douglas

The reading at my wife's church this Sunday was from Luke 6. "He went down with them and stood on a level place." I had a brief (and slightly uncomfortable) discussion at lunch afterwards with the Deacon on Luke putting Jesus on a "level place" while Matthew puts him on a "mountain." I felt that Matthew placed Jesus on a mountain as a reference to Moses, but I'm not sure why Luke would go out of his way to put him on a plain.

Was Luke aware of Matthew's gospel and purposefully added this to make Jesus appear less Jewish? Is there some scholarship out there on this that you could point me to that would help me understand this passage?

The deacon was unprepared to discuss it and thought it was kind of a ridiculous question, especially coming from an atheist like me. He was going to ask the priest and get back to me, but I'm not holding my breath. Any help is appreciated.

Doug

John Kesler

See the entry on Luke 6:17-49 in The People's New Testament Commentary (or via: amazon.co.uk) by M. Eugene Boring and Fred B. Craddock.

Loomis

Why are you so sure that Luke went out of his way to put Jesus on a plain?

If you can’t find a motive for Luke to go out of his way, then you might want to consider the possibility that he didn’t.

Maybe Luke was indifferent about where his story took place.

Maybe he didn’t give the issue much thought at all.

Loomis

That’s probably because he’s arrogant.

Assure the fine deacon that Christians do not have a monopoly on the bible.