We will take a quick look at the sermon in Luke (6:20-49) that is similar to Matthew's sermon on the mount. The location of the sermon is quite similar, yet worded differently. As in Matthew, Luke's sermon begins with some "blessed are" phrases. Again, they are similar, but worded differently. They are different enough to actually have different meanings. Luke goes on to parallel his blessings with curses, in "woe unto" statements. These do not appear in Matthew.
Luke's sermon is significantly shorter than the one in Matthew. All the remaining passages of Luke's sermon, after the blessings and woes, are found in Matthew. These include the sections on loving enemies, not judging, bearing good fruit, and the wise man built his house upon a rock. The order of the passages and the order of the phrases in the passages are not exactly the same in all details, but close enough. Both Matthew's and Luke's sermons end with the parable of the wise and foolish men.
Much of the extra material in Matthew's sermon is found in other random parts of Luke, some is not. Matthew's sermon appears to be well structured and logical in sequence. Jesus goes into detail about how to be more righteous than the pharisees by going one step further. Luke's beatitudes have a unique structure, but also appear well thought out. The rest of Luke's sermon is quite condensed, with no sense that Jesus is trying to preserve the law of Moses. In Luke, Jesus gives only one "do not." Luke's author seems more concerned with how the disciples actually treat other people than with what they are thinking. In his sermon, Matthew addresses religious acts of praying, giving, and fasting. Luke only addresses giving in his version.
After the sermon in the mount, both books have Jesus encounter a centurion with a sick servant. It seems clear to me that Matthew's and Luke's timetables are the same. So, why the discrepancies in the two accounts? Which one came first? Obviously, they were written by two different people. Neither author is known to history. Matthew's book might appeal more to a Jewish audience, since he focuses on the law and the prophets and Luke doesn't. If we were to take the sermon as the core of Jesus's message, would we get the same impressions from each? Suppose I had only one story, and someone else had the other, would we have the same religion? If I were to take the stories literally, how could I justify the discrepancies?
I was going back over both sermons to see if I missed anything, and I noticed something about how Jesus referred to himself. In Matthew's sermon, Jesus says, "blessed are you when people (insult, persecute, and slander) you because of Me. Luke's sermon has has Jesus saying, "blessed are you when men (hate, exclude, insult) you because of the Son of Man.
In Matthew, Jesus says he came to fulfill the law and the prophets. He does not say so in Luke. In Matthew, Jesus gives examples of things that were said to "the people long ago." He follows each example with "but I tell you," setting himself up as an authority greater than the traditions of the Israelites. He does not do that in Luke's version. In Matthew, Jesus also says "I tell you the truth" multiple times, implying either that other people did not tell the listeners the truth or that some have called Jesus a liar. Luke's version does not include this phrase.
In Matthew, Jesus says, "not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven." He then implies that people will perform miracles in his name. "Lord" here is kyrie in the greek, which has the root kurios, and means master. It is a title of respect and authority. Matthew uses passive future tense language in this passage, but Luke is more direct and present tense. His version says, "Why do you call me Lord, Lord, and do not do what I say?" Christianity often presents this statement as something god will say to all humans in the judgment. Luke presents it as a rhetorical question Jesus said to the disciples that day.
That ends my look at the sermon on the mount. Over the next few posts, I will tell you about my journey through and out of religion.
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