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.

The Sermon on the Mount, part one.

I'm not ready to plunge into a study of heaven and eternal rewards, so I thought we might look at the so called "sermon on the mount." This sermon of Jesus is found in Matthew 5:1-7:29 and Luke 6:12-6:48. Luke's version is significantly different than Matthew's, plus it is much shorter. I think a side by side comparison should be interesting. This sermon is not found in Mark or John. John should have been there. Why didn't he remember it?

First the setting: The author of Matthew tells us Jesus went up on an unnamed mountainside because of the crowds of people that had been following him around the  region. This mountainside could have been anywhere from Galilee to Jerusalem. Jesus sat down on the mountainside and began to teach his disciples. Then we get the extensive lesson in the supposed words of Jesus.

On the other hand, the author of  Luke tells us Jesus had gone up an unnamed mountainside to pray all night. The next morning, he gathered his disciples and chose the special twelve whom he also designated as apostles. Matthew neglects to mention this, and he was there, according to Luke, who wasn't there. Confused? After that, Jesus went down the mountain to a level place, where there were crowds of people who were all trying to touch him. Then he began to speak to his disciples.

 The first section of his speech is called the "beatitudes" in Matthew and called the "blessings and woes" in Luke. Those phrases are not part of the text, but the designations given by the people who formatted my bible.  Beatitude is just another word for blessing. Woes are curses. Let us begin.

Matthew: "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."
Luke: "Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kindgom of god."
Luke's version appears to me more directly addressing the audience. Matthew's seems to imply that it is humility vs. the lack of worldly goods that gets you the kingdom of heaven. Perhaps Matthew wasn't keen on being poor for god.

Matthew: ""Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted."
Luke does not have this phrase, but it does say, "Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh." Matthew is more abstract. Luke is more concrete.

Matthew: "Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth." Luke does not say that, but there is something similar in Psalm 37:11.

Matthew: "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled."
Luke: "Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied." That's quite a difference if you think about it, a spiritual desire vs. a physical need. Again, abstract vs. concrete.

Matthew: "Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy." (Even merciful athiests?)
Not found in Luke.

Matthew: "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see god." Is anyone pure in heart according to god's standards?
Not found in Luke.

Matthew: "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of god." What about the warmongers? What will happen to them, hmm?
Not found in Luke.

More to come.