Page 334 - The MacArthur Daily Bible

TN_04_MacArthur_Bible_April.qxd 8/8/03 15:04 Page 315

APRIL 1
stood. Then Jesus said to them, “I will ask you 17 And He came down with them and stood
9
one thing: Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do on a level place with a crowd of His disciples
good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy?” and a great multitude of people from all Judea
And when He had looked around at them all, and Jerusalem, and from the seacoast of Tyre
10
He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” and Sidon, who came to hear Him and be
And he did so, and his hand was restored as healed of their diseases, as well as those who
18
whole as the other. But they were filled with were tormented with unclean spirits. And they
11
rage, and discussed with one another what were healed. And the whole multitude
19
they might do to Jesus. sought to touch Him, for power went out from
Him and healed them all.
20 Then He lifted up His eyes toward His dis-
ciples, and said:
6:11 filled with rage. A curious response in the “Blessed are you poor,
face of so glorious a miracle. Such irrational For yours is the kingdom of God.
hatred was the scribes’and Pharisees’response
21 Blessed are you who hunger now,
to having been publicly humiliated—some-
thing they hated worse than anything (see For you shall be filled.
Matt. 23:6,7). They were unable to answer His Blessed are you who weep now,
reasoning (vv. 9,10). And furthermore, by heal- For you shall laugh.
ing the man only with a command,He had per- 22 Blessed are you when men hate you,
formed no actual “work” that they could And when they exclude you,
charge Him with.Desperately seeking a reason And revile you, and cast out your
to accuse Him (v.7),they could find none.Their
response was blind fury. name as evil,
For the Son of Man’s sake.
23 Rejoice in that day and leap for joy!
6:12 continued all night in prayer. Luke fre-
quently shows Jesus praying—and particularly For indeed your reward is great in
before major events in His ministry. See 3:21; heaven,
5:16; 9:18,28,29; 11:1; 22:32,40–46. For in like manner their fathers did
to the prophets.
24
12 Now it came to pass in those days that He “But woe to you who are rich,
went out to the mountain to pray, and contin- For you have received your
13
ued all night in prayer to God. And when it consolation.
25
was day, He called His disciples to Himself; Woe to you who are full,
and from them He chose twelve whom He also For you shall hunger.
14
named apostles: Simon, whom He also named Woe to you who laugh now,
Peter, and Andrew his brother; James and For you shall mourn and weep.
John; Philip and Bartholomew; Matthew and 26 Woe to you when all men speak well
15
Thomas; James the son of Alphaeus, and Si- of you,
mon called the Zealot; Judas the son of James, For so did their fathers to the false
16
and Judas Iscariot who also became a traitor. prophets.
DAY 1: How similar is the sermon in Luke 6:17–49 to the Sermon on the Mount?
The similarity of the Sermon on the Plateau in Luke to the Sermon on the Mount (Matt.
5:1–7:29) is remarkable. It is possible, of course, that Jesus simply preached the same sermon on
more than one occasion. (It is evident that He often used the same material more than once—e.g.,
12:58,59; see Matt. 5:25,26.) It appears more likely, however, that these are variant accounts of the
same event.Luke’s version is abbreviated somewhat,because he omitted sections from the sermon
that are uniquely Jewish (particularly Christ’s exposition of the law). Aside from that, the two ser-
mons follow exactly the same flow of thought, beginning with the Beatitudes and ending with the
parable about building on the rock. Differences in wording between the two accounts are
undoubtedly owing to the fact that the sermon was originally delivered in Aramaic. Luke and
Matthew translate into Greek with slight variances.Of course,both translations are equally inspired
and authoritative.
Luke tells us the sermon was given on “a level place”(v.17),after coming down from a mountain.
In Matthew 5:1,it says “on a mountain.”These harmonize easily if Luke is referring to either a plateau
or a level place on the mountainside.Indeed,there is such a place at the site near Capernaum where
tradition says this sermon was delivered.

315