The Beatitudes

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THE BEATITUDES


The word Beatitude comes from the Latin word beatus, meaning “happy, fortunate, or blissful.” The beatitudes were not originally spoken in Greek, but in Aramaic and recorded by Saint Matthew probably sometime between A.D. 50 and 60. It is in Saint Matthew’s gospel that we find the beatitudes. The beatitudes are taken from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. The sermon is called the Sermon on the Mount because Jesus gave it on a hillside near Capernaum. In the Sermon on the Mount, three of the most popular chapters in the New Testament (Matthew 5-7), Jesus gave His followers a pattern for behavior, a spiritual lifestyle that far surpassed the pattern of Judaism. At that time Jesus’ words were innovative because they challenged the ordinary standards of Judaism by transcending outward behavior; they penetrated inner motives and attitudes. His listeners were both challenged and commanded to change their thinking about the Kingdom of God. Jesus wanted everyone to see that the Gospel of the Kingdom of God is one of joy and blessedness. The Kingdom metaphor was clearly understood by Jesus’ listeners. Because of their history and surrounding conditions they could easily identify with it. They understood that God is King over the outer world and the inner soul as well. The inner being was as real to Jesus as the outer body is to us. To Jesus the Kingdom was within us, around us, and among us, and in the future for us. “The Kingdom starts here and now and will be most fully realized in heaven. Its presence now reflects the greatness of Christ and its future fulfillment shows the Lordship of Christ.” Jesus wanted everyone to see that the gospel of the Kingdom is one of joy and blessedness. As Jesus’ followers, joy and blessings are our birthright, even though there are inevitable times of stress and difficulty. The first verses in the 5th chapter of Matthew are known as the beatitudes. The beatitudes open with a set of pronouncements.” The word blessed which is used in each of the beatitudes is the Greek word makarios.


“Makarios is the word which specially describes the gods. In Christianity there is a godlike joy. Makarios describes joy that has its secret within its self, the joy which is serene and untouchable, and self contained. The joy that is completely independent of all the chances and the changes of life. The beatitudes speak of that joy which seeks us through our pain, that joy which sorrow and loss, and pain and grief, are powerless to touch, that joy which shines through tears, and which nothing in life or death can take away.”


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Each Beatitude portrays and attitude or action that will give us a glimpse of the Kingdom of Heaven here and now. It can easily be seen that every one of the beatitudes has precisely the same form. While most English Bibles use “blessed” some modern translations prefer “happy” or “fortunate. Each Beatitude tells how to be blessed. Human happiness is something that is dependent on situations and circumstances something that life may or may not give. Happiness and fortunate don’t promise laughter, pleasure, or earthly prosperity. To Jesus happiness means hope, and joy, independent of outward circumstances a style of life that can give us a sense of happiness and inner joy which exceeds anything we could imagine. From the slopes of the mountainside we join Jesus, the disciples and the great multitude that followed to examine the life changing truths the Master lays out for us


Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 5) No doubt after Jesus had announced in Matthew 417 that the Kingdom was at hand people were naturally asking “How do I qualify to be in God’s Kingdom?” This beatitude was for anyone aware of poverty of spirit and the need of wholeness. In Hebrew the word poor was used to describe the humble and the helpless man who put his trust in God. The Pharisees of Jesus’ time concentrated so much on outer actions that they were blind to their inner personality. Jesus’ words penetrated beyond the logic of the world and touched a divine spark of love and truth within the human soul. Blessed are those who mourn. (Matthew 54) Those who have deep feelings of sorrow over their own sins, care deeply about the shortcomings of others, and are remorseful of the knowledge that they hurt God and in the Greek the word for to mourn is the strongest word for mourning in the Greek language. It is the word which is used for mourning the dead, for the passionate lament for one who is loved. Jesus gives an entirely different approach to sorrow. He redeems it. He makes it life-giving rather than a product of death. Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth. (Matthew 55) Disciplined people whose lives are now God-controlled. In Jesus’ day the rabbis had become overbearing in their learning, the Greeks were scornful in their intellectual pride and the Romans were brutal with their military power. Aristotle first defines meekness, praotes, as the happy medium between too much and too little anger.” Jesus was also meek. He taught the blessedness of poverty, meekness and peacefulness. He even turned the other cheek at his own trial and crucifixion. But Jesus was also a fighter. He was not afraid to lift his voice against the hypocrisy of the religious leaders of his day when it was God’s will for him to do so. So meekness did not keep Jesus from being strong in the Spirit of his Father. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. (Matthew 56) Those who want to see God’s “right” prevail with the same intensity of a starving person scrambling for food. “The Greek word for righteousness means rightness. To seek the right. It also means to equity. To seek an equality among all.” Jesus paints a vivid picture with a few words as he says we are blessed if our daily desire for righteousness and goodness is so intense that it is like an insatiable hunger and a burning thirst. Blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy. (Matthew 57) Those who feel the calamities of others are their own. The Hebrew word for mercy is chesedh. It does not simply mean to feel sorry for someone in trouble, but it means the ability to get right inside the other person’s skin until we can see things with his eyes, think things with his mind, and feel things with his feelings. The quality of mercy which Jesus commands here calls for us not to be judgmental or critical, for we don’t usually know the circumstances of another person’s life unless we have walked a mile in his shoes. Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God. (Matthew 58) Those whose integrity is intact and whose motives are pure. The Greek word for pure is katharos, unmixed, untainted. This Beatitude demands from us self examination. To examine one’s own motives is a daunting and a shaming thing, for there are few things in this world that even the best of us do with completely unmixed motives. Blessed are the peacemakers. (Matthew 5) Those who bring people together in harmony and right relations. Jesus is not blessing those who merely prevent hostility, but those whose primary aim is to bring people together in right relationship It is only when have made our own peace with God and are at peace with ourselves that we are able to be at peace with others. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when men revile you and persecute you and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for my sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad for great is your reward in heaven for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you. (Matthew 510-1) Those who have deliberately shouldered the cross of Christ in the battle against the selfishness that determines so much of our behavior. Jesus was perfectly honest with the twelve disciples and the great multitude that followed. He warned that if we live by the first seven Beatitudes, we may well experience physical and emotional suffering. None of us likes to be persecuted. We want to be liked. When Jesus spoke out against the religious practices and standards of his day, he initiated a confrontation with the leaders of Judaism. Jesus modeled each of the Beatitudes to perfection, and yet he was hated, he was persecuted with unspeakable cruelty. Why did Jesus say we are to rejoice? Probably because when we are attacked because of our Christian witness it is probably because we are being effective. “Dwight L. Moody, the great American evangelist, said that when too much time went by without someone attacking him, he became concerned about the vitality of his message.”


As a rule, our greatest growth comes in times of opposition and persecution of one kind or another. We can rejoice because we share in a great fellowship and a great occasion. And while Jesus never promises that life will be easy, he does promise to be with us even in life’s hard time. Both Matthew and Luke give us a version of the Sermon on the Mount in which the beatitudes were included. (Matthew 5 -1 and Luke 60-)





BIBLIOGRAPHY


William Barclay, The Gospel of Matthew, Volume 1. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania The Westminster Press, 175


Jim Forest, The Ladder of the Beatitudes, Maryknoll, New York Orbis Books, 1


Bob E. Patterson, The Guidepost Home Bible Study Program, Discovering Matthew. Carmel, New York Guidepost Associates, Inc., 185


John Michael Talbot, Blessings, Reflections on the Beatitudes, New York, New York The Crossroad Publishing Company, 11





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