I’m not a big fan of cheesy plays-on-words. You know, like saying that “history” is “His-story”. They’re cute, clever, and downright cheesy. I heard a preacher once say, “Let me write you a prescription for healthy spiritual living: I’m going to give you four ‘pills’, the ‘Gos-pills’!” Of course, this preacher’s point was that a continual reading of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John is good for one’s spiritual life. I, however, have a hard time trying to suppress that voice in my head shouting, “LAME!”
And so it is with great remorse that I am about to break a self-imposed social taboo. Hopefully this will help get the point across with respect to Matthew 5.1-12. In the meantime, please try to suppress that voice in your head shouting, “LAME!”
The introduction to the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5.3-12 is commonly known as the “Beatitudes”. If I may bore you with a linguistics lesson, the word “beatitude” itself comes from the Latin translation (beatus) of the Greek word makarios, which in English means “Blessed” (1). Perhaps we might call these the “Blessings”, but that word doesn’t lend itself to a cheesy pun. “Beatitude” works, because then I can call these the..... wait for it...... the “Be Attitudes”! (I’m sure I’m not the first loser to come up with this, but if this is your first exposure, you’re welcome!).
This fits because in the context of Jesus telling his people they are to be different from those around them, the beatitudes are his first lesson in the kind of people they should be. Poor in spirit, meek, merciful, peacemaking and the rest; those kinds of things should be your attitude.
Before looking at the actual beatitudes themselves, I think there are a few things to keep in mind. First, Jesus declares that the one who fulfills all of these “beatitudes” is “blessed.” “Blessed,” however, is not synonymous with “happy”. Being “blessed” does not necessarily exclude “happiness.” Certainly someone who is shown mercy may in fact be “happy.” However, “Happy are those who are persecuted” seems silly.
Instead, being “blessed” has the idea of being “approved.” If I say that I “bless” God, what I mean is that I approve of him. Not that he needs my approval in a casual sense, but for my own sake, I recognize that He is God and in whatever situation I encounter, He is able. By blessing God, that means I have come to the conclusion that he is a God worth following and I adjust my life accordingly.
With that in mind, how great is it to know that there are situations in life when God looks down upon us and “approves” of what we do! Any number of people might find themselves in a state of spiritual poverty. That certainly doesn’t lend itself to “happiness,” but happiness is irrelevant. God looks down upon such a person and smiles. When we are poor in spirit, mourn, show meekness and make peace, God “approves” of what we do. It is tantamount to him saying, “Well done!”
Second, I used to have this vision that while Jesus was preaching this, he was milling around the crowd and just happened to find a guy who just happened to be “poor in spirit” through no fault of his own. Then Jesus, with a great deal of pity, calmly placed a gentle hand on the guy’s shoulder and said, looking into his eyes, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, like this guy here.” Then he found someone else in the crowd who may not have been poor in spirit, but who was mourning. Again, looking into his eyes, Jesus says, “And blessed are those who mourn, but who aren’t necessarily poor in spirit, like this mourning guy.” Next, he finds a meek guy who is neither mourning nor poor in spirit, and on and on it goes.
I don’t think this is an accurate portrayal. Again, in the context of the entire Sermon, where Jesus is going to say, “Pharisees do X and Pagans do Y but you are to be different,” it is more likely that Jesus is saying through these beatitudes, “One way you are to be different is to let these things BE your Attitude!” All of them. Not poor in spirit or mourning, but poor in spirit and mourning. The world is not accustomed to being poor in spirit, mournful, meek, merciful, pure in heart, or even celebrating the fact they are being persecuted. But as we will see, such attitudes are hallmarks of one who wishes to be a disciple of Christ.
Finally, you will notice that the first and last beatitude carries with it a promise of inheriting the “Kingdom of Heaven.” This literary device of “bookending” shows that the emphasis of all of the Beatitudes is the Kingdom of Heaven. In fact, on a broader level, the entire Sermon on the Mount itself describes how citizens of the Kingdom are to act.
So the Beatitudes are sort of an entry-point, a “front door” to the Kingdom of Heaven. To be honest, the specific things Jesus addresses throughout the rest of the Sermon can be accomplished by anyone with a high degree of will-power. For instance, Jesus will at some point say that not only is adultery wrong but so is lusting. Any old pagan can not commit adultery, and any old pagan can not lust. In fact, I have met many non-Christian men who are faithful husbands without a wandering eye. But just being a faithful husband does not guarantee entrance into the Kingdom of Heaven. Instead, the first step toward a true “kingdom life” is a recognition of spiritual poverty.
If we are going to be Jesus’ disciples, if we are going to participate in the Kingdom of Heaven, it may require an adjustment in our behaviors and our attitudes. However, when we find ourselves in a state of spiritual poverty, mourning over sin, meek, peaceful and the rest, we should know that God approves of us; God looks down upon us and smiles.
In Numbers 6.24-26, Aaron was told to bless the Israelites by saying:
The Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you;
the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.
Perhaps when Jesus declares these beatitudes, this blessing is what we are to keep in mind. To those who are genuinely poor in spirit (and so on), God blesses and keeps them, makes his face shine upon them, is gracious to them, turns his face toward them and gives them peace. I can think of fewer rewards in life than to simply have God’s approval. In the meantime, I can say with a great deal of confidence that you will probably never again be able to read Matthew 5.1-12 without thinking of that cheesy play-on-words!
(1) Carson, D.A., Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1999) p. 16
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