The Sermon on the mount, part two

Continuing on with the beatitudes:

Matthew: Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Not in Luke

Matthew: Blessed are you when people insult you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. (Matthew is being unusually direct here.)
Luke: Blessed are you when men hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the son of man. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For that is how their fathers treated the prophets.

These two passages appear to have the same basic meaning: Don't let a little persecution stop you. In fact, you've got perks for being insulted and rejected. This is a horrible teaching. It makes christians believe that if their teachings are being rejected they are doing something right. This encourages them to say and do the most outrageous things in the name of god and jesus. This is exactly the reasoning of groups like the Westboro Baptists. It's also the reasoning of otherwise good people who needlessly risk their lives, and the lives of their children, trying to give christianity to people who don't want it. This is why christians won't stop meddling in the lives of other people. They know there will be push back, and in their minds that push back is a good thing. It means they get reward points toward heaven.

That is the end of the blessings in Matthew and Luke. However, Luke contains some woes or curses to balance out the blessings. Matthew does not.

Luke says, "Woe to you who are rich, for you have already recieved your comfort." Notice how this curse is the opposite of Luke's first blessing in 6:20. In fact, all the woes directly echo the blessings. Matthew has none of it. Again, I'm guessing Matthew wasn't keen on advocating giving up wealth and position. This passage is not read in many sermons today. Why do you think that is? I've heard many preachers say god is not actually against people being rich, he just wants them to use their wealth for good and not make it an idol. But that is not what this says, is it?

The next woe is, "Woe to you who are well fed now, for you will go hungry." There are going to be a lot of hungry Americans in the afterlife.

Then we have, "Woe to you who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep." Really? Ha ha. Is Christian comedian Tim Hawkins doomed? Not only does he laugh, he makes thousand of people laugh almost daily. The guy's a menace. Stay away if you want a happy afterlife.

Next is "Woe to you when all men speak well of you. (???)  For that is how their fathers treated the false prophets." This is a set up to make people believe that true prophets are the ones that get treated badly. How many preachers/prophets do you know who are treated badly and have bad things said about them?  Those are the ones you should be listening to, if you believe this passage. Plus, you are in big trouble if most people like you. Maybe you should fix that.