The “beatitudes” and the Sermon on the Mount as these verses are called appear in both Matthew and Luke although they are framed slightly differently, one occurring on a mount, the other on a plain or flat place. In these verses Jesus teaches essentially that those who are lowly and dealing with struggle here on earth will be blessed and have reward in the Kingdom of God. Jesus here is portrayed as being an uplifting teacher, offering hope to people who feel hopelessness and also suggesting a different age and space where things that seem bad now will later be rewarded and vindicated. Interestingly, as shown in the Mark and Luke parallel where Jesus preaches in his hometown, the story is told differently. In Mark, Jesus is disregarded and looked down upon whereas in Luke, the people respected him and were impressed yet in both passages Jesus says that a prophet has honor everywhere except his home. So in theory, Jesus’ message about this new way of life and the hope of a better one in regards to earthly struggles was not received in his hometown because they said things like, “Is this not Joseph’s son?” In conjunction with this, we can see Jesus as a newly divine man. After the incarnation, in theory, Jesus began to subscribe to a higher order of life, a divine life. Due to this sudden alteration in behavior and certain an alteration in daily life, the people who had known him well before the incarnation find this new version, so suddenly appeared, difficult to accept. The writings of Lucian and Epictetus both offer pictures of what the sage should be and Jesus appears to fit that mold. An open and free man choosing a life that is free from public exposure because there is nothing that he has not already freely exposed. He subscribes to a different social understanding. He critiques the society at large and even things that appear in the Old Testament. Jesus is radical in this and certainly controversial. The things he is teaching in these passages are radically and diametrically opposed to what can be found in Hebrew scripture. He explicitly refutes the extremely central Jewish idea of justice and an eye for an eye by saying turn the other cheek.