Gospel Lesson for Sunday, February 24, 2019
Luke 6:27-38
27 “But I say to you that listen, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. 29 If anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also; and from anyone who takes away your coat do not withhold even your shirt. 30 Give to everyone who begs from you; and if anyone takes away your goods, do not ask for them again. 31 Do to others as you would have them do to you.
32 “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. 33 If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. 34 If you lend to those from whom you hope to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to receive as much again. 35 But love your enemies, do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return. Your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High; for he is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked. 36 Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.
37 “Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven; 38 give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap; for the measure you give will be the measure you get back.”
Dear Friends,
Last week I did not find commentaries very helpful and this week I did. It is a good reminder that our faith is to be discussed and examined with other faithful people.
In fact, this week is a dialogue with unseen participants…. Unexamined these verses could suggest that we should not stop those who abuse us. That would be a terrible conclusion and wrong. That is not the discussion!
The sermon takes on a societal discussion: “do unto others as they do unto you.” That is the way of human inclination. Here, in Jesus’ words, is an effort to suggest that we be as kind and forgiving to others as God is to us.
This passage is a continuation of Luke’s account of Jesus’ “Sermon on the Plain.” Unlike Matthew’s version of the sermon known as the “Sermon on the Mount,” Luke wrote it as a leveling of the playing field in Jesus’s mind. Put side by side the two accounts are a discussion between Gospel writers and between the world and the Kingdom of God. Luke argues that the sermon needs to be about more than righteousness; it needs to be about a philosophy of life and an argument for the Kingdom of God.
Peace to you, Keith
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