Luke 6:17-49 contains a much more abridged version of the sermon on the mount found in Matthew 5-7. As I was reading the end, I started feeling like there was a connection between five mini-segments contained in verses 37-49, but I was unable to immediately connect the dots. I’m now trying to connect the dots.
Luke 6:37-49
37-38 The measure you use will be used on you
39-40 We are like our teachers
41-42 Be aware of your own faults first
43-45 Actions are produced by the heart- good or bad
46-49 if Jesus is Lord, you’ll do what he says
After having gone through these, and trying to summarize each subsection, I’ve rearranged them and fit them together in an order that made more sense to me. I may be wrong, but this is what I came up with:
If you don’t DO what Jesus says, then he’s obviously not really your ‘Lord’. Anyone who says Jesus is Lord, but doesn’t do what he says is going to fall.
Had you been trained by Him as a teacher, then you’d be like Him. And we can see what kind of person you are by what you do. A good person will do good things because that’s what is in his heart.
The measure you use on others will used on you. If you nitpick others small problems when you have much bigger problems, you’re not in a place to accurately assess them. But that inaccurate measure will be used on you in turn, because that’s what you’ve chosen to use.
Here’s the passage straight from the Bible (NIV):
37 “Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. 38 Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”
39 He also told them this parable: “Can the blind lead the blind? Will they not both fall into a pit? 40 The student is not above the teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like their teacher.
41 “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? 42 How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when you yourself fail to see the plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.
43 “No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. 44 Each tree is recognized by its own fruit. People do not pick figs from thornbushes, or grapes from briers. 45 A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.
46 “Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say? 47 As for everyone who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice, I will show you what they are like. 48 They are like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built. 49 But the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete.”
This is what I came up with trying to connect these into a coherent whole that I could process. I ordered them differently: (considering the segments numbered as they appeared in the passage) first 5, then 2, 4, 1, and 3.
My gut instinct would be to respect the biblical order, but I don’t think it really changes the overall meaning. My order was just for my individual ease of grasping what was being said. I don’t believe it would change the message. Unless…. these aren’t really connected. If they are meant to be five individual instructions, then tying them together would be a misinterpretation. That’s a possibility.