Luke 6:17

Luk_6:17; Luk_6:19

And the whole multitude sought to touch Him: for there went virtue out of Him, and healed them all

Christ the fountain of health

The subject will be found to involve two considerations; what is the virtue which proceeds out of Christ?

by what means is it appropriated to men?

I. We begin by observing, that in addition to the superiority of our Lords miracles in point of number over those of every other, there is also a great distinction in the manner of their achievement. The apostles, for example, nowhere pretend to have accomplished the prodigies which they performed by their own ability. The words of healing are, In the Name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk. The distinction to which we advert is very obvious; the miracles of the apostles were wrought by an agency not their own; their touch, their voice, their shadow, had no inherent power to do cures; from Christs own person went out immediately the virtue which healed them all. The difference is remarkable. It is as though the indwelling Godhead did so impregnate the human flesh with life-giving energy, that no sickness or weakness could remain after contact with that immaculate frame. There resided in that sinless body a fulness of grace. It was, as it were, a spring of life to the bodies of others; the virtue dwelt in it, and was drawn forth by an act of faith in the diseased. Such we conceive to be the original meaning of the text; and thus understood, it will be found accurately to describe also the influence of Christ upon ourselves. The fact is not only that God chose to regard the offspring of Adam as iniquitous, but that they really were so. Thus, we repeat, it is not sufficient to consider that Adams fault placed his descendants in the position of criminals; it did really and actually render them corrupt. And what has Christ done for the vast family of man thus contemplated? We reply, in the words of the text, virtue goeth out of His body to heal them all. The Redeemer, we are told, took not on Him the nature of angels, but of men. Christ Jesus, the Second Adam, is set forth to be the Restorer of human nature. He removes the inherent disease, He destroys the natural defilement. From Him a new period commences; to all His disciples He is the new Stock, the Root, the Stem.

II. It remains that we very briefly allude to THE MEANS BY WHICH THE HEALING VIRTUE WHICH RESIDES IN CHRIST, IS APPROPRIATED TO MAN. Now as respects the communication of the healing virtue of Christs Manhood to our souls, we hesitate not to place it in the two Sacraments of Baptism and the Lords Supper. These are between us and the Second Adam, what fleshly procreation is between us and the first Adam. There is healing virtue in the Second Adam; we obtain a share of it through our union with Him by His appointed ordinances. By the Sacraments we are spiritually connected with Christ, as closely as we are carnally connected with Adam and Eve. We are members of His body, of His flesh, and of His bones. In Him was life, but how was this life to be communicated to others? In Him was purity, but how should it be transmitted? He was the Being set forth to make all things new, but how was a connection to be wrought out between Him and us t Indeed not by any carnal alliance, but in a new and living way. Through these Sacraments, duly administered and faithfully taken, virtue goeth out of Him for the healing of the nations. And in connection with the present subject of discourse, it seems appropriate to remind you, in conclusion, that whilst our Lords Incarnation as a whole is full of healing virtue for all generations of believers, so are the several events of His life, taken separately, imbued with a similar efficiency. We have been very much struck with that most solemn part of the Litany, in which we call upon God the Son to deliver us, making mention of the various pains which He endured. By Thy holy Nativity and Circumcision; by Thy Baptism, Fasting, and Temptation; and then, in deeper and more thrilling strain, By Thine Agony and Bloody Sweat; by Thy Cross and PaSsion; by Thy precious Death and Burial, Good Lord, deliver us. It is probable that by many the passage is only regarded as an adjuration to the Second Person to be merciful unto us, by the strong plea of what He has done and suffered. The Church reminds her Lord, if we may so speak, of His own sorrows, and by the thought of them claims His grace. But is this all? We think not. We believe there is implied in the awful supplication the truth, that every one of the Redeemers acts, one by one recalled, is full of its own peculiar virtue. Thus in praying to be saved by His Nativity, we pray that we may be born anew unto holiness. The Collects for the days on which these single acts of Christ are commemorated, teach us what appropriate power belongs to each act. Turn to the Collect of the Circumcision. We find the mention of Christs Circumcision connected with the true circumcision of our spirits, the mortification, i.e., of our hearts and all our members. The Fasting and Temptation of the Saviour, as brought before us on the First Sunday in Lent, are to enable us to subdue our flesh to the Spirit. His Cross and Passion are to convey to us the grace of patience like His own. His Burial is to qualify us to be buried with Him, that through the grave and gate of death we may pass to our joyful resurrection. And thus are we to regard everything that He did; every act of His is as it were sacramental in its nature, associated with its own appropriate grace. You will at once see what a stupendous importance is thus attached to the least action of Christ. Here, then, is the Fountain of our life; there is no sin so great that Christ cannot cleanse; no weakness so inherent which He will not strengthen. Neither time nor distance can set bounds to those health-giving streams which flow from Him. (Bishop Woodford.)

Healing for the soul

I. Then, as it respects the soul of man, THERE IS A DISEASE WHICH IS COMMON TO US ALL; AND THE ANALOGY BETWEEN THE SOUL AND BODY MUST HERE BE MANIFEST TO THE MOST SUPERFICIAL OBSERVER. In the great majority of instances, you need not inform even a child of the existence in any individual of bodily disease; for, however incompetent he may be to investigate the cause, he is perfectly familiar with the effect. Sometimes the morbid affection disfigures the countenance, sometimes it distorts the shape, sometimes it impedes the motion and paralyzes the limbs; in one it affects the utterance, in another it obscures the faculties of the mind, in a third it is betrayed at intervals by convulsive starts and spasms of sudden agony, in a fourth it antedates the halting step and wasted form of age ere yet the noon of life is past, and causes its victim to walk abroad amongst the living, impressed in their sight with the ghastly lineaments of death. And are not the effects, or symptoms, of the spiritual disease precisely similar? But here, again, an important feature in the analogy is presented to us, by the expedients which men employ, whether of business, or pleasure, or intemperance, or excess, in order to stifle thought. These things act upon the soul like opiates on the body; they mitigate the present suffering, but they aggravate the symptoms of the disease; they obscure the perception of danger, but they enhance and accelerate the danger itself. Under this head, moreover, we may learn another lesson, namely, that a knowledge of the disease is a prerequisite to the seeking of the remedy. They who brought to the Lord Jesus all that were diseased, laid the sick before Him in the streets; but neither would the sick have consented to be brought, had they not been conscious of the malady within, nor would their friends and kindred have brought them, had they not discerned the symptoms of it, as developed and exhibited without.

II. Such, then, being the disease, WHAT, IN THE NEXT PLACE, IS THE REMEDY? NOW, there can be no reasonable doubt, that on the occasion to which my text refers, and on other similar occasions, many sad effects of human infirmity and suffering, not a few of them incurable, and acknowledged to be so, by all human skill, because inaccessible to all known remedies, were exhibited in the presence of the Lord. We must set ourselves in right earnest to apply to the throbbing festering conscience the balm of Christs atonement, and to embody in the life the features of Christs example.

III. Since, then, THE REMEDY FOR OUR SPIRITUAL DISEASE IS JUST AS UNIVERSAL AS THE EXTENT OF IT--for all that believe are justified freely by Gods grace--and since it is also unfailing in its efficacy, for the blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth from all sin; the narrative of the context is to teach us, next, the process of its application, In every ease they did what they could; and we should at least learn, from their example, this lesson, that what we can do we are not to leave undone.

IV. it only remains, then, that we complete our view of this most instructive and interesting analogy, by looking at THE RESULT OF THE APPLICATION OF SUCH A REMEDY--that remedy being the blood of Christ applied by the prayer of faith, or, if you will, the prayer against unbelief. What this will be, we may gather from the narration of either evangelist, which speaks of recovery at once universal and complete. As many as touched Him, said St. Matthew, or rather, as the margin reads, as many as touched it (that is, the hem of the garment), were made whole; and as you have heard by St. Luke in the text, though there was a multitude around Him, there went virtue out of Him, and healed them all. If the sick had not come, or had not been brought to Jesus, they would not have been healed; many blind were there in Israel, many lame, many palsied, many lepers, many demoniacs, many lunatics, who did not come, and therefore were not healed. But the amount of our individual responsibility depends upon the amount of our individual knowledge and of our individual opportunity; and if we know that all were healed who did come, or who were even brought, in faith, what greater encouragement and inducement can we desire for ourselves? (T. Dale M. A.)

Christ healing bodily disease emblematic of the Churchs functions

The whole multitude sought to touch Him; for there went virtue out of Him, and healed them all.

1. Familiar as this statement must be to us, there is something in it truly wonderful and most worthy of admiration--I mean, that there is in the gospel this universal power to adapt itself to man. It constitutes perhaps its most wonderful and distinctive feature. We shall search in vain in any other system for its resemblance. In many systems, more or less of human invention--in systems of philosophy, so called--we may find attempts to remedy some of the evils under which man labours; one applies itself to one kind, and another to another; but often the remedy for one is fatal to the other. But the gospel is a universal remedy. In a word, there is truly no form of evil which the gospel of Christ does not meet and rectify; no want which it does not supply; no real good which it does not impart.

2. And scarcely less remarkable is it to observe how it takes hold of all the natural forms of character, and turns them to due account; how it enlists on the side of what is good even the natural temperaments of men. The burning zeal of a Peter, the restless energy of a Paul, the fervour and impetuosity of a John and James--it takes them all, sanctifies them all, concentrates them all on one holy end. These, and such like human dispositions, left to their natural courses, would have branched off into various forms of evil. But lo! they are touched by Gods Spirit from above, the gospel pours down upon them its sanctifying influences, turns the dross into gold, and makes what would have been natural imperfections (to say the least) to become noble features in the Christian character. Such, my brethren, is the power of the gospel; such is the virtue which goes out of Christ to heal. For if we inquire how the gospel possesses and exerts this influence, the reply assuredly is--By making Christ known to us. And here, too, the incident before us is strikingly emblematic. The thronging multitude were healed by touching Christ; and to us the gospel is made the power of God unto salvation, simply by bringing us, so to speak, into spiritual contact with Christ. The power of His blessed sacraments consists in this: holy baptism uniting us to Christ and giving us spiritual life in Him--the holy Eucharist sustaining that life through the communion of thebody and blood of Christ. And so the Word of the gospel is effectual to its appointed end by testifying of Christ. He is the centre and the source of all its blessings.

3. But now let us carry this emblematic style of our blessed Lords teaching one step further. If we study the character of His ministry, there is no feature in it which we shall find more prominent than this: that it bore on its very front the aspect of mercy, and this not only in respect to the salvation of the soul from sin and misery, but also in a compassionate care for the bodily necessities of men. And now, my brethren, let us consider the application of this matter to ourselves. It is the high and holy prerogative of the Church to be on earth the representative of her Divine Master. Her highest and most glorious function--nay, we may say her only function--is to carry on and perfect the work of mercy which He began; ofspreading the knowledge of salvation through the world, and of blessing all who come within the influence of the Churchs sphere. We all know, from the history of the Acts of the Apostles, how well the early Church sustained this blessed office; not only by working miracles while that power lasted, but also by her self-denying charity--by a common fund, abundantly supported by the liberality of the first Christians, for the relief of every want and of every woe, to which our fallen human nature is subject. Wherever the Church was planted, there a fountain of mercy and goodness was opened; there a tree was planted, whose leaves were for the healing of the nations. It brought, indeed, richer mercies than the natural eye could see or the natural ear could hear--salvation for the immortal soul, deliverance from the bands of sin and death, and the glorious liberty of the children of God; but in its zeal for the salvation of the immortal soul, it did not overlook the transient sufferings of the perishing body. It did not wait until the blind eyes and the dull hearts could perceive and appreciate those higher blessings which it had to bestow; but it accompanied the Word of grace with acts of more ostensible mercy. (W. Dodsworth, M. A.)

Christs healing power

Miracles, according to the records of Christs life, were of most frequent occurrence, not occasional. They were the simple details of His life, coming as naturally from Him as acts of kindness from the benevolent heart or gifts from the charitable. It was thus He expressed His sympathy with the poor and suffering. In this way Christ showed His message of mercy to man, and revealed the nature of that redemption of the race which He began by living and dying for the world. In no other way could He so deeply have impressed the world with the distinctive character of His redeeming power.

I. CHRISTS POWER TO HEAL THE SOUL IS IN HIMSELF ALONE. It is not easy to understand this--that Christ, and Christ alone, is the source of all healing. We can understand that a doctrine received by the mind shall restore the mind to health; or that the heart may find rest in some object on which it shall place its affections; but that it is only from Christ that this healing power comes--why, it is hard to conceive. Men cannot apprehend the truth of God, even as Jesus reveals it, without Divine aid. The reason is strong, the will vigorous, the understanding clear; but there is need of the power of Gods Spirit, and that can only come through our personal touching of Christ. Power goes forth from Him--as the soul receives the Holy Ghost.

II. CHRISTS POWER TO HEAL IS NOT EXERCISED INDISCRIMINATELY, BUT ONLY UPON THOSE WHO GO TO HIM. There are always many who see Him, and yet do not know Him, and are not healed by Him? Why? Because they do not seek to touch Him. You must go to Him, not trust a mothers prayers--you must go yourself. Observe here, too, that the touch was effectual; touch His body and bodily disease was cured, because it was the touch of faith. Not the accidental touch, but the touch on purpose; not the touch which may be put forth out of curiosity, nor to escape the evil consequences of your sin; but the touch of the soul that wants to be healed.

III. CHRISTS POWER IS EXERCISED TO HEAL ALL WHO TOUCH HIM. None were disappointed. None were too ill, too diseased. There was no asking, How came you in this state? Your own faults, &c. (H. W. Butcher.)

The philanthrophy of Christianity

The power which Jesus Christ exercised over physical disease was a guarantee that as long as He lived He would be surrounded by great multitudes of people. Those who would never go to Him for spiritual gifts would be sure to find Him in the time of physical pain and fear. It is thus that, even now, God binds the human race to Himself. They hunger and thirst; they are in sorrow and great distress; times of impoverishment and desolation overtake them; and under such circumstances the better nature rises and yearns for protection and comfort. The Church should create for itself a large sphere of practical service, because there are many who cannot understand the metaphysics of Christianity who may be touched by its philanthropy. Jesus Christs plan was to take hold of human nature as it chose to present itself to his attention; hence we find him not only speaking essential truths to Nicodemus, but attending to the bodily necessities of those who had no understanding whatever of the spiritual kingdom which He came to establish. (Dr. Parker.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Luk 6:17-19. And he came down with them, &c. — After he had acquainted these twelve persons with his design, and had given them such private instructions as he judged necessary to render their attendance on him subservient to the execution of their important office, he came down from the mountain with them, and stood in the neighbouring plain; where were assembled, not only the rest of his disciples, but a great multitude of people collected from parts at a great distance from each other, namely, not only out of all Judea and Jerusalem, but from the coast of Tyre and Sidon — Many of whom came to hear and be instructed by his discourses, and others to be healed of their diseases: circumstances these which prove beyond contradiction, how universal the persuasion now was, that he was a divinely-commissioned teacher; and that real miracles were wrought by him. And the whole multitude sought to touch him, &c. — In order to multiply the proofs of his mission, and to render them indubitable, he caused virtue to go out from himself, and to heal all, without exception, who came and touched, though it were but his clothes, in expectation of being healed; and that, in some instances, in which Christ did not so much as take any apparent notice of the cases. By this benignity he put the cure in the power of the diseased themselves; and wrought many more miracles than could have been performed in the way of a formal application to him for a cure.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

First Section: Salutation of Love

(Luk_6:17-26.)

EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL

Luk_6:17. And He came down with them.—We have therefore to conceive the Saviour as surrounded by a threefold circle of hearers; the first indicated by μετ̓ αὐτῶν (the recently chosen Twelve), the second described as an ὄχλος μαθητῶν, and this latter again closed around by πλῆθος πολὺ τοῦ λαοῦ, who come partly even from beyond the boundaries. Comp. Mat_4:23-25.

Luk_6:19. For there went virtue out of Him.—Comp. Luk_5:17; Luk_8:46. As therefore the choice of apostles is preceded by silence and prayer, so is the Sermon on the Mount immediately preceded by miraculous works. Here in fullest significance is the sublimest symbolism of the kingdom of heaven whose fundamental laws He will forthwith reveal to the world. The might of deed must support the might of the word. So is the faith of the just-chosen ones strengthened and the people prepared for hearing.

Luk_6:20. And He lifted up His eyes.—It belongs to the peculiarities of Luke that he in some passages gives us to feel the eloquence of the look of Jesus even when this is not indicated by others. See here and in Luk_22:61.

Blessed are ye poor.—“This is indeed an admirably sweet friendly beginning of His doctrine and preaching. For He does not proceed like Moses or a law-teacher with command, threatening, and terrifying, but in the friendliest possible way, with pure, enticing, alluring, and amiable promises” (Luther). The question whether the most original and exact form of the Beatitudes is to be found in Matthew or Luke appears to us to admit an answer in favor of the former. This gives us the right even at this point to call to our help as a legitimate subsidium interpretationis, the τῷ πνεύματι of Matthew. That the Saviour means no other than the spiritually poor is quite as plain as that those at this day were commonly found among the poor in worldly respects; comp. Jam_2:5. Luke is here as far as in chs. 12 or 16 from the thought of conceding to external poverty, considered in and of itself, even the least advantage. With the confessedly universal and Pauline character of his Gospel such an Ebionitic tendency is incompatible. Comp. moreover Lange on the passage, and upon the inner connection of the different Macarisms, Kienlen in the Studien und Kritiken, ii., 1848.

Luk_6:21. Ye that hunger now—ye that weep now.—According to what is said above, only spiritual hunger and trouble for sin and the suffering arising from the same can be understood. As only such come with eager longing to the kingdom of God, so could God’s kingdom and truth only come to these. In answering the question how satisfaction and comfort should fall to their lot, we have not only to bear in mind the word of the kingdom of heaven, which was perfectly to satisfy their spiritual necessities, but especially also the new spiritual life, which was to be bestowed upon them in communion with the King Himself.

Luk_6:22. Blessed … when men shall hate you.—Comp. Mat_5:11-12. A noticeable climax is found in the description of this hatred in Luke, first, as the foundation of all that follows, ὅταν μισήσωσιν, then the severing of the thus hated from general and special intercourse (ὅταν ἀφωρίσωσιν), and moreover, alongside of this negative persecution, also the more positive and more malicious (καὶ ὀνειδίσωσιν), finally, the formal excommunication from the synagogue (καὶ ἐκβάλωσιν); comp. Joh_9:34; Joh_16:2.—And all this is not purely personal injuriousness, but is an opposition in principle against the principle of faith represented by them: “and cast out your name as evil;” to be understood of the name which they bore as Jesus’ disciples. What, however, alone can make such a suffering the ground of a beatitude is the adjoined: “for the Son of Man’s sake.” Not every ignominy, only the ignominy of Christ gives the ground for joy and renown. Comp. Act_5:41; Heb_11:26.

Luk_6:23. Rejoice ye.—Comp. Act_16:25; Rom_5:3; Rom_8:35-39. “Great is your reward in heaven. Deus est debitor noster, non ex congruo, sed ex promisso.” (Augustine.) At the same time an indirect intimation that they for their approved faithfulness must not expect too great a reward on earth. It is especially noticeable how the Saviour at once places His scarcely-called apostles in one rank with the prophets of the Old Testament, and in the demand that they should be ready for His name’s sake to suffer shame, shows the sublimest self-consciousness. Such intimations must also, above all, not be overlooked by those who are paying attention to the Christology of the Synoptical gospels. As to the rest, it scarcely needs pointing out how completely the idea that they were to suffer in such society, surrounded by such a νέφος μαρτύρων, was adapted to strengthen the courage and the spiritual might of the witnesses of the Lord.

Luk_6:24. But woe unto you.—The force and application of these four οὐαί, which are only found in Luke, is, after what has been said, self-evident. Had the Saviour been able to find among the rich also the spiritually poor, He would not the less have pronounced them blessed. The rich Chuza with his wife (Luk_8:2-3), or the family of Bethany (Luk_10:38-42), had surely never for an instant drawn this οὐαί upon themselves. But if even a Nicodemus ventured only in the night to come to Jesus, if the rich young man went away sad, and if there were innumerable proofs of the truth of the declaration Mat_19:23-24, no wonder that here there proceeded forth a terrific Woe over the rich, who for the greater part were self-satisfied and proud characters; sumptuous livers who suffered a pious Lazarus to pine away at their gate, unrighteous ones who stinted the wages of the poor (Luk_16:20; Jam_5:4). These threatenings also are, therefore, directed against a moral degeneracy, which however at that time was a chief sin of the rich and powerful. A poor man who merely on account of his neediness should have made claim to the kingdom of heaven, must have been pride itself, have been no truly hungry soul, but one spiritually full, who should be left empty. Comp. Luk_1:53; Rev_3:17, and from the Old Testament, Isa_65:13-14; Hos_2:9.—Ye have received your consolation.—“As something perishable” (De Wette); comp. Mat_6:2; Luk_16:25.—The retribution which here is first described only as a coming short of the expected consolation is in the two following threatenings, πεινάσετε, πενθήσετε καὶ κλαύσετε, represented as a direct feeling of hunger, pain, and sadness.

Luk_6:26. Woe, when all men shall speak well of you.—Is this Woe like the first three addressed to unbelievers (Meyer), or to the disciples, in opposition to the Beatitudes of Luk_6:22-23? (De Wette, Kuinoel, and most.) Without doubt the former is demanded by symmetry. Those who accept the praise of the hostile world are compared by the Saviour with the ψευδοπροφῆται; but disciples who could so far forget themselves as to take any special pains to secure the praise of all men, would be properly no longer disciples. The Saviour first begins again in Luk_6:27 to address Himself directly to the circle most nearly surrounding Him. It is, however, of course, self-evident that the rule here expressed by the Lord can be easily applied to His first disciples and to all further witnesses of His name.

As to the rest, there is not the slightest ground respecting the four Woes in Luke “to assign them to the later formation of the later tradition” (Meyer), in other words, to deny that the Saviour Himself uttered this fourfold judgment. If one is not disposed to assume that He delivered it immediately after the seven Beatitudes of Matthew, there is yet nothing against the supposition that the Saviour first uttered this Woe on another occasion, and that Luke has (very fittingly) taken it up into his abridged redaction. Respecting all the Beatitudes, comp. the admirable homily of Herder in his complete works.

DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL

1. There are moments in the public life of the Lord in which, if possible, even more than at others, He does everything to prepare the coming and founding of His kingdom in Israel. To such culminating points of the light of His glory belongs also that to which we have now drawn near. The calling of the twelve apostles is in the fullest sense of the word a decisive step towards His goal. A rich fulness of miracles shown forth urges at the same time the enthusiasm every moment higher. An incomparable sermon exalts and intensifies this impression. Even before the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount it is already shown into how wide a circle the report of His words and deeds had gone out, and certainly this circle now enlarges itself to a yet more significant extent. Within a few hours there is concentrated thus a work of love which at another time might have been divided through several days. It is the hour of the preparation for a great decision. That Israel did not know and use such a καιρὸν τῆς ἐπισκοπῆς increases its shame and guilt.

2. There exists an inward connection between the choice of apostles and the Sermon on the Mount. Now when the heralds of the King are appointed, the Magna Charta of the kingdom of heaven is proclaimed. All which the recently called hear is, on the one hand, adapted to inflame the holy fire on their altar, on the other hand, fitted to extinguish the fire that is fed by the stubble ofearthly expectations.

3. The Beatitudes present to us, even in the imperfect form given in Luke, a clear mirror of the kingdom of heaven. The first and the last of the Beatitudes preserved in the evangelical history (Luk_1:45; Joh_20:29) agree in this, that they promise salvation to those who believe even without seeing. Between these two Beatitudes stand those of the Sermon on the Mount in the midst. They reveal to us the glory of the King of the kingdom of heaven as the Christus Consolator of suffering and sorrowing mankind (an admirable work of art representing this by Ary Scheffer); comp. Luk_4:18-19. They give us to see the final purpose of the kingdom of God as in the highest degree adapted to satisfy the deepest spiritual interests of man. They present before us the image of the citizen of heaven, as well as the character that is peculiar to him, and the destiny that stands before him. The highest blessings of the kingdom of heaven, perfect satisfaction, joy, and consolation, do they make known to all that desire salvation; yea even into the future of this kingdom of God there is granted us here as in a prophetic sketch a glance. Thus does already the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount deserve to be called a short summary of the whole preaching of the gospel, as indeed the words in Nazareth’s synagogue, Luk_4:18-19, already were.

4. The four “Woes,” which in Luke follow the Macarisms, are as little unworthy of the Saviour as the fact that in the Old Covenant over against mount Gerizim there stood mount Ebal, and that in the Gospel of Matthew (Luke 23) the eight “woes” uttered by the Saviour stand over against the eight Beatitudes of the Sermon on the Mount. He might have reiterated here what Moses at the end of his last address testified, Deu_30:18-19. In this respect there exists a noticeable agreement between the beginning and the conclusion of the Sermon on the Mount, which in Luke also ends with a proclamation of a blessing and a curse in a parabolic form. This blessing and this woe might even be named a typical symbol of that which in sublimest wise shall hereafter repeat itself; comp. Mat_25:34-40. It is the audible resonance of the אָרוּר and of the בָּרוּךְ of the prophets (comp. Jer_17:5-8), with the distinction that here in true evangelical wise the μακάριος precedes the οὐαί.

HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL

The King of the kingdom of heaven for the first time in the circle of His future ambassadors.—Christ the Physician of body and soul.—The might of deed and word.—The Saviour’s gracious look upon weak yet sincere disciples.—The Beatitudes of the New Testament: 1. In their sweetness, 2. in their holy earnestness.—Blessing and cursing, life and death.—The common character of the Macarisms as: 1. Enigmatical utterances, 2. utterances of truth, 3. utterances of comfort and life.—The Mount of Beatitudes and the Mount of the Law-giving: 1. How they stand over against one another; 2. how they condition one another.—The first beatitude on earth, the last in heaven, Rev_22:14.—What is foolish before the world that hath God chosen, 1Co_1:26-31.—The beatitude and description: 1. Of the character; 2. of the salvation of the heavenly citizen: 1. a. poor, b. hungry, c. weeping, d. hated by men; 2. a. riches, b. full contentment, c. joy, d. reward of a prophet.—The identity in the reception of the prophets of the Old and the apostles of the New Covenant in the unbelieving world: 1. The exactness, 2. the ground, 3. the significance of this identity for all succeeding centuries.—The King of the kingdom of heaven: 1. The Friend of the poor, 2. the Bread of the hungry, 3. the Joy of the sorrowing, 4. the Judge of the oppressed.—Even under the day of grace a Woe.—Self-righteousness and unrighteousness the two hindrances to entering into the kingdom of heaven.—The distinction between reality and semblance among those called to the kingdom of heaven: 1. The unfortunate not seldom least to be commiserated, 2. those worthy of envy not seldom furthest removed from the salvation of the Lord.—The kingdom of heaven: 1. The riches of the poor, 2. of all poor, 3. of the poor alone.—It is blessed, 1. To need consolation, 2. to receive consolation, 3. to enjoy consolation.—The alternation of joy and pain in the life of the disciple of the Lord: 1. Joy of the world must become sorrow for sin, 2. sorrow for sin must become joy in Christ—1. No disciple of Christ without hatred of the world; 2. no hatred of the world without rich compensation; 3. no compensation without steadfast faithfulness.—The great reward in heaven: 1. To whom it was once given and why; for whom it is even now prepared and how.—How the self-righteous man stands in respect to Christ and how Christ stands in respect to the self-righteous.—The hungering of the already satisfied; 1. a painful, 2. a self-caused, 3. an unending hungering.—Universal praise of the world a stigma for the Saviour’s disciples, since it brings them into the suspicion, 1. of unfaithfulness, 2. of characterlessness, 3. of the lust of pleasing.—False prophets can ever reckon upon loud applause.

Starke:—Jesus has an entirely different office from Moses.—Love of riches and love of God can never agree together in one heart.—Rich enough, whoever has the kingdom of God.—Quesnel:—Tears belong to time, but true joy to eternity.—Whoever finds it irksome to bear the cross of Christ understands not its worth.—Osiander: Godless rich men have their heaven on earth, and after this life hell is made ready for them.—For a good Christian name we must certainly strive, but not against our consciences speak to please every one. Gal_1:10.—Many a one might come to repentance if flattery did not, so to speak, bar the door against conversion. Jer_23:15-22.

St. Martin (l’homme de désir, 1790):—Voulezvous que votre esprit soit dans la joye? faites que votre âme soit dans la tristesse. [Would you have your spirit joyful? Contrive that your soul may be in heaviness.]—Kern:—Heaviness and highness, sadness and gladness of true Christians.

Entirely original treatment of the Sermon on the Mount (according to Matthew) by Dr. C. Harms, in twenty-one sermons, Kiel, 1841. Examples: The first Beatitude: 1. It opens the door of the kingdom of heaven that we may look in, 2. bids us stand still to inquire: Are we therein? 3. It is the call at the door of the kingdom of heaven to enter in, and 4. a word of encouragement to those entered in, that they may also remain therein.—The second: 1. the Who, 2. the When, and 3. the How.—The third: We discourse 1. of righteousness, 2. of the longing after it, and 3. of the promise which is given to this longing.

β.The Sermon on the Mount (Luk_6:17-49)

17And he came down with them, and stood in the plain [having come down with them, he stood upon a level place, ἐπὶ τόπου πεδινοῦ], and the [a] company of his disciples, and a great multitude of people out of all Judea and Jerusalem, and from the sea-coast of Tyre and Sidon, which came to hear him, and to be healed of their diseases; 18And they that were vexed [harassed] with unclean spirits: and they16 were healed. 19And the whole multitude sought to touch him: for there went virtue out of him, and20[he, V. O.17] healed them all. And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said, Blessed 21be [are] ye poor; for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are ye that hunger now: for ye shall be filled. Blessed are ye that weep now: for ye shall laugh. 22Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man’s sake. 23Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy: for, behold, your reward is great in heaven: for in the like manner did their fathers unto the prophets. 24But woe unto you that are rich! for ye have received your consolation. 25Woe unto you that are full! for ye shall hunger. 26Woe unto you that laugh now! for ye shall mourn and weep. Woe unto you [om., unto you18], when all men shall speak well of you! for so did their fathers to the false prophets. 27But I say unto you which hear, Love your enemies, dogood to them which hate you, 28Bless them that curse you, and19 pray for them which despitefully 29use you. And [om., And] unto him that smiteth thee on the one cheek offer also the other; and him that taketh away thy cloak forbid not to take thy coat also. 30Give to every man that asketh of thee; and of him that taketh away thy goods ask them not again. 31And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them like wise. 32For if ye love them which love you, what thank have ye? for sinners also love those that love them. 33And if ye do good to them which do good to you, what thank have ye? for sinners also do even the same. 34And if ye lend to them of whom ye hope to receive,20 what thank have ye? for21 sinners also lend to sinners, to receive as much again. 35But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children [lit.: sons] of the Highest:for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the22 evil. 36Be ye therefore23 merciful [or, compassionate], as your Father also is merciful.24 37Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven: 38Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over [or, heaped up],25 shall men [they] give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal [measure with] it shall be measured toyou again. 39And he spake a parable unto them; Can the blind lead the blind [a blindman lead a blind man]? shall [will] they not both fall into the ditch? 40The disciple is not above his [the, V. O.26] master: but every one that is perfect shall be as his master 41[when completely trained, every one will be like his master]. And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but perceivest not the beam that is in thine 42own eye [but the beam in thine own eye dost not perceive]? Either27 how canst thou say to thy brother, Brother, let me pull out the mote that is in thine eye, when thou thyself beholdest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, cast out first the beam out of thine own eye, and then shalt thou see clearly to pull out the mote that is in thy brother’s eye. 43For a good tree bringeth not forth corrupt fruit; neither 44[yet again28] doth a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. For every tree is known by his own fruit. For of thorns men do not gather figs, nor of a bramble bush gather they grapes. 45A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart [om., treasure of his heart, V. O.29] bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the [his] heart his mouth speaketh. 46And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say? 47Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my sayings, and doeth them, I will shew you to whom 48he is like: He is like a man which built a house, and digged deep [building a house, who dug deep], and laid the foundation on a [the] rock: and when the [a] flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it; for it was founded upon a rock [because that it was well built30]. 49But he that heareth, and doeth not, is like a man that without a foundation built a house upon the earth; against which the stream did beat vehemently, and immediately it fell [in a heap, συνέπεσεν]; and the ruin of that house was great.

GENERAL SURVEY

1. As to the question whether the Sermon on the Mount was twice delivered by the Lord, or whether we meet in Matthew, chapters 5–7; Luk_6:20-49, with the same discourse, the views have always been different. We feel obliged to concur with the interpreters who maintain the identity of the discourse. Its commencement, contents, course of thought, and conclusion, certainly agree remarkably, in Matthew and Luke. Each is followed immediately by the healing of the centurion at Capernaum, and although the one mentions a mountain and the other a τόπος πεδινός, yet even this discrepancy can be reconciled. [Robinson and Stanley both describe the Tell Hattûn, which the Latin, though not the Greek tradition, connects with the delivery of the Sermon on the Mount, as consisting of a ridge, from which rise two horns or peaks, known as the Horns of Hattûn. If the tradition is correct, as Stanley is disposed to regard it (and even Robinson finds nothing contradictory to it in the situation of the hill), our Lord ascending the ridge into one of the peaks, would have gone up “into the mountain,” and coming down afterwards, for greater convenience, upon the ridge, would have been upon a τόπος πεδινός, without having left the mountain.—C. C. S.] If Jesus appears, according to Matthew (Luk_5:1) to have sat, according to Luke (Luk_6:17), to have stood, yet this latter may be regarded as having been the case, some moments before the beginning of the discourse, while as yet the sick were coming to Him, and the people were sitting down to hear. The Jewish teachers were certainly accustomed to impart their instruction sitting, and even if Matthew’s report were unknown to us we should have to supplement that of Luke in this way: that Jesus, first standing, soon sat down. In this way the two accounts can be brought into unison. Many single proverbial expressions of this discourse the Saviour may often without doubt have repeated, but that He, at different periods in His life, should have made use of the same commencement and the same conclusion of His discourse we consider as on internal grounds improbable. It would only be conceivable if we assume with Lange that the Sermon on the Mount, as given in Luke, immediately followed that of Matthew, and that the former was an esoteric one, delivered on the summit of the mountain before the disciples—the second an exoteric one, delivered on the same day on a less elevated part of the mountain. See the more detailed developments of this view in his Leben Jesu, ii. pp. 568–570. Nevertheless even in this view it is conceded that “the two discourses in their fundamental ideas and essential substance are one discourse and two different redactions.”

2. As to the questions, when, where, before whom, and for what purpose, this discourse was held, we believe that we find the most exact account in Luke (contra Meyer). Altogether unfounded is the assumption that it was uttered even before the calling of Matthew; on the contrary, it was, as far as we know, the first extended discourse which Matthew, after his own calling and after the setting apart of all twelve apostles, heard. From this very fact it is explicable that he assigns it a place so early in his gospel, although it at once strikes the eye that Matthew here binds himself to no strict chronological sequence; as indeed even his statement, Luk_4:23-25, refers not obscurely to a point of time not in the beginning, but about in the middle of the public life of our Lord. Even the open opposition to Phariseeism and the not obscure declaration of the Saviour’s Messianic dignity in this discourse appear to intimate a later point of time. As to the place, see Lange, Matthew, p. 100. Comp. Josephus, De Bell. Jud. iii. 108. Among the hearers we have to distinguish the nearer circle of his μαθηταί, including the just-called apostles and the wider circle of the people, who also listened to it, and left the Mount in holy rapture. Mat_7:28; Luk_7:1. From the substance of every utterance in it, it is perfectly easy to conclude to which part of this numerous audience it was especially directed, and as respects the purpose of the whole discourse: “Jesus must undoubtedly, after He had gradually gained so great a following and attracted so much attention, and after He had by parables intensely excited the expectation of His hearers, have certainly at last been obliged for once frankly to declare what He meant. All His working hitherto took the form of means,—the end had not yet been manifested. The sick He had healed, the dead He had raised, of a βασιλεία τοῦ Θεοῦ, which, He had come to found, He had spoken in enigmatical images. The people had opened their ears; all, more clearly or more obscurely, more purely or more impurely, had surrendered themselves to the hope that Jesus was the promised Messiah. They followed after Him; they were willing to take part in His kingdom: should He therefore now any longer keep silence? must He not give to this wavering, perplexed mass definite form: Such and such is the nature of my kingdom; this is its form, this the true disposition for it; these are my requirements?” (Ebrard.)

3. The praise of the greatest originality and exactness in the report of the Sermon on the Mount we do not give to Luke (Schneckenburger, Olshausen, B. Bauer, and others), but to Matthew. We believe that the more systematic arrangement of the thoughts in Matthew does not proceed from him, but from the Saviour Himself. The view of Sepp (II. p. 261), that Matthew as well as Luke does not properly communicate anything here but “the complex whole and sententious summary of all the didactic deliverances, as it were the themes of the sermons which our Lord, during His whole Messianic activity, delivered,” is too arbitrary to receive any particular critical notice. He has no other ground than “the explications which the godly Catharine Emerich von Dülmen gave” in her visions, an authority which the Protestant can hardly acknowledge.

4. The question why Luke communicates the Sermon on the Mount in a much less regular and perfect manner than Matthew, may be differently answered. It may be that Luke only found this short extract in his written authorities (Ebrard), or that oral tradition preserved this instruction of the Saviour in more than one form (Meyer a. o.) In no case must we overlook the fact that Luke has indeed proposed as his end exactness in his accounts, but not completeness, and might pass over much, e.g., of the controversy against Phariseeism, Mat_5:20-48, which for his friend Theophilus was unnecessary and perhaps not even intelligible. Other portions of the Sermon on the Mount he communicates in another connection, and it is therefore very possible that the Saviour delivered them more than once. On the other hand, he has even in his shorter redaction some additional sayings of the Saviour, which perhaps Matthew communicates in a more correct connection. (Accordingly Stier himself, in reference to Luk_6:45 compared with Mat_13:52, is obliged to acknowledge “that Luke has made a mistake.” Reden Jesu, i. p. 302.) By no means is the opinion well grounded (Bauer, Schwegler) that the redaction of the Sermon on the Mount in Luke bears a thoroughly Ebionitic character. See below in the exegetical remarks.

5. The peculiar character of the Sermon on the Mount comes in Luke also into sufficiently clear relief. Even 1. considered in and of itself, the substance as well as the form is incomparably beautiful. It is perhaps possible, in respect to some particular sayings which are here found, to adduce parallels from Rabbinical, nay, from heathen authors, but the whole is inimitable, and the spirit which streams through all its parts and joins them all together is completely unattainable. 2. In its historic connection, without being an actual consecratory or inaugural discourse of the Twelve, it is nevertheless in the highest degree adapted for the frame of mind and need of the moment. It was intended, more than had hitherto been the case, to draw the attention of a numerous throng to His person and His work, and by the very reason of its great difference from the mode of teaching of the Pharisees and Scribes, it called forth of itself an impression all the deeper. If we consider it 3. finally as well in relation to the Old Testament as to the chief substance of the Gospel in its strict sense, it soon becomes clear to us that the requirements here uttered are at the same time the expression of the eternal spirit of the Mosaic law, from which even the Saviour could not absolve. And lastly, if we give ear to the Beatitudes, the distinction in principle between Law and Gospel comes at once unmistakably to light. The doctrine of faith and grace is here, it is true, not announced in many words, and so far there is truth in the pregnant expression of Hase: “The Sermon on the Mount is not the completion but the one side of Christianity.” On the other side, it must however be remarked, that silence as to that which the people from their position could not yet bear, is by no means a contradiction of it; that the doctrine of sin and its wretchedness is here manifestly presupposed; that even in Luke there is no want of intimation as to the Saviour’s person (Luk_6:22; Luk_6:40-46), and that therefore R. Stier is not without reason in saying (Reden Jesu, i. p. 312): “Oh, ye rationalists, who are so willing to hear the ethics of the Sermon on the Mount, hear, hear, I pray you, also its dogmatics!”—The Sermon on the Mount is the Magna Charta of the kingdom of God, and at the same time places before the eyes of all the disciples of the Lord the unchangeable principles by which the new life of faith must be guided. It is a practical commentary on the word of the Baptist, Mat_3:8. Whoever finds difficulty in the ethical requirements of the Sermon on the Mount has an unhealthy, and whoever will hear of no truth of salvation which is not contained in the words of the Sermon on the Mount has a superficial, a one-sided Christianity.

6. Since the Sermon on the Mount in Luke is, in respect to form, inferior to that of Matthew, it is not possible to give so organic a disposition of its contents as was the case in the notes on Matthew; but if any one is disposed, in order to make the general survey, at least to attempt a division, we may distinguish

I. The Salutation of Love (Luk_6:17-26).

II. The Requirement of Love (Luk_6:27-38).

III. The Importunity of Love (Luk_6:39-49).

Footnotes:

[16]Luk_6:18.—The Rec.: καί before ἐθεραπεύοντο has A., B., [Sin.,] D., L., Q., and 33 other Codd. against it. The independent sense which this omission gives to Luk_6:18 directs the attention still more definitely to these possessed, as a special class of sick. [This omission of καί is accepted by Lachmann, Meyer, Tregelles, and Alford, but disapproved by Tischendorf.—C. C. S.]

[17]Luk_6:19.—This insertion of “He” before healed, appears unnatural, and seems to proceed from an unnecessary anxiety to emphasize the voluntariness of the Saviour’s healings.—C. C. S.]

[18]Luk_6:26.—Ὑμῖν is here, as before γελῶντες, Luk_6:25, spurious. [Om., ὑμῖν, Luk_6:25, B., Sin., K., L., S.; ins., A., D., E., 10 other uncials. Om., ὑμῖν, Luk_6:26, A., B., Sin., E., 15 other uncials; ins., C., D., Δ.—C. C. S.]

[19]Luk_6:28.—The [E. V.] has “and pray, &c.:” the καί is critically untenable.

[20]Luk_6:34.—The reading of Tischendorf, λαβεῖν, appears preferable to that of Lachmann, ἀπολαβεῖν. [Sin. has λαβεῖν.—C. C. S.]

[21]Luk_6:34.—The Rec.: καὶ γὰρ οἱ ἁμ., κ.τ.λ., appears to be taken from the preceding verse. [Cod. Sin. omits γάρ.—C. O. S.]

[22]Luk_6:35.—Ἐπὶ τοὺς ἀχαρίστους καὶ πονηρούς, “the unthankful and evil.” One class designated by two qualities; not “the unthankful and the evil,” two classes.—C. C. S.]

[23]Luk_6:36—Rec.: γίνεσθε οὖν οἰκτίρμονες. Οὖν appears to have crept in quite early on account of its connecting the sentences more exactly. [Lachmann, Tregelles, and Alford omit the οὖν, supported by B., D., L., Ξ., [Sin.]; Tischendorf and Meyer retain it, supported by A., R., X. Meyer remarks: “How easy to overlook it before the syllable OI! An internal ground of omission, considering the congruousness of οὖν to the sentence, is hardly to be assumed.”—C. C. S.]

[24]Luk_6:37.—At the beginning of Luk_6:37 καί is to be retained, in the second clause, on the contrary, to be expunged (against Rec.). [All the critics agree in retaining the first καί, opposed only by D. But Tischendorf and Alford retain the second καί also, supported by B., L., S., X., Sin.—C. C. S.]

[25]Luk_6:38.—The repeated καὶ—καί before the last two adjectives, can without danger to the purity of the text very well be dispensed with. [Om., Sin.]

[26]Luk_6:40.—Rec.: διδάσκαλον αὐτοῦ. [Αὐτοῦ approved by Tischendorf, om. by Lachmann, Tregelles, Alford, Cod. Sin.—C. C. S.]

[27]Luk_6:42.—Ἢ πῶς, κ.τ.λ. Rec. approved by Lachmann, bracketed by Tregelles. Cod. Sin. gives πῶς δὲ δύν., κ.τ.λ.—C. C. S.]

[28]Luk_6:43.—Tischendorf has rightly received into the Greek text the word πάλιν, which was bracketed by Lachmann. Weighty authorities support it, and many appear to have omitted it only because it is not also found in the similar passage, Mat_7:18. [Ins., Cod. Sin.]

[29]Luk_6:45.—We read with Tischendorf: ὁ πονηρὸς ἐκ τοῦ πονηροῦ προφέρει τὸ πονηρόν. What more the Rec. has are plconastic supplements, whose genuineness is doubtful. [Tischendorf’s reading is confirmed by Cod. Sin.—C. C. S.]

[30]Luk_6:48.—Rec.: τεθεμελίωτο γὰρ ἐπὶ τὴν πέτραν. Comp. Mat_7:25. One cannot help supposing that the reading defended by Tischendorf: διὰ τὸ καλῶς οἰκοδομεῖσθαι αὐτήν, although only supported by a few manuscripts (D., L., and cursives), was the original one, which, however, quite early was supplanted by the Rec., from a harmonistic striving. [Tischendorf’s reading is not supported by D., but by B., L., Ξ., and Cod. Sin., the latter, however, having οἰκοδομῆσθαι.—C. C. S.]

Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical), ed. John Peter Lange, English translation edited by Philip Schaff (1864–1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Miracles of Healing and Preaching. Luk 6:17-49

Healings of various kinds:

v. 17. And He came down with, them, and stood in the plain, and the company of His disciples, and a great multitude of people out of all Judea and Jerusalem, and from the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon, which came to hear Him, and to be healed of their diseases;

v. 18. and they that were vexed with unclean spirits; and they were healed.

v. 19. And the whole multitude sought to touch Him; for there went virtue out of Him, and healed them all.

This passage shows how far the influence of Christ’s ministry extended. As Jesus came down from the summit of the mountain and reached a plateau on the mountainside, He had before His eyes a great gathering of people. Not only was there a large number of His own disciples, but a large multitude of people from all Judea, from proud Jerusalem, from Tyre and Sidon, the cities by the Mediterranean Sea. They all had come to hear Jesus and to be healed of various diseases. But there were also many of such as were bothered or troubled with evil spirits: all of them gathered about the great Teacher and Healer. The popularity of Jesus had reached its greatest height. All these sick people sought to touch Him; and the pity and sympathy of His Savior’s heart went out to them. Strength, the power of the almighty Physician, went out from His person, and they were all healed.

Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

6:17-49 The central theme of Jesus’ great sermon is that an authentic life of righteousness accompanies repentance and acceptance into God’s Kingdom.

6:17 all over Judea . . . Tyre and Sidon: Tyre and Sidon were coastal cities on the Mediterranean Sea northwest of Galilee. Jesus was gaining wide popularity.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Luk 6:17. Αὐτῶν, them) [The Twelve] The First Class of His hearers.—τόπου πεδινοῦ, on a level spot) This spot was not in the bottom of the valley, but half-way down the mountain: a more suitable locality for addressing a large audience than a completely level plain.[60] Such a locality is called in LXX. Isa 13:2, ὌΡΟς ΠΕΔΙΝῸΝ, a mountain table-land [but Engl. Vers. from Hebr., “Lift ye up a banner upon the high mountain”].—ὌΧΛΟς ΜΑΘΗΤῶΝ, a crowd of His disciples) The Second Class, which was divided further [by the selection of the Seventy], ch. Luk 10:1. Supply ἔστη, stood.—πλῆθος πολὺ τοῦ λαοῦ, a great multitude of the people) The Third Class.—παραλίου) viz. ΧΏΡΑς, ΤΎΡΟΥ, the seacoast.

[60] Comp. Gnomon on ch. Luk 1:1. Obs. 2, Note, Marg.—E. B.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Luk_6:17. Ἐπὶ τόπου πεδινοῦ] according to the connection of Luke (Luk_6:12, εἰς τὸ ὄρος; Luk_6:17, καταβάς), cannot be otherwise understood than: on a plain; not: over a plain (Michaelis and Paulus); nor: on a small overhanging place of the declivity (Tholuck); comp. Lange, who calls the discourse in Matthew the Summit-sermon, and that in Luke the Terrace-sermon. The divergence from Mat_5:1 must be admitted, and remains still, even if a plateau is supposed on which jutted out a crest previously ascended by Jesus (Ebrard; comp. Grotius, Bengel, and others; a vacillating arbitrariness in Olshausen). Matthews narrative is original; Luke has a later tradition. As the crowd of hearers, according to this later tradition, came from greater distances, and were thus represented as more numerous, a plain was needed to accommodate them. According to Baur, Evang. p. 457, this divergence from Matthew is due also to the tendency of Luke to degrade the Sermon on the Mount, which would surely be a very petty sort of levelling.

καὶ ὄχλος κ.τ.λ.] scil. ἔστη. See on Luk_6:13. A similar structure in the narrative, Luk_8:1-3.

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Luk 6:17 . καταβὰς , descending , with the Twelve, suggesting descent to the foot of the hills, the plain below. Yet the expression τόπου πεδινοῦ is peculiar; hardly what we should expect if the reference were to the plain beside the lake; rather suggestive of a flat space lower down the hill. πεδινὸς , here only in N. T. The descent takes place in order to the delivery of a discourse which, with the choice of the Apostles, constitutes the occasion with reference to which Jesus had spent the night in prayer. The audience consists of three classes separately named (1) the Twelve, (2) the company of disciples described as an ὄχλος πολὺς , (3) a multitude ( πλῆθος ) gathered from a wide area. This is the same multitude from which in Mk.’s narrative Jesus escaped to the hill, taking His disciples with Him, to get rest, and presumably to devote some leisure time to their instruction. Of this desire to escape from the crowd, so apparent in Mk., there is no trace in Lk. In indicating the sources of this great human stream Lk. omits Galilee as superfluous, mentions Judaea and Jerusalem, passing over ldumaea and Peraea (Mar 3:8 ), and winds up with Tyre and Sidon, defining the territory there whence people came by the expression τῆς παραλίου ( χώρας understood), the sea-coast. The people come from all these places to hear Jesus ( ἀκοῦσαι αὐτοῦ ) in the first place, as if in expectation of a great discourse, and also to be healed. The eagerness to get healing even by touch, of which Mk. gives so graphic a picture (Luk 3:10 ), is faintly indicated by ἐζήτουν ( ἐζήτει , T. R.).

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

From all the seacoast, which is called Syro-Phoenecia.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

in the plain--by some rendered "on a level place," that is, a piece of high tableland, by which they understand the same thing, as "on the mountain," where our Lord delivered the sermon recorded by Matthew (Mat 5:1), of which they take this following discourse of Luke to be but an abridged form. But as the sense given in our version is the more accurate, so there are weighty reasons for considering the discourses different. This one contains little more than a fourth of the other; it has woes of its own, as well as the beatitudes common to both; but above all, that of Matthew was plainly delivered a good while before, while this was spoken after the choice of the twelve; and as we know that our Lord delivered some of His weightiest sayings more than once, there is no difficulty in supposing this to be one of His more extended repetitions; nor could anything be more worthy of it.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 17. And stood in the plain] In Mt 5:1, which is supposed to be the parallel place, our Lord is represented as delivering this sermon on the mountain; and this has induced some to think that the sermon mentioned here by Luke, though the same in substance with that in Matthew, was delivered in a different place, and at another time; but, as Dr. Priestly justly observes, Matthew's saying that Jesus was sat down after he had gone up to the mountain, and Luke's saying that he stood on the plain when he healed the sick, before the discourse, are no inconsistencies. The whole picture is striking. Jesus ascends a mountain, employs the night in prayer; and, having thus solemnly invoked the Divine blessing, authoritatively separates the twelve apostles from the mass of his disciples. He then descends, and heals in the plain all the diseased among a great multitude, collected from various parts by the fame of his miraculous power. Having thus created attention, he likewise satisfies the desire of the people to hear his doctrine; and retiring first to the mountain whence he came, that his attentive hearers might follow him and might better arrange themselves before him - Sacro digna silentio mirantur omnes dicere. HORACE. All admire his excellent sayings with sacred silence. See Bishop Newcome's notes on his Harmony of the Gospels, p. 19.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(17) And he came down with them, and stood in the plain.—We are again confronted with harmonistic difficulties. In St. Matthew (Matthew 10) the mission of the Twelve is followed by a full discourse on their Apostolic work and its perils. Here it is followed by a discourse which has so many points of resemblance with the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5, 6, 7, that many have supposed it to be identical. It is a partial explanation of the difficulty that St. Mark and St. Luke distinguish the choice of the Twelve from their mission, the latter meeting us in Luk_9:1, Mar_6:7, and that in a form which implies the previous existence of the Twelve as a distinct body; but we still have to face the fact that events which St. Mark and St. Luke place even before the choice, St. Matthew places after the mission. (See Note on Luk_6:13.)

Stood in the plain.—Better, on a plain, or on a level place. The Greek has no article.

A great multitude of people.—The description that follows has many points of resemblance both with that in Mar_3:7-12, and with that in Mat_4:24, immediately before the Sermon on the Mount. It is probable enough that each separate report of any of our Lord’s great discourses dwelt upon the multitudes who were present to hear them.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

17. And he came down with them, and stood in the plain] Rather, And descending with them, He stopped on a level place. Topos pedinos also occurs in Isa_13:2, LXX. If it be thus rendered there is no discrepancy between St Matthew, who says that “He went up into the mountain, and when He sat down His disciples approached Him” (Mat_5:1). I believe that St Luke here meant to give such portions of the Sermon on the Mount as suited his design. Combining the two narratives with what we know of the scene we see that what occurred was as follows. The previous evening Jesus went to one of the peaks of Kurn Hattin (withdrawing Himself from His disciples, who doubtless bivouacked at no great distance), and spent the night in prayer. In the morning He called His disciples and chose Twelve Apostles. Then going with them to some level spot, either the flat space (called in Greek plax) between the two peaks of the hill, or some other spot near at hand, He preached His sermon primarily to His disciples who sat immediately around Him, but also to the multitudes. There is no need to assume two discourses—one esoteric and one exoteric, &c. At the same time there is of course no difficulty in supposing that our Lord may have uttered the same discourse, or parts of the same discourse, more than once, varying it as occasion required.

out of all Judea] St Matthew adds Galilee (which was to a great extent Greek), Decapolis, and Peraea; St Mark also mentions Idumaea. Thus there were Jews, Greeks, Phoenicians, and Arabs among our Lord’s hearers.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And they that were vexed with unclean spirits,.... Were possessed with devils, and sadly tormented and afflicted by them:

and they were healed: both such that had bodily diseases, and were under diabolical possessions.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

17 And he came down with them, and stood in the plain, and the company of his disciples, and a great multitude of people out of all Judaea and Jerusalem, and from the sea coast of Tyre and Sidon, which came to hear him, and to be healed of their diseases;

Ver. 17. And stood in the plain] And yet he delivered the same sermon (in effect) that he delivered at another time, sitting on the mount, Mat 5:2, δις και τρις τα καλα.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And stood in the plain - It is not affirmed, however, that he stood in the plain when he delivered the following discourse. There has been some doubt whether the following discourse is the same as that recorded in Matt. 5; 6; 7, or whether the Saviour “repeated” the substance of that discourse, and that Luke recorded it as he repeated it. The reasons which have led many to suppose that they refer to the same are:

That the beginning and the close are alike. That the “substance” of each is the same. And, That “after” the discourse was delivered, both affirm that Jesus went to Capernaum and healed the servant of the centurion, Mat 8:5-13; Luk 7:1-10.

On the other hand, “Matthew” says that the sermon was delivered on the “mountain” Mat 5:1; it is thought to be implied that “Luke” affirms that it was in the “plain.” Matthew says that he “sat;” Luke, that he “stood.” Yet there is no reason to suppose that there is a difference in the evangelists. Jesus spent the night on the mountain in prayer. In the morning he descended into the open plain and healed many. While there, as Luke says, he “stood” and received those who came to him, and healed their diseases. There is no impropriety in supposing that, being pressed by multitudes, he retired into the mountain again, or to an eminence in the plain, or to the side of the mountain, where the people might be more conveniently arranged and seated to hear him. There he “sat,” as recorded by Matthew, and delivered the discourse; for it is to be observed that Luke does “not” say that he delivered the sermon “on the plain,” but only that he “healed the sick there.”

Tyre and Sidon - See the notes at Mat 11:21.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

To a more extended and even part of the mountain, as we learn from comparing this text with St. Matthew v. 1. as it was from the mountain that Jesus Christ addressed to the people the following discourse. (Bible de Vence)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Such passages as these we meet with several times in the evangelists, who not writing a particular account of the several miracles wrought, or discourses made, by our Saviour, oftentimes they give us a general account of more than they particularly mention. Some think that Luke refers here to Mar 3:7,8; but Mark seemeth rather to refer to a multitude that followed him before he went up to the mountain, which yet might be the same people coming again the next morning, and waiting for Christ’s coming down from the mountain.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

And he came down with them, and stood in the plain. Leaving the uppermost slopes of the hill the modern Kurm Hattin, or "Horns of Hattin where he had spent the night alone in prayer Jesus probably descended a little and rejoined the band of disciples. Out of these he called the twelve above mentioned; and titan, with the whole body of disciples the twelve, no doubt, closest to his Person he continued the descent for some way. On a level spot situate on the hillside, very likely a fiat space between the two peaks of Hattin, the Master and his followers came upon a crowd of inquirers, who had ascended thus far to meet him. These were composed, as we shall see, of various nationalities. Some came with their sick friends, seeking a cure; some were urged by curiosity; others by a real longing to hear more of the words of life from his Divine lips. It was to this crowd that, surrounded by the newly elected twelve, as well as by the larger company of disciples, that Jesus spoke the famous discourse known as the sermon on the mount. A great multitude of people out of all Judaea and Jerusalem, and from the sea-coast of Tyre and Sidon, which came to hear him. To the places here enumerated, St. Matthew adds Galilee, Decapolis, and the region beyond Jordan. St. Mark (Mar_3:8) where the same period of our Lord"s ministry is treated of alludes to people from Idumaea forming part of the multitude which just then used to crowd round the Master as he taught. Thus the great sermon was addressed to men of various nationalities to rigid and careless Jews, to Romans and Greeks, to Phoenicians from Tyre and Sidon, and to nomad Arabs from Idumaea.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

On a plain - At the foot of the mountain.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

Observe here, 1. The great zeal and forwardness of the people in attending upon our Saviour’s ministry; he had newly begun to preach in this place, and the people flocked after him from all parts, from Judea, from Jerusalem, from Tyre and Sidon, to hear his doctrine and see his miracles. When our Saviour first began to preach the people came unto him from every quarter. His ministers find it thus: at our first coming among a people, our labors are most acceptable, and they do most good. Our people’s affections are then warm, and perhaps our own too.

2. What sort of people they were who attended thus zealousy on our Saviour’s ministry: they were the common and ordinary people; the poor received the gospel; the learned scribes, the knowing Pharisees, those wise men after the flesh, the mighty, the noble, the great and honorable, these despised our Saviour’s person, slighted his ministry, yea, sought to take away his life.

Thus from the first plantation of the gospel to this day, the poorer and meaner sort of people have entertained the glad tidings of salvation; it is a sad but a certain truth, that heaven is a place where few, comparatively but very few, of the great men of the world, are like to come; their temptations are many, their corruptions strong, and their great estates, through their own abuse, become fuel to their lusts.

Lord, how rare it is to find those that are eminently great, exemplary good!

Observe, 3. The nature of our Saviour’s miracles. Moses’s miracles were as great judgments as wonders, but Christ’s miracles were as great mercies as wonders; they were salubrious and healing: there went virtue out of him, and healed them all.

Christ’s miracles were like the author of them, full of goodness; yet would not the obstinate Pharisees be convinced, either by the goodness that was in them, or by that omnipotent power which wrought them.

All our Saviour’s miracles were wonderful, but wonders of love and mercy.

William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

J. W. McGarvey's The Fourfold Gospel [XLII. A. The Sermon on the Mount].

XLII. THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT. (Concerning the Privileges and Requirements of the Messianic Reign. A Mountain Plateau not far from Capernaum.) Subdivision A. INTRODUCTORY STATEMENTS. aMATT. V. 1, 2; cLUKE VI. 17-20.

c17 and he came down with them [the twelve apostles whom he had just chosen], and stood on a level place [Harmonists who wish to make this sermon in Luke identical with the sermon on the mount recorded by Matthew, say that Jesus stood during the healing of the multitude, and that he afterwards went a little way up the mountain-side and sat down when he taught ( Mat_5:1). The "level place" is meant by our translators to indicate a plateau on the side of the mountain, and not the plain at its base. In this translation they were influenced somewhat by a desire to make the two sermons one. It is more likely that the sermons were not identical, yet they were probably delivered about the same time, for in each Evangelist the sermon is followed by an account of the healing of the centurion's servant. As it is a matter of no great importance whether there was one sermon or two, and as they contain many things in common, we have taken the liberty of combining them to save time and space. The sermon is an announcement of certain distinctive features of the kingdom of heaven, which was said to be at hand], and a great multitude of his disciples, and a great number of people from all Judæa and Jerusalem, and from the sea coast of Tyre and Sidon, who came to hear him, and to be healed of their diseases; 18 and they that were troubled with unclean spirits were [227] healed. 19 And all the multitude sought to touch him; for power came forth from him, and healed i them all. [By comparing this with the foregoing section, we shall find that Mark had described this same crowd; the only difference between him and Luke being that he tells about it the day before Jesus chose the twelve apostles, while Luke describes its presence on the day after the event. Thus one substantiates the other.] a1 And seeing the multitudes, he went up into the mountain: and when he had sat down, his disciples came unto him [In sitting he followed the custom of Jewish teachers. The instruction of Jesus was at no time embellished with oratorical action. He relied upon the truth contained in his words, not upon the manner in which he uttered it.]: c20 And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples [Luke notes the eloquent look of Jesus here and elsewhere ( Luk_22:61). While spoken to all, the sermon was addressed to the disciples, revealing to them the nature of the kingdom, and contrasting with it: 1. Popular expectation; 2. The Mosaic system; 3. Pharisaic hypocrisy], a2 and he opened his mouth, and taught them, cand said, asaying, [Jesus spoke with the full-toned voice of power--with open mouth.]

[FFG 227-228]

J. W. McGarvey (with Philip Y. Pendleton), Commentaries on the New Testament (The Fourfold Gospel, 1914; Acts; and the epistles) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

17–19. Came down and stood on a level place. We now come to Luke's report of the Sermon on the Mount, given much more fully in chapters 5, 6 and 7 of Matthew, on which see notes. Luke only states that the sermon was preceded by the healing of the diseased in the vast multitudes which had assembled from all parts of the country.

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

Connecting Statement:

Though Jesus especially addresses his disciples, there are many people around who listen.

with them

"with the twelve he had chosen" or "with his twelve apostles"

to be healed

This can be stated in active form. AT: "for Jesus to heal them" (See: Active or Passive)

People who were troubled with unclean spirits were also healed

This can be stated in active form. AT: "Jesus also healed people who were troubled with unclean spirits" (See: Active or Passive)

troubled with unclean spirits

"bothered by unclean spirits" or "controlled by evil spirits"

power to heal was coming out from him

"he had power to heal people" or "he was using his power to heal people"

translationWords

Judea

Jerusalem

Tyre

Sidon

cure

demon

power

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

17. ὄχλος AD. πολὺς is added in אBL.

17. καὶ καταβὰς μετ’ αὐτῶν ἔστη ἐπὶ τόπου πεδινοῦ. ‘And descending with them, He stopped on a level place.’ τόπος πεδινός also occurs in Isa 13:2, LXX[135] If the phrase be thus rendered there is no discrepancy between St Luke and St Matthew, who says that “He went up into the mountain, and when He sat down His disciples approached Him” (Mat 5:1). I believe that St Luke here meant to give such portions of the Sermon on the Mount as suited his design. Combining the two narratives with what we know of the scene, we see that what occurred was as follows. The previous evening Jesus went to one of the peaks of Kurn Hattin (withdrawing Himself from His disciples, who doubtless bivouacked at no great distance), and spent the night in prayer. In the morning He called His disciples and chose Twelve Apostles. Then going with them to some level spot, either the flat space (called in Greek πλάξ) between the two peaks of the hill, or some other spot near at hand, He preached His sermon primarily to His disciples, who sat immediately around Him, but also to the multitudes. There is no need to assume two discourses—one esoteric and one exoteric, &c. At the same time there is of course no difficulty in supposing that our Lord may have uttered the same discourse, or parts of the same discourse, more than once, varying it as occasion required. We need only notice for its curiosity the puerile fancy of Baur, that St Luke wished to degrade the Sermon on the Mount to a lower standpoint! Christ did not descend to the plain nor even, as the Genevan renders, to “the champaign country,” but, as Wyclif renders it with admirable fidelity both to the Greek and to the actual site, to a “fieldy place” (Vulg[136] in loco campestri).

[135] LXX. Septuagint.

[136] Vulg. Vulgate.

ἀπὸ πάσης τῆς Ἰουδαίας. St Matthew adds Galilee (which was to a great extent Greek), Decapolis, and Peraea; St Mark also mentions Idumaea. Thus there were Jews, Greeks, Phoenicians, and Arabs among our Lord’s hearers.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

17.] Having descended from the mountain, He stood on a level place—i.e. possibly, as has been suggested by some, on a flat ledge or shelf on the side of the mountain; but more naturally below the mountain: see on Mat 5:1. Whether Luke could thus have written with the Gospel of Matthew before him, I leave the reader to judge: premising, that is, the identity of the two discourses.

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

17-19. The Descent from the Mountain, and many Miracles of Healing. The parallel passages in Mar 3:7-12 and Mat 4:24, Mat 4:25 are very different from Lk. and from one another in wording.

17. ἐπὶ τόπου πεδινοῦ. This may mean a level spot below the summit; but in connexion with καταβάς, and without qualification, it more naturally means level ground near the foot of the mountain. Hither it would be more likely that multitudes would come and bring their sick, than to a plateau high up the mountain.

The Latin texts vary: in loco campestri (Vulg.), in loco campense (a), in l. lano (f) in l. pedeplano (1.).

καὶ ὄχλος πολὺς μαθητῶν αὐτοῦ. Not a nom. pendens, but included in the preceding ἔστη: comp. the constr. 8:1-3. He stood, and they stood. But the ἔστη is no evidence as to Christ’s attitude during the discourse, because the healings intervene: 4:20 shows that Lk. is aware of Christ’s sitting to preach.

καὶ πλῆθος πολὺ τοῦ λαοῦ, κ.τ.λ. This is a third group. Christ and the Twelve form one group. The multitude of disciples in the wider sense form a second. And besides these there is a mixed throng from Judæa and the sea-coast: see on 11:29.

ἰαθῆναι ἀπό. The prep, is not classical; but we say “to to be cured from” (Mar 5:29). In the perf., 1 aor. and 1 fut. pass. the dep. ἰάομαι is pass. in meaning (7:7, 8:47, 17:15; not Act 3:11). Except in Lk, the verb is rare in N.T. writers.—There should be at least a colon at τῶν νόσων αὐτῶν: here the long sentence which began at ver. 13 ends.

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

In the plain [επι τοπου πεδινου] . There is no article. More literally, and better, as Rev., in a plain or level place. There is a discrepancy in the two narratives. Matthew says he went up into the mountain and sat down. Vv. 17 - 19 are peculiar to Luke.

Judaea and Jerusalem. See on chapter Luk 5:17.

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.