Matthew 5.1-12.
5.1 Jesus, seeing the crowds, went up the hill and sat down. His students came to Him 2 and He taught them, saying:
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11
The following previously appeared on my religion blog, More Christ.
Jesus’s biggest monologue in the bible is what we call the Sermon on the Mount, located in Matthew, chapters 5-7. It’s called that because He “went up on the mountainside” to teach His students, although it’s not at all like the sermons we’re used to. Most of the sermons we hear are only on one topic, and have maybe three or four points. Jesus’s sermon has a wide assortment of topics and points.
It begins with a bit known as “the Beatitudes,” called that because a beatitude is an old-fashioned word for blessing, and Jesus lists some blessings.
The more common way this translated is “Blessed are the…” and then Jesus refers to the sucky or not-so-great situation that these folks are undergoing: they’re poor, mourning, humble, hungering and thirsting for justice, merciful, pure-hearted, working for peace, getting persecuted and mocked and slandered. Those things certainly don’t sound like blessings; and they’re not. We aren’t blessed with those things. We’re blessed because God sees us going through those things, and is going to make things better.
Notice He makes them better in a way that precisely meets the need. The poor and persecuted will get the Kingdom. The mourners will get comfort. The humble will get the world. Those who don’t have justice will get justice. Those who show mercy get it. The pure-hearted get to see God, who is likewise pure. The peace-makers get credit for their work.
Jesus’s purpose in saying this is to point out that at the End, God will make everything right, and to give us hope and something positive to look forward to. So when you’re having these experiences, “be happy about it! Be very glad!” Because you will be fully compensated by God for it. Fully.
Skeptics criticize this idea because they think it means, “You’re suffering… but don’t worry about it; don’t try to improve things here on earth because it’s not worth it; just concentrate on the afterlife, and you’ll get pie in the sky when you die.” And some Christians have taught it that way. But that’s not at all what it means.
A great reward awaits us in heaven. But Jesus puts no such time limit on when we’ll receive the Kingdom or inherit the earth, when we’ll get comfort and justice and mercy, or when we’ll be called God’s children. In fact, you might notice that Christians are receiving quite a bit of that right now. God isn’t withholding His blessings until the end of time. Jesus isn’t telling us to work and pray yet live on hay. He isn’t telling us to do nothing to stop suffering; in fact, in the rest of the Sermon on the Mount, He gives us some very specific directions to help alleviate the suffering in the world.
The message of the Beatitudes is that whether we receive our comfort now, soon, or later, it will inevitably come. Trust God in that. God will rectify things. We don’t live in a hopeless universe. We live in a very, very hopeful one.
Mt 5.1: ἰδὼν δὲ τοὺς ὄχλους & having seen the crowds ἀνέβη εἰς τὸ ὄρος, he went up into the hill, καὶ καθίσαντος αὐτοῦ and having sat down of him [or, on it] προσῆλθαν αὐτῷ οἱ μαθηταὶ αὐτοῦ· they came to Him, the students of Him,
5.2: καὶ ἀνοίξας τὸ στόμα αὐτοῦ and having opened the mouth of Him ἐδίδασκεν αὐτοὺς λέγων· He was teaching them, saying:
Mt 5.3: Μακάριοι οἱ πτωχοὶ τῷ πνεύματι, Awesome: the beggars to the spirit, ὅτι αὐτῶν ἐστιν ἡ βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν. because of them is the kingdom of the universe. 5.4: μακάριοι οἱ πενθοῦντες, Awesome: the grievers, ὅτι αὐτοὶ παρακληθήσονται. because they will be called to [Him]. 5.5: μακάριοι οἱ πραεῖς, Awesome: the kind, ὅτι αὐτοὶ κληρονομήσουσιν τὴν γῆν. because they will become heirs of the land. 5.6: μακάριοι οἱ πεινῶντες καὶ διψῶντες τὴν δικαιοσύνην, Awesome: the ones who hunger and the ones who thirst for rightness, ὅτι αὐτοὶ χορτασθήσονται. because they will be filled. 5.7: μακάριοι οἱ ἐλεήμονες, Awesome: the compassionate, ὅτι αὐτοὶ ἐλεηθήσονται. because they will be shown compassion. 5.8: μακάριοι οἱ καθαροὶ τῇ καρδίᾳ, Awesome: the clean of heart, ὅτι αὐτοὶ τὸν θεὸν ὄψονται. because they will see the God. 5.9: μακάριοι οἱ εἰρηνοποιοί, Awesome: the makers of peace, ὅτι αὐτοὶ υἱοὶ θεοῦ κληθήσονται. because they will be called sons of God. 5.10: μακάριοι οἱ δεδιωγμένοι ἕνεκεν δικαιοσύνης, Awesome: those who had been oppressed because of rightness, ὅτι αὐτῶν ἐστιν ἡ βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν. because of them is the kingdom of the universe. 5.11: μακάριοί ἐστε ὅταν ὀνειδίσωσιν ὑμᾶς Awesome you all are whenever they might yell at [you] καὶ διώξωσιν καὶ εἴπωσιν πᾶν πονηρὸν καθ᾿ ὑμῶν [ψευδόμενοι] and they might oppress [you] and they [liars] might say evil about you all, ἕνεκεν ἐμοῦ. because of Me. 5.12: χαίρετε καὶ ἀγαλλιᾶσθε, you all rejoice! and leap for joy! ὅτι ὁ μισθὸς ὑμῶν πολὺς ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς· because the wages of you all [are] many in the universe: οὕτως γὰρ ἐδίωξαν τοὺς προφήτας τοὺς πρὸ ὑμῶν. For thus they oppressed the prophets, the [ones] before you all.
