In Christianity

Christianity

Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...

, the Sermon on the Plain refers to a set of teachings by Jesus

Jesus

Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...

 in the Gospel of Luke

Gospel of Luke

The Gospel According to Luke , commonly shortened to the Gospel of Luke or simply Luke, is the third and longest of the four canonical Gospels. This synoptic gospel is an account of the life and ministry of Jesus of Nazareth. It details his story from the events of his birth to his Ascension.The...

, in 6:17-49.
This sermon may be compared to the longer Sermon on the Mount

Sermon on the Mount

The Sermon on the Mount is a collection of sayings and teachings of Jesus, which emphasizes his moral teaching found in the Gospel of Matthew...

 in the Gospel of Matthew

Gospel of Matthew

The Gospel According to Matthew is one of the four canonical gospels, one of the three synoptic gospels, and the first book of the New Testament. It tells of the life, ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth...

.

Luke 6:12-20a details the events leading to the sermon. In it, Jesus spent the night on the mountain praying to God. Two days later, he gathers his disciples

Disciple (Christianity)

In Christianity, the disciples were the students of Jesus during his ministry. While Jesus attracted a large following, the term disciple is commonly used to refer specifically to "the Twelve", an inner circle of men whose number perhaps represented the twelve tribes of Israel...

 and selects 12 of them whom he names Apostles. On the way down from the mountain, he stands at "a level place" where a throng of people had gathered. After curing those with "unclean spirits" (see also Demonic possession

Demonic possession

Demonic possession is held by many belief systems to be the control of an individual by a malevolent supernatural being. Descriptions of demonic possessions often include erased memories or personalities, convulsions, “fits” and fainting as if one were dying...

), Jesus begins what is now called the Sermon on the Plain.

Notable messages in the Sermon include:

• The beatitudes
  Beatitudes
  In Christianity, the Beatitudes are a set of teachings by Jesus that appear in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. The term Beatitude comes from the Latin adjective beatus which means happy, fortunate, or blissful....
  
   (6:20-26)
• Love your enemies and turn the other cheek
  Turn the other cheek
  Turning the other cheek is a phrase in Christian doctrine that refers to responding to an aggressor without violence. The phrase originates from the Sermon on the Mount in the New Testament.In the Sermon on the Mount in the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus says:...
  
   (6:27-36)
• Treat others the way you want to be treated
  Ethic of reciprocity
  The Golden Rule or ethic of reciprocity is a maxim, ethical code, or moralitythat essentially states either of the following:* : One should treat others as one would like others to treat oneself....
  
   (6:31)
• Don't judge and you won't be judged
  The Mote and the Beam
  The Mote and the Beam is a New Testament saying in Matthew 7:1-5 as part of the Sermon on the Mount. The discourse is fairly brief, and begins by condemning those who would judge others, arguing that they too would be judged...
  
  , don't condemn and you won't be condemned, forgive and you will be forgiven
  Lord's Prayer
  The Lord's Prayer is a central prayer in Christianity. In the New Testament of the Christian Bible, it appears in two forms: in the Gospel of Matthew as part of the discourse on ostentation in the Sermon on the Mount, and in the Gospel of Luke, which records Jesus being approached by "one of his...
  
  , give and you will receive (6:37-38)
• Can the blind lead the blind?
  The blind leading the blind
  "The blind leading the blind" is a metaphor used in antiquity, notably by Jesus in the Matthew and Luke , as well as in the non-canonical Gospel of Thomas .In Matthew, Jesus responds to a question about the Pharisees saying:...
  
   Disciples are not above their teacher (6:39-40a)
• Remove the log from your own eye before attending to the splinter in your friend's (40b-42)
• A good tree does not produce bad fruit and a bad tree cannot produce good fruit, each tree is known by its fruit (43-45)
• Why do you call me Lord, Lord yet not do what I command? (46)
• Whoever follows these words of mine builds on rock and will survive, whoever does not builds on sand and will be destroyed (47-49)

In Luke 7:1 after Jesus had said everything he had to say to the crowd, he went to Capernaum

Capernaum

Capernaum was a fishing village in the time of the Hasmoneans. Located on the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee. It had a population of about 1,500. Archaeological excavations have revealed two ancient synagogues built one over the other...

, which in Lukan chronology he had not visited since Luke 4:31.

See also

• Beatitudes
  Beatitudes
  In Christianity, the Beatitudes are a set of teachings by Jesus that appear in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. The term Beatitude comes from the Latin adjective beatus which means happy, fortunate, or blissful....
  
  
• Jesus in Christianity
• The Mote and the Beam
  The Mote and the Beam
  The Mote and the Beam is a New Testament saying in Matthew 7:1-5 as part of the Sermon on the Mount. The discourse is fairly brief, and begins by condemning those who would judge others, arguing that they too would be judged...
  
  
• Sermon on the Mount
  Sermon on the Mount
  The Sermon on the Mount is a collection of sayings and teachings of Jesus, which emphasizes his moral teaching found in the Gospel of Matthew...