel of Luke. What will follow will be a presentation of the content and methods used in this sermon. There will also be a partial indication of where similar methods are found in Luke’s Gospel. It would help immensely to have a copy of the text of Luke 6:20-49 before you as you read Chart A.

I. Overview: major themes (content).

A. Introduction:

a. Major Themes: blessedness and forgiving enemies.

The “Sermon on the Plain” could be seen as containing only two major agendas due to the way Luke has presented this teaching moment. Content wise, it appears to be addressing two questions: what is the nature of true blessedness and how does one deal with enemies. The first is found in 6:20-26 and the second is found in 6:27-49.

b. Primary Audience: intended for everyone but especially the new disciples

Both agendas seem to be the opening “formal” teachings addressed to disciples. Luke will often tell his reader to whom Jesus was speaking, but the text also indicates that others were listening. In this instance, He spoke to His disciples, but the crowds are allowed to hear (6:20). What is remarkable here is that Luke presents these two agendas as essential teaching for newly selected leaders (or those who will be sent out or “apostles”). To be a leader in the Kingdom would entail these two agendas as foundational material for being in a leadership capacity.

c. Major Difficulty: Teaching subjects the audience does not want to hear.

The “Sermon on the Plain” is an excellent example of how to teach on subjects that your audience does not really want to hear. Jesus was saying that true blessedness is what most of us try to avoid and true judgment comes on those who experience what most of us eagerly seek. We try to avoid being poor and seek to be rich, comfortable and well liked. Jesus taught that those things we avoid hold the key to our blessedness. Then Jesus followed with how to forgive your enemies and the depth of what He meant by forgiveness is daunting. Jesus demonstrated for us how to attempt to move people to a deep and higher understanding of reality. What He sought for His disciples is both hard to do (6:27-49) and potentially painful (6:20-26).

Jesus’ opening agenda (6:20-26) cut in two directions. One the one hand, those who have suffered were apt to find Jesus’ opening words to be words of comfort especially in 6:20-23 and thus could have appreciated how it illuminated their experience and gave hope. One the other hand, if they were not poor or hungry, then these words must have seemed uncomfortable, and Jesus was aware of His audience’s dilemma. How He approached these difficult agendas is highly instructive.

In the second agenda, the key issue seemed to be to get people to engage and start doing what is encouraged here. Those who have tried to do what is taught in Luke 6:27-49 see and understand the beauty of this teaching, but such teaching is something that has to be tried before it is fully appreciated. He was modeling some very creative ways for us to get people to enter into the difficult waters of forgiving enemies as well as to consider that sorrow could be the path to blessing.

B. Theme Number One: Definition of Blessedness 6:20-26

1. Content and Form: An enchanting Reversal.

The sermon opened, as mentioned above, with the proclamation to these new, potential leaders, of how to understand what made someone happy or blessed. Jesus attempted to persuade His audience to see life differently. First, He held out a “carrot on a stick” to attract them. He promised a state of blessedness. He wanted His leaders to know when they were on the way to that position. Certain conditions would define when they were on this path (6:20-23). His second attempt to persuade was by means of a threat. Thus He defined the opposite of what created blessedness. They were to see what would lead them into a state of Woe or judgment in life. He promised and threatened. Therefore, verses 20-23 contain a fourfold description of promised blessedness whereas 24-26, also in a fourfold manner, declare what constitutes being in a state of Woe or a threatened state of judgment.

Each of the four statements about blessedness or Woe is crafted in two parts. First, Blessedness or Woe is first defined, and then each time a motive clause is given as to why the statement is true.

The disciples were told that they were blessed because of the following motive clauses: they were in the kingdom of God, would be satisfied, would be filled with joy and would acquire heavenly reward and be considered to be as great as Israel’s prophets. They were shown how to obtain this state of blessedness by being in one of four conditions: to be in poverty, hunger, sorrow or in a state of social rejection. All of these methods or states of obtaining blessedness are disturbing or surprising and describe various types of pain. In other words, suffering equals blessedness. To gain blessedness or be in a state of blessedness is to be in a state of what we would consider unhappiness: poverty, hunger, crying, and experiencing social rejection.

In contrast, to become condemned or in a state of Woe was to be rich, well fed, happy and socially accepted. These are clear positive states or states of prosperity and joy. In other words, happiness equals condemnation. The motive clauses we find associated with the states of woe are: they have received their final comfort, would go hungry, would mourn and would not be associated with Israel’s great prophets but with the false prophets.

Clearly, these are alarming verses. To be a disciple of Jesus demanded a reversal in one’s way of thinking. This was His first message to His newly appointed leaders: evaluate your blessedness in an entirely different way than you would normally think. He was challenging them to see life differently and perhaps warning them of what would come in the near future. It would lead to blessedness, but would first entail a state of sorrow or pain.

2. Approaching Difficult Subjects: A Creative Switch of Familiar Words.

Jesus approached His audience by catching them off guard. He used familiar words from the Psalter (over 15 times, “blessed are…” is found) but then used them in a way they did not expect. He spoke of what makes a man blessed but then surprised His listener with something they would not consider a blessing.

He also tapped into a common human feeling: all of us want to be blessed and all of us do not want to have judgment pronounced upon us. Once Jesus had their attention, He attempted to open His audience to the truth that rough times, sorrow, hunger for what you do not have, rejection, and poverty could be the means of bringing us into the realm of blessing.

The Psalms teach us that to do the correct thing (trust 6x; help the poor 1x; fear and obey His law 5x) or have a good thing done to us (be forgiven 3x; be His chosen people 3x or be those who walk in His presence 1x) is a state of blessedness. Jesus, as He unpacked His statements would bring up all of these conditions in His teaching: trust, helping the poor, obedience to Torah, forgiveness, being the elect and being one with Him. However, He was creative and therefore used the phrase “Blessed are…” in this case in a different manner: blessedness would come from experiences that one would normally view as a curse not a blessing. He understood what was normal, but wanted them to see that in His Kingdom even what would normally be viewed as a sorrow could be the beginning of being blessed.

Jesus was not disagreeing with the Old Testament. He was restating that if God was in the equation, “what was meant for evil has been turned into the service of good”. Joseph saw this truth and verbalized it in Genesis 50:19-21. Normally, it is bad to be sold into slavery by your own family, but the dynamic, sovereign action of God turned what was an evil deed by Joseph’s brothers into good.

What is different between Jesus and the Psalter’s use of the phrase is not theological in nature. The difference is in pedagogical method. What was different was how to use familiar phrases in a creative manner. In the Psalms, it is what we chose to do or God has chosen to do that sets up a state of blessing. In Jesus’ sermons, He creatively used the phrase to re-orient one’s conception of reality, because in His Kingdom what was evil could become good. In Joseph’s life what changed everything was the action of a sovereign God who could be trusted and Jesus wanted His disciples to understand that the same God would be actively turning all the things they feared into blessings.

This creative switch of how familiar words were used was also present in the phrase, “woe to you”. That phrase was drawn from the prophets and when spoken by them set into motion the feared judgment. It was the dynamic nature of the prophet’s words (because they were God’s words) that caused the early prophets to be both admired and feared. Since God’s words had power (God created the world with them) if a prophet pronounced a word of woe (and it truly was from God) then that speech became the catalyst of the feared judgment. The words were not the cause in some magical sense, but were causative because they were God’s words.

It was not unusual that these woe oracles could be pronounced against the believing community. What was unusual were the motives listed by Jesus in 6:24-26. The apostles were familiar with the pronouncements of woe for issues like idolatry or abuse of the poor, but not because one was rich or well liked. Such motives were unnerving and usually associated with God’s blessing.

Finally, there is another pedagogical method employed with these alarming phrases. They are not explained. They leave one “hanging in the air”, so to speak. A good way to get people to consider truths they would rather ignore is to startle them with familiar words but not fully explain what you mean. They were left wondering.

C. Dealing with One’s enemies: Luke 6:27-49.

1. Approaching Difficult Subjects: forgiving one’s enemies:

a. The clear unit: 6:27-36

Most people do not want to forgive their enemies and therefore most people do not. Jesus would give hints on how to approach such subjects and His primary method was to promise and threaten. He tried to motivate by holding out many and various types of rewards (or carrots on a stick) and by threatening with various types of coming judgment (the stick is waved). In addition, He would teach directly, then subtly or indirectly and with a variety of metaphors.

His method to deal with this difficult theme of forgiveness was to repeat His message again and again, and thus He forced His audience to see that compliance was not optional. He would also guard against someone ignoring His true intent with dodging the issue by superficial thinking. He would carefully and thoroughly define what it meant to forgive and how to do it and how extensively it was to be done. One saw how deep He expected the forgiveness to be and how to specifically accomplish it.

It is unloving to challenge people with difficult tasks and not help them see how to comply and when they are truly in compliance. Both were done by Jesus. Perhaps, the key to good teaching of difficult subjects (whether it is forgiving one’s enemies or seeing the fruitful role sorrow plays in our lives) is to be creative. The effort and work creative teaching demands are partial proof of our love for our audience. The love is manifested by the intensity, variety and creativeness of our methods. The test of love could be creativeness applied in getting the audience to step into a higher realm.

After the blessings and woe section, the next two verses open with instructions on to how to deal with enemies (6:27-28). Then what followed seems to be a protracted argument as to how to acquire this most difficult of attitudes and motivation to do so. Jesus seemed to state what He wanted of His leaders in 27-28 and then all that followed repeatedly tried to teach why one should love their enemies and how to love their enemies. This is a masterful example of how to instruct but also persuade.

This teaching is similar to the teaching on blessedness in its seeming abnormality. We do not normally react to enemies in the way Jesus sees as essential for leadership in the Kingdom of God. His leaders were to be different in very specific ways.

Following the fourfold command to love your enemies in 27-28 is the first attempt to teach His audience how to deal with mistreatment from those who are enemies (6:29-31). They were instructed how to treat enemies well (29-31) and then motivation as to why they should do so followed through a series rhetorical questions which asked the listener to ponder the path to true virtue (6:32-34). This is a subtle form of motivation; the path to true virtue or the promise of being virtuous was in handling your enemies differently. Then based on this reasoning from the rhetorical questions Jesus gave straight forward commands on the three topics brought up by the three rhetorical questions (6:35 a). Then the threefold command was followed by a two fold motive clause: a promise of reward (35b) and assurance that such behavior is following the very character of God (6:35 c, 36b).

This motivation section (which followed the how of 29-31) asked the newly appointed leaders to “think” (32-34) “do” (35a) and “know why” 35b-36). It is clear that 27-36 is a unit speaking of how to handle enemies (note 6:35a repeats 27a).

Fourfold Command is given: 27-28.

Further threefold instruction on how to forgive: 29-31

Motivation: threefold think and do, and a twofold understand why it should be done (motive clauses): 32-36.

b. The extended argument: 6:37-49

The next verses spoke of judging others and thus like the Sermon on the Mount apply to all situations. However, in the context, it would be natural to apply these instructions to the enemies spoken of above. The motive clause for not judging your enemies was somewhat different than the motive clauses given previously (in 32-36). What was new was that the blessing was centered on receiving forgiveness for oneself. To the extent that we do not judge, condemn and forgive it would come back to us (6:37-38).

Although the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) seems to bring up multiple themes with similar words or metaphors, it appears that the Sermon on the Plain progresses with all statement and metaphors functioning in the service of 6:27-28. All that follows in verses 39-49 could be seen as continuing argumentation as to why we should love our enemies.

The next section is again in a rhetorical question form. The rhetorical question functioned as a threat. Harm could come to those we lead (6:39) whereas the next verse, an aphorism, functioned as a promise that said a fully trained student emerged when the student was like his teacher. Presumably, given the context, the good student is like his teacher by following all that has been taught about loving enemies from 6:27-39. In similar fashion the rhetorical question of 6:39 threatens that our spiritual blindness will harm those who follow us because we have not forgiven our enemies. No signals in the text of these verses indicate a change of theme from the theme of handling enemies.

The next verses, which return to the rhetorical question form continued to speak of getting rid of a judgmental mental attitude (6:41-42 a). Again deductions were to be made based on the rhetorical questions. Then similar to 6:32-35 a command ensued. This was followed by another motive clause promising spiritual perception enabling one to help and serve one’s enemy (who is called a brother) in 42 b. Again the form was “think” (41-42a) “do” (42b) and “why” we should obey (42c) similar to the form in 32-36.

Next, a series of metaphors drawn from agriculture declared that a person’s character was revealed by their actions. This was a different way to reason with His audience. He asked them observe nature and in that light see the persuasiveness of His view of dealing with enemies. Again, this could be applied in a general sense, but because no new agenda or theme was brought up, it is logical to assume that good fruit was associated with forgiveness and love of one’s enemies. The presence of a loving attitude towards one’s enemies or the lack of one would indicate one’s true nature. Bad fruit, or no forgiveness, indicated a bad tree or a poor leader in the Kingdom of God. The forgiveness or love of one’s enemies becomes the telling factor as to what type of apostle one was (6:43-44). Finally, both a promise and threat was made in verse 45 that what came out of their mouth indicated what was in the very center of their being or mind (our hearts).

Again, since no new agenda has specifically been brought forth, it is reasonable to assume that the next rhetorical question is to be seen in the context of loving one’s enemies. The listeners were asked to ponder whether they were truly under the lordship of their master if they refused to do what the master said (6:46). The new leaders in the upcoming Kingdom of God must be in concert with what their master told them to do or they proved by their actions that He was in reality not their master. If you did not forgive, Christ was not your master.

The sermon was concluded by the famous parable/metaphor of a house built on dangerous sand or built on a solid rock foundation (6:47-49). Sound spiritual foundations in the new leaders of the Kingdom of God were based on obedience to Jesus’ words. Spiritual collapse was threatened when rough times came if Jesus words were not obeyed and spiritual solidity was promised when times of trouble came if obedience to His words was present.

In the Lukan version of this material it appears that only two major agendas have been brought up. How to be blessed (or to be judged) and how to deal with enemies were the only two things He had told them so far. It is not completely clear whether this concluding metaphor applied solely to the teaching on how to handle one’s enemies or to the teaching found in 6:20-26 as well. It is probably best, given the nature of Jewish teaching to have things often serve in a “double-duty” function, to see the building parable as a strong conclusion to the theme of handling enemies as well as to the theme of seeking a new way to view what a state of blessing is. Spiritual strength and safety in times of a storm were acquired by obedience and in Luke 6 the obedience took the line of seeing blessing and one’s enemies in a different light.

In essence, this was what Jesus’ first sermon was about. His teaching technique will now be explored. Before we go to look further at the methods employed it might help to review how Jesus marshaled His argument for loving enemies:

Commands repeatedly what He wants (four times): 27-28.

“If…then” form with practical application and challenging aphorisms: 29-31.

Rhetorical questions, commands, and motive clauses: 32-36.

Commands with a new motive clause and aphorism: 37-38.

Two parabolic statements: 39-40.

Rhetorical questions, commands, and motive clauses: 41-42.

Agriculture parabolic statements, with a promise and threat: 43-45.

Rhetorical question that challenge one’s identity: 46.

Two-fold parable from construction: 47-49

There is both a variety of forms used and creative repetition of them: commands, if…then statements, aphorisms, rhetorical questions, motive clauses, parabolic statements, parables, and promises coupled with threats.

Multiple motive clauses are used: be empathetic (31), it is a higher virtue (32-34), rewards (35b) they will be godly (35c, 36), it will determine your own forgiveness (37-38), you will hurt others (39), be like your master (40), do not be a hypocrite (42), be able to help others (42), your actions will reveal your soul (43-45), you must obey to be a disciple (46), your future spiritual stability will be determined by your decision to obey (47-49).

He has drawn from multiple spheres of life in His use of metaphors or parables (blindness, student-teacher relations, agriculture, construction), and Jesus used a variety of psychological approaches to motivate change (fear of judgment or promise of reward and positive, self-identity, future safety, and positive as well as negative associations). There is an intensity of argumentation here that seeks to motivate the desired behavior by several and varied means. The repetition alone in all aspects of the section intensifies the attempt at persuasion.

II. Methods Employed in the Sermon on the Plain.

A. Luke 6:20-26.

1) As was stated above, Jesus used familiar language patterns drawn from the culture. “Blessed are…and Woe to you…” were statements familiar to His audience as they were forms drawn from the Psalms and Prophetic literature. The Psalm phrase is discussed above and repeatedly used there.

The “Woe to you…” phrase will be used again in Luke besides the three times it is used here. Twice it is used in referring to unrepentant cities in 10:13, six times in a bold confrontation with the religious leaders in 11:42-52 at a dinner engagement, and finally in a warning to His disciples in 17:1-2. The form was primarily from the prophetic literature and would have been strikingly disturbing because of the ones who have the “Woe” spoken against them.

2) Jesus used a motive clause in all eight of these statements. “For yours is the kingdom of heaven” or “for you have already received your comfort” are examples of Jesus appealing to the minds of His audience. Jesus’ teaching is inundated with motive clauses. Besides the eight given here, there are 3 different motives given in 32-36 to justify the commands in 27-36 and four are given in 37-38. There are two subtle motivations given in 39-40 and a clearly stated motive in 42, a subtle one in 46 and a clear promise and threat in the concluding parable in 47-49. Jesus is appealing to rational thought and trying to persuade His audience to go against their natural inclinations. He is very similar to the great prophets of old who were persuaders. The prophets were not men who had any secular authority in the community to enforce their point of view.

3) The use of repetition is found frequently. In the Old Testament this is a devise used to emphasize a point. It fulfils the role of an exclamation point. What is vital is repeated. Here the repetition of the four agendas in the “blessed are you” were repeated in a negative form using the opposite of being blessed by being condemned in the Woe Oracle form. In 27-28 there is a four-fold command that is a creative repetition, in 29-30 there is a threefold exhortation that is summarized in 31. Another threefold repetition is found in the three rhetorical questions with the three comments (one following each rhetorical question) in 32-34. Verse 35 repeats all three statements brought up the rhetorical questions in a command form. The commands are next justified twice by repeating the motive clause for the commands in a different manner: 35c is basically repeated in 36b. There is a fourfold series of commands (in 37-38) and though they are not exactly coequal to one another were a repetition of the same attitude. In 43-44, the fruit tree metaphor contains repetition of a different sort: it moves from a general concept repeated twice followed by two specific examples of fruit trees illustrating the general principle. In verse 45, another form of repetition is found in the fruit tree metaphor by an application of that truth. Finally, another form of repetition is found in the parable of the house built on sand or build on a rock. The repetition is done through contrast: first as a promise (47-48) and then as threat (49).

Throughout Luke’ presentation of Jesus’ teaching there were certain themes that came up again and again. It is instructive to note what agenda Luke has repeated in his presentation of what Jesus taught as that would indicate what is most important.

4) The use of a surprising or disturbing statement. The four ways to be blessed is not how we would normally view a state of blessedness. Their opposite in the pronouncements of woe are just as alarming. The statements were not fully explained. There are some hints given in the statements as to why they were given, especially in the reference to time: “will be satisfied”, or “you will go hungry”. However, a full explanation of why He reversed our normal expectations and what that could mean was lacking. What Luke will present multiple times in Jesus’ teaching method is the use of such disturbing statements as a deliberate pedagogical technique. This technique seems to follow a pattern. The statements are expounded later to the disciples, after the teaching session, through the narratives that follow the large teaching blocks that contain such “glitches” or “surprising elements”.

There is a disturbing reference in 4:18-19 as to who will receive the kingdom of God that is explicitly expounded in the narratives that follow in 4:31-6:11. The four vignettes of chapter 7 help elucidate the statements made here in 6:20-26. The surprising “soil parable” of 8:3-8 is expounded upon by the narratives that follow in 8:19-53 (especially 8:22-53). In the extended teaching of 10:2-16 there is a glitch in the use of a phrase in 10:9 and 10:11 that is made clear by the two stories of 10:25-42. There is a glitch or seemingly contradictory statement in 21:18 that is expounded by the narratives that follow going from 22:1-24:49.

Jesus seemed to know He was disturbing His audience and then seemed to couch the disturbing element in a memorable form that haunted the back roads of their memories. Later, they would see in the actual experiences of working with Jesus what He meant when He used such statements. Realization was delayed and that was intentionally done.

5) The use of metaphors that have double meanings or expandable meanings. Being poor meant more than just financial poverty as 7:36-50 expanded being poor to being poor in self-esteem. Being hungry was expanded in 7:1-10 to being hungry for more food but for the welfare of others. The metaphors of the speck and the plank in one’s eye was not speaking of a literal “eye”, but eye used as a metaphorical example of perception in 41-42. It is obvious that the metaphor of fruit trees in 6:43-44 was meant to be taken beyond the literal usage as verse 45 immediately directed the application of the literal agricultural reference to the issues of the heart.

6) Immediate understanding was often deliberately delayed. The listener was forced to ponder and to wait for the explanation. The delay was not merely from the beginning of a teaching session to its end, but the delay often went beyond the communicative event. Making the disciples wait for explanations is frequent as mentioned in # 4) but His predictions about the future took a similar form whether He was predicting His death or speaking of when He would come again. Jesus thought not understanding immediately what He has taught in a given teaching setting was not only acceptable in pedagogy but deliberately and intentionally done. What helped maintain the truth in the listener’s mind was either the jarring words or jarring experiences. The jarring words helped keep the truth in the memory until experience helped the student experience what it meant.

B. Teaching on Handling Enemies: 6:27-49.

1) There is a development of thought that often arises from the repetition. Statements that are parallel enrich the first statement or clarify it. The phrase “enemies” in 27a is parallel to “those who hate you”, “who curse you, and “who mistreat you”. This repetition expanded the possibilities for the audience to relate to specific people or situations in their own lives or experience. The same expanding pattern was found for “Love your enemies” in “do good”, “bless” and “pray for”. Here the repetition helped define in a more extensive fashion how and in what manner one would practically love their enemies. “Doing good” moved the concept of love out of mere feeling to actions. In similar fashion “blessing” is verbal whereas praying for another moves us into in the realm of their inward and private prayer life.

This development aspect to parallel statements or repetition is found in the three statements in 29-30 (“turn the other cheek”, “do not stop him from taking your tunic”, “do not demand it back”) which were then summarized (or expanded into a philosophical statement) in the following verse: “Do to others as you would have them do to you”. Specific examples were given first and then followed by an overarching principle. The threefold repetition of 32-34 which was repeated in command form in 35 (“love”, “do good”, “lend”) were then developed further in the final parallel statement found in 36. Verse 36 is also a summarization and the three actions that describe how to love are extended to those who were undeserving are called “being merciful”. Similarly, the threefold “do not judge”, “do not condemn” and “forgive” of 37 is parallel to “give”. By placing the three statements about handling others’ faults in a non-judgmental attitude was seen as a “gift”. It was an act of will that was done to someone who had not earned such a response. It is simply given. It was a gift.

Jesus was using repetition, but in such a way as to demand that one thought further or beyond the original statement. The petition also seemed to keep the listener off balance. He may be able to dodge the phrase “love your enemies”, but when it was repeated in concrete ways of “doing good”, actually “blessing when cursed” or “praying” when mistreated it finds different ways to stick and pin the listener down.

2) Jesus primarily saw spirituality from an aggressive point of view. Jesus was not advocating a passive nature. One was not to be a victim to mistreatment or oppression from an enemy but was to meet it in an aggressive fashion. His disciples were to love, do good, bless, and pray for those who oppressed them. The commands moved the individual from a helpless victim to the realm of positive, deliberate action. Passivity was ruled out. The same is true with the triad of “love”, “do good” and “lend” of 32-35 and the triad of “do not judge”, “do not condemn” and “forgive” of verse 37. In fact, the aggressive stance is underlined in this particular section by the parallel of “give”. Jesus called upon His listeners to act, to take charge, and to refine relationships on our world view and thus aggressively counteracted the oppressors’ world view.

In similar fashion the choice of the words “your cloak”, “your tunic”, and “what belongs to you” acknowledged that injustice has taken place. The choice of these words verbalized the clear truth that what an enemy took was recognized by Jesus as not belonging to them. One was aggressively merciful not because one had low self-esteem or was unclear on what was right, or what was theirs. Jesus said they had been abused or cheated out of their reputation or property and He counseled forgiveness in the face of acknowledged unjust facts.

One was not to pull back but aggressively meet oppression from people who hated them or have harmed them. Perhaps, the aggressive nature of Jesus’ response was encouraged by the extensive motive clauses that promised great reward. They were to expect great reward (35b), be seen as imitating God as His sons (35c, 36), escaping judgment, condemnation and receiving forgiveness (37) receiving such in abundance (38). They would be given insightfulness to help others in their faults (42), prove their discipleship (45, 46), and establish a spiritual foundation to their lives that would withstand the storms of life that would come (47-49). It was a non-violent, but aggressive reaction to abuse, and non retaliatory, but fully cognizant of the frame of mind of one who has been wronged

3) There was some passivity in “do not stop him” in its parallel construction with the more aggressive verb “turn to him the other cheek” of verse 29. The same is true for “do not stop him taking your tunic” and “do not demand it back” of verse 30. Though all of these actions were put in the more aggressive summary in verse 31, it appears to be showing the reader that once purposeful aggression from one’s enemies has begun one should not try to undo their actions. There is a release from insisting on one’s own rights. Wanting to “set things right now” was to be forsaken and aggressively forsaken. Not insisting on one’s rights in a determined and purposeful act of will turned the victim into the aggressor and therefore conferred psychological freedom to the mistreated.

4) The “case…consequence” or “if…then…” form was used in 29-31 and 32-34 and would be used extensively in Jesus’ teaching. This form is found in the legal genres’ of the Old Testament (see Exodus 22 for several examples). In the six cases listed in these six verses (29-34) the more driving element was instruction. It partook of the following form: “case or situation” and “response or consequence”. In other words, “given this case, what should be my response?

The function of this form is paradigmatic. Though multiple cases are given of specific types of reversal (20-26) or multiple cases or situations where forgiveness needed to take place, each stood for more than itself. It was understood in Old Testament Law that the case always referred to more than the specific agenda mentioned. Each specific case or specific consequence was to be a paradigm for many similar cases. The case, if you will, was to be seen metaphorically. It was a specific example of a larger principle or attitude towards life. Using modern legal terms, the case became a precedent to be followed in similar situations or cases. This is very similar to how specific legal cases operate in our upper courts today in America.

5) One was to re-focus or divert one’s energies. Enemies hate, curse, mistreat, strike, and take whereas the one listening to Jesus diverted his mind to love, doing good, blessing, praying, offering and giving. One’s agenda or approach to life was not to be dictated by the oppressive behavior of others, but by deliberate choice one took the higher road (32-34) and moved up into the realms of the divine (35-36). One was not to judge others but divert their attention to their own faults (42). One diverted one’s mind from the present and looked to the future (20-26).

6) The use of rhetorical questions demanded that the listener use their minds. The audience was encouraged and it was even demanded of them to think. A rhetorical question is, of course, not be answered but is designed to induce the listener to think. A rhetorical question specifically focuses the person’s mind in a certain direction. Jesus believed that using one’s mind and further pondering would lead the individual to see the correctness of His position. Typical of all biblical teaching is the encouragement to think. Rhetorical questions, use of open-ended metaphors, or puzzling parables, etc. are just some of the techniques used to help people think. Those who would discourage thinking in their approach to teaching would be out of line with biblical thought.

Luke recorded Jesus using 83 rhetorical questions in the Gospel. Even when He told a story His characters used them (5 times). In fact, the first words He spoke recorded in the Gospel of Luke at age 12 were in the form of a rhetorical question. Luke recorded 65 rhetorical questions in his presentation of Jesus’ teaching and 13 times Jesus used them in responding to people in various dialogues.

In Luke 6, Jesus often worked off the rhetorical questions to advance His argument. For example, “If you love those who love you what credit is that to you” is the R.Q. and it is followed by “Even sinners love those who love them”. He expected His audience to do deductive reasoning based on the premises they themselves had created by their own thinking (32-24). One had to think out what the rhetorical question was asking them to ponder and then come to a decision. Based on the decision that they had come to, He asked them to go further. “Is it virtuous to love those who love you?” The answer, Jesus wanted them to come to was: “not really”. Once they had settled that in their minds, then He worked off of that truth and shamed them with making that type of virtue as co-equal to what sinners do. The shame was to lead them to rise higher than the actions of sinners.

In other occasions, His usage of rhetorical questions was to let the rhetorical questions stand on their own as in verse 39: “Can a blind man lead a blind man? Will they not both fall into a pit?” He did not comment further but respected His audience enough to make the proper deductions from the metaphor. It appeared that He believed they had understood what He wanted them to see and moved on.

7) The use of metaphor was dominant in all of Jesus’ teaching. See chart E for further information on the metaphors used in the Gospel of Luke. In the Sermon on the Plain Jesus used them extensively. Some are somewhat hidden in that He used words almost in a code-like manner: i.e. “poor” and “hungry” which went beyond what the literal word meant. Similar is the reference to the “prophets” which might be best understood in our day as equivalent to rock stars or athletic heroes. The prophets were seen as spiritual heroes and were highly regarded spiritually. Prophets were in a sense a code word for “spiritual great ones” or “central definers of the culture”. The words “turning the other cheek” and “taking one’s cloak” were metaphorical references to infringements made on either their dignity in the former case or their personal possessions in the latter.

There were the more obvious metaphors of “pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap”, the blind man leading the blind into the ditch, and the plank and speck in one’s eyes, fruit from trees, and building foundations. All of them functioned to form mental pictures in their minds. Effective use of metaphors created mental pictures that stayed in their minds and helped them almost visualize the truth. They would often remember such mental pictures long after they forgot propositional statements of theology

8) Jesus used both promises and threats to persuade His audience to act upon His statements. Jesus was clearly a persuader. He did not make people obey, but challenged them to change. The form is an ancient one used extensively in the prophetic literature of the Old Testament.

He wanted to drastically change their views of what is a state of blessedness in this life in 6:20-26 and how one was treat and deal with enemies (6:27-49). In His attempt to motivate proper behavior, He both threatened (the four Woes) and promised (the four Blessings). He threatened them with classification with sinners in 32-34 if they did not change but promised they would be like sons of the Most High if they followed His Word (35-36). He promised they would escape judgment, condemnation and receive forgiveness in 37 and both promised and threatened with the statement in 38 that how they gave would determine what they would themselves receive. He subtly threatened with the metaphor of the blind man leading the blind in verse 39. They could be the cause of others’ destruction by their blindness. They would harm those who they led if they did not do what was asked of them in 37-38 and with the implication that if they did not treat their enemies well they would not be like their teacher. They were threatened with being a hypocrite if they did not attend to their own faults instead of those of others and promised they would be given insight to help others if they examined their own lives (41-42). A subtle promise and threat lurked behind the metaphor of the fruit trees. They were threatened with exposure, by the fruits they bore, if the fruit of forgiveness was not present in handling their enemies. In a more obvious promise and threat Jesus concluded His teaching with the building construction metaphor. They were promised spiritual solidity if they obeyed His Words and threatened with spiritual collapse if they did not.

9) Finally, He uses aphorisms: “Do to others as you would have them do to you” or “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful”. These short pithy statements had a way of fixing themselves in the disciples’ memory. They were short and clever, but loaded with philosophical or theological meaning.