Gospel according to Saint Luke, commented on verse by verse

CHAPTER 6

Luke 6, 1-5. = Matt. 12, 1-8; Mark. 2, 23-28.

Luke 6.¹ One Sabbath day, as Jesus was passing through fields of wheat, his disciples picked ears of grain and, crushing them in their hands, ate them. – Crushing them in their hands is a picturesque detail, specific to the third Gospel. The Apostles made use on this occasion of the privilege granted to the poor by Mosaic law, Deuteronomy 23:25.

Luke 6.² Some Pharisees said to them, «Why are you doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath day?» – Some Pharisees This is a more precise expression than the "the Pharisees" of the other two evangelists. The disciples' simple meal was thus soon interrupted by Pharisaic malice. "You are violating the Sabbath!" these puritans of Judaism shouted rudely at them. Jesus' friends were plucking ears of grain and then rubbing them between their hands: these were two enormous violations of the Sabbath rest, the first act being, according to the Rabbis, analogous to that of harvesters, the second identical to threshing wheat. See St. Matthew. It should be noted that, according to St. Luke, the Pharisees address the disciples directly, while, according to St. Matthew and St. Mark, they would have addressed the Savior himself. Bede the Venerable had already indicated the true way to reconcile the accounts. «Some (Matthew and Mark) say that these objections were made to the Lord himself, but by different people. Objections could have been made to the Lord as much as to the disciples.».

Luke 6.³ Jesus answered them, «Have you not read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? ⁴ How did he enter the house of God and take the consecrated bread, eat it, and give it to those who were with him, even though it was only permitted for the priests to eat it?» These two verses contain the first part of the Savior's defense. The example of David is admirably cited to prove that there are cases, as was the case with the apostles, where positive law must yield to natural law. See, in 13:11 ff., a similar argument, but even more pressing because it aims to confront the opponent with a contradiction between his actions and his words. The three narratives here differ from one another only in a few insignificant nuances. 

Luke 6.⁵ And he added, «The Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.»  – Second part of the apology. Not only could the disciples' conduct be justified by famous examples, but the Son of Man, that is, the Messiah, their Master, had the right to authorize it, in his capacity as sovereign Lawgiver. If temple service, as the Rabbis themselves admitted, far outweighed Sabbath rest, then all the more so did the Messiah's will.

Luke 6, 6-11. = Matt. 12, 9-14; Mark. 3, 1-6

See the detailed explanation in St. Matthew.

Luke 6.⁶ Another Sabbath, Jesus entered the synagogue and was teaching. And a man was there whose right hand was withered. – Another Sabbath day. Only St. Luke mentions this date. The preaching of Jesus in the synagogue and the epithet RIGHT, worthy of the doctor, are also details that belong to him alone. The Holy Fathers, relying on the tradition that makes the man with the withered hand a former mason, like to see in this poor invalid a figure of Judaism which, in the time of Our Lord, was quite incapable of building a temple to the glory of God.

Luke 6.⁷ Now the Scribes and Pharisees were watching him closely to see if he was performing healings on the Sabbath day, so that they might have a pretext to accuse him. – Here, as in several other passages, the mention of the Scribes is specific to St. Luke. Our evangelist strongly emphasizes the hostile intentions of those who observed Our Lord in this way. According to these heartless Pharisees, healing a sick person on the Sabbath was therefore a grave crime, except in extraordinary circumstances. Did not some Rabbis even go so far as to consider the action of console sick people. cf. Shabbat, 12, 1.

Luke 6.⁸ But he, perceiving their thoughts, said to the man with the withered hand, «Get up and stand in the middle,» and he got up and stood. – penetrating their thoughts : a new detail specific to our evangelist, as also, in the truly dramatic scene that concludes the verse, the words stand in the middle, then the execution of the Savior's order. Jesus wanted to give great prominence to the healing.

Luke 6.⁹ Then Jesus said to them, «I ask you, is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to take it away?» – I ask you is an emphatic expression, special to St. Luke. The question, thus posed, was entirely resolved: the Savior had shown by his irrefutable dilemma that the good omitted often equates to the evil committed.

Luke 6.¹⁰ Then, looking around at them all, he said to the man, "Stretch out your hand." He stretched it out, and his hand was healed. Jesus looked all around him, but saw no one who dared answer him. «They remained silent» (Mark 3:4). He then victoriously performed the healing.

Luke 6.¹¹ But they, filled with fury, were plotting what to do to Jesus. – A detail specific to St. Luke. The public triumph of their adversary and their own humiliation understandably redoubled the Pharisees' exasperation; but their very fury, as often happens, filled them with blindness and folly. The words what they would do to Jesus Less clearly than the parallel expression in St. Matthew and St. Mark ("they consulted with the Herodians about how to destroy him"), St. Luke intended to indicate that a certain indecision still reigned in the minds of the Savior's enemies.

The Selection of the Apostles and the Sermon on the Mount. 6:12-49. Two events of the utmost importance, closely connected. The selection of the Twelve and the Sermon on the Mount are, in truth, the first decisive steps Jesus took to establish his Church. By the former, he appointed helpers and advisers; by the latter, he promulgated the "great charter" of the kingdom of heaven. It is therefore quite likely that St. Luke preserved the historical order of events here. Moreover, St. Mark, like Luke, recounts the selection of the Twelve immediately after the healing of the withered hand.

Luke 6, 12-16. = Matt. 10, 2-4; Mark. 3, 13-19.

Luke 6.¹² In those days, he withdrew to the mountain to pray and spent the whole night praying to God. – In those days. The date is rather vague in itself; nevertheless, it suggests that not a significant amount of time could have elapsed between this event and the preceding one. – Jesus prostrate at the feet of his heavenly Father on the summit of Mount Kurun-Hattin, and spending the entire night in prayer, what a magnificent sight! What did he ask for during his long prayer? The context indicates it. He prayed earnestly for his future Apostles, that they might be worthy of their sublime calling. St. John will give us, in 17:6-9, an echo of this fervent prayer. Cf. St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, Tertia Pars, question 21: The Prayer of Christ.

Luke 6.¹³ When day came, he called his disciples and chose twelve of them, whom he named apostles: – Several of the details contained in this verse are specific to St. Luke, notably the time circumstance, when it was day, Then came the name of apostles, meaning sent ones, given by the Savior to his twelve chosen ones. Words he called It can be inferred that a number of disciples had accompanied Jesus to the mountain of beatitudes, and that they had remained there with him during the night.

Luke 6 ¹⁴ Simon, whom he named Peter, and Andrew his brother, James and John, Philip and Bartholomew, ¹⁵ Matthew and Thomas, James, son of Alphaeus, and Simon, called the Zealot, ¹⁶ Jude, brother of James and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor. – On the lists of the twelve Apostles, see the commentary on St. Matthew. The one in St. Luke is distinguished by two particularities: 1° the second Simon (v. 15) is called the Zealot, a clearer name than Canaanite of which it is probably the Greek translation; 2° the sentence who delivered him The term by which St. Matthew and St. Mark condemn the conduct of Judas Iscariot is here replaced by the more forceful epithet of traitor, which exists only in this place in the Gospels.

Luke 6, 17-49. = Matt. 5, 1-7, 29.

It is indeed one and the same discourse of Our Lord Jesus Christ that was recounted by St. Matthew and St. Luke. There are too many similarities in the two versions, both in the main external circumstances and in the ideas expressed, for it to be reasonable to assume that the evangelists had two separate events in mind. The differences stem primarily from the fact that St. Luke significantly abridged the Sermon on the Mount, while St. Matthew transcribed it in its entirety, according to its admirable structure. And St. Luke abridges according to his plan. He omits the more strictly Jewish details, which would have been of little use to his Gentile readers, or those he intended to mention later because Our Lord had repeated them several times. This is why his version has a fragmentary character here, which contrasts with the beautiful unity of St. Matthew's. Only a few phrases belong to him alone: the curses opposed to the Beatitudes, vv. 24-26, and the sayings contained in vv. 39 and 40. On the contrary, he does not have, or at least does not have in this place, the following passages from the first Gospel: Matthew 5:13-38, the entirety of chapter 6, 7:6-11, 13-15, 22-23. As for the portions common to the two sacred writers, they often appear with those variations in form that we like to note as proof of the independence of Jesus' biographers, and as a tangible mark of their veracity. Finally, let us add that, in the first Gospel, the Sermon on the Mount resembles more a judicial, official promulgation, while in the third it has rather the aspect of an exhortation addressed in a paternal and familiar tone: there, it is a code of laws; Here, a gentle homily.

Luke 6, 17-20a. = Matt. 5, 1-2.

Luke 6.¹⁷ Having gone down with them, he stopped on a plateau, where there was a crowd of his disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea, from Jerusalem and from all the coastal region of Tyre and Sidon. – With the apostles he had just chosen, Jesus descended from the summit mentioned in verse 12 and joined the crowd to give them the great charter of the kingdom of heaven. This is how Moses had once descended from the summit of Sinai, carrying the tablets of the law. Exodus 34:29. He stopped on a plateau. There is nothing in these expressions that contradicts the account of St. Matthew. Plateau can very well be understood as referring to a plateau situated, it is true, below the high summit on which Jesus had spent the night, but still part of the mountain. Such was already the thought of St. Augustine, Agreement of the Evangelists 2, 47: «one could also admit that at first the Lord was alone with his disciples on the highest part of the mountain, when from among them he chose the twelve Apostles; that afterwards he descended, not to the bottom, but to a place which is spacious, that is to say a kind of plain which was on the side of this mountain and which could hold a large crowd; that he stopped there, remained standing there waiting for the multitude to be gathered around him; Finally, having sat down and the disciples having approached, he gave them and all the crowd one and the same discourse: a discourse which Saint Matthew and Saint Luke have recorded, not in the same way, but without varying in the substance of the events and thoughts reproduced by both. See in the explanation of Matthew 5:2, how this fortunate conjecture is justified by the configuration of the Kouroun-Hattîn, or Mountain of Beatitudes. The band of his disciples and a great multitude…Around Jesus, therefore, a kind of triple crown of listeners formed: the Twelve, then the already large crowd of disciples, and then the mass of the people. The geographical details added by the evangelist show how far the Savior's fame then extended. In the heart of Galilee, where this scene takes place, Jesus saw at his side inhabitants of Jerusalem and Judea, of Tyre and Sidon, even of Idumea and Perea, adds St. Mark 3:7-8 (see the commentary). The maritime region represents the entire Palestinian Mediterranean coastline. The text here directly refers only to the coasts of Phoenicia.

Luke 6 ¹⁸ They had come to hear him and to be healed of their illnesses. Those who were tormented by unclean spirits were healed. ¹⁹ And all these people sought to touch him, because a virtue emanated from him that healed them all. Two reasons had prompted this crowd to flock to Jesus. They had come first to hear him, and then to be healed. Both desires would be fulfilled: the first, considered paramount, by Jesus' great discourse; the second by immediate healings performed for all who needed them, whatever the nature of their ailments. Note the five verb forms in the imperfect tense, which denote constantly repeated acts. Jesus was, in the beautiful words of Theophylact, an inexhaustible source of miracles. The sentence The whole crowd was trying to touch him forms a vivid tableau in itself. What holy commotion surrounds the Thaumaturge! In a moment, on the contrary, the deepest silence will reign around the Orator. On the expression A virtue emanated from himSee Mark 5:30 and the commentary. The sacred flesh of the Savior, as well as the matter in the sacramentsIt was used to transmit blessings.

Luke 6, 20-26, = Matt. 5, 3-12.

Luke 6.²⁰ Then, looking up at his disciples, he said to them, «Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of heaven. Having already demonstrated the authority of his word through these numerous miracles, Jesus sat down in the manner of the teachers (Matthew 5:1) and began his discourse. However, as St. Luke notes (cf. 22:61) in a manner no less delicate than picturesque, before opening his mouth he first embraced with a loving gaze the inner circle of disciples gathered around him. It was to them, in fact, that he was addressing himself most directly; it was through them that his memorable words would, in a few years, be carried to the entire world. His mystical audience was thus as vast as the world. From our previous observations, it appears that, in the abridged version of the Sermon on the Mount, as presented in the third Gospel, there is no perfectly defined structure. Nevertheless, one can discern certain points of focus, certain new directions given to thought, which can serve as divisions for classifying Jesus' precepts. The Beatitudes and the corresponding curses, vv. 20-26, form a first part which we will entitle with M. van Oosterzee "the greeting of love", or, with Bleek, "the doctrine of happiness". Vv. 27-38 then expound the great precept of charitywhich is preeminently the commandment of the New Law: this is the second part. In the third, vv. 39-49, introduced like the second by a transitional formula, St. Luke grouped together various recommendations that could be called "the doctrine of wisdom," because they provide whoever faithfully practices them with a quick and sure means of attaining true wisdom. – "St. Luke presented only four beatitudes of the Lord; eight, St. Matthew." St. Ambrose. This is a fact that immediately strikes one when comparing the two versions of the Sermon on the Mount. But the learned Father was right to add: "In these eight, the four are; and in these four, the eight." St. Luke truly gives "the essence, the quintessence" (D. Calmet) of the octave of the Beatitudes. How wise and perfect this beginning of the Messianic charter is! “It is a perfectly fitting beginning for the Doctor of Wisdom to show us what beatitude consists of. For everyone desires it as the end of all things. But what it consists of, and by what means to attain it, they have not the slightest idea, to their great misfortune.” (Coroner Jansenius). The supreme Doctor of Wisdom takes care to immediately instill, as Theophylact so charmingly puts it, rhythm and harmony in the souls of his disciples by means of the Beatitudes. On the outward form and paradoxical aspect of the Beatitudes, see the commentary on St. Matthew. Blessed are you who are poor…This Beatitude is the first in the account of St. Luke as in that of St. Matthew. Only, our evangelist has omitted the word « in spirit This initially gives the thought greater clarity, but perhaps diminishes its depth. However, since it obviously concerns either the poor who courageously endure, in a Christian spirit, the deprivation of worldly goods, or the rich who live detached from their riches, the underlying thought is essentially the same on both sides. Indeed, according to St. Luke, the Beatitudes These are addressed directly by Jesus to his disciples (cf. vv. 21-23; likewise the curses, vv. 24-26), whereas they appear in St. Matthew's account in the form of general aphorisms. It is precisely in this that the familiar, almost homiletic (edifying or teaching through the preaching of the Word) character of the Sermon on the Mount, as recounted by St. Luke, becomes apparent. (cf. also 6:46 and Matthew 7:21; 6:47 and Matthew 7:24, etc.)

Luke 6.²¹ Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh. – This is the fourth Beatitude in St. Matthew. Here again we note a characteristic omission, that of "righteousness," the corresponding Hebrew word designating holiness in general. A life abounding in comfort, luxury, and material pleasures is often incompatible with a taste for perfection and heavenly things: which is why the two versions amount to almost the same thing. You who weep. This Beatitude is the third in our two evangelists. NOW This is a peculiarity of St. Luke (as is also the case in the preceding Beatitude): this adverb emphatically contrasts present miseries with the ineffable joys that will be experienced in the messianic kingdom, once it has reached its glorious fulfillment. The picturesque you will laugh (Matthew. They will be consoled.) is also specific to St. Luke. Used in verse 25 and by St. James, 4:9, to designate joy Profane and guilty of worldly things, this word appears only in this place as an emblem of the sacred happiness of the chosen.

Luke 6.²² Blessed are you when people hate you, exclude you from their company, heap reproach upon you, and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man. ²³ Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven: for thus did their fathers treat the prophets. – These verses contain the fourth Beatitude of St. Luke, which parallels the eighth Beatitude of St. Matthew, 5:10-12. You will be happy. It speaks of a future happiness, but the attainment of this happiness is certain for those to whom the divine Master speaks. – While St. Luke omits the general statement of Beatitude, as found in the first Gospel, 5:10, he nevertheless emphasizes with greater force the gradation of outrages. St. Matthew distinguished only three kinds of persecution, represented by the phrases "will curse," "will persecute," and "will utter all kinds of evil." St. Luke mentions four, which he expresses, apart from the third, using new words. They will hate indicates the feelings of the heart. They will grow back It shows us the hatred, initially latent, turning into action. The disciples of Christ will be "excommunicated" from religious and civil society. Then will come the crude insults (will heap scorn upon), then, in conclusion, we will end up cursing, execrating with utter contempt, the name Yet so noble of Christians. But it will happen. because of the Son of Man, That is to say, one will have committed no other crime than that of being a disciple of Jesus: and it is precisely for this reason that one should consider oneself blessed and rejoice, as verse 23 explains. «For there is nothing to their advantage in bearing with them. But they profit from tolerating them for the sake of Christ’s name.» St. Augustine, Sermon on the Mount. – Reenjoy yourself… cf. Matthew 5:12. On that day is emphatic and specific to St. Luke: on the day when you will be treated in such an ignominious manner. Rejoice! The Greek verb literally means "to leap for joy." What a powerful expression! Excommunicated, mocked, persecuted, the disciples of Jesus must not only avoid sadness and discouragement, but they can surrender to joyMoreover, mere joy would be insufficient: they must rejoice with gladness. Your reward is great…The reason for this seemingly extraordinary recommendation. «After promising rewards, the organizer of a competition exhorts his team to a fierce battle.» Luke of Bruges. The natural man grieves when his possessions, his honor, are taken from him; the Christian, stripped of everything for Jesus, rejoices because he remembers the reward awaiting him in heaven. The prophets, those august figures of the theocracy, were not treated better in their time. Now, who would not be happy and proud to resemble the prophets? Their fathers : the ancestors of the men mentioned in verse 22, therefore, the Jews of previous centuries. Jesus expresses himself more clearly in the first Gospel: "This is how they persecuted the prophets who were before you.". 

Luke 6.²⁴ But woe to you!, You are rich, for you have your consolation. Leaving aside the other Beatitudes (the second: Blessed are the meek, the fifth: Blessed are the merciful, the sixth: Blessed are the pure in heart, and the seventh: Blessed are the peacemakers), St. Luke contrasts those he has just cited with four terrible curses of Jesus, vv. 24-26. – In Jeremiah 17:5-8, the word cursed already contrasted sadly with blessed But curses preceded blessings; whereas here, in accordance with the subtlety of the Gospel spirit, curses appear only after blessings. The Messiah only curses those who have refused or rejected his blessings. But alas!… introduces very effectively the four antithetical propositions intended to bring back to the Christian spirit, through terror, those whom the rewards promised above have not sufficiently won over. Woe to you, rich people. The world, on the contrary, says: Blessed are the rich, woe to the poor. But Jesus' ideas are not those of the world. However, if the messianic king curses the rich, it is not directly because they are rich, but because they place their complete delight, their whole soul, in their riches. "The crime lies not in judging the value of possessions, but in desiring them," St. Ambrose. Indeed, there are rich people who are poor in spirit. For you have your consolationJesus had motivated the Beatitudes ; it motivates curses in the same way. The corresponding Greek verb have is of great energy: «You possess completely, you have received totally.» They will have enjoyed on this earth the profane consolations of Mammon, that will be all: they will have no share in the holy consolations of Israel, about which, moreover, they are scarcely concerned. We will find further on, in 16:19 and following, the dramatic development of this first curse, in the parable of Lazarus and the rich man.

Luke 6.²⁵ Woe to you who are well fed now, for you will go hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep. – Here again the antithesis is perfect. Ideas are opposed to ideas, words to words. But the satiety of the flesh (cf. Colossians 2:23) will be followed by a terrible hunger, which will remain forever unsatisfied. You who are laughing now… Woe to you, for these earthly laughs, which will have lasted but a few days, will give way to eternal and poignant sorrows, emphatically represented by two synonymous verbs: you will mourn and you will weep. cf. James 4:4-9.

Luke 6.²⁶ Woe to you when everyone speaks well of you, for that is what their ancestors did to the false prophets. The world only grants its favor and good graces to those who please it, and to please this corrupt world, one rarely avoids flattering its evil passions and colluding with its guilty whims. Often, therefore, a man's popularity is a bad omen regarding his character and conduct. Is it surprising, then, that Jesus cursed those who seek and receive the world's caresses? Is it not better to be, like St. Athanasius, alone against the world? Such, as many ancient axioms attest, was also the conviction of pagan wisdom. "For how can he who pleases virtue please the people?" Seneca. Phocion (general and statesman), interrupted unusually in one of his speeches by enthusiastic applause from the Athenian crowd, cleverly asked his friends if he had not let slip some foolish thing. This is how their fathers treated the false prophets.. That is to say, they were showered with honors; but at what cost to their conscience? These false prophets criminally tailored their supposed oracles to the depraved desires of the princes and the people: it was easy for them to win everyone's approval in this way. "The prophets prophesy falsely, the priests rule under their authority, and my people love to have it so," Jeremiah 5:31. Their fathers has the same meaning as in verse 23.

Luke 6, 27-38, = Matt. 5, 39-48.

Luke 6.²⁷ But I tell you who are listening: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you. ²⁸ Bless those who curse you and pray for those who mistreat you. – The transition But to you who are listening to me is extremely delicate. Jesus seems to assume that the terrible rebukes of verses 24-26 did not apply to any of his current listeners. He therefore returns to them as if emerging from a digression that would have concerned only wretches living far from the Kurun-Hattîn. What he tells them in this second part is a striking commentary on what he will later call (John 13:34; 15:12) “his” commandment, the “new” commandment. Going into practical, picturesque details, he shows what the fraternal charity for the subjects of the Messianic kingdom. He places first what is most difficult, and first recommends to his people love their enemies, a sincere and genuine love which, from the heart where it originates, passes into the hands through deeds, and onto the lips either through kind words or even fervent prayers. To every manifestation of hatred, therefore, as this series of sublime antitheses indicates, one must respond with an act of charity, always returning good for evil. cf. Romans 12, 21.

Luke 6.²⁹ If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also, and if someone takes your coat from you, do not prevent him from taking your tunic as well. - After charity active comes charity Patient, tolerant, willingly sacrificing even her strictest rights when necessary, if she hopes to win over her neighbor through this generous condescension. On the true spirit of these two recommendations, see the commentary on St. Matthew. The idea is generalized by St. Luke: the first Gospel, 5:40, presupposes a trial about to be brought before the courts. Our evangelist also reverses the order of clothing: give even your tunic to anyone who violently tries to take your cloak; in St. Matthew, Jesus, on the contrary, desires that his disciples give up their cloaks to the unjust man who would try to strip them of their tunics. But it is the same idea expressed with a nuance. Among the Jews, and St. Matthew originally wrote for Jews, the poor man's cloak was considered his most essential garment (Exodus 22:25); moreover, the cloak itself is the most visible garment, the one that the thief's hand naturally seizes first. On both sides there is therefore a gradation, albeit in a different direction, and St. Luke chose the arrangement that would be clearest to his non-Jewish readers. Don't stop it… The recommendation is positive in St. Matthew: «hand it over to him».

Luke 6.³⁰ Give to anyone who asks you, and if your property is taken from you, do not demand it back.  – It's still charity under another of his many guises. In the first half of this verse, Jesus instills the spirit of liberality that generously comes to the aid of all, without making distinctions between persons, though according to the measures of prudence; then, in the second half, he returns in a general way to the Christian support of injustices. See a variant in Matthew 5:42. Don't claim it … should obviously not be taken in an absolute way, any more than most of the evangelical advice given here by the divine Master: at least one should not claim what is rightfully one's own with excessive rigor, which would cause harm charity.

Luke 6.³¹ Do to others as you would have them do to you. – St. Luke established at this point the beautiful “golden rule” of charitywhich appears in the first Gospel only much later, 7:12, and according to a different sequence. But this great principle of brotherly love fits very well here amidst practical injunctions (vv. 27-35) which it links together like a graceful and strong knot.

Luke 6.³² If you love those who love you, what recognition will you receive in return? The fishermen They love those who love them. This verse and the two following contain three parallel arguments, intended to prove that purely human, that is, selfish, charity is utterly worthless before God. Within this compelling argument lies a subtle critique of kindness purely natural, and, consequently, a strong motivation to charity supernatural. – 1° When we limit ourselves to loving those who love us, what is our merit? The answer is not given directly, but the final sentence, the fishermen Also…, which is repeated three times like a mournful refrain, indicates this sufficiently. – We read in St. Matthew: «Do not even the tax collectors do the same?» The first evangelist preserves in Jesus’ words the Jewish character they originally had; St. Luke replaces the particularistic ideas of tax collectors and pagans (the latter with a touching concern for the feelings of his readers) with the general notion of sinners.

Luke 6.³³ And if you do good to those who do good to you, what recognition will you receive? The fishermen They do the same. – Through a clear gradation (cf. v. 27), Jesus moves from the feelings of the heart to the actions inspired by affection, and he reasons about them in the same way. This detail is unique to St. Luke; likewise, that of v. 34. St. Matthew 5:47 has another example drawn from greetings between friends.

Luke 6.³⁴ And if you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, expecting to be repaid in full. – A new level of complexity: after general benefits, a benefit of a particular nature, which always comes at a cost, even in the scenario envisioned by Our Lord, so attached is man to material wealth. Moreover, those who lend always run some risk, and selfless services are rare. In order to receive the same in return, that is to say the same service on occasion, or the exact reimbursement of the sum loaned, so that they lose absolutely nothing.

Luke 6.³⁵ As for you, love your enemies, do good and lend without expecting anything in return and your reward will be great and you will be children of the Most High, who is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked. – To the selfish conduct he has just exposed and condemned in verses 32-34, Jesus now contrasts the conduct his disciples should adopt. He uses the same terms as before and follows the same progression: Love your enemies, and not only those who love you, v. 32; Do good… without expecting anything in return, And not only when you expect some other benefit in return for your own; lend without hope of gain or recovery. That is the conduct of a true Christian. And your reward will be great. This generous conduct of Christians will be rewarded here on earth; but it will be rewarded even more in heaven. You will be the children of the Most HighAnother valuable reason for encouragement. cf. Matthew 545. To act in this way is to show, by one of those rare signs of resemblance, that one is a child of the Most High, for He too is good to both the ungrateful who show no appreciation for His blessings, and to sinners who openly abuse them. In the first Gospel, the description of kindness The divine is expressed in a more concrete way: “He makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous” (Matthew 5:45). The name of Most High The use of the term "Lord" is proper to St. Luke. cf. 1, 32, 35, 76. The other evangelists never use it, and this is the only place where Our Lord himself gives it to his Father.

Luke 6.³⁶ Therefore be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. – A great principle of charity, similar to that of verse 31, but of a significantly higher perfection. Matthew 5:48 expands on this idea by saying "perfect" instead of "merciful." Eastern Christians have always liked to attach the epithet "merciful" to the name of God.

Luke 6.³⁷ Do not judge and you will not be judged, do not condemn and you will not be condemned, forgive and it will be forgiven you. ³⁸ Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.» These verses correspond to Matthew 7:1 and 2; but St. Luke far surpasses him in the richness of detail. Two things are first forbidden by Our Lord, then two other things are strongly recommended. To each of his commands, whether negative or positive, he attaches a sanction, drawn from their very nature and quite capable of obtaining their perfect fulfillment. Don't judge This is the first of the negative injunctions. To those who remain faithful to it, Jesus promises that the sovereign Judge will treat them with such mercy that they will somehow escape his dreadful judgments. – Second negative injunction: Do not condemn…To condemn is more than to judge, since it is to pronounce a sentence that declares the accused guilty. By avoiding unjustly condemning our brothers, we therefore prepare ourselves for a favorable judgment from God. Great encouragement. – First positive recommendation: Forgive meIn Greek, literally: untie and you shall be untied. A beautiful metaphor to express forgiveness. – Give. The second positive recommendation, which is then elaborated upon in a vivid description, is: a good measure… What an emphatic accumulation of epithets! But the idea of the Lord's infinite generosity is admirably conveyed through these repetitions. The first epithet is used in the popular expression "to take the right measure"; the following three are figurative; they are borrowed from the measuring of grain or similar seeds, as is still practiced in some markets today. In a hurry : with his hands, if necessary with his feet, the one who measures presses the grains firmly so that he holds a greater quantity. Shaken The object used for measuring is shaken for the same purpose. Finally overflowing The measure is filled so completely that it overflows on all sides. We will pour into your breast. The image is even more oriental than before. The breast, by metonymy, refers to the part of the garment that covers the chest and stomach; one could say, in your apron. The wide, flowing robe of the Orientals forms vast folds above the waist, which serve as pockets and can hold objects of considerable size. The subject of will The exact date is not yet determined, but the idea is clear nonetheless. It is God who, through his heavenly ministers, will measure his blessings upon the chosen with a munificence worthy of him. The same measure… Jesus concludes his four exhortations of vv. 37 and 38 with the dominant principle that had served as their basis: you will be treated as you have treated others.

Luke 6, 39-49 = Matt. 7, 3-27.

In this last part, the thoughts do not follow each other with as clear a sequence as in the others; the connection is even sometimes obscure. This should not surprise us, since St. Luke is abbreviating and summarizing. He has therefore simply placed ideas side by side in several places, ideas which follow a perfect order in the writing of St. Matthew.

Luke 6.³⁹ He made this comparison to them: «Can a blind man lead a blind man? Will they not both fall into the pit?” – He made them… a transitional formula, as in verse 27. The pronoun their represents the mass of listeners and more specifically the disciples. cf. v. 20. This comparison. This proverb does not appear in the first Gospel; but St. Matthew quotes it later, in 15:14, concerning the Pharisees, whom Jesus compares to blind men leading other blind men. This proves that Our Lord uttered it on various occasions. It expresses in a vivid way this general truth, that whoever undertakes to guide others must first be very enlightened himself: it is therefore an excellent rule of wisdom.

Luke 6.⁴⁰ The disciple is not above the master, but every disciple, when his instruction is complete, will be like his master. – A new proverb, intended to strengthen the previous one. St. Matthew also mentions it elsewhere, 10:24-25, slightly modified, to announce the opposition and persecutions that awaited him. Christians in the world. Here, it means that the disciple, recognizing the superiority of his master, naturally takes him as his model; but, if the master is blind, what will become of the poor disciple? The disciple will put all his soul, all his efforts, into becoming very like his master.

Luke 6.⁴¹ Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and do not notice the plank in your own eye? ⁴² Or how can you say to your brother, «Brother, let me take the speck out of your eye,” when you yourself do not see the plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye. – cf. Matthew 7:3-5 and the commentary. The two versions coincide almost verbatim at this point. Why are you watching… ? Requires careful and prolonged observation; Don't you notice... This verb is used primarily in a moral sense to describe a turning of the soul upon itself; to see clearly, to distinguish distinctly from one end to the other, completely. These verbs are evocative and have a striking effect in this short, ironic drama, admirably described. Jesus could not have instilled with greater force the rule of practical wisdom that emerges so clearly from verses 41 and 42.

Luke 6.⁴³ Indeed, there is no good tree that bears bad fruit, nor a bad tree that bears good fruit., ⁴⁴ Each tree is recognized by its fruit. You don't pick figs from thorns, you don't cut grapes from brambles. ⁴⁵ A good man brings good things out of the good treasure of his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil treasure of his heart, for the mouth speaks what the heart is full of. – cf. Matthew 7:15-20, and 12:33-35. There is, says the Divine Orator here, a striking analogy between the laws that govern the plant kingdom and those that govern the realm of souls. The nature or value of a tree is recognized by its fruit. Good fruit, good tree; bad fruit, bad tree: the fig on the fig tree and nowhere else, the grape only on the vine. The same is true of morality for humankind. A good person has a good treasure in their heart, from which only good things flow; on the contrary, the treasure of a bad person is bad, and bad things naturally come from it. Compare this rabbinic detail: «Rabbi Johanan said to his disciples: Go and see what the right course of conduct is to which a person should adhere. Rabbi Eliezer said: It is a good eye (generosity). Rabbi Joshua said: It is being a good companion.» Rabbi Joseph said: It is to be a good neighbor. Rabbi Simeon said: It is to provide for the future. Rabbi Eleazar said: It is a good heart. He said to them: I prefer the words of Eleazar son of Aruch to yours, for your words are contained in his. He also said to them: Go and see what evil way a person must avoid. Rabbi Eliezer said: It is an evil eye (greed). Rabbi Joshua said: It is to be a bad companion. Rabbi Joseph said: It is to borrow and not repay. Rabbi Eleazar said: It is a bad heart. He said to them: I prefer the words of Eleazar to yours, for your words are contained in his. (Pirkei Avot 2:9) Now, adds Our Lord, it is through the mouth that the state of a person's heart is revealed. Grapes on brambles… St. Luke mentions the bramble instead of the thistles or thorny herbs of the first Gospel. 

Luke 6.⁴⁶ Why do you call me Lord, Lord, and do not do what I say? – The peroration of the discourse begins at this point. The Savior first protests vigorously against these men who, judging by the words full of devotion that one hears coming from their mouths on every occasion (Lord (repeated twice emphatically), would be his most fervent disciples, but who contradict their fine words by their anti-Christian conduct. "The path to the kingdom of God is obedience and not the solemn pronouncement of vows," Ordinary Gloss, or, as St. Hilary says, "Be executors of the word and not merely hearers." James 1, 22. cf. Matthew 7:21 and the commentary.

Luke 6.⁴⁷ Everyone who comes to me and listens to my words and puts them into practice, I will show you what he is like. – Following the indignant protest that precedes it, Jesus illustrates, through two vivid descriptions (vv. 47-49), the two categories of people who come to hear the Gospel preaching. See commentary on Matthew 7:24-27. The introduction, formed by verse 47, is more complete and solemn than in the first Gospel. Who comes to me And I'll show you who he looks like. These are details specific to St. Luke.

Luke 6.⁴⁸ It is like a man who, building a house, dug deep beforehand and laid its foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent crashed against that house and could not shake it, because it had its foundation on rock. – The first image represents those who heed the word. The earnest listener to the divine word builds the edifice of his perfection on unshakeable foundations: thus, he has no need to fear the storms stirred up against him by hell, the world, and his own passions. St. Luke admirably highlights, through this dramatic description unique to him, the care taken by the builder to establish his house on a solid base. Without fearing the effort, he dug into the rock, then he dug even deeper. This was, moreover, the custom in Palestine: some foundations reached down to the bedrock as close as a meter below the surface. A flood occurred…St. Matthew, in turn, provides a more vivid description here. St. Luke, however, employs several distinctive expressions, both elegant and powerful, to describe the flood and the terrible impact of the waves against the house. «Could not shake it» perhaps conveys the impotence of the raging waves better than St. Matthew’s simple «did not yield.» The conjecture that a sudden storm near the end of the Sermon on the Mount inspired Our Lord with the images of his peroration is false.

Luke 6.⁴⁹ But the one who listens and does not put into practice is like a man who built his house on the ground without a foundation; the torrent came and struck it, and immediately it collapsed, and great was the ruin of that house.» – Second picture, to represent purely passive listeners, who make no effort to practice the divine word. They too are building a structure; but their laziness causes them to simply lay its foundations on the ground: without foundations, adds St. Luke emphatically, in order to better highlight the contrast between them and the builders of verse 48. Also, when the waters that the storm poured like a whirlpool onto the land rushed like an irresistible river against the poor house, it collapsed at the first impact. Right away is a peculiarity of St. Luke. – «It is by acting,» says St. Augustine, “that one confirms and consolidates what one has heard.”.