Luke presents this sermon without the legal elements that Matthew includes, probably because his Gentile audience. The fact that Luke can summarize for Gentiles what Jesus originally delivered to a Jewish audience shows how timeless and fundamental the Evangelist saw this ethic as being for the Christian community. This view remains faithful whether the sermon is an anthology of Jesus’ remarks or reflects a single occasion. The fact of conceptual parallels to Matthew shows that if some of the particular legal examples recorded in Matthew are omitted because of their lack of direct relevance to Luke’s audience.

The sermon begins with a prophetic call—an invitation and warning to those listening to Him. The first part declares God’s grace of blessing to those who identify with Him. In contrast to this, the woes (which are unique to Luke’s gospel) show God’s displeasure on those who oppose the blessing God gives and who persecute his disciples as well.
God commits Himself to His disciples in the present age and will bless them richly in the future. The four descriptions of the righteous in verses 20-22 should not be seen as separate groups, but as elements of one portrait describing those for whom God has compassion. The blessings of God’s promised rule belong to those such as these.
We in the church today need to take a look at what Jesus said in both the Sermon on the Mount and also the Sermon on the Plain. As we do this, we can clearly see that Jesus’ ministry involved both teaching and meeting the needs of people in the here and now. Jesus did not present to His audience words only. He also showed great compassion
through caring as well. Thus, the church’s ministry today really ought likewise to reach out with the hands of compassion as did Jesus.

The blessings and woes of the Sermon on the Plain reflect fundamental ethical values of God & His grace towards those who align themselves
with Him at great cost. God knows those who are His and who stand up for Him. Jesus offers blessing—a theme that is popular today. We all like to consider how God will welcome us. However, what about His threatened judgment? A great many—trying to make Jesus more palatable in our post-modern multicultural setting argue that the themes of judgment have been added to the portrait of Jesus by some
editor after Luke’s time. The recently well-publicized “Jesus Seminar”
takes such a position on most of the texts where Jesus discusses the subject of judgment. Yet such claims are inconsistent with the certain recognition that Jesus preached like one or more prophets of old.
I ask you. Which prophets of Israel called people to righteousness without also warning of judgment? We just cannot tone down hard texts like those that warn the rich and popular that God takes note of their lack of attention to Him through their lack of attention for others.
It may seem as though I am attempting to “get down” on someone or other when I say this, but I am convinced on the basis of all of the Scriptures that the Lord does take note of our selfishness and lack of concern for others, especially when we have been schooled in the Word and yet we do what we do, and fail to do what is needful.

It is difficult for many people to bridge from the issues of persecution raised by the sermon into the many present-day cultural contexts.
However, we need to be aware that Christians are being persecuted in our day and age as never before. Many believers refer back to the days when the Romans would feed Christians to the lions. But let me tell you that in the years of 2005…2006…and 2007…more Christians were martyred per year for their Christian faith than any other time in human history. That needs to sink in. We all need to be aware that there are parts of the world today like areas in the Middle East, Asia, and Africa where persecution and death for Christians is very real.
It is certainly true in the place where Priscilla and I served in the late 1970s and early 1980s in the Northwest Frontier Province of Pakistan.
If the Lord had kept us there to serve Him, I am certain that we would have been martyred by now. Persecution is a very real phenomenon.
However, in addition, there is persecution in the West and in the United States of America. It is a more subtle, but very real, thing.
In any case, whatever we are asked to bear for the sake of our faith commitments, we need to continue to love, serve, and show mercy to those who oppose us…as well as to serve those we see in their need.

The sermon title for today is “Love your enemies; do good to those who hate you.” To exemplify God’s unconditional love (agape) in a hostile, cold, often mindless world is difficult. Sometimes it may seem impossible. But we need to remember that our Lord is the God of the Impossible. He is always worthy of trust and He needs (nonetheless) to see us as the extension of that rare thing known as unconditional love. It takes a supernatural perspective and the transformation of our thinking (Romans 12:1-3). The world is used to dealing with people either on the basis of power, utility, or equal exchange. The idea of simple, unselfish service and unconditional love are just not in vogue. When Jesus calls us to love our enemies, many of us have a hard time actualizing that Godly kind of love in the way we try to communicate with those who possess different values from our own.
What makes it hard? Extremely different basic values. Entirely and absolutely different convictions about what life is all about. We just have to hold to our convictions while learning to communicate a sensitive, loving concern. It’s hard—especially when we don’t get the kind of response we’d like to get. It’s like getting slapped on the face for doing something nice for somebody. Often when we do something kind for someone, folks think of us as some kind of sucker—a religious person who has somehow lost track of reality—or somebody who has lots of money to throw away and lots of time to waste. Listen! The world may misunderstand us, but that must not allow us to become insensitive ourselves, or to harbor misunderstanding towards them.

LOVING OTHERS…DOING GOOD…BLESSING SOMEBODY…PRAYING FOR THOSE WHO ARE OUR ENEMIES…these great things assume yet another reality. This bold spiritual step is an indication of what we are in relational contact with our outside world. The ability to be struck on the cheek means that we are in striking distance and have risked making the effort to make contact. The “fortress mentality” that sometimes invades the church is truly a form of retreat backwards, as well as, a denial of what Jesus commands from His disciples in the Sermon on the Plain. It is an abandonment of the very “relational ground” that can turn a Saul into a Paul. To give to those who beg for bread or mercy means we know where they can be found. To love as we ourselves wish to be loved means acknowledging the dignity of neighbors as made in the image of God--to love as we wish to be loved is to love in a way that does not reflect personal payback is-- to offer the world love that is based upon what WE CAN GIVE! Period.
This area of Jesus’ teaching seems to me to be a radical departure from any wisdom teaching or ethical teaching I have ever been aware of in my entire life. This area is one (for my money) that really denotes who a Christian is—as it is put into practice in the life of a disciple. It is a definite point of departure from all other kinds of thinking regarding issues of mercy and justice. It is unique to Jesus.

It is one thing to be astounded at such a teaching. It is another to put it into practice so that it is “second nature” to Jesus’ true follower.

Sadly, we cannot love so selflessly, even, dear friends, within the community of faith, much less our enemies. The huge problem in this is something like the elephant in the middle of the living-room that everybody is denying. By failing to love God’s way, especially within the community of faith, we fail to reveal to others the loving and merciful character of God. One reason evangelism fails is because secular people cannot see the grace of God evidenced in the church’s relationship to herself. To accomplish such an outreach and evidence such love means to depend totally on the Father, who will reward those who reflect His character to a needy but hostile world.

The connection between God’s blessing and our ability to love His way should not be missed. Because His blessing to us and our appreciation for Him, we are able to love others…THERE IS NO OTHER WAY. To try to approach this any other way will cause us to get lost in the shuffle.
Because He gave, we can give. Because we know the joy of receiving from Him, we are motivated to give to others. The actions Jesus calls for in His sermon apply to others…what He has already applied to us.
The deeper our understanding and appreciation of what God has done, the better prepared we will be to reflect His character to other folks.

The Lord notes that overflowing blessing comes to those who are slow to condemn and quick to forgive. A critical spirit is not open to love, since it is constantly evaluating everyone and everything around it. Judgment is to be left in God’s hands and His judgment will be correct. This doesn’t mean that the community should lack accountability, but the Lord transforms us in a way that we are driven in Him, not finding faults in others. We look to Him for help and motivation to accomplish all things in His name. Are we ready today to raise up the name Jesus as we set aside schedules that seemed important before.