The Q material is simply a list of words and sayings by Jesus. These sayings are typically about Jesus giving wisdom or teaching some universal truth. Even large sermons like the sermon on the mount and plain derive from the Q source that Matthew and Luke had while writing their gospel. A large portion of this material is apocalyptic in it’s nature. It announces the coming of a new age. We see this most clearly in the beatitudes in Mt 5:1-12 and the blessings and woes in Lk 6:17-26. There is a lot of overlap in these passages due to them both coming from the same Q source. We see the commonalities in “blessed are those who mourn, and you when you are hated, the poor, the meek, the merciful, the hungry.” This displays the new age where hierarchies are somewhat upside down. Those who are considered lowly, weak, marginalized will be exalted and promised good things. The way Matthew and Luke go about it is differently. Matthew mainly focus on personal piety “blessed are the poor in spirit” while Luke has his attention on those who do not get physical needs met “blessed are the poor.” Luke makes the fate of the marginalized and the well off have an even starker contrast than Matthew with his addition of the woes (Lk 6:24-26). Overall this is good news for those who are persecuted, poor, and pious because a new age where they are exalted is coming.

A major similarity I see between the cynic philosopher and the teacher Jesus is, is that they are not exempt from teaching their hometown. In both Mark and Luke Jesus teaches back in Nazareth and he is not well received. He says that a prophet is not accepted in their hometown or even in their own family (Mark 6:4). We not only see this aspect of teaching family from Jesus but from Epictetus as well. He says “Why should he not be bold so as to speak openly to his own brothers, to his children, succinctly, to his kin?” (Epictetus 95). Luke changes Jesus’ interaction with the people from Nazareth a bit. Jesus only says that a prophet is not accepted in his country, but says nothing about his family or kin (Lk 4:24). In Luke Jesus also reads from Isaiah where good news is proclaimed to the poor, blind, captive, and oppressed, which is reminiscent of Lucian as well (Lucian 8). But he doesn’t heal people and in response they people of Nazareth try to throw him off a cliff. Jesus talks about how Elijah and Elisha (prophets in the kingdom era) healed only a gentile when there were many that were sick in Israel and Judah. The people become upset when they hear that this good news is not exclusive to Go’s people but to the entire world as well. This sets the stage for Luke as a recurring theme, Jesus as a world savior.

We see that Jesus has a critique of the world. It was currently upside down from Jesus had intended it to be. Instead of the rich, full, and well off, it is the poor, hungry, and oppressed that get the good news (Mt 5:1-12/Lk 6:17-26). Jesus’ envisioned world is one where there is no hate for the enemy, no resistance from them, and even being generous to them (Mt 5:38-48/Lk6:27-36). What we learn from these passages is that the world is backwards from what God’s will is.