An Episcopal Dictionary of the Church

Sermon on the Plain

This is a less widely used term to refer to the portion of Luke's gospel which is parallel to Matthew's Sermon on the Mount. Lk 6:17 states that after Jesus chose the twelve, he stood on a “level place.” The “sermon” begins at 6:20 and ends at 6:49. It contains some of the material that is found in the Sermon on the Mount. It is not exactly the same. Because there is nothing similar in Mark, it is assumed to be from the Q source. Both the Sermon on the Mount and the Sermon on the Plain are addressed to the disciples and are close to the beginning of Jesus' ministry. They both begin with beatitudes, but Luke's four beatitudes are simpler in form and are followed by four woes. The rest of the speech has a heavy emphasis on love. See Sermon on the Mount.

Glossary definitions provided courtesy of Church Publishing Incorporated, New York, NY,(All Rights reserved) from “An Episcopal Dictionary of the Church, A User Friendly Reference for Episcopalians,” Don S. Armentrout and Robert Boak Slocum, editors.