Sermon on the Plain

In Jesus’ “sermon on the plain” in Luke 6 there are a number of cool structures and numerological patterns. The whole sermon is divided into three large chunks, the Beatitudes (vv. 20-27), a section on love of enemies (vv. 27-38, which is marked out by the beginning phrase “But I say to you who hear”), and a section emphasizing the need to act on Jesus’ teaching and not merely to hear (vv. 39-49). Throughout the sermon, the word “do” (Greek poieo ) is a key word, emphasizing the point made in the final section, and the uses of “do” and compound verbs fall out in significant numerical patterns:

1) In the first two sections of the sermon, there are seven occurrences of “do.” The first two deal with the evil doing of “their fathers” (vv. 23, 26), while the others emphasize the “doing” required of Jesus’ disciples (vv. 27, 31 (2x), 33 (2x)).

2) If one adds the three uses of “do good” (Greek, agathopoieo ) in this section (vv. 33 (2x), 35), there are a total of 10 occurrences of poieo or a compound.

3) If the last two sections of the sermon are considered as a unit (vv. 27-49), there are a total of 10 uses of poieo (vv. 27, 31 (2x), 33 (2x), 43 (2x), 46, 47, 49). Jesus, in short, is giving a “decalogue” to His disciples.

4) If the three occurrences of agathopoieo are added to the 10 occurrences of poieo identified in #3, there are a total of 13 uses of poieo or a compound in Jesus’ positive teaching in vv 27-49. This 12 + 1 set may connect with 12 + 1 patterns elsewhere in the gospel (cf. Austin Farrer, who argues that there is a 12 + 1 pattern of healings in Mark). If this works, Jesus is issuing commands for the “new Israel” (12), which will also include those outside Israel (+ 1), the Gentiles.