Luke 1-6:16 forms the literary context for the Sermon on the Plain. This context grounds Jesus' teaching authority as the Son of God. The beatitudes and woes (6:20-26) establish a revolutionary vision of the authentic human life. The love commandment is grounded in two general ethical principles - the Golden Rule (6:31) as a maxim of general altruism and the imitatio Dei (6:36) making human conduct respond to the deepest human desires intimated in the Rule. Consequently, Christian disciples are to avoid hostile judgment, as their master did; one can judge truly only by examining the fruits one produces. These commands, which carry human authenticity beyond its limits, are the only way to avoid total destruction.