Pastor and 1st Lady Mims

Mims Chapel Church

Week 2, March 8, 2026

LESSON 2

The Sermon on the Plain

Lesson Text:

Luke 6:20-36

Memory Verse

"But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil"
Luke 6:35

Key Terms
Contrast • The state of being strikingly different from something else in juxtaposition or close association.

Oracle • A message or messenger that provides insight, wise counsel or prophetic predictions, inspired by deities or occultic means.
Reciprocity • The practice of exchanging things with others for mutual benefit, especially privileges granted by one country or organization to another.

Suggested Emphasis

There has long been a debate about whether the Sermon on the Plain is a separate message delivered on a separate occasion from the Sermon on the Mount, or is an alternate viewpoint of the same sermon recorded by Matthew. It is true that, with the exception of the list of woes that follows the Beatitudes, all of the material that appears in the Sermon on the Plain can also be found in the much longer Sermon on the Mount. Some commentators have speculated that Luke edited the sermon in Matthew to compose a Reader's Digest version. But this argument seems to ignore some striking differences between the two accounts. Foremost, as indicated by the titles of the two messages, one was delivered by Jesus after going up a mountain (Mat. 5:1), the other after Jesus descended from one (Luke 6:17). In the one instance Jesus was seated on the ground, in the other He was standing. It appears that the geographical makeup of the audiences were similar (compare Mat. 4:25 with Luke 6:17), but in the Sermon on the Plain we see Jesus' attention was on his disciples rather than the multitude (Luke 6:20). The implication is that these are separate instances when Jesus delivered similar teachings.

From his earliest depictions of Jesus' public ministry, Luke continually describes Him actively teaching the masses. Immediately after his temptation in the wilderness, when Jesus returned to Galilee, "there went out a fame of him through all the region round about, and he taught in their synagogues, being glorified of all" (Luke 4:14,15). From then on, Jesus is often described as teaching the people (vv. 4:16; 4:31, 4:44; 5:3; 5:17; 6:6), but only in Nazareth are we given even a hint of His message. Christ has affirmed that He has to "preach the kingdom of God" (v. 4:43) , but this doctrine of the Kingdom remains unspecific. "Through Luke 1-6 Jesus has taught, but Luke has concealed the content of this teaching. The Sermon on the Plain now breaks this silence and reveals the message that accompanies his liberating activity" (Topel, 2001).

Emphasis 1:
The Encouragement of the
Coming Kingdom

This sermon in Luke (just as the sermon in Matthew) begins with the recitation called the Beatitudes. Such pronouncements are
in a literary form of "the oracle," which was very familiar to Old Testament audiences. Speaking with divine authority, the Hebrew prophets would make pronouncements of God's blessings (oracles of weal) and pronouncements of His wrath (oracles of woe). Jesus stood in His prophetic office and spoke over the lives of His disciples. He invoked blessing upon the materially poor, that they would know that they shared in the riches of the Kingdom of God! Upon those suffering physical hunger, that one day their bellies would be filled! Upon those that now weep, that they will someday laugh again! Upon those that suffered insults and mistreatment for His sake, that there was a great reward awaiting them! In these instances, Jesus spoke to their felt needs and promised material comfort. But then Jesus turned and invoked judgment upon the rich, because they have already had their consolation! Upon those who are full, because they will learn hunger! Upon those that laugh now, because they will mourn and weep! Upon those of whom everyone speaks well, because that is how the false prophets were received!

This is a study in contrasts. The chief contrast is between the world before the Kingdom of God is fulfilled and the world after. This present world is full of want, poverty, suffering and tears for the people of God. But Jesus announced the coming of a divine rule; when it is fully established the righteous will no longer experience these indignities.

Emphasis 2:

The Practicality of the Love Edict

The next section of the sermon traverses the same ground that we studied last week in the Sermon on the Mount: the command to love our enemies. But this time, the distinct organization of the argument gives us a different emphasis. In Matthew's Gospel, Jesus was exploring various misinterpretations of the Mosaic Law. When He was showing the overestimation of the Levitical precept "an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth," he offered the contrary ethic of "turning the other cheek" as a proscription against seeking vengeance (Mat. 5:38-42). Then, He replaced the interpolation of Leviticus 19:18 ("love your neighbor and hate your enemy") with a new edict: "love your enemies" (Mat. 5:43-48). The arrangement of these same arguments in the Sermon on the Plain makes it clearer that the rejection of revenge extends out of the command to love our enemies. Jesus says "love your enemies," and then implicitly offers the people who slap us and who take our stuff as examples of enemies we must love. There is an intense practicality to this teaching. We can easily identify people in our lives who have abused or taken advantage of us. They are the intended objects of this kind of love. We must pray for them, do good to them, lend to them expecting nothing in return! This puts the Gospel in sneakers, so we can walk it out!

Emphasis 3:

Loving Like God Loves

In some respect the message becomes a meditation on the reciprocity of love. Love can be reciprocal; it is natural to love those who love us. The common person has the capacity to love his friends and hate his enemies. But Christ asked, "what thank have ye?" How can we expect divine credit or commendation for doing what comes naturally? Accolades are only due for uncommon efforts—for extraordinary feats. The uncommon or extraordinary objects of love are either indifferent or hostile to the benevolence we show them. We are engaged in heroic, Christ-like love when we love someone who doesn't love us back. This is unrequited love. This is when the object of love has neither the capacity nor the inclination to return your love. This is when we are most like our Heavenly Father, "for he maketh his sun to arise on the evil and the good, and sendeth rain on the just and unjust" (Mat. 5:45). We have to remember that "when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son" (Rom. 5:10, NKJV). We benefited when the Father and the Son loved us although we didn't reciprocate; how can we then withhold that degree of love from our enemies? We citizens of the Kingdom of God have to emulate Him.

Missions Application Questions

What appears in the Sermon on the Plain that isn't also in the Sermon on the Mount?
Why shouldn't we expect any commendation for loving the people who already love us?
Do you think there is significance to the observation that Jesus was speaking directly to His disciples?

World Missions Prayer Points

Let us pray that we remain encouraged by oracles of weal and admonished by oracles of woe.
Let us pray God's blessing upon those who have abused or have taken advantage of us.
Let us meditate on how deeply we were loved before we even tried to reciprocate.