Luke 6:27-38This passage is found in the context of Jesus' Sermon on the Plain which has striking parallels with Matthew's account, commonly called the Sermon on the Mount (Mt. 5-7). Both Luke and Matthew supplemented Mark with the "Q" but used it differently to represent Jesus, which is likely due to Luke's addition of what is sometimes called the "L" – Luke's distinct material containing stories who exemplify positive moral behavior [Matera 64].{Where Q is a common source of oral and perhaps written tradition to which both Matthew and Luke had access. According to Streeter's four-document hypothesis, Luke then combined Q and L to create Proto-Luke. This would then be further refined with Markan material to create what we have as Luke's gospel account.} Where Matthew places it early in Jesus' ministry, Luke places it "well into the Galilean ministry of Jesus. [Matera, 73]. Where Matthew frames the Sermon on the Mount as a sermon on the Law and justice, Luke does not mention the Law, favoring a focus on enemy love and not judging one another [Matera, 73] {Matera sees Luke as addressing a situation in which Gentiles dominated the Christian community and assured them that their new faith is genuine [Matera, 64].} Furthermore, the content of Matthew is expanded and spiritualized (e.g. "Blessed are the poor in spirit" Mt. 5:3), which seems to indicate that Luke's material is closer to the original.[Lohfink, 35]{Based on the principle of textual criticism that expansions are due to a scribe's perceived need to further explain the content. Also, Nolland emphasizes the presence of more agricultural material in Matthew and believes that this type of content is more original and that Luke has omitted it (Nolland, 292). This probably... middle of paper......enemies and blessing friends.[Nolland, 296] It also contrasts with the Qumran community's ethic of loving the "children of light" and hating "the children of darkness."[Nolland, 296] Matera sums it up well: "The essence of the love that Jesus requires is a compassion that leads the disciples to do good even to their enemies."[Matera, 76]29-30 Nolland sees the change from second plural to second singular as evidence that Luke took two separate sources and put them together to create this teaching.[Nolland, 296] This can be debated but may end up being irrelevant to the interpretation and meaning of the ride. For Luke the commands in these verses are practical examples of how to enact enemy love.[Nolland, 296] They place the Christian in a position of openness to the enemy/offender despite the potential for physical, social or material harm .[Nolland, 296]