Sunday
Sunday
The Beatitudes
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Matthew 5:3
We need to begin with three negatives. Firstly, Jesus is not encouraging us to be selective, for example, calling some to be meek and others to be merciful. No. All eight beatitudes, like all nine fruits of the Spirit, are to characterize Christ’s followers. Secondly, Jesus is not prescribing a formula for mental health. True, makarios (“blessed”) can mean “happy,” but Jesus is making not a subjective judgment (what we feel) but an objective one (what God thinks). Thirdly, Jesus is not preaching salvation by good works but teaching how those already reborn by the Spirit will behave.
The poor in spirit are those who acknowledge that they are spiritually bankrupt. Their language is, “Nothing in my hand I bring, simply to your cross I cling.” Those who mourn go further. It is not the loss of a loved one that they grieve but the loss of their integrity and self-respect. They are comforted by God’s forgiveness. The meek (so the context suggests) are willing for others to think of them what they themselves say they are. The next stage is that they hunger and thirst for righteousness. A keen spiritual appetite marks the people of God.
If the first four beatitudes concern our relationship with God, the second four concern our relationship with others. Since our God is a merciful God, his people must be merciful too, loving and serving anybody in need, as the good Samaritan taught us last week. The next people to be blessed are the pure in heart, that is, the single-minded and the transparently sincere. Christians are also to be peacemakers. Then they will be called God’s children, since their Father is the supreme peacemaker who made costly peace with us through the death of his Son (Col. 1:20). The eighth beatitude pronounces a blessing on those who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness. The persecution of Christians is increasing in several cultures today. It is an aspect of our Christian calling, Jesus taught, and puts us into a noble succession, since the prophets were persecuted before us.
So the counterculture of Jesus Christ is at odds with the cultures of the world. For Jesus congratulates those the world most pities and calls the world’s rejects blessed.
For further reading: Matthew 5:1–12