cheenc03a.pdf

SEWON ON THE MOUNT
hastens to incorporate an addreri of his to the disciples
(6n0. not to the Twelve).
The address opens wirh r quartette of lierdruder, aportrophiring
literal poverty, phy$snl hunger, andactual tears iir dcrtlned
to becure ~venrually bl>ir and bencfirr for di~sipler in such
resenr ?f roclnl want and otpre!rion. There beatitudes
treathe .,c,t of ,"ten, ,ymp,, .,I, the p, and d,".
troddcn, which is chnrrcreriitic of the third gospel. Diver for
example (16 r9-3!),ir nor renl ro hell rimply because he is Ach.
Yct hi3 nchcr, if IS implicd, have not mere1 aggravated his
guilt, but prored a barrier to the collduct wKich would have
raved him. Be,ter without them, is the inference. l3ctt.r
berfuw them in alms upon the needy. Lmrur. Ir this sc~ihrr
m.nsuiiudinrs Christ< arrumer, being a poor man is piour.
Similarly, in the good time coming, Jemr promises a complete
revolurion of the social order, when the dertitvre will reccive
compensation far theiiprerenr ills1 (CP the deliberate 'now'[~i~l
one murt be equipped adeqoiitcl) frt of all (Bgo). Selfcriticism
(B+I%) is the necessary prelude ta ilny nncere and
useful criticirm dothex people., If k the ~nncr rrnte of n inan's
own heart (643.+5) that derermlner the value and virtue of what
repeafcd in 3. 21 ; 'ir'[bilvl, a. 20, ~mplier certain, nor present
he contributes ru the world. See M~XFS (coI. 3098).
porrersion). As 0 27 indicates, lu. lo-26 ire spoken in the hear! Finally fheepihwe ("6.4~) in prabolic form (whlch ',night
mg of the disciples ,=,her hhahhaddrhhhd L~fhhmdiiil. They consrantl; inhabll both the memarrand the judgment; sir
rcprcrenf an impnrl~oned monologue addre-d to two general
Philip Sidnv) sums up the rrsponrlbllity of hearer?: a sti%ble
class- of individuals whom Jerur, her< 'one of the prophets' sharacfsr is built up not on mere verbal admimtlon of the
indeed, seer in his mind's eye. Among the many dirc~~lcr reacher. hut on practical obedlencs to such command. ni he
OllB?iaO,~tanding round him there wcrc prohrbly poor men
has inid down.
pmr by clrcumsti.ncel or by cioice (i XI), hungry people (6
and ruffererl (61~.9. Hut rt rhir juncture ir would have been Whatever be Lk.'s method elsewhere in dealing with
neither an appropriate nor an erhaurtire dercription to clrrdfy his sources, the Sermon exhibits traces of considerable
the dircipler nr a whole under there categories.
freedom on the part of the editor, whose general
This ir corrohoraled h). the quartetre of woes (O?>'~N), in
char;lcterirtics of style, conception, and arrangement
whish the reverse ride of the icrvre in .ketched(Ir. 58.~3, cp are fairly conspicuour in 610.45. Not merely in the
6513-16). Like the rerr of wLt is $culirr to Lk. in the
Scrmon, it ir mainly concerned wirh theprilr of authority (jib), beatitudes and woes (feine. pp. 111-120). but fhro~gh-
populrrily (16), and especially money (a4.L 33f. 38n). Thc
rccvnd wa ir unaccountably omitted in Sr. There is no woe
~orreiponding to the third bearitude, mnd the fouirh woe is
addrcrred to the dirclplei rather than to an ~bjective c1nrs
!hereby reruming w. B"d pavin ,heway for the tr?nsirior:
u. zl. I" hir rccond L~.L storLe5 l~~u,tr,tln, the
joy "It by disciple5 under pe~ec"tion (Gl,=As~rS,r, etc.),
whxle at the rme time he polntr our that popularity is not in.
variably (Rom. 14 18) a aroof of disloyalty (616, c Actr247).
Although the first three Latiruderand war are external
and erch=tologi~l, the fourth oricher adeeper note of crprience:
yet allare sonuollzd by the .%me scnrc that the religious
querdon ir bound up with the rockl, ar the OT prophets we=
ncver weary of Teiternting.
In quieter tones Jcsusnow proceeds to mddresr not the twelve
aponie3 bur the wider circle (6 I ~ZO) of his disciples or immediate
hearers (627%). parsing from the vehcmenr dcnunclalion
of prosperous and proud folk into i pcrsurrive appeal for
charity md forberrrnce among his adhcrentr.3 The iniroduction,
'Bur I r y unto you' (1AG 4yiv hj.~). wh~re 'YOU,' is
*who heal' (voic i.oiour,u), corrob0rai.r the ,m.
$:%kt hitherto in 620-=a Jerur hm been derrjbing, rarher
than addrerung, certaln fypcr pf men. At thb pomt the contrast
is almost equal lo a dropping of the voice. The ruhstance
of the dircourre, in it3 recond phiire, ir love to one's enenlies or
opponents. According to Lk., this human. dirpo5itio?ir to he
exprerred nor simply >? blessing and prayer, but hcrolcally in
(a) apatie",, ""complnlning endurance of "iplense and robbsry,
and m (6) lending money freely-so freely ,"deed, that ir 1s a
loan merely in name. Ar urd, the quedion of money hulks
largely in Lk:r mind. He r~prerentx Jewl iirccounrell~ng the
disciples in effecrirc and ~ ~ ~ ~ ? laphonrmr i f i ~ d never to make
money an acciirion of quarrelling; ~f it be rtalen from rhem,
bettor acqui~~e
than retaliate and attempt to recover the insr:
ii burrowed, "ellher money nor prope:ty 3s tobe demanded back.
To this pvrive mir, m rctive ride 1s added: molley ir to I,*
ungrudq~~~gly lent 4cv~n
to une'r cnemier. Onc docs not nccd
SERMON ON THE MOUNT
to he rich in order to be robbed ox to lend money; but it ir
obvious that rcirerated and prominent injunctionr like there
wouid lose much of their pin,, if the society towhich they were
addrerscd c~nrirfed of poverty-stricken outc*tr. This enforces
the view that 620.L is llOL illtended to describe the actual con.
dition of the dircipler round Jerur, to whom 627 f is spoken.
The third phase of the address (39.4i)open> wirh rumr laosely
=t logir; the thrend upon which Lk. has strung rhem reems to
be i s follow.. Turning from one'r duty to
8. Char- jeivi dwells on the duty, erpcclr~ly
&ristics. of reaching =nd inrrrucUon, which one owes to
the brethren. To give safe guidance (ti3g=
1.5. srgf) one must be clear-cyed oneself; to kive adeqtlare
and cump1ete aisirrrnce to the untrained md inexperienced.
out the whole, the Jewish-Christian circle reflected in
Lk'5 sources become5 visible and audible. Whilst
Mt, reflects the early church under the strain of opporition
at the hands of Pharisaic relieion. Lk. rereuls
indirectly the fortunes and hop& of Palestinian
.~~.
Christians, possibly within the Jeiusalem~church (Feine.
on. ~L*.I&./ itself. under the overbearinp rule and
bitter anin;& of the wealthy Sadducees (see Renari's
rAnLl