Sermon on the Mount - The Beatitudes

And seeing the multitudes, He went up on a mountain, and when He was seated His disciples came to Him. Then He opened His mouth and taught them, saying:

"Blessed are the poor in spirit,

For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are those who mourn,

For they shall be comforted.

Blessed are the meek,

For they shall inherit the earth.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,

For they shall be filled.

Blessed are the merciful,

For they shall obtain mercy.

Blessed are the pure in heart,

For they shall see God.

Blessed are the peacemakers,

For they shall be called sons of God.

Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake,

For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

"Blessed are you when they revile 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 they persecuted the prophets who were before you."

- Matthew 5:1-12

On Saturday we were reading from the book of Mark, in chapter 12. But today we take up (as the lectionary goes) the book of Matthew, chapter 5. But the readings truly fall into one another, as the last reading from Mark was about the poor widow who gave so much of what she had to the temple treasury. We recall that Jesus had been quizzed or interrogated by several people, each representing different groups of the leadership. But in the last reading we had in Mark, Jesus took the scribes to task for their falseness and hypocrisy, despite their expertise in the law, and praised the poor woman, pointing out her great gifts to God. He said, "Assuredly, I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all those who have given to the treasury, for they all put in out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all that she had, her whole livelihood." Today we read the Beatitudes, from Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, and He teaches about the blessings that may be hidden, the treasure in secret, just as we discussed with the poor widow, in contrast to the scribes who love the show of place.

And seeing the multitudes, He went up on a mountain, and when He was seated His disciples came to Him. Being seated is the traditional teaching position of a rabbi. Thereby we are to understand Jesus as Teacher. He is the Teacher for all of us who have faith and trust in Him. The Sermon on the Mount is the great teaching that we have: a collection of His teachings about what it is to live a righteous life.

Then He opened His mouth and taught them, saying: "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." The first teaching we have on blessedness is for those who are poor in spirit. If we juxtapose this teaching with our reading of yesterday (about the poor widow, and Jesus' scathing remarks about the scribes "who devour widows' houses"), we have a perfect symmetry. Those who are poor, in this sense, are those who do not put their faith in material wealth, but find wealth elsewhere, and depend upon God. They are blessed in spirit. So here we have an exchange, as we discussed in yesterday's reading. My study bible says that "blessed" in this context means a heavenly, spiritual blessedness rather than earthly happiness or prosperity. In Hebrew, "poor" means both the materially poor and the faithful among God's people. Therefore to be poor in spirit is to be humble, to thirst and hunger for something other than material wealth and what it offers us in the world.

Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Some commentators speak of mourning for our sinfulness. But I see this, while encompassing such thoughts, as having a greater impact, a broader meaning. It is about an exchange: what we think we lose or have lost we will find comfort for. In Christ, as the Son and therefore inseparable from Father and Spirit, we find healing, He fills up the empty places, the cracks that need healing, and restores our losses with His comfort. Indeed, sends us a Comforter.

Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. The "meek" indicates a disposition of centeredness or contentment, a kind of serenity in all things. My study bible says, "Meekness is an attitude of contentment with both honor and dishonor." Christ said, "Learn from Me, for I am gentle [meek] and lowly in heart (11:29)." The meek are those who are humble before God, who seek God's response to life in this world. That is, a greater perspective and discipline than a "worldly" one where material life, the here and now, is all that counts.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,for they shall be filled. Here is the great comment on exchange, the centerpiece of the Beatitudes in today's readings. Righteousness is "right-relatedness." It is the sum of the greatest commandments, which we read about last week in Mark's Gospel. We are to love one God with all that we are, all that is in us, and our neighbors as ourselves. If we hunger and thirst for righteousness first, then we seek the path that will give us fulfillment - God will respond to our desires.

Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. To be merciful is truly to be God-like. Our life in the world isn't about a strict tit-for-tat understanding, but rather the best action here and now. What makes for reconciliation? Can we let go of what we need to in order to meet those who come to us in love and friendship? My study bible says that "mercy is love set in motion, love expressed in action." We learn this love from God who is patient with us always, to lead us in God's ways, and we learn God-likeness in order to extend that in blessings to others. The word for "blessed" that appears in the beginning of each of these verses is Μακάριοι (pronounced "makaree"). Its roots come from a word meaning to extend, enlarge, lengthen and it denotes God extending grace, or benefits. So, God's mercy, extended in us, is also extended through us to others. And in the great exchange Jesus pictures, that mercy is returned to us as well. It is a constant cycle of exchange in all dimensions, within and without.

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. What is it to be "pure in heart?" It is to see clearly with spiritual perception - to be able to behold life with a clear and open heart. "To be pure," my study bible says, "is to be unmixed with anything else." To be pure in heart, then, is not to have mixed motives, to be able to be devoted, to "make thine eye single" as Jesus has said elsewhere. When we love with "all our heart" (as in the greatest commandment) it is a similar state. To repent becomes a lifelong process of this type of purification - to unmuddy our hearts from that which gets in the way of the "clear view," the obstacles to faith, understanding, peace within us, and "wholehearted" love.

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. Here we come to the great sense of peace that Jesus confers. My study bible says, "Being Himself the source of peace, the Son of God found no price sufficient for peace but that of shedding His own blood. In doing so, Christ reveals Himself to us as the Reconciler, the Prince of Peace. . . . Peace brings communion with God and concord with all creation, the sign of our sanctity. Thus, peacemakers share God's peace with those around them, participating in the work of God's Son and becoming, by God's grace, sons of God themselves." It is again like the extension of mercy - in our reconciliation to the Reconciler, through His ransom for our freedom, we become "like Him" and extend that grace into our lives. In turn, we are again "blessed" in the eyes our Father.

Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Again, the great exchange is at play, at work. If we are persecuted in the world "for righteousness sake" then we are blessed, for the kingdom of heaven is ours. The kingdom of heaven, in my opinion, is not a promise for the future alone, but a promise of belonging in the present time, the here and now, and it lives among us and within us. Jesus will teach His disciples as they are sent out to heal and preach, to say to those whom they encounter, "The kingdom of God has come near to you." Repeatedly, He will use this phrase in His own teaching. The kingdom dwells with us and within us and among us; it is alive to us and we are a part of it. Therefore this exchange, in which we are persecuted for righteousness' sake, is a real presence - and it extends into eternity. It is a reality that is with us now, and will be fulfilled in greater glory as we come to understand more deeply, a promise which we taste now. Our love and loyalty is always returned to us as well.

"Blessed are you when they revile 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 they persecuted the prophets who were before you." And here is the true depth of the promise, which He makes to His disciples in the Sermon on the Mount, and to us who still follow. It is a promise that to those to whom persecution will come -- and it would come in their lifetimes -- that there is the powerful kingdom at work, as it has been at work even among the prophets "who were before you." We get a taste, again, of the timeless reality of this presence that will be more greatly fulfilled as we are enabled to see more fully, more clearly. In 1 Corinthians 13, St. Paul wrote: "For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known."

The great exchange is an understanding of the power of God, and how it works in our lives. The kingdom - its very presence - is present to us and lives within us, and while we are blessed by God, so we also in turn may bless others by continuing that extension. But in the great exchange, our extension of that grace becomes, in turn, re-extended to us and through us from the Source of all that is. We become "sons of God" as well. What does this great exchange mean to you? Have you been comforted in ways that go far beyond what you can explain in "worldly terms" of the material? What grace have you experienced in your life, that keeps you going on this ever-surprising journey? And if you have been persecuted for righteousness' sake, do you not understand the love that lives in you in your loyalty and friendship to Him? The love we give and receive becomes the great blessing that encompasses all, and keeps us going forward on this journey, to its fulfillment. And that love is extended and returned to us in manifold ways, beyond our understanding. How do you live it today?