Matthew 5:1-12

Mount Beatitude in Galilee

Matthew 5:1-12

When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain; and after he sat down, his disciples came to him. ² Then he began to speak, and taught them, saying:

³ “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

⁴ “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

⁵ “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.

⁶ “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.

⁷ “Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.

⁸ “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

⁹ “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.

¹⁰ “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

¹¹ “Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. ¹² Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Matthew 5:3-12 is a series of wisdom sayings that we know as the Beatitudes. The source is Q and Matthew. Some people will want to compare the two versions of the beatitudes we find in Matthew and Luke.[1]  

How do we live in a world gone so wrong? It may surprise us, but Jesus has offered to those who seek to follow him some sayings on which to ponder. 

People often praise the beatitudes. It seems as if people rarely read them. We can easily praise them, but our words are empty when they fail to consistently to translate into action.[2] In commenting on the Beatitudes, Martin Marty commented on the difficulty of preaching or teaching on this part of scripture. It would be easier to preach ten sermons than to live just one sermon. Such a statement is true in spades when considering the text before us. 

The temptation not to preach on the Beatitudes must be strong.  Marketers have stitched on so many samplers, engraved on so many walls, and people have used and misused them so much by those who rip them out of context.  Yet, there is nothing but freshness in them, and we are to hear if we let their brief phrases speak.  Von Balthasar used a phrase out of Nietzsche to describe this: "Jesus did not `think what the day thought.'"  Those who think today’s conventional, expectable thought see it fade and disappear with the day.  These Beatitudes are fresh, radical, and thus capable of unsettling and healing anyone in range.^[3]

Jesus describes the life blessed by God with the rewards of that life. As we explore the beatitudes, I want them to unsettle us and to heal us. One should imagine a discussion between Jesus and his students organized around a problem they are pondering. The rabbi in that day would crystallize his teaching with a short and memorable saying. The beatitudes here are the result of that process. They are profound statements. Yet, they would make little sense without some of the background just suggested. 

The church, at its best, keeps directing us to what is important and relevant in a human life, even when it goes against the way the culture defines relevance. These beatitudes are inviting us to reflect upon what “success” means to God. Jesus wants to clarify for the disciples and for the people what it means to follow him. These sayings of Jesus are wisdom sayings. Their design is to bring us to a place of insight concerning what Jesus thinks genuine happiness might be. Thus, if we approach them as a set of rules, we will miss the point. Rather, if we spend some prayerful time using it as a mantra or brief prayer, letting its truth sink into our hearts, we will be far closer to what Jesus wanted. What is your calling? What should you do with your life? What really matters? For the one who hears a call from God to follow Jesus, one acknowledges the pull of truth. Yet, the vocation of such a one is to daily seek to learn what it means to be Christian in the historical setting one finds oneself. Here is the challenge for us today. Your happiness may not be where you think it is. If we listen carefully, Jesus will turn our sense of happiness upside down. 

 

Part of the beauty of the beatitudes is that all to whom they apply will have a share in the coming salvation, whether they ever heard of Jesus in this life or not. The reason is that they factually have a share in Jesus and his message, as the Day of Judgment will make obvious.[4] Congratulating the poor without qualification is unexpected, even paradoxical, since one usually reserves this for those who enjoy prosperity, happiness, or power.  Congratulating the weeping and the hungry occurs in vivid and exaggerated language, which announces a dramatic transformation. Chapter 6 will give the version of the Lord’s Prayer we find in Matthew. “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” One can easily imagine Matthew viewing the beatitudes as giving some content to the will of God as Jesus understood it and as how the rule of God comes even now, in the prayer and life of the people of God, even as they look forward to the coming fullness of that rule. Moreover, the Beatitudes feature three ways humankind experiences the blessings accompanying the unfolding of the kingdom — as those who need good news, as those who help share good news and as those who are willing to work for the sake of good news even at personal cost.

  The Beatitudes receive their name after the Latin adjective beatus (“fortunate”) that stands at the beginning of verses 3-11 in the Vulgate. The word in Greek is Μακάριοι and one best translates it as “happy” or “blissful” to distinguish it from euloghtoV (“blessed”), which does not occur in the Beatitudes. Beatitudes (i.e., any statements that begin “Happy is the one who ...”) are thus distinct from blessings; beatitudes acknowledge praise due to an individual for some deed or quality, while blessings (“Blessed be the one who ...”) are petitions that God bless the one who possesses a particular characteristic or performs certain acts.

"Blessed" is a formula of congratulations in relation to piety, wisdom, and prosperity.  Μακάριοι is associated with the joy and peace associated with a relationship with divinity.  These are not statements, but punctuation.  How Blest, How wonderful.  There is an emotional quality of blessedness and joy.

There are other beatitudes in 11:6, 13:16, 24:46, Luke 11:27-28, Revelation 1:3; James 1:12; Romans 14:22; and John 20:29.

The statements are synthetic rather than analytical. However, I do not think Barth is quite right when he wrote that they do not refer to human endowments or virtue. Rather, he thinks they are the proclamation in human words of a divine judgment. Yet, if happiness comes to people who possess certain characteristics, then Barth is mistaken. They are in line with Barth will elsewhere so eloquently describe as the direction of the Son. They describe the life-direction of the one following Jesus. He is quite right to say that they stand opposite to current ideas of happiness and good fortune. Jesus is giving them new information about themselves. The presence of Jesus makes these persons blessed.^[5] Jesus saw a new world coming. Jesus himself was a sign of that new world, the first outbreak of the rule of God, a signal that, by the grace of God, reality was making a fundamental shift. The beatitudes may seem like an unrealistic way to live. However, if we ponder them deeply, and considering the proleptic appearance of the rule of God in Jesus, they become a powerful invitation to live in a separate way.

Jesus ignored the high, mighty, and wealthy, to the point of prejudice, in favor of the weak, meek, and lowly. He ignored the righteous for the sinners. He ignored Israel for the Gentiles. God is poor in this world and Jesus is poor. He fulfills this transvaluation of all values, acknowledging those who are in diverse ways poor people as this world counts poverty.[6]

The first eight of the nine beatitudes form a single unit in Matthew 5:3-10; the refrain “theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (5:3, 10) acts like a set of bookends for the material between them (scholars call this common literary structure an inclusio). The ninth beatitude in 5:11-12 thus lies outside this literary unit.  

The life described here is one rooted in grace, but a grace connected with how one lives. It would be a mistake to approach the sayings in a legalistic way. Rather, grace surrounds this life, even while it contains an exhortation to live a certain way.

Barth discusses these first four beatitudes as dealing with those who suffer the things of this world. In other words, they are not an exhortation to do anything, but acknowledging a reality already present. Jesus invites them to look at their situation differently. They have not put themselves in this situation; they are simply in it. Their situation does not have blessing from within itself.  He cautions that the New Testament does not regard happiness as such a supreme value as do many persons in our age. From Jesus and his kingdom, the situation is quite different.^[7]

The poor, the sick, and the possessed ‑‑ those who stood listening ‑‑ could easily identify with the physical nature of Jesus' blessings.  Those blessed are those who outwardly whom we should pity.  God’s future action will meet their present need.  Jesus' blessings are a proclamation of the way the world is in the rule of God.  Note that there are no imperatives here, no exhortations to do better.

We do not look as good nor do have everything in order as we present ourselves to others. Pain brings us to our search for happiness, meaning, and joy. Our inner aches and pains tip us off that something is wrong, either within us or in our world. We come to Jesus and to those who follow him today in hopes of finding some satisfaction. One author gave the following assessment of happiness.  Happy people are at ease only because the unhappy ones bear their burdens in silence.  If there were not this silence, happiness would be impossible.  It is a general hypnosis.  Behind the door of contented, happy people, there ought to be someone standing with a little hammer continually reminding them with a knock that there are unhappy people.  However happy they may be, life will eventually show their flaws and trouble will come to them.  However, there is no one with a hammer.  Happy people live at ease, faintly fluttered by small daily cares, and all is well.  However, if life has a meaning and purpose, that meaning and purpose is not our happiness but something greater and grander.  Is perhaps the role of the preacher to be "the person with the little hammer"?[8]

 

Jesus will invite us to consider that genuine happiness arises when we listen to the persistent voice inviting us to move from where we find it comfortable, where we want to stay and where we feel at home. The voice invites us to consider a form of voluntary displacement that recognizes our inner brokenness that brings us into solidarity with the brokenness of our fellow human beings.[9] Jesus bids his followers to extend their hands over the gulf between those who have and those who do not have. They do so in recognition that while the eternal happiness with God is their destiny, they focus their attention upon the needs of this time and this place.

³ “Blessed (Μακάριοι) are the poor (πτωχοὶ), with Matthew adding to the Q version in spirit (πνεύματι), for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. "You're blessed when you're at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more of God and his rule.” (The Message) They are in dire need of good news, and they will have it. This is in keeping with how Jesus approaches the lowly throughout Matthew. We can see the theme in other Jewish literature. The Lord looks upon the humble and contrite in spirit who tremble at the word of the Lord (Isaiah 66:2b). The Lord hears the oppressed and needy (Psalm 69:32-33). The pious shall give thanks, in parallel thought with the poor receiving the mercy of God (Psalm of Solomon 10:7, from around 50 BC-70 AD).[10] Matthew may shift the meaning from the poor economically to a quality of the inner life. Matthew has correctly interpreted what Jesus meant here. We have no one else upon whom to rely than God. That is our situation, whether we are aware of it or not. This poverty, true and saving despair, is the gift of the Holy Spirit and the work of Jesus Christ. In this, it resembles faith, of which it is a part. It is to know our sin and divine compassion, forgiving us our sins. It suggests despair about ourselves and the possibilities of existence.[11] The poor in spirit focuses upon inner life. It has in mind inner resources. It seems close to the ethical attitude of humility. It contrasts lack of sufficiency for life verses self-sufficiency. It suggests the poverty of human resources. In the Old Testament, the poor recognize their state of poverty before God.  "Poor" people do not have to do something first.  One must hear in this beatitude one's own lack.  Although the economically poor are in view, Matthew’s version of the beatitude makes it clear that it refers to the poverty of people before God. In the history of influence, most of the ancients viewed this as a spiritual poverty, humility.

As Jesus speaks, the future kingdom comes.  God's authority is behind him.  The humble receive the promise of the kingdom.  In doing so, the salvation that Jesus mediates consists of fellowship with God and the related life, which also embraces a renewal of fellowship with others. To have part in the rule of God is of the very essence of salvation.[12]

⁴ “Blessed (Μακάριοι) are those who mourn (πενθοῦντες), for they will be comforted (παρακληθήσονται)."You're blessed when you feel you've lost what is most dear to you. Only then can you be embraced by the One most dear to you.” (The Message) If we are in the presence of one who mourns the natural reaction is one of pity and compassion. Yet, Jesus invites us to ponder that the blessing of God is upon them. They are in dire need of good news, and they will have it. This is in keeping with how Jesus approaches the lowly throughout Matthew. Mourning here is over one’s own sin as well as the sins of others. It suggests mourning over the state of the world. What a paradox Jesus discloses here, that we find our genuine happiness in mourning. We experience the suffering and pain of this world, not just for ourselves, I hope, but that of others as well. Evil is in us and around us, erupting in bedrooms and boardrooms, back alleys and battlefields. Your mourning is not the end, but the prelude to the comfort God will bring.

God will replace the mourning of this age with the comfort of the next age. We find the same emphasis in the prophetic promise that in the year of the favor of the Lord, comfort will come to those who mourn, providing for those who mourn in Zion, giving them garland instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and the mantle of praise rather than a faint spirit (Isaiah 61:2-3). It suggests strengthening and consoling. The promise of this passage is that the suffering and death of human history will not have the final word.

⁵ “Blessed (Μακάριοι) are the meek (πραεῖς), for they will inherit the earth. "You're blessed when you're content with just who you are - no more, no less. That's the moment you find yourselves proud owners of everything that can't be bought.” (The Message) They help bring good news to others, committed to nurturing compassion and wholeness in the world according to the kingdom of heaven. They receive blessing to be blessings to others. We find a similar thought when the psalmist says the meek shall inherit the land and delight themselves in abundant prosperity (Psalm 37:11). The beatitude is close to verse 3, and even closer if one translates into Aramaic. Gentle people who are trying to reject the power-hungry and violent ways of the world we live in. It speaks of the need for us to live God-controlled lives. Meekness is something like self-control. A truly meek person is one who has every instinct, impulse, and passion under control. They know themselves well enough to put themselves under the direction God gives them. It refers to those who acknowledge the will of God rather than their own.  These do not need power, because their trust is in God.  The sense is unassuming or undemanding.  A look at Jewish parenesis shows that one can hardly separate the nuances of humility and kindness from each other.  Without humility, for example, one cannot learn, for the first step in learning is the realization of our ignorance. Without humility, love becomes impossible, for the beginning of love is a sense of unworthiness. Without humility, we will not know true religion, which begins with a sense of our weakness and of our need for God.[13]The word does not mean the sickly weakness, milk-toast person.  The Old Testament calls Moses meek.  Jesus also was meek.  It refers to a strong character; firmness combined with humility.  In the Old Testament, it refers to gentleness, steadiness, and open to trust in God. Aristotle described ethical living as a mean, or mid-point, between two extremes. On the one extreme was wild and uncontrolled anger; on the other was a total lack of anger, a spineless resignation. In between was righteous anger, the middle way, or the golden mean. Aristotle used a form of this very same word translated here as “meekness” to describe a life lived in perfect balance.

The promise is participation in the rule of God over the earth. The promise is that what life experience denied them on earth, influence apart from power and violence, will belong to them. One can accomplish this inheriting only partially now.  Those who act with equanimity and sensitivity will normally get further than those who are rough of will. 

⁶ “Blessed (Μακάριοι) are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness (δικαιοσύνην), for they will be filled."You're blessed when you've worked up a good appetite for God. He's food and drink in the best meal you'll ever eat.” (The Message) Happiness is for those who we actively seek doing the will of God. We need to fill our lives with the things of God. We must never stop hungering and thirsting. The wonder of humanity is not its sin, but that regardless of the depths of evil to which we can sink, goodness still haunts us. When embedded in the mud of our self-destructive and self-inflicted darkness, we never wholly forget the stars above us. God blesses those who do not stop hungering and thirsting.[14] They help bring good news to others, committed to nurturing compassion and wholeness in the world according to the kingdom of heaven. They receive blessing to be blessings to others. The Old Testament knows of hungering and thirsting for God's word, mercy, and presence. The Lord shall bring a time of famine and thirst for the words of the Lord (Amos 8:11). The Lord shall be the host of a feast for all peoples that includes rich food and well-aged wines (Isaiah 25:6). All who thirst are to come to the waters and those without money can come, buy, and eat, eating rich food that will satisfy truly (Isaiah 55:1-2, 7). They shall not hunger or thirst, for the Lord has pity on them will lead them by springs of water (Isaiah 49:10). The tears of the psalmist have been his food (Psalm 42:3). Some wandered in the wilderness, hungry and thirsty and fainting within, but the Lord delivered them from distress, for the Lord satisfies the thirsty and the hungry with good things (Psalm 107:4-9). Even such a background of the saying suggests they have not attained righteousness. It suggests continual hungering and thirsting, the longing of the pious. What they lack, they long for what only God can give. The “righteousness” to which Jesus refers receives a description in Matthew 5:20-48. 

⁷ “Blessed (Μακάριοι) are the merciful (ἐλεήμονες), for they will receive mercy. "You're blessed when you care. At the moment of being 'care full,' you find yourselves cared for.” (The Message) Followers of Jesus show such mercy to others, for they are anxious to receive it themselves. They help bring good news to others, committed to nurturing compassion and wholeness in the world according to the kingdom of heaven. They receive blessing to be blessings to others. In a similar thought, we are to forgive neighbors the wrongs they have done and then the Lord will pardon our sins when we pray (Ecclesiasticus or Sirach 28:2). No one can count on God's mercy that does not also show mercy. It stresses the connection between God's love for humanity and neighborly love.  

⁸ “Blessed (Μακάριοι) are the pure in heart (καθαροὶ τῇ καρδίᾳ), for they will see God. "You're blessed when you get your inside world - your mind and heart - put right. Then you can see God in the outside world.” (The Message) Such persons are willing to show the world in word and deed that there is nothing more life-changing than single-minded devotion to God. Yet, our focus is fuzzy at best, feeling pulled in all directions. They help bring good news to others, committed to nurturing compassion and wholeness in the world according to the kingdom of heaven. They receive blessing to be blessings to others. Those who have pure hearts will ascend Zion and abide in the Temple, seeking the face of God (Psalm 24:3-6). Other parts of the New Testament reinforce this theme. Christian instruction has the goal of love that comes from a pure heart, good conscience, and sincere faith (I Timothy 1:5). Those who call upon the Lord with a pure heart pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace (II Timothy 2:22). It suggests purity of heart as undivided obedience to God. The point is inner and moral purity, presenting the whole self to God. "Heart" is the center of human wanting, thinking, and feeling.  The point is not opposition to the acts of worship prescribed in the Old Testament, including its sacrifices. Christian tradition has interpreted this beatitude in an ascetic manner. Yet, we must not interpret purity of peart in a way that would lead to removal from the world or to a form of piety suitable only for the religiously gifted. This quality will manifest itself as obedience toward God in the world.

This quality of life has a hope for a future seeing of God that is more than private individual experience. The promise may refer either to seeing God in worship or to the eschatological seeing. When God reveals Christ to the world, we shall we shall be like him, seeing him as he is (I John 3:2b). In any case, “entering into” the rule of God has its definition materially as the vision of God.[15]

⁹ “Blessed Μακάριοι) are the peacemakers (εἰρηνοποιοί), for they will be called children of God. "You're blessed when you can show people how to cooperate instead of compete or fight. That is when you discover who you really are, and your place in God's family.” (The Message) It speaks of our need to work for peace and the justice that paves the way for peace. However, for most of us, we are lovers of peace and we want a peaceful existence in our own lives in which the strife and brokenness in our world does not bother us. Peacemakers are active. A person refuses to take sides in a dispute, steps between two parties, and tries to make peace.  It suggests overcoming evil with good.  This beatitude points to the commandment of love of enemies.  Thus, Matthew is thinking not only of a peaceful living together of members of the community but thinks beyond the limits of the community.  They help bring good news to others, committed to nurturing compassion and wholeness in the world according to the kingdom of heaven. They receive blessing to be blessings to others.

The promise is that God will name them as children of God.  The Old Testament reserves the title for Israel. Jesus applies the name to anyone who exhibits the qualities of making peace.

¹⁰ “Blessed are those who are persecuted (δεδιωγμένοι) for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. "You're blessed when your commitment to God provokes persecution. The persecution drives you even deeper into God's kingdom.” (The Message) The beatitude points us in the direction of the love of enemies. The world does not want the people of God to point them in the direction of setting things right with God and with each other. If one genuinely hungers and thirst for righteousness (5:6), one may find that suffering is the result. The persecuted are favorites of God. It refers to those who undergo fiery tests of loyalty to God.  The implication is that right conduct before God brings persecution.  Yet, we are not to think of masochism or sadism here. Rather, it does seem that the New Testament teaches that Christians should not look upon persecution as strange. They are not to avenge themselves. It gives an opening for all kinds of unrighteousness and folly and wickedness. In fact, such defenselessness may be dishonorable. Jesus calls upon his followers to love their enemies. The only answer seems to be that they resemble in a faint way the suffering of Jesus.[16] Christians are not to look upon honor in the same way that the rest of the world may do. Affliction in this world is not an unqualified bad and may be a good. Jesus makes it clear that working for the sake of good news can get you into trouble. Doing what is sacred is not always the safest choice in a world consistently indifferent to, if not the source of, the spiritual impoverishment and grief caused by lowliness that inflicts itself upon people. receiving blessing from God is challenging, if not risky, business. Jesus is fully aware of the cost of discipleship, indeed, fully aware of the cost of being the Messiah.

In fact, followers of Jesus receive blessedness, even when persecution occurs. Hatred by the world will in fact mean blessedness from God. Jesus promises them the kingdom of heaven. Again, in doing so, the salvation that Jesus mediates consists of fellowship with God and the related life, which also embraces a renewal of fellowship with others. To have part in the rule of God is of the very essence of salvation.[17]

¹¹ “Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. ¹² Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, speaking of empowerment to participate in the kingdom for the sake of something bigger than personal satisfaction, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets, disciples becoming the successors of the prophets, who were before you. "Not only that - count yourselves blessed every time people put you down or throw you out or speak lies about you to discredit me. What it means is that the truth is too close for comfort and they are uncomfortable. You can be glad when that happens - give a cheer, even! - for though they don't like it, I do! And all heaven applauds. And know that you are in good company. My prophets and witnesses have always gotten into this kind of trouble.” (The Message) The beatitude points us in the direction of the love of enemies. Here is precisely where the task of standing with and for the kingdom comes into play most fully, particularly whenever we confront the sad news of the world with the good news of heaven, no matter what the personal cost. One receives blessing from God especially when the world offers rejection. Such blessed boldness connects us to the same heavenly power that sustains Jesus and the prophets before him. 

The ninth beatitude differs from the other beatitudes in that it is longer and less ethereal than the others are. However, note that its theme, persecution, is a theme the eighth beatitude introduces. Matthew here switches suddenly to the second person (“Blessed are you when people revile you ...”), and many scholars believe that the direct address implies that readers of the gospel may have felt harassed by Jewish groups like the Pharisees, with whom it is likely the author and his community were in conflict.

The meaningfulness of our response of rejoicing and gladness starts with the depth of our recognition of and thanksgiving for the way God blesses those who are in need, blesses those who help and blesses those who pay a price for helping. Overall, the sustaining measure of our response corresponds to trusting in good news, sharing good news and working for good news no matter what the cost. How will you participate in the good news of the kingdom in response to God blessing you?

Keep it simple. We often hear that advice. The truth behind it is that often, the insights we need to live a full Christian life are just that – simple. We are to love God with all our hearts. We are to love our neighbors as ourselves. In a sense, simple, is it not? 

What are followers of Jesus supposed to look like? Well, they are to recognize their complete dependence upon God, concerned with the suffering in this world, meek before others, hunger and thirst for what is right, be willing to suffer for what is right, be merciful to others, have inward and outward purity, and make peace in a world divided. I am not suggesting that any of this is easy. Yet, it is simple and direct, as Jesus puts it, at the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount. 

Sure. It is so simple that if we are faithful to Jesus, we will spend our lives becoming like this. The beatitudes invite us to consider Christianity as a lifestyle, a way of being in the world that is simple, non-violent, shared, and loving. With all the centuries since shared the beatitudes, the church became an established religion in a way that sometimes avoided this type of lifestyle change. Thus, one could be warlike, greedy, racist, selfish and vain in most of Christian history, and still believe that Jesus is one’s “personal Lord and Savior.” The world has no time for such silliness anymore. The suffering on Earth is too great.[18]

If we follow Jesus, if our vocation in life is to learn to be Christian, then we need to let Jesus define for us that type of life will look like. I think most people at some point in their lives ponder what really matters in life. At its best, the church keeps pointing people to what really matters and what is truly relevant, even when it goes against a specific cultural or historical setting. Just because a certain sub-culture says something in the Bible or church teaching has lost relevance does not make it so. We need to be far more discerning readers of the message of the New Testament than that. I grant the Bible is a complex arrangement of books gathered over a long history. Many parts make us wonder how they connect with each other in a sacred canon. It can be easy for us to become stuck in the weeds. Yet, some parts of the Bible are clarifying moments. The Ten Commandments would be an obvious place to go for such a clarifying moment. For many of us, Micah 6:1-8 is a clarifying moment in declaring that God requires of the people of God only that they do justice, act with kindness, and walk humbly with God. It seems to me that Jesus had a clarifying moment toward the beginning of his ministry in Galilee in offering his inaugural sermon that Matthew has expanded into the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus has no intention of being a lone ranger. He wants people who will be faithful witnesses with him. He also wants to clarify for the disciples and for the people what it means to follow him. These sayings of Jesus are what scholars call wisdom sayings. Their design is to bring us to a place of insight concerning what Jesus thinks genuine happiness might be. Thus, if we approach them as a set of rules, we will miss the point. Rather, if we spend some prayerful time using it as a mantra or brief prayer, letting its truth sink into our hearts, we will be far closer to what Jesus wanted. In fact, some scholars think that these beatitudes arose out of that type of discussion that Jesus might have had with his disciples. If so, we need to ponder far more carefully the kind of person we are becoming. Are we becoming like the person these beatitudes describe?

The Beatitudes contain what Jesus considers to be the successful, well-lived human life. For most of us, we are filled with the self and projections of the self. It speaks of our need to stand for something greater than ourselves. Sadly, for most of us, we stand only for ourselves. There are temptations all around us, and weaknesses deep within us, that make it an everyday struggle to follow the Lord in faith. The promise is comfort in the present, but God will bring an unexpected twist in human history toward love, peace, and justice. 

I have suggested that the beatitudes are a clarifying moment. They can help us answer many questions of a well-lived human life. I invite you to consider another step. Living the type of life described here is not available only to followers of Jesus. The beatitudes describe a life any person of any culture or historical setting might adopt as the goal of proper character formation. If one adopts this direction in one’s life, one participates in the saving work of God now and in the gracious end toward which God is moving natural and human history. My point is this. A personal encounter with Jesus through the Christian message as a response of faith to it cannot be the universal criterion for participation in salvation or exclusion from it if we take seriously what the New Testament says about the love of God for the world that embraces all people. Hearing the gospel in a way that might bring personal encounter is historically contingent and cannot be decisive for eternal salvation. In their case, what counts is whether actual conduct agrees with the will of God that Jesus proclaimed. The message of Jesus is the norm by which God judges, even in the case of those who never meet Jesus personally. All to whom the beatitudes apply will have a share in the coming salvation whether they have ever heard of Jesus in this life or not. They have a share in the message of Jesus and in him, as the Day of Judgment will reveal. Further, the eschatological transformation contains an element of compensation for the sufferings and deficiencies of the present world.^[19]

---

[1] It is revealing to compare the Beatitudes as we have them in Matthew with the form in which we find them in the Gospel of Luke (6:20-23). Barth seems right when he says that formally, the beatitudes have a prominent place in both Gospels. His point is that as pronounced by Jesus they must have impressed themselves on the tradition as a basic Word in the proclamation of Jesus concerning the kingdom of God.^[1]  The situation of those blessed, and the one who utters the blessing, is significant. Matthew’s interpretation is ethical and internalized.  The beatitudes become a series of uncompromising demands. The authors of these two gospels drew on the same literary source for the Beatitudes. Scholars tend to believe that Luke’s Gospel is closer to the original version; it is both shorter than Matthew’s version and has a decidedly more immediate and material emphasis. For instance, in Luke 6:20 we find, “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God,” while Matthew 5:3 reads, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Thus, there are two key differences in these two versions of the same beatitude. First, it appears that Matthew has added the phrase “in spirit,” thereby blunting the potential socioeconomic dimensions of the saying. Second, while Luke’s rendering of the beatitude is in the second person, Matthew’s is in the third person. The effect of these two differences is that Matthew’s beatitude is more proverbial and aloof in nature than Luke’s; the Matthean version praises an abstract dimension of a person’s piety, while Luke’s statement regards as praiseworthy one who is economically marginalized. In the version in Luke, congratulating the poor without qualification is unexpected, and even paradoxical, since one normally extended congratulations only to those who enjoyed prosperity, happiness, or power.  Further examples of Matthew’s “spiritualization” of the Beatitudes can be seen in the difference between Luke’s “Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you will be filled” (6:21) and Matthew’s “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled” (5:6). Additionally, Luke includes a series of anti-beatitudes that pronounce woe on those who are rich and are not experiencing material lack (6:24-26) that serve as mirror images of the Beatitudes that valorize poverty and lack (6:20-23); these provocative “woes” are not included in Matthew’s version. Matthew in general is concerned about exhorting his readers to proper ethical and religious behavior, while Luke makes issues of social justice a particular emphasis. Thus, their respective versions of the Beatitudes are consonant with these larger themes. 

[2] Archbishop Desmond Tuto.

[3] Martin Marty, Emphasis Ja-Fe 1996

[4] Pannenberg, Systematic Theology Volume 3, 615.

[5] Barth (Church Dogmatics IV.2 [64.3] 188)

[6] Barth CD, IV.2 [64.3] 168-9. 

[7] Barth (Church Dogmatics IV.2 [64.3] 190)

[8] Anton Chekhov, "Gooseberries."

[9] Henri Nouwen, Compassion.

[10] And the pious shall give thanks in the assembly of the people;

            And on the poor shall God have mercy in the gladness () of Israel;

[11] Barth (Church Dogmatics, I.2 [16.2] 265)

[12] Pannenberg (Systematic Theology, Vol II, 398)

[13] —William Barclay, The Gospel of Matthew (Westminster John Knox, 1968), 112-13.

[14] William Barclay, The Gospel of Matthew (Westminster John Knox, 1968), 116.

[15] Pannenberg (Systematic Theology Vol III, 528)

[16] Barth (Church Dogmatics IV.1 [59.2] 243)

[17] Pannenberg (Systematic Theology, Vol II, 398)

[18] Richard Rohr, shared by Rev. Dennis L. Stone, Terrace Lake United Methodist Church, Kansas City, Missouri.

[19] Pannenberg (Systematic Theology, Vol III, 615, 639)