Be Merciful Like the Father

This study of the Sermon on the Plain (Luke 6,17-49) unfolds in three parts. The first part, which consists of two chapters, deals with the preliminary questions such as context and the structure of the Sermon and its literary sources. Accepting as valid the hypothesis that Luke uses Mark and Q, the study examines Luke’s redaction of the Marcan narrative summary (Mark 3,7-13a) to construct the context of the Sermon (Luke 6,17-20a) and his re-working of the Q-Sermon in order to expound the theme of mercy. The second part, which contains five chapters, offers a detailed exegetical study of the sermon carried out through word-statistical study, semantic and syntactical analysis, and inter-textual assessment of the important terms and expressions used in the text. This exegetical analysis of the Sermon reveals the redactional intentions of Luke. The third part, comprising a single chapter, offers a theological synthesis of the Sermon and its hermeneutical application. The study demonstrates that Luke emphasizes the theme of mercy not only in the Sermon but also in each of the main sections of Gospel narrative, in which he inserts at strategic points materialfrom his special source L