Leveling the Playing Field

Fr. Lawrence Jagdfeld, O.F.M., Administrator

The Gospel passage assigned for today's liturgy introduces the discourse known as the "Sermon on the Plain." And he came down with them and stood on a stretch of level ground (Luke 6:17a). If one sets this "sermon" side by side with St. Matthew's "Sermon on the Mount," one cannot help but recognize that it contains much of the same material in an abbreviated form. Why does St. Luke change the setting from a mountain to a plain?

The answer to the question lies in the intention of the writer. St. Matthew's Gospel was written for a Jewish community. One of St. Matthew's purposes was to show that Jesus was the "new Moses." For the Jews Moses stands as the teacher of the Law. Much of St. Matthew's sermon examines various aspects of the Law and then offers a new way of looking at it. Each section of the teaching begins with "You have heard it said. . ." and is followed by "But I say to you. . ."

St. Luke wrote for a different community; namely, a Gentile community. He himself was a Gentile. Because his community was not all that well versed in the Jewish Law, it was not necessary for him to explain or reinterpret it. Rather than portraying Jesus as a counterpart to Moses, he wished to show that Jesus was the embodiment of God's compassion for all peoples, regardless of ethnicity, race, or even gender. (St. Luke includes many more stories involving women than the other Gospels.)

It is for this reason that St. Luke situates this collection of sayings on "a stretch of level ground." For centuries, the Jews had distinguished themselves from Gentiles by claiming that they were God's "Chosen People." St. Luke wants to level the playing field, as it were, to show that for Jesus, all people were on an equal footing. God's son came to redeem all people, not just a chosen few.