In Luke’s Gospel Jesus begins his public life ministry by going up a mountain to pray and choose his apostles. Then he comes down onto a plain and wades right into the crowd of folks there to begin healing their daily life. After all those healings which demonstrate who he is and reestablish true life in the people, he begins a teaching, a sermon, a catechesis – in Luke’s Gospel, the Sermon on the Plain. This is Jesus’ first teaching in Luke’s Gospel and is a focal point of all that follows in the Gospel.
The text starts off saying he looked at them. Jesus looked straight into their souls and saw what was there – what was the center of their hearts and lives – what was the origin of their unhappiness or despair. Their lives, hearts, and souls were full of idols, worries, and preoccupations. He announces a new way of life centered only on God. All the things that we try to avoid become important and all the things we want become objects of distain. He is pointing out that we have centered our lives on ourselves and inverted God’s plan, God’s value scheme. Jesus is turning our value system upside down so that we can center our lives outside of ourselves as God intended. Are you poor, hungry, hated, weeping, excluded, insulted, or called evil, then leap for joy for there you will find blessings!
When we abandon ourselves and serve others and God, we can leave behind all our modern-day idols and begin to experience communion with God, true joy. This Sermon on the Plain is an invitation to open ourselves to that deep x-ray vision that Jesus has to see right into the center of lives and place only God in our souls.
Raising his eyes toward his disciples Jesus said.
Image: https://www.byunewtestamentcommentary.com/the-sermon-on-the-mount-and-the-sermon-on-the-plain/