February 16, 2025
The Sermon on the Plain Wait, I thought it was the Sermon on the Mount. Perhaps you are aware that this year we are reading a major section of the Gospel of Luke whose author tells the story of this particular event, also called the Beatitudes, much differently than we hear in Matthew. In Luke’s Gospel, several important events lead up to this passage. Some compassionate encounters cause Jesus’ reputation as a healer to grow, fueled by a recent healing in the synagogue of a man with a withered hand on the Sabbath. The religious leaders condemned such healing because it was interpreted as work, and work of any kind was strictly forbidden on the Sabbath day. Jesus confounds those leaders with a simple question, “Is it lawful to save life rather than destroy it?” indicating that healing overrides the Sabbath fast. Jesus then goes up a mountain to spend
