Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Matthew 5:3
Blessed [are] the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
A. The Subjects of the Kingdom, Mat 5:3-16.
(1) Their character and privileges, Mat 5:3-12.
3. Blessed are the poor in spirit ] The beatitudes so called from the opening word “beati” (blessed), in the Vulgate. Mark the Christian growth step by step. First, spiritual poverty, the only character which is receptive of repentance, therefore alone admissible into the Kingdom. Secondly, sadness for sin. Thirdly, meekness, implying submission to the will of God, a characteristic of Jesus Himself, who says “I am meek and lowly in heart.” Fourthly, the soul-hunger for righteousness. Then three virtues of the Christian life, each of which wins, without seeking it, a reward in an ascending scale mercy, purity, peacemaking. (It is a little remarkable that the English language supplies no abstract term to express this last, the highest grace of the Christian life.) The last two beatitudes Mat 5:10-11 may be regarded as encouragements to the disciples, and as tests of their true discipleship.
poor in spirit ] Opposed to the spiritually proud, the just who need no repentance. St Luke omits “in spirit,” showing that the literal poor are primarily meant, St Matthew shows that they are not exclusively meant.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Blessed are the poor in spirit – The word blessed means happy, referring to that which produces felicity, from whatever quarter it may come.
Poor in spirit – Luke says simply, Blessed are the poor. It has been disputed whether Christ meant the poor in reference to the things of this life, or to the humble. The gospel is said to be preached to the poor, Luk 4:18; Mat 11:5. It was predicted that the Messiah would preach to the poor, Isa 61:1. It is said that they have special facilities for being saved, Mat 19:23; Luk 18:24. The state of such persons is therefore comparatively blessed, or happy. Riches produce care, anxiety, and dangers, and not the least is the danger of losing heaven by them. To be poor in spirit is to have a humble opinion of ourselves; to be sensible that we are sinners, and have no righteousness of our own; to be willing to be saved only by the rich grace and mercy of God; to be willing to be where God places us, to bear what he lays on us, to go where he bids us, and to die when he commands; to be willing to be in his hands, and to feel that we deserve no favor from him. It is opposed to pride, and vanity, and ambition. Such are happy:
- Because there is more real enjoyment in thinking of ourselves as we are, than in being filled with pride and vanity.
- Because such Jesus chooses to bless, and on them he confers his favors here.
- Because theirs will be the kingdom of heaven hereafter.
It is remarkable that Jesus began his ministry in this manner, so unlike all others. Other teachers had taught that happiness was to be found in honor, or riches, or splendor, or sensual pleasure. Jesus overlooked all those things, and fixed his eye on the poor and the humble, and said that happiness was to be found in the lowly vale of poverty more than in the pomp and splendors of life.
Theirs is the kingdom of heaven – That is, either they have special facilities for entering the kingdom of heaven, and of becoming Christians here, or they shall enter heaven hereafter. Both these ideas are probably included. A state of poverty a state where we are despised or unhonored by people is a state where people are most ready to seek the comforts of religion here, and a home in the heavens hereafter. See the notes at Mat 2:2.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Mat 5:3
Poor in spirit.
Poor in spirit
I. Examine the character here spoken of.
1. We should not confound the poor in spirit with the poor in worldly circumstances.
2. We are not to associate the mean-spirited with the poor in spirit.
3. We are not to understand that the poor in spirit are poor in spirituality. Poorness of spirit involves-
(1) Humility;
(2) Contentment;
(3) Submission;
(4) Gratitude.
II. In what their blessedness consists.
1. Theirs are the privileges of the Church on earth; reconciliation; illumination; communion; joy.
2. The felicities of the Church in heaven. (J. Jordan.)
The blessedness of the poor in spirit
I. By the poor in spirit are meant those who have been convinced of their spiritual poverty. All without Christ are wretched, blind, naked, poor. They are sensible of their wants; the higher their attainments, the deeper their humiliation. Have high thoughts of Christ. We are not to understand the poor in this world; not the poor-spirited or cowardly in the service of Christ; not the excessively timid and poor-spirited.
II. In what does their blessedness consist? By whom was this assurance given? By Him who is the source of all blessings. They are heirs of the kingdom of peace, righteousness, and joy. (D. Rees.)
Poverty of spirit
1. Do not misjudge a Christians expression of lowliness, for these are genuine expressions of poverty of spirit.
2. So far as you find restfulness and complacency in your own attainments, you may doubt the reality of your growth.
3. Poverty of nature rather than poverty of spirit may be revealed by censoriousness.
4. The Holy Spirit alone can correct self-ignorance; from His illumination will result genuine poverty of spirit. (J. T. Duryea, D. D.)
A few considerations which may serve to cherish this spirit
I. Let us think much on the character of God as shown to us in His Holy Word.
II. Let us be careful to separate any good intentions which we may find springing up in our hearts from ourselves, and ascribe them to Gods Holy Spirit.
III. Let us be watchful against occasions of pride.:IV. Another great step to the attainment of humility, is to forget those things which are behind, and press onward to those before.
V. We must be ever looking at the Cross. (H. Alford, M. A.)
The blessedness of the poor in spirit
1. The promises of the gospel belong to them.
2. They enjoy the means of grace.
3. In the Christian conflict the humble man has all the advantage. (H. Alford, M. A.)
The poor in spirit
I. Some things which must be rejected as not intended by Christ. It is not a mere peculiarity of temperament-not the obsequiousness and meanness often associated with poverty-not the simple fact of being poor-not voluntary religious poverty.
II. The features of spiritual poverty.
1. The conditions: In a spiritual sense all are poor.
2. The state of mind-poor in spirit, implying great humbling-difficult of attainment, so repugnant to the flesh, so opposed to our fancied excellence.
III. The blessing promised. It is the spirit in which the kingdom is to be received (Mat 18:1-5). Is the spirit of the Master (Php 2:1-12). Blessed with all the titles and riches of the kingdom (Jam 2:5). Is the essence of a filial spirit. (W. Barker.)
Blessedness is the perfection of a rational creature; it is the whetstone of a Christians industry; the height of his ambition; the flower of his joy; the desire of all men.
I. Let us so deport ourselves that we may express to others that we do believe a blessedness to come, by seeking after an interest in God, and that our union with God and the chief good makes us blessed.
II. Let us proclaim to the world that we believe in blessedness to come, by living blessed lives; walk as become the heirs of blessedness. Let us lead blessed lives, and so declare plainly that we seek a country (Heb 11:14). (Thomas Watson.)
You may as well expect fruit to grow without a root, as the other graces without this; till a man be poor in spirit he cannot mourn.
I. Till we are poor in spirit we are not capable of receiving grace.
1. God doth first empty a man of himself, before He pours in the precious wine of His grace.
2. None but the poor in spirit are within Christs commission.
II. Till we are poor in spirit, Christ is never precious.
(1) Before we see our own wants we never see
(2) Christs worth.
(3) He that wants bread, and is ready to starve, will have it, whatever it cost; bread he must have, or he is undone;
(4) So to him that is poor in spirit, that sees his want of Christ, how precious is the Saviour i
III. Till we are poor in spirit we cannot go to heaven.
(1) The great cable cannot go through the eye of the needle, but let it be untwisted and made into small threads, then it may.
(2) Poverty of spirit untwists the great cable;
(3) Makes a man little in his own eyes, and now an entrance shall be made unto him. (Thomas Watson.)
I. He that is poor in spirit is weaned from himself.
1. The vine catcheth hold of everything that is near, to stay itself upon. There is some bough or other, a man would be catching hold of to rest upon; how hard it is to be brought quite off himself.
II. He that is poor in spirit is a Christ-admirer.
1. He sees himself wounded, and, as the wounded deer runs to the water, so he thirsts for the water of life.
2. Lord, saith he, give me Christ, or I die.
III. He that is poor in spirit is ever complaining of his spiritual estate.
1. He ever complains, I want a broken heart, a thankful heart.
2. He mourns he hath on more grace.
IV. He that is poor in spirit is lowly in heart.
1. Submissive.
2. He blusheth more at the defects of his graces, than others do at the excess of their sins.
V. He that is poor in spirit is much in prayer.
1. Ever begging for spiritual alms.
2. Will not away from the gate, till he have his dole.
VI. The poor in spirit is content to take Christ upon His own terms.
1. Sees himself lost without Christ.
2. Willing to have Him upon His own terms.
VII. He that is poor in spirit is an exalter of free grace.
1. He blesses God for the least crumb that falls from the table of free grace.
2. He magnifies mercy, and is thankful. (Thomas Watson.)
Poverty of spirit
Christ begins with this, and we must begin here if ever we be saved. Poverty of spirit is the foundation stone on which God lays the superstructure of glory. There are four things may persuade Christians to be poor in spirit:-
I. This poverty is your riches.
1. You may have the worlds riches, and yet be poor.
2. You cannot have this poverty, but you must be rich.
3. Poverty of spirit entitles you to all Christs riches.
II. This poverty is your nobility.
1. God looks upon you as persons of honour.
2. He that is wile in his own eyes, is precious in Gods eyes.
3. The way to rise is to fall.
4. God esteems the valley highest.
III. Poverty of spirit doth sweetly quiet the soul.
(1) When a man is brought of himself to rest on Christ, what a
(2) blessed calm is in the heart!
IV. Poverty of spirit paves a causeway for blessedness.
1. Are you poor in spirit? You are blessed. (Thomas Watson.)
The kingdom for the poor in spirit.
Here is comfort to the people of God.
I. God hath provided them with a kingdom.
1. A child of God is oft so low in the world that he hath not a foot of laud to inherit; he is poor in purse, as well as poor in spirit.
2. Here is a fountain of consolation opened.
3. The poorest saint who hath lost all his golden fleece is heir to a kingdom.
II. This kingdom excels all the kingdoms and principalities of the world.
III. The hope of this kingdom, saith Basil, should carry a Christian with courage and cheerfulness through all his afflictions; and it is a saying of Luthers The sea of Gods mercy, overflowing in spiritual blessings, should drown all the sufferings of this life.
IV. What though thou goest now in rags! Thou shalt have thy white robes. What though thou art fed like Daniel, with pulse, and hast coarser fare! Thou shalt feast when thou comest to the kingdom. Here thou drinkest the water of tears; shortly thou shalt drink the wine of paradise. Be comforted with the thoughts of a kingdom. (Thomas Watson.)
I. Who are meant by the poor in spirit? To the poor in spirit, or those that possess a spirit of poverty, the text annexes a blessedness, and promises a reward.
II. What are the proper virtues of a poor and low estate, such as every man, whether high or low, rich or poor, is bound to endeavour after?
(1) Humility;
(2) Patience;
(3) Contentment;
(4) Trust and hope in God. (Bishop Ofspring Blackall, D. D.)
Virtues taught by a state of poverty of spirit are
(1) Industry. They that want nothing think it needless to labour;
(2) Temperance;
(3) Frugality;
(4) Contempt of the world. (Sir William Davies, Ban. , D. D.)
Neither indigence nor wealth in itself has the least connection with real religion.
I. Poverty of spirit consists in A deep conviction of guilt and depravity, before a pure and holy Being.
(1) By the entrance of Gods Word into the mind, and the
(2) triumph of His grace in the soul, we become poor in spirit.
(3) When conviction flashes in the conscience of a sinner, when he sees the
(4) number of his sins,
(5) strength of his corruptions, and
(6) weakness of his resolutions, then this disposition is implanted in him. Already he hath a beginning of blessedness in his breast,
II. Poverty of spirit consists in humility through every stage of the Christians pilgrimage.
1. It commences with a deep sense of sin, guilt, and desert of punishment.
2. It is the vital principle of the believers spiritual constitution.
3. It grows with his grace.
4. Increases with the increase of his knowledge in God.
5. As he becomes a father in Christ, he will become a little child in his own estimation.
6. The most eminent Christian is the most humble.
7. His humility exalts him, and makes him great.
III. Poverty of spirit includes contentment with the allotments of Providence.
1. It is opposed to the restlessness of ambition, and the haughtiness of pride.
2. It turns away from that covetousness which is idolatry.
3. It does not eagerly and improperly desire the honours and riches of this world.
4. Having food and raiment, it has learned to be contented therewith.
Such an elevation of soul should be acquired, and such a spirit of cheerful contentment should be cultivated by all who have taken on them the Christian name. (J. E. Good.)
There may be pride in poverty as well as in wealth
There was a story in old times told of a severe, cynical philosopher, visiting the house of one who was far his superior in genius as in modesty. He found the good philosopher living in a comfortable house, with easy-chairs and pleasant pictures round him, and he came in with his feet stained with dust and mud, and said, as he walked upon the beautiful carpets, Thus I trample on the pride of Plato. The good philosopher paid no attention at first, but returned the visit, and when he saw the ragged furniture and the scanty covering of the floor of the house in which the other ,ostentatiously lived, he said, I see the pride of Diogenes through the holes in his carpet. Many a one there is whose pride is thus seen by his affecting to be without it; many a one whose poverty, whose modesty in spirit, can best be appreciated by seeing how the outward comforts and splendour of life can be used by him without paying any attention to them. (Dean Stanley.)
Poverty of spirit conducive to prayer.
Never pauper pleaded more at your gate for some gift of charity than he does. And because he has nothing but what he receives, therefore he is always asking. (J. Vaughan, M. A.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 3. Blessed are the poor in spirit, c.] Or, happy, from or , not, and , fate, or death: intimating, that such persons were endued with immortality, and consequently were not liable to the caprices of fate. Homer, Iliad i, 330, calls the supreme gods, , the ever happy and IMMORTAL gods, and opposes them to , mortal men.
‘
, .
“Be ye witnesses before the immortal gods, and before mortal men.”
From this definition we may learn, that the person whom Christ terms happy is one who is not under the influence of fate or chance, but is governed by an all-wise providence, having every step directed to the attainment of immortal glory, being transformed by the power into the likeness of the ever-blessed God. Though some of the persons, whose states are mentioned in these verses, cannot be said to be as yet blessed or happy, in being made partakers of the Divine nature yet they are termed happy by our Lord, because they are on the straight way to this blessedness.
Taken in this light the meaning is similar to that expressed by the poet when describing a happy man.
FELIX, qui potuit rerum cognoscere causas:
Atque metus omnes et inexorabile FATUM
Subjecit pedibus; strepitumque Acherontis avari!
Virg. Geor. ii. v. 490.
Which may be thus paraphrased: –
“Happy is he who gains the knowledge of the first cause of all things; who can trample on every fear, and the doctrine of inexorable FATE; and who is not terrified by death, nor by the threatened torments of the invisible world!”
Poor in spirit] One who is deeply sensible of his spiritual poverty and wretchedness. , a poor man, comes from , to tremble, or shrink with fear. Being destitute of the true riches, he is tremblingly alive to the necessities of his soul, shrinking with fear lest he should perish without the salvation of God. Such Christ pronounces happy, because there is but a step between them and that kingdom which is here promised. Some contend, that should be referred to, , and the verse translated thus: Happy, or blessed in spirit, are the poor. But our Lord seems to have the humiliation of the spirit particularly in view.
Kingdom of heaven.] Or, , of the heavens. A participation of all the blessings of the new covenant here, and the blessings of glory above. See this phrase explained, Clarke’s notes “Mt 3:2“. Blessed are the poor! this is God’s word; but who believes it? Do we not say, Yea, rather, Blessed is the rich?
The Jewish rabbins have many good sayings relative to that poverty and humility of spirit which Christ recommends in this verse. In the treatise called Bammidbar Rabbi, s. 20, we have these words: There were three (evils) in Balaam: the evil eye, (envy,) the towering spirit, (pride,) and the extensive mind (avarice.)
Tanchum, fol. 84. The law does not abide with those who have the extensive mind, (avarice,) but with him only who has a contrite heart.
Rabbi Chanina said, “Why are the words of the law compared to water? Because as waters flow from heights, and settle in low places, so the words of the law rest only with him who is of an humble heart.” See Schoettgen.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Happy are they, who, though they be not rich in this worlds goods, yet have a spirit suited to their state and condition, not looking for their consolation here, but, having a poor and low opinion of the world and all that is therein, looking after more excellent riches; and, in order to it, are of broken and contrite spirits for their manifold sins, and cannot entertain any proud opinion of their own righteousness, but flee unto the free grace of God, and the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. Not the great, and rich, and proud men of the world are happy, but these are the blessed men; for true happiness lieth not in worldly possessions, but in the favour of God, and a right to the kingdom of heaven, and that these men have, Psa 34:18; 51:17; Isa 66:2.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
3. Blessed are the poor inspiritAll familiar with Old Testament phraseology know howfrequently God’s true people are styled “the poor” (the”oppressed,” “afflicted,” “miserable”)or “the needy”or both together (as in Psa 40:17;Isa 41:17). The explanation ofthis lies in the fact that it is generally “the poor of thisworld” who are “rich in faith” (Jas2:5; compare 2Co 6:10;Rev 2:9); while it is often “theungodly” who “prosper in the world” (Ps73:12). Accordingly, in Luk 6:20;Luk 6:21, it seems to be thisclassthe literally “poor” and “hungry”thatare specially addressed. But since God’s people are in so many placesstyled “the poor” and “the needy,” with noevident reference to their temporal circumstances (as in Psa 68:10;Psa 69:29-33; Psa 132:15;Isa 61:1; Isa 66:2),it is plainly a frame of mind which those terms are meant toexpress. Accordingly, our translators sometimes render such words”the humble” (Psa 10:12;Psa 10:17), “the meek”(Ps 22:26), “the lowly”(Pr 3:34), as having noreference to outward circumstances. But here the explanatory words,”in spirit,” fix the sense to “those who in theirdeepest consciousness realize their entire need” (compare theGreek of Luk 10:21;Joh 11:33; Joh 13:21;Act 20:22; Rom 12:11;1Co 5:3; Phi 3:3).This self-emptying conviction, that “before God we are void ofeverything,” lies at the foundation of all spiritual excellence,according to the teaching of Scripture. Without it we areinaccessible to the riches of Christ; with it we are in the fittingstate for receiving all spiritual supplies (Rev 3:17;Rev 3:18; Mat 9:12;Mat 9:13).
for theirs is the kingdom ofheaven(See on Mt 3:2).The poor in spirit not only shall havethey already havethekingdom. The very sense of their poverty is begun riches. Whileothers “walk in a vain show””in a shadow,” “animage”in an unreal world, taking a false view of themselvesand all around themthe poor in spirit are rich in the knowledge oftheir real case. Having courage to look this in the face, and own itguilelessly, they feel strong in the assurance that “unto theupright there ariseth light in the darkness” (Ps112:4); and soon it breaks forth as the morning. God wantsnothing from us as the price of His saving gifts; we have but to feelour universal destitution, and cast ourselves upon His compassion(Job 33:27; Job 33:28;1Jn 1:9). So the poor in spiritare enriched with the fulness of Christ, which is the kingdom insubstance; and when He shall say to them from His great white throne,”Come, ye blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom preparedfor you,” He will invite them merely to the full enjoymentof an already possessed inheritance.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Blessed are the poor in spirit,…. Not the poor in purse, or who are so with respect to things temporal: for though God has chosen and called many, who are in such a condition of life, yet not all; the kingdom of heaven cannot be said to belong to them all, or only; but such as are poor in a spiritual sense. All mankind are spiritually poor; they have nothing to eat that is fit and proper; nor any clothes to wear, but rags; nor are they able to purchase either; they have no money to buy with; they are in debt, owe ten thousand talents, and have nothing to pay; and in such a condition, that they are not able to help themselves. The greater part of mankind are insensible of this their condition; but think themselves rich, and increased with goods: there are some who are sensible of it, who see their poverty and want, freely acknowledge it, bewail it, and mourn over it; are humbled for it, and are broken under a sense of it; entertain low and mean thoughts of themselves; seek after the true riches, both of grace and glory; and frankly acknowledge, that all they have, or hope to have, is owing to the free grace of God. Now these are the persons intended in this place; who are not only “poor”, but are poor “in spirit”; in their own spirits, in their own sense, apprehension, and judgment: and may even be called “beggars”, as the word may be rendered; for being sensible of their poverty, they place themselves at the door of mercy, and knock there; their language is, “God be merciful”; their posture is standing, watching, and waiting, at wisdom’s gates, and at the posts of her door; they are importunate, will have no denial, yet receive the least favour with thankfulness. Now these are pronounced “blessed”, for this reason,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven; not only the Gospel, and the ministration of it, which belongs to them. “The poor have the Gospel preached”: it not only reaches their ears, but their hearts; it enters into them, is applied unto them, they receive and embrace it with the utmost joy and gladness; but eternal glory, this is prepared for them, and given to them; they are born heirs of it, have a right unto it, are making meet for it, and shall enjoy it.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
| The Sermon on the Mount. |
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3 Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4 Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted. 5 Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth. 6 Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled. 7 Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy. 8 Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God. 9 Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God. 10 Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11 Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. 12 Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.
Christ begins his sermon with blessings, for he came into the world to bless us (Acts iii. 26), as the great High Priest of our profession; as the blessed Melchizedec; as He in whom all the families of the earth should be blessed, Gen. xii. 3. He came not only to purchase blessings for us, but to pour out and pronounce blessings on us; and here he does it as one having authority, as one that can command the blessing, even life for evermore, and that is the blessing here again and again promised to the good; his pronouncing them happy makes them so; for those whom he blesses, are blessed indeed. The Old Testament ended with a curse (Mal. iv. 6), the gospel begins with a blessing; for hereunto are we called, that we should inherit the blessing. Each of the blessings Christ here pronounces has a double intention: 1. To show who they are that are to be accounted truly happy, and what their characters are. 2. What that is wherein true happiness consists, in the promises made to persons of certain characters, the performance of which will make them happy. Now,
1. This is designed to rectify the ruinous mistakes of a blind and carnal world. Blessedness is the thing which men pretend to pursue; Who will make us to see good? Ps. iv. 6. But most mistake the end, and form a wrong notion of happiness; and then no wonder that they miss the way; they choose their own delusions, and court a shadow. The general opinion is, Blessed are they that are rich, and great, and honourable in the world; they spend their days in mirth, and their years in pleasure; they eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and carry all before them with a high hand, and have every sheaf bowing to their sheaf; happy the people that is in such a case; and their designs, aims, and purposes are accordingly; they bless the covetous (Ps. x. 3); they will be rich. Now our Lord Jesus comes to correct this fundamental error, to advance a new hypothesis, and to give us quite another notion of blessedness and blessed people, which, however paradoxical it may appear to those who are prejudiced, yet is in itself, and appears to be to all who are savingly enlightened, a rule and doctrine of eternal truth and certainty, by which we must shortly be judged. If this, therefore, be the beginning of Christ’s doctrine, the beginning of a Christian’s practice must be to take his measures of happiness from those maxims, and to direct his pursuits accordingly.
2. It is designed to remove the discouragements of the weak and poor who receive the gospel, by assuring them that his gospel did not make those only happy that were eminent in gifts, graces, comforts, and usefulness; but that even the least in the kingdom of heaven, whose heart was upright with God, was happy in the honours and privileges of that kingdom.
3. It is designed to invite souls to Christ, and to make way for his law into their hearts. Christ’s pronouncing these blessings, not at the end of his sermon, to dismiss the people, but at the beginning of it, to prepare them for what he had further to say to them, may remind us of mount Gerizim and mount Ebal, on which the blessings and cursings of the law were read, Deut. xxvii. 12, c. There the curses are expressed, and the blessings only implied here the blessings are expressed, and the curses implied: in both, life and death are set before us; but the law appeared more as a ministration of death, to deter us from sin; the gospel as a dispensation of life, to allure us to Christ, in whom alone all good is to be had. And those who had seen the gracious cures wrought by his hand (Mat 4:23; Mat 4:24), and now heard the gracious words proceeding out of his mouth, would say that he was all of a piece, made up of love and sweetness.
4. It is designed to settle and sum up the articles of agreement between God and man. The scope of the divine revelation is to let us know what God expects from us, and what we may then expect from him; and no where is this more fully set forth in a few words than here, nor with a more exact reference to each other; and this is that gospel which we are required to believe; for what is faith but a conformity to these characters, and a dependence upon these promises? The way to happiness is here opened, and made a highway (Isa. xxxv. 8); and this coming from the mouth of Jesus Christ, it is intimated that from him, and by him, we are to receive both the seed and the fruit, both the grace required, and the glory promised. Nothing passes between God and fallen man, but through his hand. Some of the wiser heathen had notions of blessedness different from the rest of mankind, and looking toward this of our Saviour. Seneca, undertaking to describe a blessed man, makes it out, that it is only an honest, good man that is to be so called: De vita beata. cap. 4. Cui nullum bonum malumque sit, nisi bonus malusque animus–Quem nec extollant fortuita, nec frangant–Cui vera voluptas erit voluptatum comtemplio–Cui unum bonum honestas, unum malum turpitudo.–In whose estimation nothing is good or evil, but a good or evil heart–Whom no occurrences elate or deject–Whose true pleasure consists in a contempt of pleasure–To whom the only good is virtue, and the only evil vice.
Our Saviour here gives us eight characters of blessed people; which represent to us the principal graces of a Christian. On each of them a present blessing is pronounced; Blessed are they; and to each a future blessing is promised, which is variously expressed, so as to suit the nature of the grace or duty recommended.
Do we ask then who are happy? It is answered,
I. The poor in spirit are happy, v. 3. There is a poor-spiritedness that is so far from making men blessed that it is a sin and a snare–cowardice and base fear, and a willing subjection to the lusts of men. But this poverty of spirit is a gracious disposition of soul, by which we are emptied of self, in order to our being filled with Jesus Christ. To be poor in spirit is, 1. To be contentedly poor, willing to be emptied of worldly wealth, if God orders that to be our lot; to bring our mind to our condition, when it is a low condition. Many are poor in the world, but high in spirit, poor and proud, murmuring and complaining, and blaming their lot, but we must accommodate ourselves to our poverty, must know how to be abased, Phil. iv. 12. Acknowledging the wisdom of God in appointing us to poverty, we must be easy in it, patiently bear the inconveniences of it, be thankful for what we have, and make the best of that which is. It is to sit loose to all worldly wealth, and not set our hearts upon it, but cheerfully to bear losses and disappointments which may befal us in the most prosperous state. It is not, in pride or pretence, to make ourselves poor, by throwing away what God has given us, especially as those in the church of Rome, who vow poverty, and yet engross the wealth of the nations; but if we be rich in the world we must be poor in spirit, that is, we must condescend to the poor and sympathize with them, as being touched with the feeling of their infirmities; we must expect and prepare for poverty; must not inordinately fear or shun it, but must bid it welcome, especially when it comes upon us for keeping a good conscience, Heb. x. 34. Job was poor in spirit, when he blessed God in taking away, as well as giving. 2. It is to be humble and lowly in our own eyes. To be poor in spirit, is to think meanly of ourselves, of what we are, and have, and do; the poor are often taken in the Old Testament for the humble and self-denying, as opposed to those that are at ease, and the proud; it is to be as little children in our opinion of ourselves, weak, foolish, and insignificant, Mat 18:4; Mat 19:14. Laodicea was poor in spirituals, wretchedly and miserably poor, and yet rich in spirit, so well increased with goods, as to have need of nothing, Rev. iii. 17. On the other hand, Paul was rich in spirituals, excelling most in gifts and graces, and yet poor in spirit, the least of the apostles, less than the least of all saints, and nothing in his own account. It is to look with a holy contempt upon ourselves, to value others and undervalue ourselves in comparison of them. It is to be willing to make ourselves cheap, and mean, and little, to do good; to become all things to all men. It is to acknowledge that God is great, and we are mean; that he is holy and we are sinful; that he is all and we are nothing, less than nothing, worse than nothing; and to humble ourselves before him, and under his mighty hand. 3. It is to come off from all confidence in our own righteousness and strength, that we may depend only upon the merit of Christ for our justification, and the spirit and grace of Christ for our sanctification. That broken and contrite spirit with which the publican cried for mercy to a poor sinner, is that poverty of spirit. We must call ourselves poor, because always in want of God’s grace, always begging at God’s door, always hanging on in his house.
Now, (1.) This poverty in spirit is put first among the Christian graces. The philosophers did not reckon humility among their moral virtues, but Christ puts it first. Self-denial is the first lesson to be learned in his school, and poverty of spirit entitled to the first beatitude. The foundation of all other graces is laid in humility. Those who would build high must begin low; and it is an excellent preparative for the entrance of gospel-grace into the soul; it fits the soil to receive the seed. Those who are weary and heavy laden, are the poor in spirit, and they shall find rest with Christ.
(2.) They are blessed. Now they are so, in this world. God looks graciously upon them. They are his little ones, and have their angels. To them he gives more grace; they live the most comfortable lives, and are easy to themselves and all about them, and nothing comes amiss to them; while high spirits are always uneasy.
(3.) Theirs is the kingdom of heaven. The kingdom of grace is composed of such; they only are fit to be members of Christ’s church, which is called the congregation of the poor (Ps. lxxiv. 19); the kingdom of glory is prepared for them. Those who thus humble themselves, and comply with God when he humbles them, shall be thus exalted. The great, high spirits go away with the glory of the kingdoms of the earth; but the humble, mild, and yielding souls obtain the glory of the kingdom of heaven. We are ready to think concerning those who are rich, and do good with their riches, that, no doubt, theirs is the kingdom of heaven; for they can thus lay up in store a good security for the time to come; but what shall the poor do, who have not wherewithal to do good? Why, the same happiness is promised to those who are contentedly poor, as to those who are usefully rich. If I am not able to spend cheerfully for his sake, if I can but want cheerfully for his sake, even that shall be recompensed. And do not we serve a good master then?
II. They that mourn are happy (v. 4); Blessed are they that mourn. This is another strange blessing, and fitly follows the former. The poor are accustomed to mourn, the graciously poor mourn graciously. We are apt to think, Blessed are the merry; but Christ, who was himself a great mourner, says, Blessed are the mourners. There is a sinful mourning, which is an enemy to blessedness–the sorrow of the world; despairing melancholy upon a spiritual account, and disconsolate grief upon a temporal account. There is a natural mourning, which may prove a friend to blessedness, by the grace of God working with it, and sanctifying the afflictions to us, for which we mourn. But there is a gracious mourning, which qualifies for blessedness, an habitual seriousness, the mind mortified to mirth, and an actual sorrow. 1. A penitential mourning for our own sins; this is godly sorrow, a sorrow according to God; sorrow for sin, with an eye to Christ, Zech. xii. 10. Those are God’s mourners, who live a life of repentance, who lament the corruption of their nature, and their many actual transgressions, and God’s withdrawings from them; and who, out of regard to God’s honour, mourn also for the sins of others, and sigh and cry for their abominations, Ezek. ix. 4. 2. A sympathizing mourning for the afflictions of others; the mourning of those who weep with them that weep, are sorrowful for the solemn assemblies, for the desolations of Zion (Zep 3:18; Psa 137:1), especially who look with compassion on perishing souls, and weep over them, as Christ over Jerusalem.
Now these gracious mourners, (1.) Are blessed. As in vain and sinful laughter the heart is sorrowful, so in gracious mourning the heart has a serious joy, a secret satisfaction, which a stranger does not intermeddle with. They are blessed, for they are like the Lord Jesus, who was a man of sorrows, and of whom we never read that he laughed, but often that he wept. The are armed against the many temptations that attend vain mirth, and are prepared for the comforts of a sealed pardon and a settled peace. (2.) They shall be comforted. Though perhaps they are not immediately comforted, yet plentiful provision is made for their comfort; light is sown for them; and in heaven, it is certain, they shall be comforted, as Lazarus, Luke xvi. 25. Note, The happiness of heaven consists in being perfectly and eternally comforted, and in the wiping away of all tears from their eyes. It is the joy of our Lord; a fulness of joy and pleasures for evermore; which will be doubly sweet to those who have been prepared for them by this godly sorrow. Heaven will be a heaven indeed to those who go mourning thither; it will be a harvest of joy, the return of a seed-time of tears (Psa 126:5; Psa 126:6); a mountain of joy, to which our way lies through a vale of tears. See Isa. lxvi. 10.
III. The meek are happy (v. 5); Blessed are the meek. The meek are those who quietly submit themselves to God, to his word and to his rod, who follow his directions, and comply with his designs, and are gentle towards all men (Tit. iii. 2); who can bear provocation without being inflamed by it; are either silent, or return a soft answer; and who can show their displeasure when there is occasion for it, without being transported into any indecencies; who can be cool when others are hot; and in their patience keep possession of their own souls, when they can scarcely keep possession of any thing else. They are the meek, who are rarely and hardly provoked, but quickly and easily pacified; and who would rather forgive twenty injuries than revenge one, having the rule of their own spirits.
These meek ones are here represented as happy, even in this world. 1. They are blessed, for they are like the blessed Jesus, in that wherein particularly they are to learn of him, ch. xi. 29. They are like the blessed God himself, who is Lord of his anger, and in whom fury is not. They are blessed, for they have the most comfortable, undisturbed enjoyment of themselves, their friends, their God; they are fit for any relation, and condition, any company; fit to live, and fit to die. 2. They shall inherit the earth; it is quoted from Ps. xxxvii. 11, and it is almost the only express temporal promise in all the New Testament. Not that they shall always have much of the earth, much less that they shall be put off with that only; but this branch of godliness has, in a special manner, the promise of life that now is. Meekness, however ridiculed and run down, has a real tendency to promote our health, wealth, comfort, and safety, even in this world. The meek and quiet are observed to live the most easy lives, compared with the froward and turbulent. Or, They shall inherit the land (so it may be read), the land of Canaan, a type of heaven. So that all the blessedness of heaven above, and all the blessings of earth beneath, are the portion of the meek.
IV. They that hunger and thirst after righteousness are happy, v. 6. Some understand this as a further instance of our outward poverty, and a low condition in this world, which not only exposes men to injury and wrong, but makes it in vain for them to seek to have justice done to them; they hunger and thirst after it, but such is the power on the side of their oppressors, that they cannot have it; they desire only that which is just and equal, but it is denied them by those that neither fear God nor regard men. This is a melancholy case! Yet, blessed are they, if they suffer these hardships for and with a good conscience; let them hope in God, who will see justice done, right take place, and will deliver the poor from their oppressors, Ps. ciii. 6. Those who contentedly bear oppression, and quietly refer themselves to God to plead their cause, shall in due time be satisfied, abundantly satisfied, in the wisdom and kindness which shall be manifested in his appearances for them. But it is certainly to be understood spiritually, of such a desire as, being terminated on such an object, is gracious, and the work of God’s grace in the soul, and qualifies for the gifts of the divine favour. 1. Righteousness is here put for all spiritual blessings. See Psa 24:5; Mat 6:33. They are purchased for us by the righteousness of Christ; conveyed and secured by the imputation of that righteousness to us; and confirmed by the faithfulness of God. To have Christ made of God to us righteousness, and to be made the righteousness of God in him; to have the whole man renewed in righteousness, so as to become a new man, and to bear the image of God; to have an interest in Christ and the promises–this is righteousness. 2. These we must hunger and thirst after. We must truly and really desire them, as one who is hungry and thirsty desires meat and drink, who cannot be satisfied with any thing but meat and drink, and will be satisfied with them, though other things be wanting. Our desires of spiritual blessings must be earnest and importunate; “Give me these, or else I die; every thing else is dross and chaff, unsatisfying; give me these, and I have enough, though I had nothing else.” Hunger and thirst are appetites that return frequently, and call for fresh satisfactions; so these holy desires rest not in any thing attained, but are carried out toward renewed pardons, and daily fresh supplies of grace. The quickened soul calls for constant meals of righteousness, grace to do the work of every day in its day, as duly as the living body calls for food. Those who hunger and thirst will labour for supplies; so we must not only desire spiritual blessings, but take pains for them in the use of the appointed means. Dr. Hammond, in his practical Catechism, distinguishes between hunger and thirst. Hunger is a desire of food to sustain, such as sanctifying righteousness. Thirst is the desire of drink to refresh, such as justifying righteousness, and the sense of our pardon.
Those who hunger and thirst after spiritual blessings, are blessed in those desires, and shall be filled with those blessings. (1.) They are blessed in those desires. Though all desires of grace are not grace (feigned, faint desires are not), yet such a desire as this is; it is an evidence of something good, and an earnest of something better. It is a desire of God’s own raising, and he will not forsake the work of his own hands. Something or other the soul will be hungering and thirsting after; therefore they are blessed who fasten upon the right object, which is satisfying, and not deceiving; and do not pant after the dust of the earth,Amo 2:7; Isa 55:2. (2.) They shall be filled with those blessings. God will give them what they desire to complete their satisfaction. It is God only who can fill a soul, whose grace and favour are adequate to its just desires; and he will fill those with grace for grace, who, in a sense of their own emptiness, have recourse to his fulness. He fills the hungry (Luke i. 53), satiates them, Jer. xxxi. 25. The happiness of heaven will certainly fill the soul; their righteousness shall be complete, the favour of God and his image, both in their full perfection.
V. The merciful are happy, v. 7. This, like the rest, is a paradox; for the merciful are not taken to be the wisest, nor are likely to be the richest; yet Christ pronounces them blessed. Those are the merciful, who are piously and charitably inclined to pity, help, and succour persons in misery. A man may be truly merciful, who has not wherewithal to be bountiful or liberal; and then God accepts the willing mind. We must not only bear our own afflictions patiently, but we must, by Christian sympathy, partake of the afflictions of our brethren; pity must be shown (Job vi. 14), and bowels of mercy put on (Col. iii. 12); and, being put on, they must put forth themselves in contributing all we can for the assistance of those who are any way in misery. We must have compassion on the souls of others, and help them; pity the ignorant, and instruct them; the careless, and warn them; those who are in a state of sin, and snatch them as brands out of the burning. We must have compassion on those who are melancholy and in sorrow, and comfort them (Job xvi. 5); on those whom we have advantage against, and not be rigorous and severe with them; on those who are in want, and supply them; which if we refuse to do, whatever we pretend, we shut up the bowels of our compassion,Jas 2:15; Jas 2:16; 1Jn 3:17. Draw out they soul by dealing thy bread to the hungry, Isa 58:7; Isa 58:10. Nay, a good man is merciful to his beast.
Now as to the merciful. 1. They are blessed; so it was said in the Old Testament; Blessed is he that considers the poor, Ps. xli. 1. Herein they resemble God, whose goodness is his glory; in being merciful as he is merciful, we are, in our measure, perfect as he is perfect. It is an evidence of love to God; it will be a satisfaction to ourselves, to be any way instrumental for the benefit of others. One of the purest and most refined delights in this world, is that of doing good. In this word, Blessed are the merciful, is included that saying of Christ, which otherwise we find not in the gospels, It is more blessed to give than to receive, Acts xx. 35. 2. They shall obtain mercy; mercy with men, when they need it; he that watereth, shall be watered also himself (we know not how soon we may stand in need of kindness, and therefore should be kind); but especially mercy with God, for with the merciful he will show himself merciful, Ps. xviii. 25. The most merciful and charitable cannot pretend to merit, but must fly to mercy. The merciful shall find with God sparing mercy (ch. vi. 14), supplying mercy (Prov. xix. 17), sustaining mercy (Ps. xli. 2), mercy in that day (2 Tim. i. 18); may, they shall inherit the kingdom prepared for them (Mat 25:34; Mat 25:35); whereas they shall have judgment without mercy (which can be nothing short of hell-fire) who have shown no mercy.
VI. The pure in heart are happy (v. 8); Blessed are the poor in heart, for they shall see God. This is the most comprehensive of all the beatitudes; here holiness and happiness are fully described and put together.
1. Here is the most comprehensive character of the blessed: they are pure in heart. Note, True religion consists in heart-purity. Those who are inwardly pure, show themselves to be under the power of pure and undefiled religion. True Christianity lies in the heart, in the purity of heart; the washing of that from wickedness, Jer. iv. 14. We must lift up to God, not only clean hands, but a pure heart, Psa 24:4; Psa 24:5; 1Ti 1:5. The heart must be pure, in opposition to mixture–an honest heart that aims well; and pure, in opposition to pollution and defilement; as wine unmixed, as water unmuddied. The heart must be kept pure from fleshly lusts, all unchaste thoughts and desires; and from worldly lusts; covetousness is called filthy lucre; from all filthiness of flesh and spirit, all that which come out of the heart, and defiles the man. The heart must be purified by faith, and entire for God; must be presented and preserved a chaste virgin to Christ. Create in me such a clean heart, O God!
2. Here is the most comprehensive comfort of the blessed; They shall see God. Note, (1.) It is the perfection of the soul’s happiness to see God; seeing him, as we may by faith in our present state, is a heaven upon earth; and seeing him as we shall in the future state, in the heaven of heaven. To see him as he is, face to face, and no longer through a glass darkly; to see him as ours, and to see him and enjoy him; to see him and be like him, and be satisfied with that likeness (Ps. xvii. 15); and to see him for ever, and never lose the sight of him; this is heaven’s happiness. (2.) The happiness of seeing God is promised to those, and those only, who are pure in heart. None but the pure are capable of seeing God, nor would it be a felicity to the impure. What pleasure could an unsanctified soul take in the vision of a holy God? As he cannot endure to look upon their iniquity, so they cannot endure to look upon his purity; nor shall any unclean thing enter into the new Jerusalem; but all that are pure in heart, all that are truly sanctified, have desires wrought in them, which nothing but the sight of God will sanctify; and divine grace will not leave those desires unsatisfied.
VII. The peace-makers are happy, v. 9. The wisdom that is from above is first pure, and then peaceable; the blessed ones are pure toward God, and peaceable toward men; for with reference to both, conscience must be kept void of offence. The peace-makers are those who have, 1. A peaceable disposition: as, to make a lie, is to be given and addicted to lying, so, to make peace, is to have a strong and hearty affection to peace. I am for peace, Ps. cxx. 7. It is to love, and desire, and delight in peace; to be put in it as in our element, and to study to be quiet. 2. A peaceable conversation; industriously, as far as we can, to preserve the peace that it be not broken, and to recover it when it is broken; to hearken to proposals of peace ourselves, and to be ready to make them to others; where distance is among brethren and neighbours, to do all we can to accommodate it, and to be repairers of the breaches. The making of peace is sometimes a thankless office, and it is the lot of him who parts a fray, to have blows on both sides; yet it is a good office, and we must be forward to it. Some think that this is intended especially as a lesson for ministers, who should do all they can to reconcile those who are at variance, and to promote Christian love among those under their charge.
Now, (1.) Such persons are blessed; for they have the satisfaction of enjoying themselves, by keeping the peace, and of being truly serviceable to others, by disposing them to peace. They are working together with Christ, who came into the world to slay all enmities, and to proclaim peace on earth. (2.) They shall be called the children of God; it will be an evidence to themselves that they are so; God will own them as such, and herein they will resemble him. He is the God of peace; the Son of God is the Prince of peace; the Spirit of adoption is a Spirit of peace. Since God has declared himself reconcilable to us all, he will not own those for his children who are implacable in their enmity to one another; for if the peacemakers are blessed, woe to the peace-breakers! Now by this it appears, that Christ never intended to have his religion propagated by fire and sword, or penal laws, or to acknowledge bigotry, or intemperate zeal, as the mark of his disciples. The children of this world love to fish in troubled waters, but the children of God are the peace-makers, the quiet in the land.
VIII. Those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, are happy. This is the greatest paradox of all, and peculiar to Christianity; and therefore it is put last, and more largely insisted upon than any of the rest, v. 10-12. This beatitude, like Pharaoh’s dream, is doubled, because hardly credited, and yet the thing is certain; and in the latter part there is change of the person, “Blessed are ye–ye my disciples, and immediate followers. This is that which you, who excel in virtue, are more immediately concerned in; for you must reckon upon hardships and troubles more than other men.” Observe here,
1. The case of suffering saints described; and it is a hard case, and a very piteous one.
(1.) They are persecuted, hunted, pursued, run down, as noxious beasts are, that are sought for to be destroyed; as if a Christian did caput gerere lupinum–bear a wolf’s head, as an outlaw is said to do–any one that finds him may slay him; they are abandoned as the offscouring of all things; fined, imprisoned, banished, stripped of their estates, excluded from all places of profit and trust, scourged, racked, tortured, always delivered to death, and accounted as sheep for the slaughter. This has been the effect of the enmity of the serpent’s seed against the holy seed, ever since the time of righteous Abel. It was so in Old-Testament times, as we find, Heb. xi. 35, c. Christ has told us that it would much more be so with the Christian church, and we are not to think it strange, 1 John iii. 13. He has left us an example.
(2.) The are reviled, and have all manner of evil said against them falsely. Nicknames, and names of reproach, are fastened upon them, upon particular persons, and upon the generation of the righteous in the gross, to render them odious sometimes to make them formidable, that they may be powerfully assailed; things are laid to their charge that they knew not, Psa 35:11; Jer 20:18; Act 17:6. Those who have had no power in their hands to do them any other mischief, could yet do this; and those who have had power to persecute, had found it necessary to do this too, to justify themselves in their barbarous usage of them; they could not have baited them, if they had not dressed them in bear-skins; nor have given them the worst of treatment, if they had not first represented them as the worst of men. They will revile you, and persecute you. Note, Reviling the saints is persecuting them, and will be found so shortly, when hard speeches must be accounted for (Jude 15), and cruel mockings, Heb. xi. 36. They will say all manner of evil of you falsely; sometimes before the seat of judgment, as witnesses; sometimes in the seat of the scornful, with hypocritical mockers at feasts; they are the song of the drunkards; sometimes to face their faces, as Shimei cursed David; sometimes behind their backs, as the enemies of Jeremiah did. Note, There is no evil so black and horrid, which, at one time or other, has not been said, falsely, of Christ’s disciples and followers.
(3.) All this is for righteousness’ sake (v. 10); for my sake, v. 11. If for righteousness’ sake, then for Christ’s sake, for he is nearly interested in the work of righteousness. Enemies to righteousness are enemies to Christ. This precludes those from the blessedness who suffer justly, and are evil spoken of truly for their real crimes; let such be ashamed and confounded, it is part of their punishment; it is not the suffering, but the cause, that makes the martyr. Those suffer for righteousness’ sake, who suffer because they will not sin against their consciences, and who suffer for doing that which is good. Whatever pretence persecutors have, it is the power of godliness that they have an enmity to; it is really Christ and his righteousness that are maligned, hated, and persecuted; For thy sake I have borne reproach,Psa 69:9; Rom 8:36.
2. The comforts of suffering saints laid down.
(1.) They are blessed; for they now, in their life-time, receive their evil things (Luke xvi. 25), and receive them upon a good account. They are blessed; for it is an honour to them (Acts v. 41); it is an opportunity of glorifying Christ, of doing good, and of experiencing special comforts and visits of grace and tokens of his presence, 2Co 1:5; Dan 3:25.
(2.) They shall be recompensed; Theirs is the kingdom of heaven. They have at present a sure title to it, and sweet foretastes of it; and shall ere long be in possession of it. Though there be nothing in those sufferings than can, in strictness, merit of God (for the sins of the best deserve the worst), yet this is here promised as a reward (v. 12); Great is your reward in heaven: so great, as far to transcend the service. It is in heaven, future, and out of sight; but well secured, out of the reach of chance, fraud, and violence. Note, God will provide that those who lose for him, though it be life itself, shall not lose by him in the end. Heaven, at last, will be an abundant recompence for all the difficulties we meet with in our way. This is that which has borne up the suffering saints in all ages–this joy set before them.
(3.) “So persecuted they the prophets that were before you, v. 12. They were before you in excellency, above what you are yet arrived at; they were before you in time, that they might be examples to you of suffering affliction and of patience, James v. 10. They were in like manner persecuted and abused; and can you expect to go to heaven in a way by yourself? Was not Isaiah mocked for his line upon line? Elisha for his bald head? Were not all the prophets thus treated? Therefore marvel not at it as a strange thing, murmur not at it as a hard thing; it is a comfort to see the way of suffering a beaten road, and an honour to follow such leaders. That grace which was sufficient for them, to carry them through their sufferings, shall not be deficient to you. Those who are your enemies are the seed and successors of them who of old mocked the messengers of the Lord,” 2Ch 36:16; Mat 23:31; Act 7:52.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
Blessed (). The English word “blessed” is more exactly represented by the Greek verbal as in Lu 1:68 of God by Zacharias, or the perfect passive participle as in Lu 1:42 of Mary by Elizabeth and in Mt 21:9. Both forms come from , to speak well of (, ). The Greek word here () is an adjective that means “happy” which in English etymology goes back to hap, chance, good-luck as seen in our words haply, hapless, happily, happiness. “Blessedness is, of course, an infinitely higher and better thing than mere happiness” (Weymouth). English has thus ennobled “blessed” to a higher rank than “happy.” But “happy” is what Jesus said and the Braid Scots New Testament dares to say “Happy” each time here as does the Improved Edition of the American Bible Union Version. The Greek word is as old as Homer and Pindar and was used of the Greek gods and also of men, but largely of outward prosperity. Then it is applied to the dead who died in the Lord as in Re 14:13. Already in the Old Testament the Septuagint uses it of moral quality. “Shaking itself loose from all thoughts of outward good, it becomes the express symbol of a happiness identified with pure character. Behind it lies the clear cognition of sin as the fountain-head of all misery, and of holiness as the final and effectual cure for every woe. For knowledge as the basis of virtue, and therefore of happiness, it substitutes faith and love” (Vincent). Jesus takes this word “happy” and puts it in this rich environment. “This is one of the words which have been transformed and ennobled by New Testament use; by association, as in the Beatitudes, with unusual conditions, accounted by the world miserable, or with rare and difficult” (Bruce). It is a pity that we have not kept the word “happy” to the high and holy plane where Jesus placed it. “If you know these things, happy () are you if you do them” (Joh 13:17). “Happy () are those who have not seen and yet have believed” (Joh 20:29). And Paul applies this adjective to God, “according to the gospel of the glory of the happy () God” (1Ti 1:11. Cf. also Tit 2:13). The term “Beatitudes” (Latin beatus) comes close to the meaning of Christ here by . It will repay one to make a careful study of all the “beatitudes” in the New Testament where this word is employed. It occurs nine times here (3-11), though the beatitudes in verses 10 and 11 are very much alike. The copula is not expressed in either of these nine beatitudes. In each case a reason is given for the beatitude, “for” (), that shows the spiritual quality involved. Some of the phrases employed by Jesus here occur in the Psalms, some even in the Talmud (itself later than the New Testament, though of separate origin). That is of small moment. “The originality of Jesus lies in putting the due value on these thoughts, collecting them, and making them as prominent as the Ten Commandments. No greater service can be rendered to mankind than to rescue from obscurity neglected moral commonplaces ” (Bruce). Jesus repeated his sayings many times as all great teachers and preachers do, but this sermon has unity, progress, and consummation. It does not contain all that Jesus taught by any means, but it stands out as the greatest single sermon of all time, in its penetration, pungency, and power.
The poor in spirit ( ). Luke has only “the poor,” but he means the same by it as this form in Matthew, “the pious in Israel, for the most part poor, whom the worldly rich despised and persecuted” (McNeile). The word used here () is applied to the beggar Lazarus in Luke 16:20; Luke 16:22 and suggests spiritual destitution (from to crouch, to cower). The other word is from , to work for one’s daily bread and so means one who works for his living. The word is more frequent in the New Testament and implies deeper poverty than . “The kingdom of heaven” here means the reign of God in the heart and life. This is the summum bonum and is what matters most.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Blessed [] . As this word and its cognates occur at least fifty – five times in the New Testament, it is important to understand its history, which is interesting because it is one of those numerous words which exhibit the influence of Christian association and usage in enlarging and dignifying their meaning. It is commonly rendered blessed, both in the A. V. and Rev., and that rendering might properly be given it in every instance.
Its root is supposed to be a word meaning great, and its earlier meaning appears to be limited to outward prosperity; so that it is used at times as synonymous with rich. It scarcely varies from this meaning in its frequent applications to the Grecian gods, since the popular Greek ideal of divine blessedness was not essentially moral. The gods were blessed because of their power and dignity, not because of their holiness. “In general,” says Mr. Gladstone (” Homer and the Homeric Age “) “the chief note of deity with Homer is emancipation from the restraints of moral law. Though the Homeric gods have not yet ceased to be the vindicators of morality upon earth, they have personally ceased to observe its rules, either for or among themselves. As compared with men, in conduct they are generally characterized by superior force and intellect, but by inferior morality.”
In its peculiar application to the dead, there is indicated the despair of earthly happiness underlying the thought of even the cheerful and mercurial Greek. Hence the word was used as synonymous with dead. Only the dead could be called truly blessed. Thus Sophocles (” Oedipus Tyrannus “) :
“From hence the lesson learn ye To reckon no man happy till ye witness The closing day; until he pass the border Which severs life from death, unscathed by sorrow.”
And again (” Oedipus at Colonus “) :
“Happiest beyond compare, Never to taste of life : Happiest in order next, Being born, with quickest speed Thither again to turn From whence we came.”
Nevertheless, even in its pagan use, the word was not altogether without a moral background. The Greeks recognized a prosperity which waited on the observance of the laws of natural morality, and an avenging Fate which pursued and punished their violation. This conception appears often in the works of the tragedians; for instance, in the “Oedipus Tyrannus” of Sophocles, where the main motive is the judgment which waits upon even unwitting violations of natural ties. Still, this prosperity is external, consisting either in wealth, or power, or exemption from calamity.
With the philosophers a moral element comes definitely into the word. The conception rises from outward propriety to inward correctness as the essence of happiness. But in all of them, from Socrates onward, virtue depends primarily upon knowledge; so that to be happy is, first of all, to know. It is thus apparent that the Greek philosophy had no conception of sin in the Bible sense. As virtue depended on knowledge, sin was the outcome of ignorance, and virtue and its consequent happiness were therefore the prerogative of the few and the learned.
The biblical use of the word lifted it into the region of the spiritual, as distinguished from the merely intellectual, and besides, intrusted to it alone the task of representing this higher conception. The pagan word for happiness (eujdaimonia, under the protection of a good genius or daemon) nowhere occurs in the New Testament nor in the Scriptures, having fallen into disrepute because the word daemon, which originally meant a deity, good or evil, had acquired among the Jews the bad sense which we attach to demon. Happiness, or better, blessedness, was therefore represented both in the Old and in the New Testament by this word makariov. In the Old Testament the idea involves more of outward prosperity than in the New Testament, yet it almost universally occurs in connections which emphasize, as its principal element, a sense of God ‘s approval founded in righteousness which rests ultimately on love to God.
Thus the word passed up into the higher region of Christian thought, and was stamped with the gospel signet, and laden with all the rich significance of gospel blessedness. It now takes on a group of ideas strange to the best pagan morality, and contradictory of its fundamental positions. Shaking itself loose from all thoughts of outward good, it becomes the express symbol of a happiness identified with pure character. Behind it lies the clear cognition of sin as the fountain – head of all misery, and of holiness as the final and effectual cure for every woe. For knowledge as the basis of virtue, and therefore of happiness, it substitutes faith and love. For the aristocracy of the learned virtuous, it introduces the truth of the Fatherhood of God and the corollary of the family of believers. While the pagan word carries the isolation of the virtuous and the contraction of human sympathy, the Gospel pushes these out with an ideal of a world – wide sympathy and of a happiness realized in ministry. The vague outlines of an abstract good vanish from it, and give place to the pure heart ‘s vision of God, and its personal communion with the Father in heaven. Where it told of the Stoic’s self – sufficiency, it now tells of the Christian ‘s poverty of spirit and meekness. Where it hinted at the Stoic’s self – repression and strangling of emotion, it now throbs with a holy sensitiveness, and with a monition to rejoice with them that rejoice, and to weep with them that weep. From the pagan word the flavor of immortality is absent. No vision of abiding rest imparts patience and courage amid the bitterness and struggle of life; no menace of the destiny of evil imposes a check on human lusts. The Christian word blessed is full of the light of heaven. It sternly throws away from itself every hint of the Stoic’s asserted right of suicide as a refuge from human ills, and emphasizes something which thrives on trial and persecution, which glories in tribulation, which not only endures but conquers to world, and expects its crown in heaven.
The poor [ ] . Three words expression poverty are found in the New Testament. Two of them, penhv and penicrov, are kindred terms, the latter being merely a poetic form of the other, and neither of these occurs more than once (Luk 21:2; 2Co 9:9). The word used in this verse is therefore the current word for poor, occurring thirty – four times, and covering every gradation of want; so that it is evident that the New Testament writers did not recognize any nice distinctions of meaning which called for the use of other terms. Luke, for instance (xxi. 2, 3), calls the widow who bestowed her two mites both penicran and ptwch. Nevertheless, there is a distinction, recognized by both classical and eccleciastical writers. While oJ penhv is one of narrow means, one who “earns a scanty pittance,” ptwcov is allied to the verb ptwssein, to crouch or cringe, and therefore conveys the idea of utter destitution, which abjectly solicits and lives by alms. Hence it is applied to Lazarus (Luk 16:20, 22), and rendered beggar. Thus distinguished, it is very graphic and appropriate here, as denoting the utter spiritual destitution, the consciousness of which precedes the entrance into the kingdom of God, and which cannot be relieved by one’s own efforts, but only by the free mercy of God. (See on 2Co 6:10; 2Co 8:9.)
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “Blessed are the poor in spirit:” (makaroio hoi ptochoi to pneurnati) “Blessed or spiritually prosperous (are) the poor in spirit,” blessed exist those, though poor, those “who had forsaken all,” Mat 19:27. Yet who are in the spirit, in the will and work of the Spirit, as these saved, baptized, called, chosen, and obedient disciples of Jesus were at that moment.
2) “For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” (hoti auton estin he Basileia ton ouranon) “For of them is (exists, at this time) the kingdom of heaven.” This phrase refers specifically, restrictedly, definitively and exclusively to the church that Jesus had just begun, not to the sum total of all believers, as erroneously held by so many universal, invisible, Protestant church people. From Matthew chapter three, at the coming of John the Baptist, protestantism has nothing honestly, or in honesty, to contribute to the right division or application of the Scriptures, 2Ti 3:16-17.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
3. Happy are the poor in spirit. Luk 6:20. Happy (are ye) poor. Luke gives nothing more than a simple metaphor: but as the poverty of many is accursed and unhappy, Matthew expresses more clearly the intention of Christ. Many are pressed down by distresses, and yet continue to swell inwardly with pride and cruelty. But Christ pronounces those to be happy who, chastened and subdued by afflictions, submit themselves wholly to God, and, with inward humility, betake themselves to him for protection. Others explain the poor in spirit to be those who claim nothing for themselves, and are even so completely emptied of confidence in the flesh, that they acknowledge their poverty. But as the words of Luke and those of Matthew must have the same meaning, there can be no doubt that the appellation poor is here given to those who are pressed and afflicted by adversity. The only difference is, that Matthew, by adding an epithet, confines the happiness to those only who, under the discipline of the cross, have learned to be humble.
For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. We see that Christ does not swell the minds of his own people by any unfounded belief, or harden them by unfeeling obstinacy, as the Stoics do, but leads them to entertain the hope of eternal life, and animates them to patience by assuring them, that in this way they will pass into the heavenly kingdom of God. It deserves our attention, that he only who is reduced to nothing in himself, and relies on the mercy of God, is poor in spirit: for they who are broken or overwhelmed by despair murmur against God, and this proves them to be of a proud and haughty spirit.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
A. THE CHARACTER AND BLESSINGS OF THE WISE AND GODLY MAN
(Parallel: Luk. 6:20-26)
TEXT: 5:3-12
3.
Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4.
Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.
5.
Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.
6.
Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled,
7.
Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.
8.
Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.
9.
Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called sons of God,
10. Blessed are they that have been persecuted for righteousness sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11. Blessed are ye when men shall reproach you, and persecute you, and say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.
12. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets that were before you,
THOUGHT QUESTIONS
a. Why do you suppose Jesus began this sermon this way?
b. Why does Jesus describe this type of character as blessed?
c. Is there any difference between the Wise and Godly Man and heathens who share some of these qualities? If so, what?
d. What is the antithesis in Jesus mind as He lists each of these qualities? This is one of the best ways to discover what He meant. e. What is the relationship between the salvation by grace of very undeserving sinners and the receiving of rewards on the basis of certain qualities one possesses, or on the basis of suffering for Jesus sake? If a man is saved without any regard to his personal merits (Rom. 3:19-26; Eph. 2:8-9) just because he accepted Gods gracious offer, how is it possible to harmonize the idea of rewards?
f. Why is it always a mistake to overestimate ones sense of worthiness? The Pharisees thought that THEY, if anybody, should be the first to enter the kingdom, due to their obvious righteousness, But Jesus describes a character completely different from theirs. Where did they go wrong? (Cf. Rom. 12:3; 2Co. 10:7-18)
g. Why do you suppose the meek, the gentle, courteous, unassuming people are usually more highly esteemed than the selfish, calculating status-seekers?
h. In what way are the Beatitudes the description of an ideal Christian?
i. Summing up the rewards promised in the Beatitudes, what is the great reward Jesus is promising? Would you say that this reward would satisfy?
j. Is it possible for the natural man, that is, one who is not a disciple of Jesus, to be all that the Beatitudes require? How is it possible for the Christian to be everything that Jesus mentions here?
k.
Since each of the Beatitudes mentions an attitude of heart, how does Jesus intend that these Beatitudes shall be understood and applied?
l.
What are the real motives for my actions? Are there two motives behind each of my good deeds: the reason I want others to know, plus my real motive? What makes me do what good I do to others?
(1) Is it hope for financial gain or reimbursement (Cf. Act. 24:24-26; Luk. 9:57-58)
(2) Is it applause, thanks or praise that I seek? (Col. 3:22; Joh. 5:44; Joh. 12:43; Luk. 17:7-10; Mat. 23:5-7)
(3) love of self display (3Jn. 1:9; Mat. 6:1-18; Luk. 14:7-11; Luk. 11:43)
(4) Maintaining my social respectability? (Mat. 16:1; Mat. 21:23; Luk. 14:12-14; Joh. 11:48; Joh. 12:43)
(5) To gain a sense of superiority over others who would not stoop to such a humble task?
(6) Self-righteous pride? (Cf. Luk. 18:9-14)
(7) Hopes of national glory? (Mat. 16:21-22; Joh. 6:14-15)
m.
Is self-defence or the defence of ones family, ones country or of a threatened portion of fellow humans forbidden to the peacemaker? Must the peacemaker allow the basest, most brutal men rule the world by beatings, torture chambers and mass execution?
PARAPHRASE AND HARMONY
How well off are you who know that you are poor in spiritual things, as well as materially (Luk. 6:20): the kingdom of God is yours!
How blest are those who know what sorrow means, because they are in a position to receive consolation and courage!
Happy are those of a gentle spirit, who claim nothing of their own rights, for the whole earth will belong to them!
Blessed are you who are hungering and thirsting for that character which is Gods own righteousness: you shall be fully satisfied!
How happy are you that weep now, for you are going to laugh!
How blest are they who show mercy to others, for they will have mercy shown them!
Happy are those whose hearts are pure, those who are completely sincere, for they shall see God!
Happy are those who work to produce peace in human society, peace between God and man and peace with man himself: these will be known as Gods sons.
How blest are they who have suffered persecution for the cause of righteousness! The kingdom of God belongs to such as they.
Indeed what happiness will be yours when men hate you and turn you out of their company, when you suffer insults and persecution, when they slander you and despise all that you stand for, because you are loyal to the Son of man! Accept it with gladness and rejoicing, for your reward in heaven will be magnificent. This is the way men persecuted Gods spokesmen, the prophets, before your time.
But alas for you who are rich, for you are in little position to receive further comfort! (Luk. 6:24)
How miserable are you who have all you want, for you can only return to hunger! (Luk. 6:25)
A curse on you who are laughing now, for you will learn sorrow and tears! (Luk. 6:25)
Woe to you when everybody is saying nice things about you, for that is exactly the manner in which their fathers treated the false prophets! (Luk. 6:26)
NOTES
Mat. 5:3 Blessed. In the introductory notes, see the special study: Jesus Purpose. The word (makarios) denotes: happy, blessed, fortunate and connotes: well off, thriving, prosperous, in good condition. Sometimes the word describes a pleasant state of feeling, on the part of the person thus described. But it will be seen that Jesus is talking about happiness from His ideal point of view. The conditions that Jesus represents as blessed are those which his listeners had always considered as curses. Thus, He clearly intends to surprise and whet their interest with these unexpected lightning bolts from heaven. The beatitudes are paradoxes in that they declare as being truly well off the man who, from the ordinary point of view and perhaps in his own opinion, seems to be most unfortunate. But Jesus refers to mans true well-being which can often be opposed to his apparent well-being. This surprising opening of His sermon secured to Jesus the attention to the whole message! Though these beatitudes are flat contradictions of the common world view, they demonstrate themselves in actual practice to be unquestionably true.
In saying where true happiness lies, Jesus is not suggesting that either pleasure or pain arc the true criteria of right and wrong. Rather He emphatically insists that the ultimate results of right-doing are ultimately pleasant, while those of wrong-doing are finally painful, even though the intermediate plight of the godly man may be torment and trouble and the case of the wicked nothing but sumptuous comfort. These blesseds are another of Jesus attempts to get mans eye off the glamor and glitter of this age that blinds him to the more concrete realities of the Kingdom of God in its practical aspects for this age as well as its promised delight in eternity. Jesus wastes no time: beginning by contradicting all points of mans basic philosophy, or world-view, He lays down the challenge, Whose world is real? He immediately marks Himself a blind fool, at worst, or an idealistic dreamer, at best, if He cannot really see beyond the limits of this epoch and declare with divine authority the true outcomes of the contradictory ethics of this world-life. While many of the beatitudes have present joys attached to them, yet most of them have double intent that reaches beyond this life. But flatly contradicting the common world-view, Jesus is announcing: Only my world is real. That human world-view is mistaken which declares as happy the rich, the oppressors, the proud, the arrogant, the self-centered, the fully satisfied! How beautifully James (Jas. 3:13-18) makes this point!
Who is wise and understanding among you? Let his good life give practical proof of it by deeds wrought with the meekness born of wisdom. But if there is bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast or deny the truth, for this is not a wisdom that comes down from above. Rather, it is earthbound, physical (as opposed to spiritual) and diabolical. For wherever you find jealousy and selfish ambition, you will also have disorder and all kinds of evil practices. But, on the other hand, the wisdom from above is first of all pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, rich in mercy and good fruits, straightforward and unhypocritical.
He merely seconds Jesus remarks by stating that true wisdom lies in being everything Jesus described in these beatitudes.
From the first word of the beatitudes to the last resounding illustration, Jesus message draws black-and-white contrasts between the true nature of the expected Kingdom and true righteousness, and the popular expectations and views arising out of the Mosaic system and the Pharisaic philosophy.
The most striking contrast with the Mosaic system can be seen by remembering how important the rite of circumcision is to any adequate concept of the system. (Cf. Acts 15; Rom. 2:25-28; Rom. 4:9-12; Gal. 5:3-6; Eph. 2:11-12; Col. 2:11-13) But circumcision is completely ignored by Jesus as completely incongruous with the entire plan of God for His kingdom. No Jew could have imagined the Messiahs leaving out such a beatitude as: Blessed are the circumcised, for no uncircumcized persons shall enter the kingdom of heaven, Not one external rite is ever brought forward. Jesus silence is most
significant.
But the most remarkable collisions occurred when Jesus religion collided with the current views of the Pharisees, Before raising the standard of acceptable righteousness to the level of absolute perfection (Cf. Mat. 5:48; Rom. 13:8-10), far beyond the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, Jesus pronounced as blessed at the very outset those who were not perfect: the spiritually bankrupt, the mourning, the humble, those hungering for righteousness. The Lord could just as easily have said, BLESSED ARE THE SINNERS, for they shall see God, receive mercy, enter the Kingdom and be called Gods sons, Such a beatitude, while completely expressive of the genius of Christianity, yet might have scandalized the audience because of its apparently contradictory nature. This beatitude shocks because it refutes all other religions which bless those fortunate few who have struggled up an endless number of steps toward perfection by the strength of their own moral energies. But Jesus, in blessing the imperfect, destroys all hope for the self-righteous. Here Jesus is teaching the doctrine most offensive and unacceptable to the world: good men are going to hell, but wicked wretches God can save! (Study Rev. 3:17-18) A man is never so well off as when he admits to himself that he is poor, blind, naked, destitute and morally wretched, because only then can he learn what God can do with him.
Blessed are the poor, not only in spirit but also in purse! (Cf. Luk. 6:20) Woe to you that are rich! (Luk. 6:24) Jesus well knew that it would not be wealth as such that would hinder the entrance of the rich into His kingdom, but its religio-ethical effects upon their character. (Cf. Mat. 19:16-30; Mar. 12:41-44; Luk. 12:13-21; 1Ti. 6:6-10; 1Ti. 6:17-19) But naked poverty as such does not automatically bring the destitute into the kingdom either. However, actual poverty, sorrow and hunger have real religious and ethical effects upon the poor, if they be taken as opportunities for the exercise of internal virtues. Jesus is not pronouncing a blessing upon an economic situation where people have not enough food to eat or are forced to live in slums. Rather, He encourages those in that unfortunate condition to be assured that they ARE the objects of Gods concern. Both Matthew and Luke emphasize this extreme destitution by not using the usual word for a poor man (penes or penichros) who is so poor that he must struggle to exist on his scanty daily wage. Instead they use a word (ptochos) which may mean simply poor, but commonly signifies dependent upon others for support. It speaks of one deeply conscious of his need.
This opening salvo fired by Jesus at one of the most popular expectations of the Jews, that in the messianic kingdom all would be wealthy, must have dumfounded the audience, They had learned to think that wealth was the peculiar demonstration of Gods blessing and favor. Here, however, Jesus is exclaiming, The highborn, the wealthy, the privileged are not necessarily the favorites of God. Nor do they have first rights to the kingdom before others. Too often they are oppressors, exploiters, worshippers of mammon, proud, idle, vain, self-indulgent, self-centered, cruel and callous. (Note Jas. 2:1-7; Jas. 5:1-6) To those of this character Gods Kingdom is closed! Even if genuinely good people, the rich have the temptation to put their wealth before their allegiance to Jesus. (Cf. Mat. 19:16-22) Here and there Jesus found a Zacchaeus (Luk. 19:1-10), a Joanna (Luk. 8:3), or a Joseph of Arimathea (Mat. 27:57) who were willing followers, but more often than not the rich proved to be His enemies (Luk. 16:14) and oppressed His followers (Jas. 2:6; Jas. 5:1-6).
James puts this beatitude in these terms: Let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation, and the rich in his humiliation, because like the flower of the grass he will pass away. (Jas. 1:9-10) By putting it this way, James emphasizes the spiritual relationship of wealth and poverty upon mans spiritual welfare. This explains why Jesus said (according to Matthew), Blessed are the poor in spirit. The man who is really well-off in Jesus estimation is he who knows that he is spiritually bankrupt. He has plumbed the depths of his heart and found nothing there that had any real value. This man has reached his own point of despair: he has realized his own utter helplessness, Only he can be helped who knows that mere things are quite incapable of bringing him happiness and security. How deep is the poverty of soul of the rich man when he must face the sudden realization that he has no treasure in heaven and is not rich toward God. But wealth tends to hide from the rich man his true spiritual condition to the point that he will never come to Jesus for the true wealth. This explains Jesus warning, Woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation, you have all that you are going to get! (Luk. 6:24)
For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Jesus is trying to GIVE away the Kingdom to those who want it on His terms (cf. vv. 10, 20). But His terms demand that all comers admit their deep spiritual poverty and their dire need of His wealth (Luk. 12:32-34), their need to start all over by receiving from Him (Joh. 3:1-5). This way, proud, self-righteous spirits would not be at all suited for the kingdom (Mat. 18:3-4; Mar. 10:15), In fact, look who accepted the gospel: people who realized their destitute condition and were ready to listen to the Lord and accept His gracious help on His terms. (Cf. 1Co. 1:26 ff) This is the beginning of faith and the power behind true repentance.
Mat. 5:4 Blessed are they that mourn. The ability to mourn is a mark of character, Remember Peter after he denied Jesus (Mat. 26:75); Jesus at the tomb of Lazarus (Joh. 11:35); Jesus in Gethsemane (Mat. 26:37-38); Isaiah and Jeremiah at the sins of Israel (Isa. 22:4; Jer. 9:1; Lamentations) and countless others. Men mourn because they have loved deeply and lost, Woe to him whose heart is so selfish that it is incapable of feeling grief! The tearless eye and the thoughtless heart are themselves causes for deep mourning. This explains Jesus gladness to see a man weep. (Study Eze. 9:3-6; Amo. 6:6)
Within what frame of reference does Jesus pronounce this blessing? The whole impact of the Sermon commands the merely interested to become Jesus disciples, if they would enjoy the true righteousness and the happiness He offers. Therefore, the two keys which open this blessing to our understanding are the recognition of the true origin of sorrow and the recognition of the true source of the blessing. Sin causes all grief, by one means or another, among both disciples and non-disciples alike. That is, mourning might be animated by the recognition of sin in ones self or by the shock of what it does to God and ones fellows. It could be the heartbreak, the shattered dreams that come from the sins of others. But hopeless, unrelieved grief will never find comfort, only death. (Cf. 2Co. 7:10 b; 1Th. 4:13) Further, the grief or mourning that is meant must be understood in a sense consistent with Jesus ethic. It cannot be the frustrated distress of the man too old or sick to continue his revelry, nor the anguish of the robber who learns that he overlooked more than he stole, nor the shabby penitence of the man who got caught in the act of some sin but cares little about the moral consequences of his deed.
Jesus offers Himself and His message (cf. Mat. 11:28-29) as the only true source of hope and blessing to those who grieve. It may well be that they have yet no adequate concept of the true cause of their grief nor of a remedy for its comfort. But before Jesus will relieve them, He incites in their soul the consciousness of sin and the deep need to repent. Out of their encounter with Jesus will come such earnestness, such eagerness to clear oneself, such indignation and alarm, such zeal and correction of sin that the sorrowing will put themselves in a correct position to be comforted by Jesus. Those who fail to regard sin rightly will also have little regard for Jesus method of dealing with the sorrow.
Another paraphrase of this word of Jesus might be: Blessed are those who are ripped and torn by their struggles with human sorrow, for they are in a position to be encouraged. It is not the man who lives in a state of constant joy or receives all of this worlds comforts that can know what true strengthening is.
They shall be comforted! This was Jesus business (Isa. 61:1-2), for He came to comfort the afflicted and to afflict the comfortable. (Cf. Jas. 4:9) Not all the comfort is realized in the next world (Rev. 7:17; Rev. 21:3-4), but is intended to empower us to face this one. Comforted (paraklethesontai) does not mean that the sorrowing shall be anesthetized to the point that they will not feel their suffering or pain. Rather, it means that they will be strengthened, braced up, encouraged or cheered up to face the situation worthily as a disciple of the Lord.
Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep! (Luk. 6:25 b) This is the other side of the coin. There were undoubtedly clever ones who sought their amusement in ridicule of Jesus and His followers. There were others who would not take Jesus seriously, but they would not get the last laugh! (Note Psalms 2, esp. Psa. 2:4; Psa. 37:12-13) Then there are those who are so shallow of character as to have no conscience. They cannot feel it in them to mourn about anything. To them, life is one grand comedy of laughs. Nothing is to be taken too seriously. The tragedy is that these clowns will mistake the one serious issue of all of life: what to do with Jesus.
Mat. 5:5 Blessed are the meek. Other translations for meek (praus) are gentle, humble, considerate, unassuming, courteous. It indicates that forbearance and consideration for others that is willing to waive its rights if by so doing the good of others can be advanced, Obviously, it is the opposite quality to arrogance and violence which seek to dominate others because of an insatiable drive for power that is willing to crush any and all opponents in the drive to realize that goal. Men are haughty and proud because of what they think themselves to be, or because of what they think that they by rights must possess, Thus, they think it one of the necessary sacrifices of the struggle to trample upon the heads of others in their race for control. But men who are truly meek already know that they are poor spiritually and have little reason thus to presume. This beatitude, a paradoxical shocker, carries this message: not the violently self-assertive but the considerate and unassuming will finally have possession of the earth! To the humble man who is wise enough to see it, Jesus is pronouncing the end of the competition in that futile social climbing where the selfish elbow their way to gain their rightful place in the sun.
But the meek are not weak by any means! To hold ones emotions in check while the rest of ones society battles its way to the top in that heady contest, is not childs play. Often more strength is required to stay out of these rivalries than to join.
This word of Jesus does everything but cheer the hopes of those fierce nationalists who were itching for Roman blood in the realization of their dreams of a messianic kingdom that would proudly dominate the entire non-Jewish world. But even the cooler heads could not envision any other interpretation of the old prophets than this: Blessed is my people Israel: for they shall dominate the earth by right of inheritance. The Gentiles were created merely to serve Israel.
O the wisdom of Jesus words! Has it not ever been true that the most enduring power over mens hearts has been gained by serving them in that selfless help that frees the oppressed and raises the fallen? What masterful sway Jesus holds over men today just because He chose not to rule the world by cold steel and an iron fist! He chose rather the path of gentle courtesy and unselfish giving and how many would not joyfully accept the plundering of their property or public abuse and affliction for His sake? Jesus was meek (Mat. 11:29), and the earth became His to rule. (Php. 2:5-11; Eph. 1:19-22)
But meekness does not always require the surrender of ones rights. Jesus and Paul both asserted their rights, without trampling upon those of others. (Cf. Joh. 18:19-23; Act. 16:37; Act. 22:25 ff) Other examples are Pauls not demanding a salary (1Co. 9:1-18; 2Co. 11:7-10); Peter before the Sanhedrin (Acts 4); Stephen before that council (Acts 7); and, Moses as he stood before Pharaoh and before Israel (Exodus 4 to the end of Moses life; Num. 12:3).
Those who fall heir to the earth are and always have been those that God could teach. Without real humility a man cannot learn, since the prerequisite of learning is the admission of ones own ignorance. For other study of meekness compare: Rom. 12:3; Rom. 12:10; Rom. 12:12; Rom. 12:16-21; 2Co. 10:1; Gal. 5:22-23; Gal. 6:1; Eph. 4:2; Col. 3:12; 2Ti. 2:24-26; Tit. 3:2; Jas. 1:21; Jas. 3:13; 1Pe. 3:4; 1Pe. 3:15-16; 1Pe. 5:6.
For they shall inherit the earth. If earth (gen) be translated land, the beatitude better adapts itself to the Jewish association of ideas. A study of Psa. 37:9; Psa. 37:11; Psa. 37:22; Psa. 37:29; Psa. 37:34 will demonstrate that this phrase is almost a proverbial expression for the highest of blessings, although, literally, any Jew would quite readily and rightly have understood it to mean the promised possession which was the land of Palestine. (Cf. Gen. 15:7-8; Gen. 28:4; Exo. 32:13; Lev. 20:24; Deu. 16:20; Psa. 25:13; Psa. 69:36; Isa. 57:13; Isa. 60:21; Isa. 65:9; Eze. 33:23-29) But only the blindest would fail to see that the whole tenor of such Psalms emphasized the truth that mans highest joys are realized only in Gods presence. This means that man must be ready to move with God from His revelation of a promised land, which might mean a small tract of land on the eastern Mediterranean coast, to His revelation of a promised earth. (2Pe. 3:13) So, as Jesus makes this announcement of the true and appropriate disposition of the Fathers goods, He holds out no hope for the crass, carnal dreams of the majority of His people. Yet He justified to the letter the keen spiritual insight of the true Israel.
How do the meek inherit the earth?
1. They enjoy it more fully in this life. Why?
a. Because, more than any others, they enjoy whatever God sends. The wicked, in their rush to possess, usually miss or overlook the best of this world, or else, having seen it, they refuse to pay the price to gain it, or having gained it, they are miserable,
b. Because their character guarantees to them a greater measure of peace and stability. Their calmness allows time for better judgment, their contentment assures their safety under law, and their sense of justice builds confidence.
c. Because they are stable of character, they can become the wise advisors to rulers who listen, (Cf. Daniel and his three friends, Daniel 1-3; Dan. 6:1)
2.
They will inherit the new earth. (2Pe. 3:13) This promise means the end of the present competition with the greedy, the cruel, the proud and the selfish, for all that they sought to amass for themselves for eternity will finally be the true possession of the humble.
The irony is complete: they who struggle most feverishly, in the end lose it all, while they who cheerfully, generously and humbly seek the good of others inherit it all!
Mat. 5:6 Blessed are they who are hungering and thirsting after righteousness. Observe the present participles (peinontes, dipsontes) for they probably express a continuing, constantly-felt longing. Jesus challenges our real desire for goodness: Are you so intensely and sharply pained by your need of true righteousness that you would die unless you get it? Just how badly do you want to be righteous? (See Mat. 13:44-46) Such questions criticize our satisfaction with partial goodness, half-way accomplishment and partly-kept promises to be good. Jesus cannot leave men in peace if He is to convert them. The self-sufficient, the smugly self-complacent and the self-righteous are the only people on earth beyond the help of God. Jesus bestows the favor of God upon those who are bitterly dissatisfied with themselves, discontent and broken by their sense of need for righteousness. A full man feels no need to eat or drink (Luk. 6:25). This is why Jesus expressed His horror of that self-contentment that inevitably deals a death blow to any possibility of development or improvement. A mans moral health and personal righteousness really depend upon whether he thinks himself to have arrived at a satisfactory perfection: if he has arrived, he has not! A classic example to study: Luk. 18:9-14.
They shall be filled. Here is a hint at the most basic doctrine of Christs religion: justification by faith. If righteousness be so desired as hunger and thirst seek their respective satisfactions, then the seekers imperfections and need for righteousness are confessed. Such a tormenting hunger for a right character or right standing before God must, by its nature, admit the faulty character and dangerous position of those thus tortured. This beatitude also hints that the blessing of filling comes from without and is unconnected with the relative merits of the recipient. How can that man who is already righteous in his own eyes, already filled and perfected by his own strength. find joy in Jesus promise? God is glad to impute righteousness to the man who comes to Him for filling (Rom. 4:23-25; Rom. 5:1-11), but he who thus comes will be one humbled by his continuing and increasing sense of need.
Paradoxically, this beatitude promises satisfaction in a matter in which satisfaction seems impossible: can we ever get to be righteous enough? But Jesus promises satisfaction, not satiation which destroys interest or desire. Since, elsewhere in the Sermon, Jesus defines and illustrates the true righteousness of God, that may reflect back on this beatitude, suggesting that Jesus means here: Those who seek my kind of righteousness will actually find it. He who trusts himself to my leadership will arrive at his destination, which, if he follows the best of modern scholarly opinion on the subject, he will never see! Jesus Himself is Gods answer to our deepest need for righteousness. We must come to Him as empty pitchers to a full fountain to be filled. Gods ability to supply always exceeds our demand, but He supplies in proportion to our demand. Thus, God judges us by the dreams that drive us, quite as much as by our few accomplishments. If we keep our zest for godly living, our enthusiasm for being His and doing His will, He will see to it that we have the strength and opportunity to be truly righteous, and best of all, His forgiveness when we fail. Thus, His filling is in a large measure based upon our putting ourselves in a position to be filled.
There is a sense in which it might be said that the entire world is hungering and thirsting for righteousness because of its obvious need. But the world is not blessed until it comes to Jesus (Joh. 4:13-14; Joh. 6:27 ff; Joh. 7:37-39; Rom. 10:1-4) who is all the righteousness that is needed (1Co. 1:30).
Mat. 5:7 Blessed are the merciful. What a contradiction of the dreams of the Jewish freedom fighters whose aspirations offered little mercy to the enemy! How this dashed the plans of the self-aggrandizing who sought prestige, wealth and power at the expense of others! How this unmasked the hypocrisy of those who show mercy only to friends or family but are basically unsympathetic to human needs beyond the limited circle of those who can easily reciprocate this mercy! (Luk. 10:25-37)
Again, this beatitude tends to shake the self-confidence by delivering Gods sentence against every concept of heartless legalism. The man who regards his relationship to God as a matter of piling up merit by doing a certain number of religious acts with a view to his purchase of heaven, may well be treating his fellow man with that same, exacting, pound-for-pound justice, Is it not a structural weakness of the extremely pious also to be utterly pitiless in their dealings with others? At least the self-righteous tend to show this fatal defect of being exceedingly critical of others who have not arrived at their superior standard, so critical to the point of considering it as rendering service to God to show no mercy to them! (Cf. Mat. 18:21-35; Joh. 16:2; Jas. 4:11-12; also Mat. 9:13; Mat. 12:7).
But God condemned all unmercifulness, because it assumes a position of absolute righteousness and perfect justice, a position which a sinner does not occupy, An unmerciful sinner is just a hypocrite. Unmercifulness shows itself in partiality (Luk. 6:32-37; Jas. 2:1-13), selfish orthodoxy (Jas. 2:14-17; 1Jn. 3:16-18) and harsh judgment (Mat. 7:2).
Service most pleasing to God is not merely outward ritual, in which the unmerciful legalist may pride himself, but godlike dealing with our weak, sinful fellow humans. God commanded certain rituals to enable sinners to partake of His merciful forgiveness. But by these rituals God has always intended that man should learn to BE merciful. Any religionist, who can be unmerciful with those who have not his same apprehension of the rituals or his understanding of the doctrines or his own religious stature, possesses a FALSE religion, according to Jesus. (Mat. 9:9-13; Mat. 12:1-14) It should be no wonder that Jesus views deeds of true mercy to others as done (or not done) to Himself (Mat. 25:34-46; cf. Pro. 19:17).
How does mercy itself?
1.
By gentleness with sinners (Heb. 4:14 to Heb. 5:3; Gal. 6:1; Eph. 5:32), or with those who Christian convictions are different (Rom. 14:1 to Rom. 15:7; 1Co. 8:1-13; 1Co. 10:23 to 1Co. 11:1), or with those whose religious tenets are wrong (2Ti. 2:24-26), or with those whose religious connections are merely different (Mar. 9:38-41; Act. 11:19-24; Act. 9:26-28)
2.
By helpfulness to those who need help (Psa. 41:1-3; Psa. 37:21; Psa. 37:25-26; Luk. 6:34-36; Luk. 6:38; Luk. 10:37; Luk. 14:12-14; Act. 11:27-30)
3.
By forgiveness (Pro. 19:11; Gen. 50:17-21; Num. 12:1-13; Mat. 18:15-35; Luk. 17:3-4; Act. 7:60)
Can you think of other ways in which we can be merciful?
But beware of substitutes for Christian mercy! Godly mercy cannot mean connivance with sin. Mercy becomes only sentimental softness or careless indulgence when it ignores justice. Justice and mercy are not mutually exclusive. (Cf. Mat. 23:23; Rom. 3:23-26) Christian mercy must justly condemn sin in order to save the sinner. The most merciful act one can do for a sinner is to cause him to acknowledge his sin, break his heart and lead to repent. Analyze Nathans strategy when he compassionately applied the divine scalpel to Davids heinous sin. (2Sa. 12:1-15) Mercy that slurs over the cruelty and the wrong which men afflict on others, as things merely to be forgiven and forgotten, is a grotesque, immoral caricature of the genuine thing. Christian mercy involves compassion for the sinner, but severity to the sin.
Another substitute for Christian mercy is mere pity, that natural tenderness of heart which may be but an unreasoning impulse. Christian clemency is actuated by principle, not merely emotion, and must be just. Because mercy is the right hand of love, it always seeks intelligently to do what is in the other persons best interest, fully knowing that they may be ungrateful and selfish, unjust and evil (Mat. 5:45; Luk. 6:35).
For they shall obtain mercy from God and their fellows. Showing mercy to others tends to awaken the same spirit in them, stimulating them to be lenient. The merciful man does good to his own soul; but he that is cruel troubles his own flesh. (Pro. 11:17) Whoso stoppeth his ears at the cry of the poor, he also shall cry, but shall not be heard. (Pro. 21:13) The unmerciful cannot expect but the same treatment in return. (Luk. 6:32-38)
The stunning truth of Christianity which makes it a unique religion is that, according to Jesus, God lets man determine the rigor with which the standard is to be applied! God will deal with us just as we would treat others. (Mat. 7:2; Mat. 6:12; Mat. 6:14; Mat. 10:40-42; Mat. 18:35; Mat. 25:31-46; cf. 2Ti. 1:16-18; 2Sa. 22:26; Psa. 112:4-6; Psa. 112:9) There is absolutely no way for man to be merciful to God. Man must show himself compassionate, lenient, generous and forgiving to his peers, God will mitigate or intensify the demands of absolute justice with the individual on the basis of his conduct in this very matter with his fellows. What a terrible prospect of merciless judgment faces him who has shown no mercy! But to him who has been merciful, even the unchanging demands of perfect justice bow to the mercy of God. (Jas. 2:13) For the delight of your spiritual life and a model of devotional excellence, ponder that great hymn to the mercy of God, Psalms 103.
This beatitude is another hint at the grace of God. Jesus speaks as though men are going to NEED mercy, suggesting that none will really be able to earn their right to Gods kingdom. Happy is that man who admits .to himself that he is a sinner and never arrogates to himself the position of unrelenting Judge, but is continually liberal with his compassion, intelligent with his leniency, ready to forgive, for God enjoys forgiving that kind of man.
Mat. 5:8 Blessed are the pure in heart. Whether the Jews caught the point of the beatitude may be questioned, but a moments reflection reveals that Jesus is attacking all purely external religion. He is combatting the most cherished ideas of the Pharisees and cannot help but arouse their antagonism by such speech. These are fighting words which will be repeated with increasing intensity and frequency. (Cf. Mat. 5:20; Mat. 6:2-18; Mat. 7:15-23; Mat. 12:33-37; Mat. 15:1-20; Mat. 23:1-36) Ceremonial purity, secured by numerous washings, by avoiding contact with certain contaminating objects such as corpses and non-Jews, by abstinence from certain foods, does not qualify for fellowship with God anyone whose HEART is contaminated! (Pro. 15:8; Pro. 21:3; Proverbs 27; 1Sa. 15:22; I Psa. 51:16-17; Isa. 1:11-20 Mic. 6:7-8) Those who shall be permitted a ready audience of the King Himself, are not those who punctiliously perform but those who are personally pure. (Psa. 15:1-5; Psa. 24:3-6; Pro. 22:11) Jesus challenged to His and any age is simply: HOW very badly do you want to see God? Are you willing, then, to open up your inmost thoughts, your best-hidden desires, your secret designs for the inspection of God? How happy is that man who so lives that at any moment he could bare his heart to the eye of God without shame. Who is willing to pay this price to enter the kingdom? Jesus is keenly interested in the quality of a mans inmost being. (Cf. Mat. 5:28; Mat. 6:21; Mat. 13:1-9; Mat. 13:18-23; Mat. 15:8; Mat. 15:18-19; Mar. 3:5; Mar. 11:23; Luk. 16:15; Luk. 21:34)
But the corruption and filth of the human heart does not permit such an exposure to those who are honest with themselves. We often have two motives behind each of our good deeds: the one we want others to know and the real one by which we profit from the deed. And, try as we might, we cannot quite succeed in living on that level where all our actions exactly represent our true desires. But Jesus did not leave man to grovel in his impurity, for He provided the means by which man can be reborn (Joh. 3:3-5; Tit. 2:14; Tit. 3:5) and become a completely new creature (2Co. 5:17-21). By cleansing the heart by faith. Jesus arrives at a moral condition that no legal system, governing merely external conduct, could produce. (Cf. Act. 15:9; 1Pe. 1:22). Jesus aims His teaching at the selfish sentiments, the distorted conscience and the obstinent will, for everything else emanates from these sources. (Pro. 4:23; Mat. 12:34-37; Mat. 15:8; Mat. 15:18-19) (Cf. Psalms 51; Joh. 15:3; 1Ti. 1:5; 1Ti. 3:9; 2Ti. 1:3; 2Ti. 2:22; Tit. 1:15; Jas. 1:27;
Happy is the man whose heart has been cleansed! Heb. 2:17-18; Heb. 4:14-16; Heb. 9:14)
How does purity of heart manifest itself?
1.
Chastity of a mind so clean that lust cannot live (Mat. 5:28)
2.
Basic honesty so well-known that oaths are unnecessary (Mat. 5:33-37) and worship and service becomes real (Mat. 6:1-18)
3.
Intelligent love so perfect that hate, anger, contempt (Mat. 5:22 ff), personal retaliation (Mat. 5:39-42) and partiality (Mat. 5:44-48) have no place in the pure heart.
4.
Singleness of mind so completely confident of Gods provision that worry and materialism are impossible (Jas. 4:8; see notes on Mat. 6:19-24)
5.
It is that singleness of mind and purpose that owns only one Master (Mat. 6:22-24)
In short, it is that freedom from all thoughts, motives and intentions
behind conduct that defile man and cut him off from Gods fellowship.
For they shall see God. (Cf. Heb. 12:14; 1Jn. 3:2-3; Rev. 22:4; Psa. 51:7-11) Faith and a regenerated heart help man to see God (Eph. 1:17 ff; Rom. 5:1 ff; 2Co. 3:12 to 2Co. 4:6). We see only what we are able to see. By keeping our heart pure, we are now training ourselves to see God, or else if we refuse to submit to this discipline, we shall never be able fully to see Him.
This proposition is historically true: only those, whose hearts were bent upon doing Gods will, saw God in Jesus. The rest did nor. Yet, any who saw Jesus should have seen God. (Joh. 10:30; Joh. 14:9) Why did the rest fail to see Him? Because they already had their minds made up about what God had to be, say and do, So when God came walking among them in the person of Jesus, they frankly did not recognize Him. They had been unwilling to submit to Gods will, for they really served sin (Joh. 8:31-47). Thus, they heard no echoes of the Fathers voice in the tones of Jesus, because they did not really know the Father. (Joh. 5:38-47; Joh. 7:17)
What Jesus declares rings true psychologically: those who have not spent the whole of their life energies seeking Gods approval, would not be happy to see Him anyhow. Even admission into the presence of our glorious and holy God would be hellish torment to those whose hearts are contaminated. Therefore, God, in banishing the wicked from His presence forever, is but mercifully conceding them their last wish! The impure in heart shall not see God.
Mat. 5:9 Blessed are the peacemakers. To those arrogant Jews who expected Gods Messiah to wage war, leaving all Gentile nations grovelling subjects of Israel, this beatitude must have come as a shock. Those who secretly nourished the hope that Jesus would help them realize all their fiercely nationalistic ambitions against the world must have felt keenly disappointed. (Note Joh. 6:14-15) Jesus clearly announces a spiritual kinship to God which is not a question of nationality, social standards, economic position or bloodline descent. It is a matter of spiritual likeness to God. (Rom. 8:14; Rom. 15:33; Mat. 5:44-45) Gods sons are not the warlike, yearning to assert their political supremacy over the rest of the world, but those who labor to create peace. Observe that Jesus said peacemakers, nor peace lovers. He wants His disciples to be active promoters of peace, not merely peaceable men. The peacemaker does not fold his hands, but he rolls up his sleeves. (Heb. 12:14)
This beatitude is a trumpet-call to war, however to battle on quite another front than the usual one. Jesus is challenging the deepest commitment and the basic sincerity of each disciple: Are you willing to stick your neck out, to get involved in the troubles of others, to risk the loss of your personal tranquility? Are you so convinced of the value of human brotherhood that no cost is too high to bring about justice and peace in any situation where men strive with their fellows? The Lord is appealing to mans fighting heart, that hero in the soul of each of us, to get involved in this warfare for peace.
But Jesus peace corps volunteers are those who share His worldview and seek the peace on His terms. This means fighting with spiritual weapons against SIN (Jas. 4:1-5), the real cause of strife, bitterness, hate and war. (Eph. 6:10-18; 2Co. 10:2-5) It means waging war not upon mere ignorance but rather ignorance of God (Hos. 4:1-2; Hos. 4:6), not upon mere poverty of purse but poverty of soul. It means not merely to seek to bring about an absence of hostilities, but to teach men to love one another. It cannot mean anesthetizing men into tranquil self-satisfaction in sin; it must mean bringing rebels to their knees before God, seeking to be reconciled to Him on His terms. In His peacemaking mission, Jesus lost His life (Eph. 2:14-17) and, in the strife against sin, His disciple may not expect to fare any better (Heb. 12:2-4; Mat. 10:34 ff). Obviously, the Christian cannot make his peace with the world without risking his peace with God (Jas. 4:4), so he must not seek a peace at any price. Rather, he must sow for a harvest of righteousness. (Jas. 3:18)
Jesus does not hereby justify mere pacificism, for this usually means opposition to war or to the use of military force for any purpose, or that attitude of mind which opposes all war and advocates settlement of every international dispute entirely by arbitration. He is, first of all, discussing His ideal disciple, not establishing rules for international control of nations or power-groups who do not acknowledge His authority. For Jesus disciple to refuse to take part in an aggressive war is in perfect accord with Jesus spirit here expressed. But Satan still commands enough powerful forces in the world to threaten world domination at the expense of the rest of humanity. For the Christian to adopt a policy of opposition to war with those tyrants who would suppress all opinions but their own, is to betray the rest of humanity into their hands. Paul, on the other hand, defends the right of governments to use force to maintain a just order; this he does on the basis of the declaration that God Himself has given that right (Rom. 13:1-7). Not one centurion was instructed to forsake the army to demonstrate the reality of his faith in Jesus or the genuineness of his repentance (Mat. 8:5-13; Acts 10, 11); likewise for the common soldiers (Luk. 3:14). Even the attempt to arbitrate every international dispute by use of the conference table often fails, because of the unchangeable desire of one power to rule the world. The difficulty with idealistic pacifism is that it naively assumes that all men are inspired by the same high ideals. Is it loving ones neighbor to stand idly by doing nothing while another hacks him to pieces? (See notes on Mat. 5:38-48) Peacemaking, considered on the state or international level, is basically beyond the scope of this beatitude for two reasons: first, true peace on earth is impossible where sin reigns; second, the only effective means of removing sin is by conversion through the gospel of Jesus, and this can be applied only at the level of the individual, If the morality of Jesus, which He aimed at the individual, be applied on the level of unconverted society, the result will be disastrous: the structure of society will be destroyed by the unconverted who take advantage of the non-resistance offered by the rest of society, and the ethic of Jesus (thus wrongly understood and applied) will be either reduced to an ineffective whisper, or else laughed off the human stage as completely unworthy of further consideration.
How does one go about making peace?
1.
He must first be a man in whom bitterness and strife cannot dwell and, in consequence of his character, a man whom men can trust to be fair. (Luk. 6:35; 2Ti. 2:24-26; Jas. 3:13-17)
2.
Then he can bridge the distance between the antagonists. (Mat. 18:15-35; Php. 4:2-3; Philemon; Eph. 2:11-18)
3.
He can heal the break by rebuilding the human concern for one another. (Cf. Act. 7:26; Rom. 15:25-31; 2Co. 9:12-14)
4.
He must be thoroughly impartial: perfectly just in seeking and removing the cause of estrangement but thoroughly merciful with the persons involved. (Gal. 2:11 f; 2Co. 8:9; Php. 2:1-10)
For they shall be called sons of God. Just as God got involved in the sin, pain, misery and strife of this wicked race, even so those who lay down their lives to make peace wherever their influence extends, will be recognized by the very spirit and image of their Father which they bear. So regardless of all their pretences to orthodoxy, warring factionists, by the very nature of the case, disprove their claim to be sons of God. If Jesus means the phrase sons of God according to the Hebrew idiom which means like God, then actual sonship, that relationship to God brought about by faith in Jesus (Joh. 1:12-13), is not necessarily and immediately broken by such hatefulness. However, continued bitterness, unforgiven grudges and factional infighting do actually destroy that former connection with the Father. For the present, Jesus is saying, he who claims to be a son of God must act like God. (Mat. 5:45; Luk. 6:35)
On the other hand, if Jesus meant sons of God in the sense that is developed in the New Testament, He is describing one of the essential characteristics of such a son, without which none can claim to be one of Gods children. (Other passages illustrating this concept: Rom. 8:14-21; 2Co. 6:18; Gal. 3:26; Gal. 4:5-7; Eph. 1:5; Eph. 5:1; Eph. 5:8; Heb. 2:10; Heb. 12:5-8; 1Jn. 3:10; 1Jn. 5:1-2).
5: 10-12. Because these three verses present basically the same beatitude, the various parts will be considered together with their parallels. This beatitude reinforces or puts character into those chat precede it, by warning that our humility must not degenerate into a cringing, submissive slavery, or our peacemaking abased to compromise of our convictions, nor our meekness lowered to sinful compliance. By these surprising paradoxes, Jesus is daring one to be His disciple whatever the cost.
Moral, if not physical, suffering is to be expected by the genuinely good man. Jesus pronounces as the truly happy those who are so anchored to their character or convictions that they cannot be bribed, cajoled or threatened into surrender of principle. To accept persecution, as a necessary sacrifice involved in standing for what one deems right, means that he has a conscience that is unyielding and exacting. Jesus has no use for the spineless, careless man without a conscience, for nobody can count upon him! The religion of Jesus is for the poor in spirit, the sorrowing, the meek and merciful, yes, but these must be stout-hearted men who have the moral stamina to stand for the cause of Jesus.
The Jews expected the Messiah to bring total victory in the wars preceding the establishment of the universal reign of David over the world. They expected that even the lowliest Jewish citizen should rule many Gentiles. Those who were pinning their nationalistic hopes to Jesus campaigns must have received this last beatitude with hurt surprise and chagrin. Here are the first major indications of Jesus royal road to glory: His servants will suffer. What a warning lies just below the surface: Count the cost! How badly do you wish to be mine? I will be asking you, my friend, to be the conscience of the world, to praise where there is good and to condemn its wickedness. The world cannot agree with my judgment as to the nature of true righteousness, and you, my dear follower, as you represent this standard, will be caught in the cross-fire of these two standards. Jesus challenges the heroic in men, but He would have them be realistic, (Cf. Mat. 10:16-39; Mat. 16:24-27; Mar. 10:28-30).
But what sort of suffering does Jesus mean? Persecution begins as a talking war of reproach (Mat. 5:11), or insults heaped upon the disciple of Jesus, with a view to curbing him socially, trying to intimidate him into abandoning his position, Another line of attack will be slander: all manner of evil said against you falsely. Luke (Luk. 6:22; Luk. 6:26) uses these terms: Blessed are you when men hate you, and when they exclude you and revile you, and cast out your name as evil, on account of the Son of man! , , , Woe to you, when all men speak well of you, for so their fathers did to the false prophets. The Christian must remember that praise is another form of social control and must be evaluated, The praise of the unqualified judge is no guarantee of true worth; rather, it merely indicates that he who has won it has not risen above the standard of him who gives it. Jesus servant must keep his head clear to be able to discern the true source of the praise he seeks or of the criticism he fears. (Mat. 10:26-33; Luk. 12:4-5)
Where could persecution strike? Sometimes this oppression is religious, while at other times it attacks the social life of the disciple. Almost always it cuts into the family and home life, severing the nearest and dearest connections the disciple knows. (Cf. Joh. 16:2; 2Ti. 3:12; Heb. 10:32-39; Heb. 12:4; Heb. 13:3; Heb. 13:13; 1Pe. 1:6-9; 1Pe. 2:12; 1Pe. 2:19-21; 1Pe. 3:14-18 a; 1Pe. 4:12-19; 1Pe. 5:9-10) The apostles got a taste of this during Jesus ministry, but they felt its full force after He had gone, (Acts 4; Act. 5:17-42; Acts 7; Acts 9; Acts 12 etc. 2Co. 4:7-12; 2Co. 6:8-10; 2Co. 11:23-33; Joh. 15:18 to Joh. 16:4)
What is the cause for which Jesus servants must face suffering?
1.
For righteousness sake. The term righteousness must be interpreted in this context and in the larger framework of the New Testament, not forced to cover every civil rights cause that the unconverted, moved by humanitarian principles, might suggest, however just might be their particular plea. While those causes often seek proper ends in justice for minority or underprivileged groups, yet the righteousness Jesus is talking about involves faith and obedience to Him! (Joh. 5:22-23; Joh. 6:28-29; Joh. 8:24; Joh. 8:31-32; Joh. 3:35-36) Righteousness, as Jesus intends it, is the very character of God required as the standard of judgment of the world and bestowed upon believers. In its practical manifestation, for which the follower of Jesus must be ready to suffer, it becomes equivalent to Christianity. (Note 1Pe. 3:14-18; 1Pe. 4:12-19) But why would the world persecute men for doing right? Because the world hates the conscience-like effect of the Christian life and testimony, for they must condemn the worlds sins. (Cf. Joh. 3:20; Joh. 7:7; Joh. 15:18-21)
2.
For my sake. What sublime originality! Jesus calls men not simply to suffer for conscience sake or only for sake of convictions or because of lifes ordinary trials, but for my sake. There is a wide psychological difference between devotion to abstract principles or an impersonal cause, devotion to a Person. (Cf. Php. 3:4-10; 1Pe. 4:13) Jesus does not say to rejoice when men separate you from their company because of your own folly or your own personal notions, but when they do it because you are MY disciple! No man can stand this loneliness and reviling for a creed, cause or conviction, but he can for Jesus! A man must be prepared to be lonely when he decides for His discipleship and chooses to know Jesus love alone.
For my sake puts the right emphasis on ones suffering. For denouncing oneself to the Roman magistrates who were enforcing the persecutions, merely to seek martyrdom, is a selfish act. That is suffering for the unwholesome desire for suffering and death. or perhaps it is an escape mechanism to terminate the uncertainties of this life, a coup de grace to put an end to further Christian testimony that could be given! Again, those who receive persecution, because they cram their religious convictions down the throats of their neighbors, do not glorify Jesus, since their manners essentially differed from those of the Master.
Further, Jesus multiplies the sources of encouragement needed for the hours of persecution ahead: Remember Gods servants the prophets! For so persecuted they the prophets who were before you. The world has always persecuted those who spoke to it in the name of the Lord. It seems that every age kills its own prophets, while building memorials to the prophets of former generations. (Note Mat. 23:29-36; Act. 7:51-53; 2Ch. 36:12; 2Ch. 36:15-16; Jas. 5:10; 1Th. 2:15; Heb. 11:32-38) Two striking lessons stand out:
1. The Christians are to bolster their courage in the knowledge that they will be treading the steps of Gods mightiest, most fearless spokesmen of the past, and thus, they will be participating in Gods crucial testimony to a degenerate age as they add their voices to the announcement of Gods judgment, But the underlying implication is clear that Jesus, in placing His people on a par with those Old Testament worthies, is identifying service to Him with service to God. Their service to God not only resembled the suffering of the prophets (Mat. 5:12), but also was to involve powerful preaching (Mat. 5:14-16; Mat. 10:26-28) and a salutary influence upon their society (Mat. 5:13).
2. The Christians would be facing the same prejudices, the same perversity, impenitence, pride and the same deeply-entrenched and corrupt religious and political leaders. hey would face the same heartless, brutal force which stops at nothing to withstand the truth. Christians, like the prophets, would be unarmed, not using the ordinary weapons employed to force ones will, being able only to promote the truth by the demonstration of the Spirit and Gods power. (1Co. 2:1-5; 2Co. 10:3-6) But one can take a lot more punishment if he is sure he is part of a movement greater than himself. To see, with the eyes of faith. the unflinching prophets standing beside one as he faces his persecutors, is to draw upon sources of courage deeper than oneself. Jesus is saying, When you suffer for me, you never stand alone as you give your testimony: the prophets have stood right where you stand.
The only way of enjoying the smiles of ones age seems to lie in playing false to ones God. (Luk. 6:26)
Perhaps the only reason Jesus does not offer His own example at this time (for thus they will do to the Son of man), is that the resurrection had not yet occurred, giving power to His comforting words. Besides, His audience at this stage of their spiritual development might have been too scandalized. After the empty tomb, the apostles could shout to Christians, surrounded by fearful, relentless persecution, Remember Jesus! (2Ti. 2:8; Heb. 12:2-3)
The almost unbelievable part of this beatitude is the nature of its exceeding great reward. Jesus said, Blessed are ye! Rejoice in that day and be exceeding glad: leap for joy! (Luk. 6:23) The blessing goes two ways:
1.
Uninhibited joy in the kingdom of heaven now. This is not a morbid longing for or seeking persecution which makes pain and suffering ends in themselves to be sought at the expense of the cause of righteousness. In fact, happiness is very elusive in that it cannot be sought without being lost in the search. According to Jesus, true joy exists only when we seek Gods purposes. After all, is this not the essence of Gods kingdom on earth? (Cf. Joh. 5:11; Joh. 16:22; Joh. 16:24; Joh. 17:13; Act. 5:40-42; Php. 4:4; cf. Php. 1:12-14; Rom. 5:1-11) The devil has no happy old men, because all their lives they have sought happiness by evading the very service that brings the only real joy
2.
The great reward in heaven for eternity. See article: The Reasonableness of the Redeemers Rewarding of Righteousness. (Cf. 2Jn. 1:8; Rev. 11:18; Rev. 22:12)
What is the lesson here? Jesus words make us reflect: how long has it been since we felt the sting of hate-filled words aimed at us because we are Christian, Why is there little persecution experienced by the Church today? Could it be partly that the principles of Jesus have received such universal acknowledgement as being the right principles, even if so rarely practiced, that the world has been rendered more favorable or more tolerant toward Christians and Christianity? If so, this might hold the forces of evil at bay for a time. Or could the relative absence of persecution be due EO the Churchs growing lukewarm to its own message? I, as a Christian, could enjoy more comfort if I were more indifferent. But Jesus says, Happy are the persecuted for my sake! If this language strikes the modern reader as extravagant, it is because of the great difference between the twentieth century philosophy and Gods will, and between the few glowing embers of modern Christianity contrasted to the roaring forest fire that was first century discipleship. How must this difference be accounted for? Most tend to measure the amount of happiness in their lives by the extent to which they escape trouble and suffering. But the only salvation from such a delusion is the realization that true happiness means being conformed to the image of Gods Son who met His death on a cross! (Study 1Th. 3:3-4; Col. 1:24; Rom. 8:29; Php. 1:27-30)
FACT QUESTIONS
1.
Who are the spiritually poor? the spiritually rich?
2.
How can mourning bring comfort?
3.
What is the true cause of all sorrow? the true source of its comfort ?
4.
What kind of character is meek? Tell several ways in which the meek man is shown to be such.
5.
What is the kingdom of heaven? How is this a particularly rich blessing to the poor in spirit?
6.
What kind of comfort does Jesus promise to those who mourn? What does the word comfort mean, as Jesus used it here?
7.
In what ways will the meek inherit the earth? What earth?
8.
What makes a man hunger and thirst after righteousness? Explain this figure of speech and its implications.
9.
What is implied in the phrase they shall be filled, with reference to righteousness? How will they be filled? What has this to do with the great doctrine of Gods grace?
10. Who are the merciful? Name some of the ways in which Christian mercy shows itself.
11. From whom do the merciful obtain mercy?
12.
Show how mercifulness contrasts the legalistic spirit.
13. Name two attitudes often mistaken for Christian mercy.
14. Who are the pure in heart?
15. How does heart purity contrast with merely external religion? with good works done for public notice?
16. What is the difference between peaceful men and peacemakers?
17.
What kind of man must the peacemaker be?
18. How does one go about making peace?
19. Does Jesus justify pacifism movements that do not share His views?
20. Why should the peacemakers that Jesus was talking about be called sons of God? What d e s it mean to be called a son of God?
21. Jesus pronounces happy those who are persecuted for what two specifically named causes? (Mat. 5:10-11)
22. Why does Jesus bring up the prophets who were before you?
23. Name the two precious rewards that Jesus holds out for those suffering for His sake
24. Justify Jesus offering rewards to encourage people to seek Gods kingdom and righteousness and suffer for Jesus sake.
25. Name each of the eight beatitudes, showing how each contradicts the popular views of Jesus day. How do they likewise refute those of our day?
26. Name the eight great rewards that indicate the true happiness of those bearing the named characteristics.
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
(3) Blessed.The word differs from that used in Mat. 23:39; Mat. 25:34, as expressing a permanent state of felicity, rather than the passive reception of a blessing bestowed by another.
The poor in spirit.The limitation, as in the pure in heart, points to the region of life in which the poverty is found. In Luk. 6:20 there is no such qualifying clause, and there the words speak of outward poverty, as in itself a less perilous and therefore happier state than that of riches. Here the blessedness is that of those who, whatever their outward state may be, are in their inward life as those who feel that they have nothing of their own, must be receivers before they give, must be dependent on anothers bounty, and be, as it were, the bedesmen of the great King. To that temper of mind belongs the kingdom of heaven, the eternal realities, in this life and the life to come, of that society of which Christ is the Head. Things are sometimes best understood by their contraries, and we may point to the description of the church of Laodicea as showing us the opposite type of character, thinking itself rich in the spiritual life, when it is really as the pauper, destitute of the true riches, blind and naked.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
I. CHRISTIAN PIETY, AS DISTINGUISHED FROM IRRELIGION.
The Nine Benedictions, Mat 5:3-12.
3. Blessed The Gospel opens with a blessing, again and again. There are more than the sacred seven. There are the thrice three; the well rounded nine benedictions. How many were the woes which solemnly echoed to them we know not; for Matthew omits them, and Luke gives them, perhaps, incompletely. This word blessed conveys not an opinion or a prayer, as human benedictions do, but a sentence or a decree. Such things are blessed, not because he says they are merely, but because he makes and pronounces them so. It is an anticipation of that final, “Come ye blessed,” which he will pronounce upon his judgment throne. Our Lord here truly speaks with authority, as the one who will be the final judge of human destiny.
Blessed means not merely happy, as even Mr. Wesley renders it. As happiness is higher than pleasure, so blessedness is higher than happiness. Blessedness is more truly divine. It is the more than happiness produced by God’s sunshine in the soul.
Poor in spirit The spirit is the immortal nature in man; and especially the moral part of the human soul wherewith a man is religious and receives and communes with the Divine Spirit. He whose spirit the Gospel finds already supplied and falsely rich with something else than the Gospel, cannot receive the Gospel. If the spirit be full and satisfied with some false religion, or pride, or earthly good, or moralism, it has no room or receptivity for the Gospel, and no blessing from Christ. So the outright, self-conscious sinner, morally poor in fact and poor in spirit, is often more likely to receive the Gospel than he who has something that is not religion in the place of religion. Blessed, then, is he who has a receptive vacancy, a poverty, real and felt, for the Gospel.
Kingdom of heaven A very bountiful filling up of the vacuity. The pauper shall be a king; his empty box shall be filled with royal treasures.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘Blessed ones, the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingly Rule of Heaven.’
‘Blessed ones, the poor in spirit.’ This certainly includes the thought that they are ‘happy’ and ‘enjoying spiritual fullness’ and blessed because of the future benefits that they will enjoy, but that is not at the heart of its meaning. Rather His emphasis is that they are that because of what God has done in them. Its central meaning is that they are ‘poor in spirit’ because they have been actively and positively blessed by God. They have been worked on by the Holy Spirit (see Psa 143:7 with 10). They have been given a new heart and a new spirit (Eze 36:26). It means that they are like this because God has worked within them to make them humble within, and that that is why they are as they are.
The use of the passive verb without an obvious reference is regularly a way in Jesus’ teaching of indicating God as the subject. It is typical of Jesus’ teaching. It was a method used by the apocalyptists, and also later used by the Rabbis. And here Jesus is using the adjective makarios (with the verb assumed) in the same way. He is saying ‘blessed indeed by God are those whom He has made poor in spirit in the right way, so that as a result of that poverty of spirit they have come to listen to Me and to respond to My words in order that they might enjoy ultimate blessing. How glad they should be that they have not been hindered from it by wealth or arrogance or the cares of life, and all this is because God has blessed them and worked in their lives and made them poor in spirit’.
This word ‘poor’ basically indicates the destitute. But in the Old Testament it regularly refers to the godly who recognise their own desperate spiritual need. It became a synonym for the godly in Israel. And we therefore regularly have to determine from the context whether the literal poor or the ‘poor in spirit’ are in mind (see for example Psa 22:24 where ‘the poor’ refers to the Psalmist, and it is a Psalm of David).
Luke expresses similar words as being spoken by Jesus directly to His listeners. ‘Blessed are you poor’ (Luk 6:20) he depicts Jesus as saying, and he compares it with, ‘Alas for you rich’. At first this appears to be saying something different, as though He was saying that it was a blessing to be very poor, but in fact He is not. For the ‘you’ is what makes the difference. It is only those poor in front of Him, poor though they may be, who are said to be blessed, and they are seen to be blessed precisely because they are the responsive poor. They are here in Jesus’ presence because they recognise the poverty of their lives and are looking for something better. They have thus been chosen by God to be rich in faith and heirs of the Kingly Rule which He has promised to those who love Him (Jas 2:5). On the other hand the rich onlookers, who were probably observing Him either out of disdainful interest or in order to decide what to do about Him, came under His ‘Alas’ or ‘Woe’ (Luk 6:24-26). So the reason that the poor were blessed was not because they were poor, but because they were there with their hearts open for Him to speak to them, and were open to God’s working on their lives. Jesus is not saying that God had blessed the poor who were not there. They still struggled on in poverty without help. Thus it was only His listeners who in this case should look on themselves as favoured.
We should in this regard consider that among those whom He is addressing, are Peter and Andrew, James and John. While they have left all and followed Him, their background is not one of total poverty, and should they wish to they can go back to their boats, and their businesses (Joh 21:3 compare Mat 4:21; Mar 1:20). They are not thus the helplessly poor and destitute. They are the willing poor, the poor by choice. And they are that way because they have been blessed by God within, because they had not suffered the distraction of great riches.
In view of Luke’s use of ‘poor’, which can mean ‘actually physically poor’, at least to some degree, some have suggested that we should perhaps translate Mat 5:3 as ‘blessed in spirit are the poor’ with the emphasis on the fact that Jesus is speaking of the poor and that the poor are more likely to find blessing in spirit because their minds are not taken up with riches and ambition. But that is to miss the dynamic behind the phrase, which is indicating the positive blessing of God. It would in fact have been foolish to say that all the poor everywhere are blessed in spirit. They are not. But it was a very different matter to say it of those who, as a result of God’s blessing, were there to listen to Him.
So in neither Matthew nor Luke is there the idea that poverty itself is a blessing. Jesus’ idea is not that it is a blessing to be poor, except in so far as it is those who are less rich who tend to think more on spiritual things, and will therefore, if they respond to Him because of it, as these have who are before Him, come into blessedness. Nor is He speaking of those living in abject poverty, (although the word can mean the very poor), as though somehow that was a wonderful thing to be. Nothing was further from Jesus’ mind. His whole concentration is on the particular ones whom God has blessed, and what the result has been in their attitude towards life. Show me the person who is humbled and lowly and contrite and hungry after God and merciful and seeking to be pure in heart and desirous of making men’s peace with God and I will show you a person whom God has blessed. It will be a person who was dwelling in darkness but on whom the light has shone (Mat 4:16). He will have repented and come under the Kingly Rule of Heaven, and will have been drenched with the Holy Spirit.
The world, and the Pharisees, tended to think that it was the rich who were blessed by God, but Jesus did not see material ‘blessings’ as a blessing. He was only too aware of what wealth could do to a man’s soul. He knew that in such people ‘the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches and the desire for other things choked the word and it became unfruitful’ (Mar 4:19). For such people’s minds were fixed on other things than the things of God. They had too many distractions. That is why Jesus did not see the rich young man as blessed. He was indeed far from blessed. He went away sorrowful because he had great possessions. While he was rich, he was really ‘poor, and still in need of mercy, and wretched, and blind and naked’ (Rev 3:17). That is why even today Jesus has many lip-followers whose satisfaction with their affluent lifestyles prevents them from a true living commitment. They call Him ‘Lord, Lord’ but do not do what He says (Mat 7:21). They should take note of the fact that Jesus said that there is sadly no place for them in the Kingly Rule of Heaven (it was Jesus Who said it, not us). They have not been blessed, otherwise the thoughts of their hearts would be different. But they can be blessed. Let them but respond to Him truly and they will be blessed, and will become like those described here.
Thus we must interpret Matthew here as signifying mainly poverty ‘of spirit’ (see Pro 29:23). This does not mean poor-spirited (although some might be that for a while) but those of whom Jesus is speaking who have a sense of lowliness, who are not bumptious or overbearing, but who rather are aware of spiritual need, and of the fact of their total undeserving. They admit that without Him they can do nothing really worth while and lasting. And this change of heart is because of God’s work within them. It may be that being poor helped them to come to this position. But it is certainly not a position enjoyed by all who are poor.
A similar phrase, ‘poor in spirit’, was found at Qumran which supports this interpretation. There it signified a helplessness and lowliness of spirit which was looking for God to step in and help them, because they could do nothing of themselves (although in a different context). So the whole point in Luke is that their hearts (whether rich or poor) have not been prevented by riches from coming to Him, while in Matthew we may see it as similar to its meaning at Qumran. Indeed the Psalmists regularly spoke of ‘the poor’ when they were indicating the humble and lowly, possibly because most of such were to be found among the relatively poor in contrast with the godless rich (see Psa 34:6; Psa 37:14; Psa 40:17; Psa 69:28-29; Psa 69:32-33; Isa 61:1). Such people may in the end be seen as summed up in the words of Isa 57:15; Isa 66:2; Psa 51:17. They are those who are of a contrite and humble spirit who tremble at His word.
The idea of the godly poor thus becomes synonymous with the righteous, while the ungodly rich become synonymous with the unrighteous. Compare Psa 37:14 where ‘the poor and needy’ are paralleled with ‘the upright in the way’. This is something later exemplified in the Dead Sea Scrolls (for example the War Scroll parallels ‘the poor in spirit’ with ‘the perfect of way’ (War Scroll 14), and says of them ‘you will kindle the downcast of spirit and they will be a flaming torch in the straw to consume ungodliness and never to cease until iniquity is destroyed’ (the War Scroll 11)). But the final attitude of those mentioned in the Dead Sea Scrolls was not the same as the one that Jesus was encouraging, for they wanted nothing less than to destroy their enemies and put the ungodly to rout. However, the initial idea of poverty of spirit was similar, even though it had a very different outcome.
But with all this emphasis on ‘the poor’ it is quite clear in the end that not all the poor are actually righteous, nor are all the rich actually unrighteous. For as Jesus declared in the context of the failure of the rich young man, God can work miracles in all (Mat 19:26). God is merciful to all who call on Him from a true heart.
‘For theirs is the Kingly Rule of Heaven.’ To them (hoi ptowchoi) ‘belongs’ the Kingly Rule of Heaven. That is, they have entered under His Rule now, and they will also enjoy it now, and also in the everlasting future. We may here bear in mind Psa 22:28 where the Psalmist declares ‘of YHWH is the Kingly Rule (Psalm 21:29 LXX tou kuriou he basileia), and He reigns over the nations’, and this in a context where He has ‘not despised the affliction of the poor’ (Psa 22:24, Psa 22:25 LXX ptowchou), where ‘the poor’ is the Psalmist, and it is a Psalm of David. Thus it is to the poor (ptowchoi) in spirit that the Kingly Rule of Heaven belongs.
Almost the whole of Judaism was waiting and longing for this ‘Kingly Rule of God’ to be manifested on earth (although in a totally distorted way) but it was these few who were poor in spirit who were to receive it and enjoy it. For God had purposed His Kingly Rule and eternal life for those whom He had purposed to bless, those whom He will draw to His Son (Joh 6:44). And the reason that the Kingly Rule of God is now seen to be theirs is because they are now responding to Jesus and following Him (see Joh 10:27-28). They have put themselves under His kingly rule. Their awareness of their spiritual need and their lack of concern for worldly goods (they were willing to leave all and follow Him) is the consequence of their having turned their thoughts towards Him, and they have submitted to His Reign over their lives. Notice the present tense, which contrasts with the future tenses that follow, thus stressing its ‘presentness’. ‘Theirs is the Kingly Rule of Heaven’. It is something that they enjoy even now. For the Kingly Rule of God is within them and among them (Luk 17:21). They are pressing into it and refusing to take no for an answer (Mat 11:12). But it is also a permanent present. It signifies that the Kingly Rule of God will also be theirs in the future, when they will enter into the everlasting Kingdom, for that is in the end simply a continuation of His Kingly Rule on earth (see Isa 11:4; Isa 42:4). Thus those who have been blessed by God, and are His, enjoy both present and future blessedness.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
God Has Already Blessed His True People By Producing In Them A Right Attitude of Heart, And An Indication Of The Blessings Both Present and Future That Will Result from It (5:3-9).
As we consider the Sermon on the Mount its demands are such that the question must necessarily arise, ‘What kind of people could possibly live in accordance with this teaching of Jesus?’ And the answer will now be given. It is those whose hearts have been changed, those whom God has ‘blessed’ and has thus prepared for it, those who have come under the Kingly Rule of Heaven.
It is important here to recognise the implication of the way in which the ‘beatitudes’ are presented, for they are not to be seen as just pronouncements of general interest. Casual readers tend to look on them as casual truisms. And they think how nice they are in theory, how well they roll off the tongue, and how surprisingly true they sometimes are, especially when they happen to agree with their own position. They see them as a kind of proverb. But Jesus was not talking in generalities, and He was not citing proverbs. He was talking to specific people. He was not interested in nice theories, He wanted direct response.
We need to note here that following the custom of the time among the Jews Jesus often used alternative expressions so as not to overuse the name of God. Thus He speaks of the Kingly Rule ‘of Heaven’ rather than the Kingly Rule ‘of God’ (Mark and Luke render it as the Kingly Rule of God for the sake of their Gentile readers). For other uses of ‘Heaven’ as a circumlocution for God see also Mar 10:21 with parallels; Mat 12:25 with parallels; Mat 13:32; Mat 5:12; Mat 6:20; Mat 16:19; Mat 18:18; Luk 6:23; Luk 10:20; Luk 12:33; Luk 15:7. He speaks of ‘the (our, your) Father’ or the equivalent a number of times (17 times in the Synoptics excluding parallels, even more in John). He also speaks of Him as ‘the Lord of Heaven and earth’ (Mat 11:25 /Luk 10:21); the Power (Mar 14:62 with parallels; Mat 26:64); the Wisdom (Mat 11:19 /Luk 7:25); the Name (Mat 6:9 /Luk 11:2); the Great King (Mat 5:35); the Most High (Luk 6:35). It is not that He always avoids the use of God’s name, it is simply that He did not want to be thought of as using it lightly. (There is a lesson for us all to learn here. We do use His name too lightly).
It was also His practise throughout His teaching to regularly use the passive verb in order to indicate the activity of God without the necessity of constantly mentioning His name. Thus here in Mat 5:7 ‘they shall obtain mercy’ is intended to signify ‘God will be merciful to them’. This is sometimes called ‘the divine passive’. And excluding parallel usage it occurs over ninety times in the Gospels. In other words to a quite remarkable extent it is one of Jesus’ main characteristics, and we should always therefore, when considering His teaching, always be looking out for evidence of a similar idea.
Thus following these precedents ‘Blessed ones, the poor in Spirit’ must be seen as drawing attention to the fact that such people are to be seen as like that because they have been blessed by God. They are not just to be seen as ‘happy’ or ‘fortunate’ in some general kind of way. They are to be seen as the specific subjects of God’s positive blessing. They are to be seen as those on whom God has acted in His grace and compassion. He has brought them deliverance and righteousness in order to establish His new people (Isa 46:13). The Anointed Prophet of YHWH has endued them with God’s blessing so that they might be oaks of righteousness (Isa 6:13). Thus what He means ‘Blessed ones, the poor in spirit’ is ‘Blessed by God have been and are those who are seen to be truly the poor in spirit. For they are like that because God has positively blessed them, and worked it in them and on them, and that is why they have come to Me and are responding to My words, and the result is that the Kingly Rule of Heaven is theirs’.
He is here speaking of those who are ‘poor in spirit’ in the right sense, those who are humble and contrite before God, and are so precisely because of the blessing and activity of God. It is God Who has blessed them by making them ‘poor in spirit’, and therefore humble and contrite, and open to Him. (To put it in another way found in Matthew, it is the result of the drenching of the Holy Spirit referred to in Mat 3:11 as active through Jesus. See on that verse and compare Luk 11:13; Joh 3:1-6; Joh 4:10-14).
And the same thing applies to the other beatitudes. In a similar way God has blessed them by bringing His true people to mourn over sin, to be ‘meek and lowly’, (and therefore not those who are always trying to defend or uplift themselves and exert their rights), to hunger and thirst after righteousness, to be merciful, to be pure in heart and to be desirous of bringing men to peace with each other, and especially to peace with God. All has come to them as a result of the positive blessing of God.
The fact that this is so comes out in the story of the rich young man who came to Jesus. For when Jesus said how hard it was for a rich man to enter under the Kingly Rule of Heaven (Mat 19:23), and His disciples accordingly asked who then could be saved, He replied that while it was impossible with men it was possible with God (Mat 19:26). In other words it is those whom God blesses by making them poor in spirit etc. who can be saved whether they are rich or poor, because it will be the result of God’s miraculous working on their lives. Thus He is making clear that what in the end distinguishes men is whether God has been active in their lives. His words about how hard riches made it for people to enter into the Kingly Rule of Heaven simply really meant that therefore a change of heart was likely to happen to more of the ‘poor’ because they did not have so many distractions to prevent them from listening and responding. But His later words then indicated that God could bring about such a change even in those who were more wealthy. And once having been so blessed by God, the benefits described in the beatitudes would follow, and they too would become the kind of people described in the beatitudes. This indeed would be the test of whether they really were the ‘blessed of God’.
Two things stand out about these people whom God has blessed. The first is that they have begun to live like God’s ‘holy ones’ (saints) in the Old Testament. They are the poor in spirit and humble Mat 5:3; compare Psa 70:5; Isa 11:4), and the sin-convicted (Mat 5:4, compare Psa 34:18; Psa 51:17; Isa 57:1; Isa 66:2). They are the lowly in heart (Mat 5:5, compare Psa 138:6; Pro 3:34), and those who hunger and thirst after righteousness (Mat 5:6, compare Psa 42:2; Psa 63:1; Isa 41:17-20; Isa 55:1-2). They are the merciful (Mat 5:7, compare Psa 18:25; Pro 11:17), and the pure in heart (Mat 5:8, compare Psa 24:4), and the ones who make peace (Mat 5:9, see Psa 34:14; Psa 37:37; Isa 32:17 and contrast Isa 59:8; Jer 6:14; Jer 8:11). It is these about whom He is speaking, and they are like this precisely because God has worked on them (in other words because Jesus has drenched them with the Spirit – Mat 3:11). They have repented and received His forgiveness, and have done so because God has stepped in and blessed them.
It will further be noted that in each case those who are represented as having been blessed by God in this way have been given this attitude of heart as something that they are to continue to maintain in the light of the eternal future, that is, in the light of what is to come, again based on the Old Testament promises. For those promises have now appeared on the horizon as a result of the presence of Jesus among them. In Him their eyes are to be fixed on things above (compare Col 3:1-3). Thus they are to look to the Kingly Rule of Heaven as already theirs (Mat 5:3; compare Isa 11:4; Isa 57:15), to God’s present comforting and the enjoying one day of God’s eternal comfort in the new Jerusalem (Mat 5:4; Mat 11:28-30; Isa 52:9; Isa 66:13), to the inheriting of the earth and of the new earth (Mat 5:5; Mat 19:29-30 with Mar 10:30-31; Luk 18:30; and see Psa 37:9; Psa 37:11; Psa 37:18; Psa 37:22; Psa 37:24; Psa 37:29; Isa 65:17-25), to being filled to the full with righteousness as they spend eternity with the righteous and with the Righteous One (Mat 5:6; Psa 17:15; Isa 24:16; Isa 32:17; Isa 51:5; Isa 61:3; Isa 61:10; Dan 9:24; Hos 2:19; Mal 4:2), to the obtaining of everlasting mercy (Mat 5:7; Psa 100:5; Psa 103:17; Isa 54:8), to the hope of seeing God as He really is (Mat 5:8; Rev 22:4; Psa 17:15; Psa 42:2), and to being called, with tenderness, ‘the sons of God’ (Mat 5:9; Hos 1:10). These hopes, Jesus assures them, will be enjoyed, both in the present and the future, by those whose hearts have been made right by God, and the result of these hopes will be that their hearts, and minds, and wills, will continue to be filled with these right attitudes towards God and man (2Co 4:17-18; Col 3:1-3).
For it should be noted in this regard that when the New Testament speaks of ‘rewards’ it is mainly this which it has in mind. It is not speaking of some kind of great reward that will make us richer and more important than others and lift us above everyone else so that we can sit on thrones looking down on them, making us unbearable. (How dreadfully inconsistent that would be among people whose greatest desire should be to serve and to accept service from Him because that is a central feature of Heaven – Mat 20:28; Mat 23:11; Luk 12:37; Luk 22:27. The desire to be above everyone else will not be found in Heaven). It is speaking of the reward of the bringing to the full of what has already been planted in the initial seed. It is speaking of our righteousness being made full. In other words, what the child of God is and enjoys as a result of becoming a child of God now, he will be and enjoy much more abundantly as a result of his fuller continual response to God in the future, and even more abundantly in the eternal Kingdom. Thus those who do not respond fully will lose out in some degree. They will inevitably to some extent ‘lose their reward’. For example, they will be called by God ‘the least in the Kingly Rule of God’ (Mat 5:19), they will receive less praise from God (1Co 4:5).
Jesus seems to have opened His messages by proclaiming how God had blessed His own a number of times. Thus for example in the parallel sermon in Luke 6 He opens with four ‘blessed are you -’ statements followed by four ‘woe to you -’ ones. But the sermons and audiences are sufficiently different to suggest two separate messages, even though they indicate a similar approach.
For if we contrast the two the beatitudes in Matthew are contemplative, and more ‘spiritually’ oriented, they present a full-orbed picture of the spirituality of ‘the new righteous’, while those in Luke are more confrontational and more practically oriented, recognising not only the presence of those who have responded to God’s call, who had been mainly the poor and afflicted, but also the presence of the sceptical and self-assured, who were mainly like that because of their wealth and status. In Luke’s case the blessings and woes made a division between the righteous and the unrighteous.
It would in fact have been difficult to adapt all the beatitudes in Matthew to the emphasis found in Jesus’ words in Luke, in ways that Jesus would have wanted to, for the latter deal much more specifically with physical realities, the realities of the poverty, hunger, tears and persecution which had brought many of His disciples close to God, and which was in direct contrast with the self-satisfaction, self-congratulation, self-sufficiency, and self-exaltation of the wealthy and religiously arrogant who had little room for God, mainly because of their wealth or perceived status. He was not excluding all the rich. The purpose of His ‘woes’ (or we may translate the word as ‘alas’) is precisely in order to try to reach their hearts.
In Matthew He is speaking only to the disciples, and is speaking for their consideration and encouragement in a beautiful overall description of what it is to be a follower of His. In Luke, while speaking to such, He is also confronting His opponents, and those whose riches and reputation kept them afar off. So the two situations are clearly very different.
It is true that Matthew does in fact contrast blessing with woes, for the seven blessings here contrast with the seven woes in chapter 23. But the fact that he keeps them so far apart (although paralleling them in the overall chiasmus discovered by an analysis of the Gospel – see introduction) stresses the chasm between them. They represent two different emphases at two different times. It is not so in Luke.
However what the dual use of the ideas by Matthew and Luke, even though used from very different angles, does demonstrate, is how Jesus called on similar material time after time, while changing it to some extent in order to suit the occasion and the audience. Here, however, in the Sermon on the Mount Matthew and Jesus are concentrating on God’s blessing of those who have come to believe. Here in these opening words then we have one more proof that this message is aimed at believers.
We must now consider the words themselves.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Analysis (5:3-9).
a
b “Blessed ones, those who mourn, for they will be comforted” (Mat 5:4).
c “Blessed ones, the lowly, for they will inherit the earth” (Mat 5:5).
d “Blessed ones, those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they will be filled” (Mat 5:6).
c “Blessed ones, the merciful, for they will obtain mercy” (Mat 5:7).
b “Blessed ones, the pure in heart, for they will see God” (Mat 5:8).
a “Blessed ones, the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God” (Mat 5:9).
Note that in ‘a’ the ‘blessed ones’ (by God) are the lowly and gentle who recognise their own spiritual inadequacy without God, and it is to them that the Kingly Rule of Heaven belongs, both in the present and in the future, while in the parallel the ‘blessed ones’ are the peacemakers who will be called ‘sons of God’, because they will be made like Him and will share their Father’s presence (2Co 6:18; 1Jn 3:1-2; Rom 8:15; Rev 22:3-5). In ‘b’ are described those who mourn over sin and over the needs of God’s people, and in the parallel those who are pure in heart, because they have mourned over sin. Repentance has enabled God to make them pure. On the one hand therefore they will be strengthened and encouraged, and on the other they will see God. In ‘c’ those who bow under the forces that come against them and have thus learned compassion are paralleled with the merciful. They have learned mercy through their experiences as watered by the Holy Spirit. They will therefore enjoy God’s present provision on earth and finally inherit the new earth, for they are those who will obtain mercy. And central are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness. They are conscious of their lack of righteousness, and the lack of righteousness in the world, and they long for all to be put right through God acting powerfully in ‘righteousness’ and deliverance (compare Luk 18:6-7; Isa 46:13; Isa 51:5). Through Jesus they can be assured that God’s righteousness will triumph, and that they themselves will be filled with righteousness in both this world and the next.
We note next that there are seven beatitudes given here, seven indicating a picture of ‘divine perfection’ (for what some see as an eighth see on Mat 5:10-12). They can be compared with the ninefold fruit of the Spirit in Gal 5:22 (a threefold three). But we must stress again that the point of Jesus’ words here is not of general attitudes regardless of context. He is not speaking here in vague generalities. These are not just proverbial sayings applying to the world in general. This is not ‘Wisdom teaching’ as such. Jesus is not sitting in front of people in general and providing them with interesting proverbs to mull over. He is speaking to a dedicated group of disciples of whom special things are expected, and describing what God has worked in them. This is a call to action, a call to live in a certain way as a result of God’s inner activity and blessing, as His following words make clear (it is very similar in some ways to the exhortations in Deu 20:5-8, where the purpose was to encourage the hearts of the warriors, not to encourage desertion). It is a call to live out what God has worked in them. Then having described those whom God has blessed, and how He has blessed them, He will go on to describe what He now requires of them. But He does want them to recognise that they are not like this because of their own efforts. Their ‘salvation’ has been all God’s work (and from one point of view will continue to be so, for He will continue to work in them to will and to do of His good pleasure – Php 2:13). It is because God has ‘blessed’ them. But the consequence is that they must now work it out with fear and trembling (Php 2:12).
So although often taken to be so, we must repeat that these are not generalisations about people as a whole, as though He were simply saying, ‘it is better in general to be poor than rich, it is better in general to be merciful rather than unmerciful, it is better in general to be pure in heart than not to be so, whether you believe in God or not’, and so on. Nor is He saying that people who come under these general descriptions, such as ‘the poor’ and ‘the mournful’ and ‘the merciful’ will be blessed under any and all circumstances (although it may in general be true in some cases). Indeed it would have been the height of foolishness to say that those are blessed, or necessarily will be blessed, who are living in unremitting abject poverty, or in constant mourning through bereavement, or are permanently submitting to being downtrodden with no hope of release, or who are spiritually hungry but never finding satisfaction. It would be self-evidently wrong. That was not what Jesus coming was about at all. He was not encouraging the downtrodden among society to put up with their misery by somehow convincing themselves that they were somehow blessed. For the truth is that none were less blessed than they are, unless through it they come to know God (except perhaps the very rich, who are often miserable in their riches).
Nor would it be in accordance with Scripture to say that all such will automatically enjoy the Kingly Rule of God, or that all such would experience comforting, encouragement and strengthening, or would ‘inherit the earth’ by enjoying the blessings of this life (Psa 73:1), or would be filled with the satisfaction of true righteousness, or would obtain mercy, or would see God. Experience testifies otherwise, and that in fact many such people simply die in their misery without hope of anything beyond, and many more live in despair. We must thus not see Jesus as a purveyor of benevolent platitudes, even wise platitudes, as indeed His subsequent teaching makes clear. Nor, we repeat, must we see Him simply as a great Wisdom teacher, even though He could be seen as greater than the greatest of them all (Mat 12:42). The way He preaches proves that He was rather an Active Mover of men. He wanted people’s active response to His words, and was not satisfied unless He had it (Mat 7:13-27).
So what Jesus is declaring here is to be seen as directed to specific people of a particular kind, initially in the context of Galilee. That is, to those who had heard through His voice and the voice of John, the voice of God. (Subsequently they are directed to all who have heard His initial word and have responded). It is they who have been blessed by God. They have repented and come under the Kingly Rule of Heaven. They have been transformed by the working of the Spirit in their inner man. They have become what is described here, men and women who are ready and eager to hear His word. And now they are to learn what is required of them.
But we should further note that He does not then give them a list of instructions and rules, or a manual of discipline. Instead he indicates the attitudes that they already enjoy as a result of God having been at work in them, and explains that these are the attitudes that they must now take up and expand on. For as we shall see, the whole of chapters 5-7 will deal mainly with the outworking of these attitudes of heart. As a result of having experienced the working of God within them (His blessing) they will be, and must be, humble in spirit, mournful over sin, accepting of the vicissitudes of life, hungry after righteousness, merciful, pure in heart and concerned to bring men to a state of being at peace with God, for that is the kind of people that God has now made them to be. For they are a new creation in Christ Jesus (2Co 5:17).
He is declaring that it is those who are like this, as a result of having responded to His words, who are therefore proved to have been truly blessed by God, which is the reason why they are now as they are; and that they are still truly blessed because God is still active in blessing them; and that they will continue to be so because God will continue to bless them both in this life and in the life to come. His point is that it is because they have been made like this as a result of the goodness and blessing of God that they are now there listening to Him as His disciples, and that it is something to which they must respond wholeheartedly. They are thus to be unique in the world so that through them the world may see God. This is what Jesus’ ‘baptising them in Holy Spirit’ (Mat 3:11) and shining His light on them (Mat 4:16) has accomplished.
And as we have already seen, the direct connection of these spiritual benefits as being indicators of their position before God is further evidenced by His reliance for these ideas on the Scriptures, where they have already been seen as applying in the past to those who have known the blessing of God. It is the connection of what He is saying with the Scriptures that itself indicates that His words are to be seen as applying only to the truly godly. For every one of the blessings that He describes were also used to describe the godly in the Old Testament. It is the poor in spirit and humble (Mat 5:3; compare Psa 70:5), and the sin-convicted (Mat 5:4, compare Psa 34:18; Psa 51:17; Isa 57:1; Isa 66:2), and the lowly in heart (Mat 5:5 compare Psa 138:6; Pro 3:34), and those who hunger and thirst after righteousness (Mat 5:6 compare Psa 42:2; Psa 63:1; Isa 41:17-20; Isa 55:1-2), and the merciful (Mat 5:7; compare Psa 18:25; Pro 11:17), and the pure in heart (Mat 5:8, compare Psa 24:4), and the ones who make peace (Mat 5:9, see Psa 34:14; Psa 37:37; Isa 32:17 and contrast Isa 59:8; Jer 6:14; Jer 8:11), about whom He is speaking, and they are like this precisely because God has worked on them (in other words because Jesus has drenched them with the Spirit – Mat 3:11; Psa 143:10). They have repented and received His forgiveness, and have done so because God has stepped in and blessed them.
They are therefore now truly blessed as they gather to hear His words, for they can have complete confidence in their futures, and in God’s sovereign work within them. The Kingly Rule of Heaven is theirs (Mat 5:3); and they can be sure that they will be encouraged and strengthened (‘comforted’) in the future (Mat 5:4, Isa 40:1; Isa 49:13; Isa 51:3; Isa 51:12-13 etc.); they will inherit all that is best on the earth, and in the end will inherit (and therefore as a gift for inheritance is a ‘gift’ word) the new earth which is for ever (Mat 5:5, Psa 37:9; Psa 37:11; Psa 37:18; Psa 37:22; Psa 37:24; Psa 37:29); they will find spiritual fullness both in the present and in the future (Mat 5:6, compare Isa 35:7; Isa 41:17-19; Isa 44:3; Isa 49:10; Isa 55:1); they will obtain mercy, both day by day and in that Day (Psa 100:5; Psa 103:17; Isa 54:8); they will ‘see God’ now and will see Him even more really in the hereafter (Rev 22:4; Psa 17:15; Psa 42:2); and they will be called sons of God (Hos 1:10). In Christ they have all, and He will confirm it in them to the end in order that they might be found unreproveable in the Day of Jesus Christ, and all due to the faithfulness of God (1Co 1:8-9).
So when Jesus says ‘Blessed ones, they –’ He does not simply mean ‘how fortunate they are’. He means that they have been actively and positively blessed by God. They are in God’s hands. Their lives are hid with Christ in God (Col 3:3). God is at work in them to will and do of His good pleasure (Php 2:13). They have been singularly favoured by God. And He now therefore has for them the purpose that they be the salt of the earth and the light of the world.
It should also be noted that the first three beatitudes contain within them the essence of what the Spirit-filled Anointed Prophet of Isa 61:1-3 has brought. They are like this because He is at work among them. He would ‘bring good tidings to the poor’, He would ‘comfort all who mourn’, He would ‘bind up the broken hearted’, He would ‘deliver the oppressed’. Thus in these beatitudes are pictured those who have been and are being successfully ministered to by the Anointed Prophet. They have received the good tidings from Jesus. They have been ‘comforted’ by Jesus. Their hearts have been healed by Jesus. They have been delivered from oppression by Jesus. They have received from Him the oil of joy, and the robe of praise, being planted in righteousness. For as we have already seen, (see introduction), in this particular section of Matthew the ‘filling to the full’ of Isaiah’s promises is what is being emphasised (Mat 3:3; Mat 4:14-16; Mat 8:17; Mat 12:17). So He wants them to recognise that the King and Servant of the Lord of Isaiah’s prophecies is here among them and that in their case they are already blessed because they have responded to Him (see Mat 3:3; Mat 4:15-16; Mat 8:17; Mat 12:14-16; Mat 20:28).
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
His first words strike the key-note of the entire discourse:
v. 3. Blessed are the poor in spirit; for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. The reference of Jesus here is not primarily to temporal poverty, to earthly misery, as in other passages of the New Testament, 1Co 1:26-28; Jas 2:5. He is speaking of the poor and miserable “in spirit,” those that shrink and cower with fear and dread, that are tremblingly alive to the wants and needs of their soul, that feel in their own heart, so far as spiritual riches are concerned, nothing but a great void, a despair of their own abilities, Mat 11:5-28; Isa 61:1; Isa 62:2; Psa 70:5. Such as these, who are conscious, painfully aware, of their moral deficiencies, the Lord calls blessed, happy. If they were still under the mistaken impression that they were spiritually rich and wanted nothing, they might deceive themselves into a false security which would prevent their gaining the true riches, the only abiding happiness. But as conditions are, no false pride will keep them from accepting the unsearchable riches of the kingdom of heaven, which are theirs by grace. For the kingdom of heaven is the sum total of all the gifts of God in Christ Jesus as they are enjoyed here on earth in the Christian Church and finally above, in the kingdom of glory. This being true, and the riches of the kingdom being even now in their possession, the disciples should strive all the more diligently to cultivate the poverty which the Lord here praises, and to exercise themselves in it daily.
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
Mat 5:3. Blessed are the poor in spirit Happy, &c. Doddridge: and so throughout the beatitudes: I use the word happy rather than blessed, says he, as more exactly answering to the original word , as the word blessed does to the Greek word : and I the rather choose to render it thus, because our Lord seems to intimate by it, not only that the dispositions here recommended would be the wayto future blessedness, but that they would immediately be attended with the truest happiness, and the most noble pleasures. In order to render his hearers more attentive, Christ proposes his doctrine in certain paradoxical dogmas, which, at first appearance, may seem false to the carnal eye, but are found most true by the attentive and sincere considerer. “It is notable, says an old writer, that all the beatitudes are affixed to unlikely conditions, to shew that the judgment of the word and of the world, are contrary.” Bengelius observes, that in the present sermon we have, first, an exordium, containing a sweet invitation to true holiness and happiness, Mat 5:3-12.; secondly, a persuasive to impart it to others, Mat 5:13-16.; thirdly, a description of true Christian holiness, Matthew 5; Matthew 3Mat 7:12 in which it is easy to observe, that the latter part exactly answers to the former; fourthly, the conclusion; giving a sure mark of the true way, warning against false prophets, and exhorting to follow after righteousness. St. Luke applies this first beatitude to the poor, properly so called; but though poverty of spirit may include a disposition which bears poverty rightly, there seems no doubt that it here primarily refers to humility of heart. Dr. Heylin’s seems the true interpretation: the phrase, poor in spirit, says he, expresses an inward disposition or state of mind, by an outward worldly circumstance; namely, poverty, which signifies want; the sense whereof obliges men to dependence upon others for supply, by begging or servitude: so by exact analogy, poverty of spirit implies want, and consequently an habitual address to, and dependence upon God, for supply, by prayer,faith, and obedience. The beatitude therefore may be thus paraphrased: “You naturally congratulate the rich and the great, and expect, under the reign of the Messiah, to be advanced to wealth, dignity, and power; but your notions of these things are very false and vitiated; for I say unto you, happy are the poor in spirit; those humble souls, who, deeply conscious of their ignorance and guilt, can quietly resign to the divine teachings and disposals, and accommodate themselves to the lowest circumstances which Providence shall appoint them: for, however they may be despised and trampled on by men, theirs is the kingdom of heaven: they will be most likely to embrace the Gospel, and they alone will be intitled to its blessings, both in time and in eternity.” See Doddridge, Wetstein, and Bengelius.
Dr. Campbell translates the verse, happy the poor, &c. observing that it has more energy, after the example of the original, and all the ancient versions, to omit the substantive verb. The idiom of our language admits this freedom as easily as the Italian, and more so than the French. None of the Latin versions express the verb. Another reason, he adds, which induced me to adopt this manner is to render these aphorisms, in regard to happiness, as similar in form as they are in the original, to the aphorisms in regard to wretchedness, which are, Luke 6 contrasted with them, woe to you that are rich, &c.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Mat 5:3-10 . The beatitudes in general , in order to set forth, first, in a general way, the moral conditions of future participation in the Messiah’s kingdom. “That is, indeed, a fine, sweet, friendly beginning of His teaching and sermon. For He does not proceed, like Moses, or a teacher of the law, with commands, threats, and terrors, but in a most friendly manner, with pure attractions and allurements, and pleasant promises,” Luther.
] “Initiale hoc verbum toties repetitum indicat scopum doctrinae Christi,” Bengel. What the blessedness is ( ) which He means, is stated by all the causal sentences [395] with in Mat 5:3-10 , viz. that which is based on this , that they will attain the salvation of the kingdom , which is nigh at hand.
] the , (see Isa 61:1 ; Isa 66:2 , and the post-exilian Psa 37:11 ) were those who, according to the theocratic promise of the O. T., had to expect the Messianic blessedness (Luk 4:18 ). Jesus, however, according to Matthew, transports the idea of the poor (les miserables) from the politico-theocratic realm (the members of the oppressed people of God, sunk in poverty and external wretchedness) into the purely moral sphere by means of the dative of more precise definition, (comp. Mat 5:8 ): the poor in reference to their spirit, the spiritually poor that is, those who feel, as a matter of consciousness, that they are in a miserable, unhappy condition; comp. Isa 57:15 ; Pro 29:23 . The intended is then subjectively determined according to the consciousness of the subject, so that these latter (comp. Mat 5:4-6 ) are conceived of as those who feel within them, the opposite of having enough, and of wanting nothing in a moral point of view; to whom, consequently, the condition of moral poverty and helplessness is a familiar thing, as the praying publican, Luk 18:10 (the opposite in Rev 3:17 ; 1Co 4:8 ), was such a poor man. We have neither to supply an “ also ” before , nor, with Baur, to explain it as if it meant , ; comp. 2Co 6:10 . Chrysostom is substantially correct (comp. Theophylact): . . Comp. de Wette in the Stud. von Daub und Creuzer, III. 2, p. 309 ff.; de morte expiat . p. 86 f. Jerome strikingly says: “Adjunxit spiritu , ut humilitatem intelligeres, non penuriam.” Comp. , Ecc 7:8 . They are not different from the in Joh 9:39 . They know that in point of knowledge and moral constitution they are far from divine truth. The declaration that such are blessed, however, at the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount, is in perfect accordance with the fundamental condition of participation in the kingdom of the Messiah, the , with the call to which both Jesus and John began their public appearance. The , is the precondition of (Luk 12:21 ), and of becoming a true (Barnabas 19). These poor people are humble, but we are not to say that . . . signifies the humble (in answer to Kuinoel and older interpreters); for which reason we have not to appeal to Isa 66:2 , where does not agree with . Fritzsche, in a way that is not in harmony with the moral nature and life of the whole discourse, limits the meaning to that of discernment: “ Homines ingenio et eruditione parum florentes; ” so also Chr. Fritzsche, Nov. Opusc . p. 241, in which meaning (consequently equivalent to , as Origen, de princ . iv. 22, calls the Ebionites) the saying was already made a subject of ridicule by Julian. Older Catholics (Maldonatus and Corn. a Lapide), after Clement of Alexandria and many Fathers, taking of the self-determination , misused our passage in support of the vow of voluntary poverty . On the other hand, Calovius strikingly remarks: “Paupertas haec spiritualis non est consilii , sed praecepti .” Others (Olearius, Michaelis, Paulus) connect with : the poor are spiritually happy . Opposed to this is the position of the words and Mat 5:8 . Moreover, no example is found in the N. T. or in the Jewish writings, where, in the case of beatitudes, to the , or , or , any more precise designation of fortune was immediately subjoined. Comp. especially, Knapp, Scripta var. arg . pp. 351 380. According to Kstlin, p. 66, the , which is not expressly read in the Clementines (see Homily xv. 10) and Polycrates ii. (as also . Mat 5:6 ), is said to be a limiting addition proceeding from later reflection, one of the many changes which must be assumed as having taken place in the original collection of discourses; comp. also Hilgenfeld, Ewald, Bleek, Wittichen, Jahrb. f. D. Theol. 1862, p. 323; Holtzmann, p. 176; Schenkel, and others. But see on Luk 6:23 .
. . .] the kingdom of heaven belongs to them (see on Mat 3:2 ), namely, as a certain possession in the future . Comp. the following futures . Observe in all the beatitudes, Mat 5:3-10 , the symmetrically emphatical position of , ; it is just they who .
[395] These causal sentences justify also the usual enumeration of the Makarisms as the “ seven beatitudes.” For vv. 3 and 10 contain the same promise, which, therefore, is to be counted only once in order to retain the number seven; comp. Ewald, Jahrb . I. p. 133; also Kstlin and Hilgenfeld. Others, like Weizscker and Keim, counting ver. 10 specially with the others, arrive at the number eight . But Delitzsch, to bring out an analogy with the Decalogue, reckons, besides the in ver. 11, the . . also in ver. 12, as “the full-sounding finale,” and in this way knows how to force out ten beatitudes.
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
3 Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Ver. 3. Blessed ] The word signifieth such as are set out of the reach of evil, in a most joyous condition, having just cause to be everlastingly merry, as being beati re et spe, blessed in hand and in hope, and such as shall shortly transire a spe ad speciem, “for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” They are already possessed of it, as by turf and twig. There were eighty opinions among heathens about man’s blessedness. These did but beat the bush: God hath given us the bird in this golden sermon, , quasi ; vel . (Aristot.)
Are the poor in spirit ] Beggars in spirit ( Mendici spiritu. Tertul. Qui suarum virium agnoscunt , hi pauperes spiritu ): such as have nothing at all of their own to support them, but being nittily needy, and not having (as we say) a cross wherewith to bless themselves, get their living by begging, and subsist merely upon alms. Such beggars God hath always about him, Mat 26:11 . And this the poets hammered at, when they feigned that litae or prayers were the daughters of Jupiter, and stood always in his presence. (Homer.) Lord, I am hell, but thou art heaven, said Hooper. I am a most hypocritical wretch, not worthy that the earth should bear me, said Bradford. I am the most unfit man for this high office of suffering for Christ that ever was appointed to it, said sincere Saunders. Oh that my life, and a thousand such wretches’ lives more (saith John Careless, martyr, in a letter to Mr Bradford), might go for yours! Oh! why doth God suffer me and such other caterpillars to live, that can do nothing but consume the alms of the Church, and take away you so worthy a workman and labourer in the Lord’s vineyard? But woe be to our sins and great unthankfulhess, &c. (Acts and Mon.) These were excellent patterns of this spiritual poverty, which our Saviour here maketh the first; and is indeed the first, second, and third of Christianity, as that which teacheth men to find out the best in God and the worst in themselves. This Christ lays as the foundation of all the following virtues. Christianity is a frame for eternity, and must therefore have a good foundation; since an error there can hardly be mended in the fabric.
For theirs is the kingdom of heaven ] Heaven is that true Macaria, or the blessed kingdom. So the island of Cyprus was anciently called for the abundance of commodities that it sendeth forth to other countries, of whom it craveth no help again. Marcellinus, to show the fertility thereof, saith, that Cyprus aboundeth with such plenty of all things, that, without the help of any other foreign country, it is of itself able to build a tall ship, from the keel to the topsail, and so put it to sea, furnished of all things needful. And Sextus Rufus writing thereof, saith, Cyprus famosa divitiis, paupertatem Populi Rom. ut occuparetur, sollicitavit: Cyprus, famous for riches, tempted the poor people of Rome to seize upon it. What marvel then if this kingdom of heaven solicit these poor in spirit to offer violence to it, and to take it by force, since it is all made of gold? Rev 21:21 ; yea, search is made there through all the bowels of the earth to find out all the precious treasures that could be had, gold, pearls, and precious stones of all sorts. And what can these serve to? only to shadow out the glory of the walls of the New Jerusalem, and the gates, and to pave the streets of that city.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
3 16. ] THE DESCRIPTION OF THE LORD’S DISCIPLES, THEIR BLESSEDNESS, AND DIGNITY.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
3. . . ] , . , , . , . Euthym [32] “ ;” . Chrysostom, Hom. xv. in Mat 1:1-25 , vol. vii. p. 185. ‘Ne quis putaret paupertatem, qu nonnunquam necessitate portatur, a Domino prdicari, adjunxit, spiritu, ut humilitatem intelligeres, non penuriam. Beati pauperes spiritu, qui propter Spiritum Sanctum voluntate sunt pauperes’ (Jerome in loc.). ‘Pauperes spiritu, humiles et timentes Deum, id est, non habentes inflantem (or, inflatum) spiritum’ (Augustine in loc.). Again: ‘Pauper Dei in animo est, non in sculo’ (Aug [33] Enarr. in Ps. 131:26, vol. iv. pt. ii.).
[32] Euthymius Zigabenus, 1116
[33] Augustine, Bp. of Hippo , 395 430
. is in opposition to : so , Act 7:51 ; . . , 1Co 7:34 .
These words cannot be joined with (as Olearius, Wets [34] ., Michaelis, Paulus): see Mat 5:8 .
[34] Wetstein.
The meaning of voluntary poverty , as that of the religious orders, given by many Romish interpreters, is out of the question . It seems however to have been adopted by many of the Fathers. Basil (on Psa 33:5 , vol. i. p. 147) says, , , . But the same father elsewhere explains the words, , (vol. i. p. 597).
And Chrys. himself seems to waver: for next to the comment above cited, he says . He probably however means that the . and . are the departments of our being in which the takes place. See Clem. Alex [35] , ‘Quis dives salvus,’ 17, p. 934, [36] .
[35] Alex. Clement of Alexandria, fl. 194
[36] By these symbols are designated the portions of two ancient MSS., discernible (as also are fragments of Ulphilas’ gothic version) under the later writing of a volume known as the Codex Carolinus in the Ducal Library at Wolfenbttel. P (GUELPHERBYTANUS A) contains fragments of each of the Gospels. Q (GUELPH. B) fragments of Luke and John. Both are probably of the sixth century . They were edited by F. A. Knittel in 1762; and, more thoroughly, by Tischendorf in 1860 [1869], Monumenta Sacra, vol. iii. [vi.]
As little can the bare literal sense of the words, which Julian scoffed at, be understood: viz. those who are ill-furnished in mind , and uneducated. See Rev 3:17 . The idea (De Wette) is not improbable, that our Lord may have had a reference to the poor and subjugated Jewish people around him, once members of the theocracy, and now expectants of the Messiah’s temporal kingdom; and, from their condition and hopes, taken occasion to preach to them the deeper spiritual truth.
. . . . ] See Luk 4:17-21 ; Jas 2:5 . The must here be understood in its widest sense: as the combination of all rights of Christian citizenship in this world, and eternal blessedness in the next, ch. Mat 6:33 . But Tholuck well observes (Bergpredigt, p. 74 ff.), that all the senses of . . (or ., or ) are only different sides of the same great idea the subjection of all things to God in Christ . He cites from Origen ( , 25, vol. i. p. 239): , , , . , . . , .
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Mat 5:3-12 . The Beatitudes . Some general observations may helpfully introduce the detailed exegesis of these golden words.
1. They breathe the spirit of the scene. On the mountain tops away from the bustle and the sultry heat of the region below, the air cool, the blue sky overhead, quiet all around, and divine tranquillity within. We are near heaven here.
2. The originality of these sayings has been disputed, especially by modern Jews desirous to credit their Rabbis with such good things. Some of them, e.g. , the third, may be found in substance in the Psalter, and possibly many, or all of them, even in the Talmud. But what then? They are in the Talmud as a few grains of wheat lost in a vast heap of chaff. The originality of Jesus lies in putting the due value on these thoughts, collecting them, and making them as prominent as the Ten Commandments. No greater service can be rendered to mankind than to rescue from obscurity neglected moral commonplaces.
3. The existence of another version of the discourse (in Lk.), with varying forms of the sayings, has raised a question as to the original form. Did Christ, e.g. , say “Blessed the poor” (Lk.) or “Blessed the poor in spirit” (Matt.)? This raises a larger question as to the manner of Christ’s teaching on the hill. Suppose one day in a week of instruction was devoted to the subject of happiness, its conditions, and heirs, many things might be said on each leading proposition. The theme would be announced, then accompanied with expansions. A modern biographer would have prefaced a discourse like this with an introductory account of the Teacher’s method. There is no such account in the Gospels, but there are incidental notices from which we can learn somewhat. The disciples asked questions and the Master answered them. Jesus explained some of His parables to the twelve. From certain parts of His teaching, as reported, it appears that He not only uttered great thoughts in aphoristic form, but occasionally enlarged. The Sermon on the Mount contains at least two instances of such enlargement. The thesis, “I am not come to destroy but to fulfil” (Mat 5:17 ), is copiously illustrated (Mat 5:21-48 ). The counsel against care, which as a thesis might be stated thus: “Blessed are the care-free,” is amply expanded (Mat 5:25-34 ). Even in one of the Beatitudes we find traces of explanatory enlargement; in the last, “Blessed are the persecuted”. It is perhaps the most startling of all the paradoxes, and would need enlargement greatly, and some parts of the expansion have been preserved (Mat 5:10-12 ). On this view both forms of the first Beatitude might be authentic, the one as theme, the other as comment. The theme would always be put in the fewest possible words; the first Beatitude therefore, as Luke puts it, , Matthew preserving one of the expansions, not necessarily the only one. Of course, another view of the expansion is possible, that it proceeded not from Christ, but from the transmitters of His sayings. But this hypothesis is not a whit more legitimate or likely than the other. I make this observation, not in the spirit of an antiquated Harmonistic, but simply as a contribution to historical criticism.
4. Each Beatitude has a reason annexed, that of the first being “for theirs is the kingdom of heaven”. They vary in the different Beatitudes as reported. It is conceivable that in the original themes the reason annexed to the first was common to them all. It was understood to be repeated like the refrain of a song, or like the words, “him do I call a Brahmana,” annexed to many of the moral sentences in the Footsteps of the Law in the Buddhist Canon. “He who, when assailed, does not resist, but speaks mildly to his tormentors him do I call a Brahmana.” So “Blessed the poor, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven”, “blessed they who mourn, for,” etc.; “blessed the meek, the hungry, for,” etc. The actual reasons annexed, when they vary from the refrain, are to be viewed as explanatory comments.
5. It has been maintained that only certain of the Beatitudes belong to the authentic discourse on the mount, the rest, possibly based on true logia of Jesus spoken at another time, being added by the evangelist, true to his habit of massing the teaching of Jesus in topical groups. This is the view of Weiss (in Matt. Evan., and in Meyer). He thinks only three are authentic the first, third, and fourth all pointing to the righteousness of the kingdom as the summum bonum : the first to righteousness as not yet possessed; the second to the want as a cause of sorrow; the third to righteousness as an object of desire. This view goes with the theory that Christ’s discourse on the hill had reference exclusively to the nature of true and false righteousness.
6. A final much less important question in reference to the Beatitudes is that which relates to their number. One would say at a first glance eight, counting Mat 5:10 as one, Mat 5:11-12 being an enlargement. The traditional number, however, is seven
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
Mat 5:3 . . This is one of the words which have been transformed and ennobled by N. T. use; by association, as in the Beatitudes, with unusual conditions, accounted by the world miserable, or with rare and difficult conduct, e.g. , in Joh 13:17 , “if ye know these things, happy ( ) are ye if ye do them”. Notable in this connection is the expression in 1Ti 1:11 , “The Gospel of the glory of the happy God”. The implied truth is that the happiness of the Christian God consists in being a Redeemer, bearing the burden of the world’s sin and misery. How different from the Epicurean idea of God! Our word “blessed” represents the new conception of felicity. : in Sept [17] stands for Psa 109:16 , or Ps. 40:18: the poor , taken even in the most abject sense, mendici , Tertull. adv. Mar. iv. 14. and originally differed, the latter meaning poor as opposed to rich, the former destitute. But in Biblical Greek , , , are used indiscriminately for the same class, the poor of an oppressed country. Vide Hatch, Essays in Biblical Greek , p. 76. The term is used here in a pregnant sense, absolute and unqualified at least to begin with; qualifications come after. From , to cower in dispiritment and fear, always used in an evil sense till Christ taught the poor man to lift up his head in hope and self-respect; the very lowest social class not to be despaired of, a future possible even for the mendicant. Blessedness possible for the poor in every sense; they, in comparison with others, under no disabilities, rather contrariwise such is the first and fundamental lesson. . Possibilities are not certainties; to turn the one into the other the soul or will of the individual must come in, for as Euthy. Zig. quaintly says, nothing involuntary can bless ( ). “In spirit” is, therefore, added to develop and define the idea of poverty. The comment on the theme passes from the lower to the higher sphere. Christ’s thought includes the physical and social, but it does not end there. Luke seems to have the social aspect in view, in accordance with one of his tendencies and the impoverished condition of most members of the apostolic Church. To limit the meaning to that were a mistake, but to include that or even to emphasise it in given circumstances was no error. Note that the physical and spiritual lay close together in Christ’s mind. He passed easily from one to the other (Joh 4:7-10 ; Luk 10:42 , see notes there). . is, of course, to be connected with , not with . Poor in spirit is not to be taken objectively, as if spirit indicated the element in which the poverty is manifest poor intellect: “homines ingenio et eruditione parum florentes” (Fritzsche) = the in Mat 11:25 ; but subjectively, poor in their own esteem. Self-estimate is the essence of the matter, and is compatible with real wealth. Only the noble think meanly of themselves. The soul of goodness is in the man who is really humble. Poverty laid to heart passes into riches. A high ideal of life lies beneath all. And than ideal is the link between the social and the spiritual. The poor man passes into the blessedness of the kingdom as soon as he realises what a man is or ought to be. Poor in purse or even in character, no man is beggared who has a vision of man’s chief end and chief good. , emphatic position: theirs , note it well. So in the following verses and . , not merely in prospect, but in present possession. The kingdom of heaven is often presented in the Gospels apocalyptically as a thing in the future to be given to the worthy by way of external recompense. But this view pertains rather to the form of thought than to the essence of the matter. Christ speaks of the kingdom here not as a known quantity, but as a thing whose nature He is in the act of defining by the aphorisms He utters. If so, then it consists essentially in states of mind. It is within. It is ourselves, the true ideal human.
[17] Septuagint.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Mat 5:3
3″Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
Mat 5:3 “Blessed” This term meant “happy” or “honored” (cf. Mat 5:3-11). The English word “happy” comes from the Old English ” happenstance.” Believers’ God-given happiness is not based on physical circumstances, but inner joy. There are no verbs in these statements. They are exclamatory (cf. Rev 1:3) in form like in Aramaic or Hebrew (cf. Psa 1:1). This blessedness is both a current attitude toward God and life as well as an eschatological hope. A blessed person was a righteous person (cf. Psa 119:1-2).
“poor in spirit,” Two terms in Greek were used to describe poverty; the one used here was the more severe of the two. It was often used of a beggar who was dependent on a provider. In the OT this implied hope in God alone! Matthew makes it clear that this does not refer to physical poverty, but to spiritual inadequacy. Man must recognize God’s adequacy and his own inadequacy (cf. Joh 15:5; 2Co 12:9). This is the beginning of the gospel (cf. Rom 1:18 to Rom 3:31). Possibly these first few beatitudes reflect Isa 61:1-3, which predicted the Messianic blessings of the coming New Age.
“kingdom of heaven” This phrase, “Kingdom of Heaven” or “Kingdom of God,” is used over 100 times in the Gospels. In Luk 6:20 it is the “kingdom of God.” Matthew was writing for people with a Jewish background who were nervous pronouncing God’s name because of Exo 20:7. But the Gospels of Mark (cf. Mat 10:14) and Luke were written to Gentiles. The two phrases are synonymous. See Special Topic at Mat 4:17.
The phrase refers to the reign of God in human hearts now that will one day be consummated over all the earth (cf. Mat 6:10). This is possibly confirmed by Matthew alternating between present tense “is” in Mat 5:3; Mat 5:10, and future tense “shall be” in Mat 5:4-9.
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
Blessed = Happy, representing the Hebrew ‘ashrey (not baruk, blessed). ‘Ashrey (Figure of speech Beatitudo, not Benedictio) occurs in nineteen Psalms twenty-six times; elsewhere only in eight books (Deuteronomy, 1Kings, 2 Chronicles, Isaiah, Proverbs, Job, Ecclesiastes, and Daniel) The Aramaic equivalent for ‘ashrey is tob (singular, plural, or dual). See App-94., and App-63. Greek. makarios = happy (not eulogetos, which = blessed, and is used only of God (Mar 14:61. Luk 1:68. Rom 1:25; Rom 9:5; 2Co 1:3; 2Co 11:31. Eph 1:3. 1Pe 1:3).
poor in spirit. The equivalent for the Aramaic (App-94., p. 135) ‘anaiyim (Hebrew. ‘anah. See note on Pro 1:11) = poor in this world (as in Luk 6:20), in contrast with the promise of the kingdom. Compare Jam 2:5.
spirit. Greek. pneuma. See App-101.
the kingdom of heaven. Then proclaimed as having drawn nigh (Mat 3:2; Mat 4:17). See App-114.
heaven = the heavens. See notes on Mat 6:9, Mat 6:10.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
3-16.] THE DESCRIPTION OF THE LORDS DISCIPLES, THEIR BLESSEDNESS, AND DIGNITY.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Mat 5:3. , blessed) This initial word, so often repeated, indicates the object of Christs teaching.[170] By means, however, of striking paradoxes, blessedness is proposed not only by itself, but inasmuch as, in Christ now present, it is within the reach of all who are capable of receiving Him. There were some such amongst our Lords auditors, though undistinguished by the eye of man (see ch. Mat 9:36-37, Mat 11:28; Isa 29:19), although compared with the rest they were not many in number: for the epithet blessed frequently implies both the excellence and rarity of a thing (as in Sir 31:8), from which the expressions, theirs, they, etc., exclude those otherwise disposed: cf. Luk 6:24-26, where the woes are denounced. Seven however of the , or predications of blessedness, are absolute, declaring the condition of the godly, as far as regards themselves; two are relative, having respect to the conduct of men towards them. In both cases the kingdom of heaven is placed first, as embracing the whole of the beatitudes. All are enumerated in a most beautiful order. With these may be compared the matter and order of the eight woes, which are denounced against the Scribes and Pharisees, in ch. Mat 23:13-16; Mat 23:23; Mat 23:25; Mat 23:27; Mat 23:29. In both cases mention is made of the kingdom of heaven, here Mat 5:3, there Mat 5:13; of mercy, here Mat 5:7, there Mat 5:23; of purity, here Mat 5:8, there Mat 5:25; and of persecution, here Mat 5:10-11, and there Mat 5:29-30 : and undoubtedly the other clauses may also be respectively compared with each other. In the subject, the saints are described as they are now in this life; in the predicate, as they will be hereafter on that day: see Luk 6:25; Luk 6:23. Our Lord, however, frames His words in such a manner, as at the same time to intimate the blessedness of individual saints already commencing in the present life, and to signify prophetically the blessedness of the holy people, which will hereafter be theirs also upon earth: see Mat 5:5.- , the poor) A vocative, either expressly or such in meaning (cf. Mat 5:11, and Luk 6:20). Nor does the pronoun , their, oppose this view. Cf. Gnomon on Mat 23:37. Poverty is the first foundation. He is poor, who has it not in his power to say, this is mine;[171] and who, when he has anything for the present, does not devise what he will have for the future, but depends on the liberality of another. The riches which are disclaimed by such poverty, are either spiritual or natural, and are either present or absent. Such cardinal and fundamental virtues are despised by the world: whereas those which the world admires as such, are either no virtues, or false ones, or merely the offshoots and appendages of Christian virtues.-, in spirit) i.e. in their inmost self. This word is to be understood also in the following passages as far as Mat 5:8, where the words , in heart, occur.-, because) Each kind of blessedness which is predicated corresponds with the previous description of [the character or condition which is] its subject,[172] and is taken, either (1.) from the contrary (for the works of God, 2Co 4:6; 2Co 7:6; 2Co 12:9, are effected in the midst of their contraries);[173] or (2.) regulated by a law of benignant retribution or exact conformity.[174]-, is) sc. already. The present in this verse, and the future in those which follow, mutually imply each other.- , the kingdom of heaven, literally, the kingdom of the heavens),[175] which, promised in the Old Testament, is actually conferred by the Messiah.
[170] The first word of this discourse announces its whole scope: a great blessedness is here placed before us by the Lord.-See Heb 2:3.-B. G. V.
[171] i.e., Has nothing which he can call his own.-(I. B.)
[172] Sc. of the present state of the subject. Ex. gr. Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.-ED.
[173] In the original, in mediis contrariis, the full force of which it is difficult to give by a single phrase. Bengels meaning is best obtained by a reference to the texts which he gives.-(I. B.)
[174] In the original, a talione benigna proximave convenienti, where talio (talion) is used in a sense cognate with its original derivation from talis, such, but unknown (as far as I am aware) to classical usage. It is one of those peculiar adaptations of words frequently occurring in Bengel, and sanctioned (in its principle) by no less an authority than Horace.-See his Ars Poetica, Mat 5:47-48. For an example of Bengels meaning, cf Mat 5:7-8 of this chapter.-(I. B.)
[175] This expression, the kingdom of the heavens, marks the commencement of the discussion (tractatio) in this verse, as it also marks the close of the discussion in Mat 5:10.-Vers. Germ.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
The First Beatitude
Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.Mat 5:3.
1. The Beatitudes, which stand in the forefront of Christs moral system, are not meant to convey an exhaustive description of the Christian character; they refer to moral qualities of which society can take no cognizance and to which it offers no rewardsunobtrusive qualities which press no claims and exact no recognitions, and which depend for their existence on a mans own inward self-regulation. No doubt the qualities here described issue in action, and often in very striking action. They are the motive power of many noble acts, they inspire much of the heroism of the world, their results win the praise, the enthusiasm, the homage of mankind; but in themselves they must exist, before anything of this kind can take place, as deliberately chosen laws of character and of inward being. They do not easily lend themselves to that self-advertisement which is the bane of our modern quasi-religious movements, and it would be hard to construct out of them materials for a thrilling biography; and yet, when accepted as a basis of character, they are full of powertheir un-self-conscious influence is the strongest thing in the world, the thing that still works miracles, the thing that attracts, and moves, and sways, and tells in spite of every external gulf. They are to be cultivated for themselves, not for their results; for a man would find it hard, if not impossible, to cultivate any one of them for the value of the power and influence it would give him. The passion of the heart must love them for their own sake, if it would take them in perfectly and distribute all around their precious results. They come down from heaven, and none may summon the gifts of heaven for any ulterior reason; those who would win them must love them for themselves, for their own intrinsic beauty. Every one of them, if rightly looked at, will kindle within us that sense of beauty, that desire, that longing, which is the first step towards possession. It is something to admire, to envy, to long for them, to be able to appreciate their moral beauty, to have eyes to see and ears to hear, even if one fails grievously to reproduce them in oneself. And the very tone and temper of our day, while in some ways it is a hindrance, comes in here to help us. In an age when men were weary of the rules of ecclesiastics, the hair-splittings of mere ceremonialists and of moral expedients, Christ first uttered them, and their simple ethical beauty went into the hearts of those who heard them. Who can say that there is not much in our modern conditions of the same weariness, produced, too, by much the same means?
Last night I spent at home; I meant to dedicate the time to writing, but I was in a mood too dark and hopeless to venture. The exhaustion of Sunday remained; I tried light reading in vain. At last Charley came in from school, and I made him do his Latin exercise before me; all the while I kept my eyes fixed on that engraving of the head of Christ by Leonardo da Vinci, which I have had framed, and felt the calm majesty of the countenance by degrees exerting an influence over me, which was sedative. Then I made him read over, slowly, the Beatitudes, and tried to fix my mind and heart upon them, and believe them; explaining them to him afterwards, and to myself as I went on. Blessed arenot the successful, but the poor in spirit. Blessed, not the rich, nor the admired, nor the fashionable, nor the happy, but the meek and the pure in heart, and the merciful. They fell upon my heart like music.1 [Note: Life and Letters of the Rev. F. W. Robertson, 442.]
2. Our Lord begins His reckoning of blessedness with poverty in spirit. And this is evidently just; for if blessedness depends upon attainments, then the first step is to be conscious of poverty. He who thinks himself already rich, why should he desire increase? Poverty in spirit leads to mourning and to hunger and thirst for righteousness. The heavenly throne is given to those for whom it is prepared; but they must previously have been prepared, and preparation of heart involves the poverty in spirit from which the golden ladder of the Beatitudes climbs upward to blessedness. Earthly thrones are generally built with steps up to them; the remarkable thing about the thrones of the eternal kingdom is that the steps are all down to them. We must descend if we would reign, stoop if we would rise, gird ourselves to wash the feet of the disciples as a common slave in order to share the royalty of our Divine Master.
The world has its own idea of blessedness. Blessed is the man who is always right. Blessed is the man who is satisfied with himself. Blessed is the man who is strong. Blessed is the man who rules. Blessed is the man who is rich. Blessed is the man who is popular. Blessed is the man who enjoys life. These are the beatitudes of sight and this present world. It comes with a shock, and opens a new realm of thought, that not one of these men entered Jesus mind when He treated of blessedness.1 [Note: John Watson, The Mind of the Master, 55.]
I
The Poor
1. Whom did Jesus mean by the poor in spirit? It is usually supposed that He meant the humble-minded, but this was probably not His meaning, as we see from the corresponding passage in St. Lukes Gospel. There we find the Beatitude in a simpler form: Blessed are ye poor; and this phrase must be taken in a literal sense of material poverty, because it is followed by the words, Woe unto you that are rich! and it is impossible, of course, to suppose that Jesus would have condemned those who are spiritually rich. We may feel tolerably sure that the very same people whom St. Luke calls simply poor are called by St. Matthew poor in spirit. But why the variation of phrase, and which of the two phrases did Jesus actually use? The latter question is beside the mark. Strictly speaking, He did not use either. He spoke Aramaic, the language which in His day had superseded Hebrew in Palestine, and the Gospels were written in Greek. Both phrases are therefore translations, and the actual words used are beyond our reach. There is reason, however, to think that St. Matthews poor in spirit is the later, and St. Lukes poor the earlier, version of the saying.
We might illustrate our Lords point of view by a reference to the Psalms. The Psalmist frequently speaks of the poor (the poor and needy) as if they were as a matter of course the servants of God. They are constantly identified with the godly, the righteous, the faithful; they suffer undeservedly; God has a special care of them and listens to their cry. There is a certain amount of truth, no doubt, in this picture of the poor which the Psalms draw. It is true to some extent nowadays. Poverty still has a tendency to wean people from worldliness. Poverty may, of course, be so grinding as to fill the mind continually with sordid anxieties and so make a spiritual life almost impossible. But poor people are often strikingly unworldly.
There is a tendency in all material possession to obscure the needs it cannot satisfy. A full hand helps a man to forget an empty heart. The things that effectually empty life are the things that are commonly supposed to fill it. The man who is busy building barns and storehouses is sometimes shutting out the sweet alluring light of the city of God and the vision of heavenly mansions. Property is not the best stimulus to faith. Blessed are the poor. There are fewer obstacles and obstructions between them and the Kingdom. They are not compassed about with spurious satisfactions. There are not so many things standing between them and lifes essentials. There is one delusion the less to be swept from their minds. History bears all this out. If you look into the story of the Kingdom, you will find it has ever been the kingdom of the poor. They have ever been the first to enter in.
The poverty which was honoured by the great painters and thinkers of the Middle Ages was an ostentatious, almost a presumptuous poverty: if not this, at least it was chosen and acceptedthe poverty of men who had given their goods to feed the simpler poor, and who claimed in honour what they had lost in luxury; or, at the best, in claiming nothing for themselves, had still a proud understanding of their own self-denial, and a confident hope of future reward. But it has been reserved for this age to perceive and tell the blessedness of another kind of poverty than this; not voluntary nor proud, but accepted and submissive; not clear-sighted nor triumphant, but subdued and patient; partly patient in tendernessof Gods will; partly patient in blindnessof mans oppression; too laborious to be thoughtfultoo innocent to be conscioustoo long experienced in sorrow to be hopefulwaiting in its peaceful darkness for the unconceived dawn; yet not without its own sweet, complete, untainted happiness, like intermittent notes of birds before the daybreak, or the first gleams of heavens amber on the eastern grey.1 [Note: Ruskin, Academy Notes, 1858.]
2. Yet the picture which the Psalms put before us is, after all, an ideal one. It is very far from being true that all poor people are, or ever were, followers of righteousness and godliness. Our Lord felt this, just as He also felt the corresponding truth about the rich. He begins by telling His disciples how hard it is for them that have riches to enter into the Kingdom of God, and then He modifies the saying by restricting it to them that trust in riches. Exactly the same modification has taken place in St. Matthews version of the Beatitude as compared with St. Lukes. The blessing is pronounced on the poor, not, however, on the actual poor, but on those who embrace poverty in spirit, even though as a matter of fact they are rich. The man who by the external accident of his position in life is rich is not necessarily debarred from the blessing, because he can be, and indeed ought to be, in spirit poor.
In saying Blessed are the poor in spirit, then, Jesus is saying, Blessed are the unworldly; blessed are they who, though in the world, are not of the world. The world says, Get all you can and keep all you get. Jesus says, Blessed are they who in will and heart at any rate have nothing. He does not say to every one, Sell that thou hast, and give to the poor. That is a counsel of perfection beyond the reach of the average man; it needs the spirituality of a Francis of Assisi to hear and obey that command. But He does say to us all, Do not cling to your possessions as though they were your own by some inalienable right. Be ready to resign them freely and cheerfully if need be. Remember that they are a trust from God. Be ready always to use them in His service and for the good of your fellow-men. If you can do all this, you are poor in spirit, and the blessing is yours.
So long as 1700 years ago a tract was written upon this subject by Clement of Alexandria, entitled, Quis dives salvetur? (What rich man shall be saved?). The teaching of this ancient Father is still to the point: Riches in themselves are a thing indifferent; the question with regard to them being this, as to whether they are used as an of good. By those whom He praises as poor in spirit, Christ means to denote those who, be they rich or poor, are in heart loosened from worldly possessions, are therefore poor; and to this idea an admirable parallel passage might be found in 1Co 7:29, They that possess, as though they possessed not (comp. Jer 9:23); and in St. Jam 1:9-10, But let the brother of low degree glory in his high estate: and the rich, in that he is made low. 1 [Note: E. G. Loosley.]
II
The Poor in Spirit
The more usual interpretation of the poor in spirit, however, has more interest and attractiveness, and deserves consideration.
1. Poverty of spirit is not poverty in the lower soul but in that higher part of man which comes into immediate contact with the Divine, in the higher soul which comes face to face with God, in that spirit with which the Spirit bears witness that we are the children of God.
The simplest way to grasp its meaning is perhaps to consider its opposite, i.e., the moral distortion of being lifted up in spirit. This uplifted spirit is the spirit of self-exaltation which filled the heart of Nebuchadnezzar when he contemplated the glories of the great Babylon which he had built. This is the spirit of those who are self-satisfied and at ease, who call their lands after their own names, and look at everything through the medium of their own self-importance. For such the world has no significance except as it affects their interest or their convenience. This is the radical spirit of worldliness; for it is the spirit which makes self the centre of everything. This spirit is the seed-ground of sin. All kinds of wrong become possible to the man who makes his own pleasure or aggrandizement the supreme rule of his life. Conscience has little place in the heart of the man who makes self the axis of reference in all his conduct. This inflated egotism is flat against the order of the universe, and essentially hostile to the Kingdom of God It is in one sense the starting-place of evil; it is in another sense its climax. Egotism in moral life is the cause of most of the heedlessness and sinfulness of the world; and yet it is only after a prolonged indulgence of selfishness that the humane and kindly instincts of nature are destroyed. The evil principle of self works till all the finer, better, and purer feelings and aspirations are brought to naught. It stands out then as the naked antagonist of all that is good.
And so Vergil and Dante come at last to the Angel-Guardian of the Cornice, against the place of ascent to the next ringthe Angel of Humility, in his countenance such as a tremulous star at morn appears. He bids them to the steps and beats his wings on Dantes forehead. There comes to Dantes ears the sound of sweet voices singing, Blessed are the poor in spirit, and he notices that, though mounting steep stairs, he is lighter than when walking on the level below. Why is this? Vergil explains that one of the seven Sin-marks on Dantes brow has been erased by the Angels wings, the Pride-mark, and that all the remaining six have, at the same time, become much fainter than before; a beautiful indication this of the doctrine that Pride is the deadliest foe of human salvation. When the last Sin-mark is removed Dante will experience not merely no difficulty in mounting but actual delight. Dante feels his brow on hearing this and finds that only six of the marks remain, and Vergil smiles at this. True humility is not even conscious of being humble.1 [Note: H. B. Garrod, Dante, Goethes Faust, and Other Lectures, 140.]
2. Poverty of spirit is not a feeling of self-disgust which comes over us when we compare our gifts and talents with those of others; it is born from no earthly inspiration, it proceeds from coming face to face with God. A man may be poor in spirit while his soul is on fire with enthusiasm for the cause of God, for the good of man. It is born of a double sense, both of the Divine greatness and of the Divine nearness. It is shown in unrepining acquiescence in our present limitations; it is shown in acceptance of the will of God in everything; it is shown not in self-depreciation, but in the strength that comes of trustfulness. It is the attitude which, in the presence of God, recognizes its entire dependence, empties itself, and is as a poor man, not that it may be feeble, but that God may fill it. It is the virtue which sends a man to his knees bowed and humbled and entranced before the Divine Presence, even in the hour of his most thrilling triumph. He cannot vaunt himself, he cannot push himself, he is but an instrument, and an instrument that can work only as long as it is in touch with its inward power; the God within him is the source of his power. What can he be but poor in spirit, how can he forget, how can he call out worship me, when he has seen the Vision and heard the Voice, and felt the Power of God? Poor in spirit, emptied of mere vain, barren conceit, deaf to mere flattery he must be, because he has seen and known; he has cried Holy, Holy, Holy; he knows God, and henceforth he is not a centre, not an idol, but an instrument, a vessel that needs for ever refilling, if it is to overflow and do its mission. His is the receptive attitude; not that which receives merely that it may keep, but that which receives because it must send forth. And so he accepts all merely personal conditions, not as perfect in themselves, but as capable of being transmuted by that inward power which is his own yet not his ownhis own because God is within him, not his own because he is the receiver, not the inspirer.
I am sure there must be many who have a difficulty in understanding these words of our LordBlessed are the poor in spirit. It must almost seem to them as if He had meant to pronounce a blessing on the cowardly and mean-spirited; whereas the blessing is on those who know and keep their place in the Divine hierarchy. We are dependent creatures, not self-existent or self-sufficing; but there is nothing degrading in this dependence, for we share it with the eternal Son. When we forget this, we lose our blessedness, for it consists in the spirit of sonship, by which alone we can receive and respond to our Fathers love. God does not call for the acknowledgment of our dependence as a mere homage to His sovereignty, but because we are His children, and it is only through this acknowledgment that we can receive His fatherly love and blessing. The blessedness arises out of the spirit of dependence, and when that spirit departs the blessedness departs with it; therefore as the spirit of independence is the spirit of this world, we need not wonder at its unblessedness, for that spirit shuts the heart against God and cuts off its supply from the Fountain of Life.1 [Note: Thomas Erskine of Linlathen, The Spiritual Order, 233.]
3. Only he who has discerned the ideal can feel what is described in the text as poverty of spirit. The man contented with himself, satisfied with his work and his position, to whom no ideal opens itself as something yet unattained, can never feel poverty of spirit. In short, this foundation Beatitude, on which all the other Beatitudes are built up, sets forth a universal law of human life; it describes the attitude of mind characteristic of the wisest, strongest, best of the human family. The greater a man is in any walk of life the wider his vision, and the keener his insight the greater is his poverty of spirit in the presence of the perfection he has seen.
So doth the greater glory dim the less.
A substitute shines brightly as a king
Until a king be by; and then his state
Empties itself, as doth an inland brook
Into the main of waters.
The vision of the greater glory, showing the contrast between what he has seen and what he has in possession, makes the man full of poverty of spirit. The stars shine as brightly during the daylight as they do at night, but they are invisible because of the greater glory of the sun. One can be content with his present state only when he has seen no brighter, clearer vision.
Miss Ellice Hopkins writes her impressions of a visit to the Briary at this time:
At a very unassuming looking house at the foot of the Downs lived another of the Immortals, our great painter, who always went by the name of the Divine Watts. Mrs. Cameron took us to see his studio, and to be introduced to him. We found a slightly built man with a fine head, most courteous in manner, and with the simplicity and humility of the immortal child that so often dwells at the heart of true genius. There was something pathetic to me in the occasional poise of the head, the face slightly lifted, as we see in the blind, as if in dumb beseeching to the fountain of Eternal Beauty for more power to think his thoughts after Him. There is always in his work a window left open to the infinite, the unattainable ideal.1 [Note: George Frederic Watts, i. 299.]
4. Poverty of spirit comes first because it must be first. It is the foundation on which alone the fabric of spiritual character can rise. It is the rich soil in which alone other graces will grow and flourish. Hill-tops are barren because the soil is washed off by the rains; but the valleys are fertile because there the rich deposits gather. In like manner proud hearts are sterile, affording no soil in which spiritual graces can grow; but lowly hearts are fertile with grace, and in them all lovely things grow. If only we are truly poor in spirit, our life will be rich in its fruits.
A consciousness of want and shortcoming is the condition of success and excellence in any sphere. Of those who aspire to be doctors, lawyers, painters, musicians, scholars, I would say, Blessed are the poor in spiritblessed are they who are conscious of their defect and wantfor to them the high places of their professions belong. The only hopeless people in the world are the self-satisfied people, the people who do not think they need anything. The only man who will ever make a great scholar is the man who is keenly conscious of his own ignorance, who feels, like Sir Isaac Newton, that he has but gathered a few pebbles on the shore of the infinite ocean of truth; who carries the satchel still, like Michel Angelo, into an old age, and who, like J. R. Green, dies learning. But the man who starts by thinking he knows everything dooms himself to lifelong ignorance. A sense of want, humility of mind, is the very condition of excellence and success.1 [Note: J. D. Jones, The Way into the Kingdom, 31.]
The most marked of all the moral features in Dr. Duncans character was humility. He was singularly humble, in consideration of his great talents, of his vast treasures of learning, and of his attainments in the Divine life. But if we set all these aside, and compare him with other Christian men, we cannot but come to the conclusion that out of all the guests bidden in these days by the King within the circle of our knowledge, it was he that took the lowest room at the feast. This lowliness was allied to the childlike simplicity which pervaded his whole Christian course, and was made more evident by the helplessness which rendered him so unfit to guide himself in common matters, and so willing to be guided by others. But its root lay in his sense of the majesty of God, which was far more profound than in other men, and humbled him lower in the dust; in his perception and his love of holiness, and the consciousness of his own defect; in his sense of ingratitude for the unparalleled love of the Lord Jesus Christ, and in his abiding conviction of past sin and of present sinfulness. This habitual humbling was deepened by the wounding of his very tender conscience, through yielding himself to be carried away by what chanced to take hold of his mind. These combined elements rendered him an example of an altogether rare and inimitable humility. Men who may be reckoned holier might be named out of those who served the Lord along with him; but among them all it would be hard to find one so humble. The holiness of Robert MCheyne, if not so deep, was more equal, and more thoroughly leavened the character hour by hour. The holiness of William Burns was in some respects as deep, and it was singularly constant. They were both more watchful, and therefore more evenly holy. But in the race to stoop down into their Lords sepulchre, John Duncan outran them both; he was the humblest of the three, and of all the men whom most of us have known.1 [Note: A. Moody Stuart, Recollections of the late John Duncan, 175.]
5. We must also distinguish between poverty of spirit and self-depreciation. There is a false humility which finds pleasure in calling itself a worm and a miserable sinner, simply as an excuse for being no better. It is a false humility which pleads its humbleness as an excuse for aiming low. It is a false humility which says, We are no better than our fathers were, as an excuse for not trying to rise to a higher level, and for maintaining a low standard and perpetuating abuses. It is a false humility which leads us to take the lower room, that we may shirk our duties and avoid taking a lead when we are called upon to do so. It was not true humility that led the idle servant to bury his talent in the ground. Whatever name it may assume, it is conceit and pride that in the heart believes itself fitted for higher things, and is discontented with its part on the worlds stage. It is pride that wishes to be ministered unto, and is too conceited to minister. There is no true humility in pretending to be worse than we are, in underrating the gifts that God has given us, in declining to take the part for which we are fitted.
Do you want a cure for that false humility, that mock modesty which says, I am not worthy, and trumpets its denial till all the world knows that an honour has been offered; which, while it says with the lips, It is too great for me, feels all the time in the heart that self-consciousness of merit which betrays itself in the affected walk and the showy humility? Would you be free from this folly? Feel that God is all; that whether He makes you great, or leaves you unknown, it is best for you, because it is His work.2 [Note: Stopford A. Brooke.]
III
The Benediction
1. The bulk of the remaining Beatitudes point onward to a future; this deals with the present; not theirs shall be, but theirs is the kingdom. It is an all-comprehensive promise, holding the succeeding ones within itself, for they are but diverse aspectsmodified according to the necessities which they supplyof that one encyclopdia of blessings, the possession of the Kingdom of Heaven.
The Kingdom of Heavenwhat is it here? Surely we shall read the words aright if we think of them as conveying the promise of a present dominion of no ordinary kind; an inward power that comes here and now, and finds its exercise in ways all unknown to the possessor, that blesses those whom it has never seen and cheers those who have felt only its shadow; an inward un-self-conscious, often unrealized, power that flows out and is conveyed in a word or a look, or even by something more subtle still. So does Christian influence work among men. The poor in spirit make men believe that Christ is God, because they show the Divine beneath the human.
Often, as formerly with Jesus, a look, a word sufficed Francis to attach to himself men who would follow him until their death. It is impossible, alas! to analyze the best of this eloquence, all made of love, intimate apprehension, and fire. The written word can no more give an idea of it than it can give us an idea of a sonata of Beethoven or a painting by Rembrandt. We are often amazed, on reading the memoirs of those who have been great conquerors of souls, to find ourselves remaining cold, finding in them all no trace of animation or originality. It is because we have only a lifeless relic in the hand; the soul is gone. It is the white wafer of the sacrament, but how shall that rouse in us the emotions of the beloved disciple lying on the Lords breast on the night of the Last Supper?1 [Note: Paul Sabatier, Life of St. Francis of Assisi, 131.]
2. The Kingdom of Heaven belongs to those who feel their own unworthiness and utter need, and who seek in Christ the sufficiency they do not find in themselves. They have already entered into their heritage because they have learnt their true position in itfit to rule because they have learnt to serve, fit to influence because they have felt the Divine spark kindling them. They may not be called to high office; their place in the world may be a very lowly one, but their rule is more of a fact now than if they had the mastery of many legions. For there is no influence so certain, so strong, so compelling, as that which is founded upon the assured sense of the Divine indwelling, and the Divine co-operation; if a man has that sense he must become poor in spirit, emptied of mere conceit and shallow pride, because he has seen what real greatness is.
The clearest and most significant of all the relationships of this grace of humility is that which connects it with greatness. Humility and greatness always walk together. I do not think that Ruskin ever spoke a truer word than when he said, I believe the first test of a truly great man is his humility. That truth shines with lustre upon every page of our human record. There is nothing more beautiful in the whole of the human story than the humility of the greatest men. The mind of the seer is not so far from the heart of the little child as we sometimes imagine. Most of the great scientific discoveries have been achieved through the spirit of humility. Men have been willing to be led to great discoveries through observation of the simplest thingsan apple falling from the tree or steam coming through a kettles spout. The willingness to learn has opened the doors to the most fruitful discoveries. An over-assertive knowledge is always the cloak of ignorance. And as with knowledge, so with everything else. Power always veils itself. It does not seek to produce an impression. It does not need to do that. It walks in the paths of the humble. There are many people in the world who will not stoop to menial tasks. In their blindness they imagine humble duties to be a sign of lowly station or inferior nature. If they but knew, there is no sign of inferiority so patent as that which cannot stoop in lowliness or work in secret. There is a beautiful and significant sentence in St. Johns record of the ministry of our Lord which illustrates this association between greatness and humility. This is how it reads: Jesus knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he was come from God, and went to God; he riseth from supper, and laid aside his garments; and took a towel, and girded himself and began to wash the disciples feet. The moment when He was most conscious of greatness was the time when He performed the most menial duty. And that association is always true in humble life. Greatness is never ashamed to be found in lowly guise. The surest sign of a high nature is that it can stoop without apologizing for itself.1 [Note: Sidney M. Berry, Graces of the Christian Character, 78.]
3. We can understand the happiness of this attitude. The man is absorbed in the workthe God-given workbefore him. He has no leisure to pause and ask what the world thinks of him. There is a real work to do, and he is alive to its importance and to the necessity of turning his whole energy into it. The work has to be done; the trust must be discharged; the criticisms of the world, whether favourable or unfavourable, are of little moment. Egotism has so small a place in his spirit that he is neither uplifted nor depressed by the words of mens lips. His soul is set on other things. He seeks the Kingdom of God, and no kingdom of selfand it is in the emancipation of self from self that he finds that Divine Kingdom. He loses himself to find himself. This is the note that seals the possession of the Kingdom of Heaven. In fact, this is the keynote of all our Lords teaching. It is the note of His own life. It is expressly what He says of Himself: Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. It is what He teaches by His example. For He ever watched the Fathers hand. He spoke the Fathers words, He did the Fathers works, and all He thought, felt, and did was done in obedience to the Father. He emptied Himself. At every fresh departure in His work He spent the night in prayer and fellowship with the Father, and whenever He needed wisdom and power for His life-work He sought these from the Father. Thus in virtue of His poverty of spirit He was in possession of the Kingdom.
I cannot tell you how great a point our Blessed Father made of self-abandonment, i.e., self-surrender into the hands of God. In one place he speaks of it as: The cream of charity, the odour of humility, the flower of patience, and the fruit of perseverance. Great, he says, is this virtue, and worthy of being practised by the best-beloved children of God. And again, Our Lord loves with a most tender love those who are so happy as to abandon themselves wholly to His fatherly care, letting themselves be governed by His divine Providence without any idle speculations as to whether the workings of this Providence will be useful to them to their profit, or painful to their loss, and this because they are well assured that nothing can be sent, nothing permitted by this paternal and most loving Heart, which will not be a source of good and profit to them. All that is required is that they should place all their confidence in Him, and say from their heart, Into thy hands I commend my spirit, my soul, my body, and all that I have, to do with them as it shall please Thee.1 [Note: J. P. Camus, The Spirit of St. Francis De Sales, 278.]
Christ showed that sacrifice, self-surrender, death, is the beginning and the course and the aim and the essential principle of the higher life. To find life in our own way, to wish to save it, to seek to gain it, to love it, is, He proclaims, to miss it altogether. The law of sacrifice is based on essential moral relations, justified by the facts of common experience, welcomed by the universal conscience. Sacrifice alone is fruitful. The essence of sin is selfishness in respect of men, and self-assertion in respect of God, the unloving claim of independence, the arrogant isolation of our interests. That which we use for ourselves perishes ignobly: that which He uses for us but not on us proves the beginning of a fuller joy. Isolation is the spring of death; life is revealed through sacrifice. Vicarious toil, pain, suffering, is the very warp of life. When the Divine light falls upon it, it becomes transformed into sacrifice. Not one tear, one pang, one look of tender compassion, one cry of pitying anguish, one strain of labouring arm, offered in the strength of God for the love of man, has been in vain. They have entered into the great life with a power to purify, and cheer, and nerve, measured not by the standard of our judgment but by the completeness of the sacrifice which they represent.2 [Note: Bishop Westcott, The Victory of the Cross, 22.]
The First Beatitude
Literature
Ainsworth (P. C.), The Blessed Life, 61.
Brett (J.), The Blessed Life, 7.
Callan (H.), Heart Cures, 18, 27.
Carpenter (W. B.), The Great Charter of Christ, 77.
Charles (Mrs. R.), The Beatitudes, 21.
Deshon (G.), Sermons for the Ecclesiastical Year, 484.
Dudden (F. H.), Christ and Christs Religion, 47.
Dykes (J. O.), The Manifesto of the King, 25.
Eyton (R.), The Beatitudes, 14.
Fletcher (A. E.), The Sermon on the Mount and Practical Politics, 1.
Fox (W. J.), Collected Works, iii. 210.
Gore (C.), The Sermon on the Mount, 23.
Hambleton (J.), The Beatitudes, 32.
Ingram (A. F. W.), Secrets of Strength, 14.
Iverach (J.), The Other Side of Greatness, 1.
Jones (J. D.), The Way into the Kingdom, 23.
Laverack (F. J.), These Sayings of Mine, 19.
Leckie (J.), Life and Religion, 209.
Maclaren (A.), The Beatitudes, 1.
Meyer (F. B.), Blessed are Ye, 22.
Miller (J. R.), The Masters Blesseds, 23.
Moberley (G.), Sermons on the Beatitudes, 1.
Monsell (J. S. B.), The Beatitudes, 1.
Pearson (A.), Christus Magister, 51.
Potts (A. W.), School Sermons, 64.
Ridgeway (C. J.), The Mountain of Blessedness, 12.
Spurgeon (C. H.), Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, lv. (1909), No. 3156.
Vaughan (J.), Sermons (Brighton Pulpit), New Ser., xxi. (1882), No. 1197.
Wilmot-Buxton (H. J.), Day by Day Duty, 172.
Woods (H. G.), At the Temple Church, 185.
Cambridge Review, ii. Supplement Nos. 145, 161 (W. Sanday).
Christian World Pulpit, xv. 49 (W. Hubbard); xix. 401 (G. G. Bradley); xxxviii. 3 (W. J. Woods); lvi. 379 (J. Stalker).
Church of England Pulpit, lxii. 101 (C. G. Lang).
Preachers Magazine, xxiv. 423 (E. G. Loosley).
Fuente: The Great Texts of the Bible
Blessed: Mat 5:4-11, Mat 11:6, Mat 13:16, Mat 24:46, Psa 1:1, Psa 2:12, Psa 32:1, Psa 32:2, Psa 41:1, Psa 84:12, Psa 112:1, Psa 119:1, Psa 119:2, Psa 128:1, Psa 146:5, Pro 8:32, Isa 30:18, Luk 6:20, Luk 6:21-26, Luk 11:28, Joh 20:29, Rom 4:6-9, Jam 1:12, Rev 19:9, Rev 22:14
the poor: Mat 11:25, Mat 18:1-3, Lev 26:41, Lev 26:42, Deu 8:2, 2Ch 7:14, 2Ch 33:12, 2Ch 33:19, 2Ch 33:23, 2Ch 34:27, Job 42:6, Psa 34:18, Psa 51:17, Pro 16:19, Pro 29:23, Isa 57:15, Isa 61:1, Isa 66:2, Jer 31:18-20, Dan 5:21, Dan 5:22, Mic 6:8, Luk 4:18, Luk 6:20, Luk 18:14, Jam 1:10, Jam 4:9, Jam 4:10
for: Mat 3:2, Mat 8:11, Mar 10:14, Jam 2:5
Reciprocal: Deu 11:27 – General Rth 2:7 – I pray 2Sa 22:28 – afflicted Psa 10:17 – humble Psa 24:5 – receive Psa 72:13 – shall save Psa 86:1 – for I am Pro 18:23 – poor Isa 29:19 – the poor Isa 41:17 – the poor Joe 2:13 – rend Zep 3:12 – leave Mat 5:10 – for Mat 7:24 – whosoever Mat 11:5 – the poor Mat 16:17 – Blessed Mat 23:12 – General Mat 25:34 – Come Mar 7:29 – General Eph 4:2 – lowliness 1Ti 4:8 – having Heb 6:9 – things Rev 3:17 – wretched
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
POOR IN SPIRIT
Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Mat 5:3
It must have been an hour never to have been forgotten when Jesus, on that Mount, which was ever afterwards to be named, after His words, The Mount of Beatitudes, opened His mouth, and began His public ministry, with that termso expressive of love, and hopefulness, and joy,Blessed! Let all teachers, ministers, parents, learn the lesson, and copy His example. Place happiness first.
I. Who are the poor in spirit?Who are those who are singled out for the first place in this college of the saints? Not the poor-spirited only, for a poor-spirited Christian is a contradiction in terms! Who, then, are they of whom He speaks?
(a) One who repays injury by kindness. I see a man. There was not a time when that man could not have been provoked by an unkind word, or an angry look. But see that man now he has become acquainted with Christ. He repays injury by kindness, and gives love for hatred.
(b) One who is humble before God. Follow a Christian into his retirement! You will see the earnestness of his devotions. Yet that man is the one that would tell you that his great trouble is the miserable poverty of all he prays, and all he says, and all he is.
(c) One who is always asking. There is another man. What a beggar he is at the door of mercy. He is always knocking at the door. Because he has nothing but what he receives, therefore he is always asking. Not as one who deserves anything, but as one who has no other claim, and all because of his own deep feeling of emptiness, and desolateness, and the Masters kind promise.
II. The Kingdom is theirs.Observe the present tense. It does not say Theirs will be the kingdom of heaven. But now, in this present world, in all their poverty, now, at this moment, little as they see it, Theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven. There is a kingdom of heaven at this moment in their heart. What is the kingdom of heaven? Joy and peace in believing.
III. Poorest here, richest there.If there are degrees of blessings in the upper world, the poorest here in heart will be the richest there in glory! Be poor enough in your own eyes, and God has not a blessing to give which is not yours!
The Rev. James Vaughan.
Illustration
People have often said, Give us the Sermon on the Mount; that is enough for us. Those persons would have been almost shocked by a hymn like There is a Fountain filled with Blood, or, Come, ye sinners, poor and wretched. They imagine the Sermon is only a set of moral rules. But they make a very great mistake. The fact is, our Lord begins by explaining life. Blessed are the poor in spirit,those who can say with Toplady, Nothing in my hand I bring. No, no, this is not morality, it is the Evangel of Jesus, and behind it is the Cross-crowned Calvary.
(SECOND OUTLINE)
CHARACTERISTICS OF POVERTY
What is this poverty of which our Lord speaks? Plainly it is not poverty in estate, but poverty in spirit.
I. An inward attitude.The rich man may be poor in spirit, and the poor man may have, in a bad sense of the word, pride of spirit. The poverty is not an outward condition, but an inward attitude. The poor, in the Bible sense of the word, are those who in the midst of the worlds display and power and vaunting and ridicule, keep themselves apart, whose eyes are ever looking unto the Lord, and who find in Him their all-sufficient strength and stay.
II. Independence of the world.This poverty of spirit has two characteristics closely akin to one another. The first is independence of the worlddetachmentnot to press claims upon life with urgent anxiety, but to take what comes with a cheerful spirit. It is to refuse to surrender oneself to the world, but rather to possess ones own soul. These are days of self-advertisement, of love of notoriety, of adulation, of cleverness, of morbid self-consciousness, of over-strain of nerves. What we need as the healing for this spirit of the time is to have this poverty of spirit of which our Lord speaks. If we are to be Gods free men, we must first be Gods poor men.
III. Dependence upon God.Poverty of spirit is not only independence of the world, but dependence upon God. We cannot separate the one from the other. The decisive question of life is, what is our horizon? Is it God or self? Is it time or eternity? The poor-spirited man in Christs sense is the man who stakes all upon God, and because of the greatness of the venture which he makes, knows that only God Himself can crown it with success.
Bishop C. G. Lang.
Illustration
That low man with a little thing to do,
Sees it and does it.
This high man with a great thing to pursue
Dies ere he knows it.
Short was the world hereshould he need the next
Let the world mind him.
He throws himself on God, and unperplexed
Seeking shall find Him.
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary
5:3
Blessed is an adjective coming from the Greek word MAKARIOS, and Thayer defines it simply by the words “blessed, happy.” In the Authorized Version it is rendered by. the first 43 times and by the second 6 times. These verses are usually called “beatitudes,” and Webster’s definition of that word is, “Consulate [complete] bliss; blessedness.” It will be well for us to think of the ward in the sense of being happy as that is the more familiar word. To be poor in spirit means to recognize one’s need of spiritual help. Such characters are the ones who will accept the kingdom of heaven.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
1Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 2Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted. 3Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.
[Blessed, blessed, etc.] it is commanded, Deuteronomy_27, that, upon the entrance of the people into the promised land, blessings and curses should be denounced from the mounts Gerizim and Ebal: the curses being particularly reckoned up, but the blessings not so. Which seems not to be without a mystery, since the law brought the curse with it; but Christ, who should bring the blessing, was yet to come a great while hence. Now he is present pronouncing the blessings, and that on a mountain. The Jewish writers do thus relate that matter:
“Six tribes went up to the top of mount Gerizim, and six to the top of mount Ebal. But the priests and the Levites stood below with the ark of the covenant. The priests compassed the ark; the Levites compassed the priests; and the whole people of Israel stood on one side and on that other: as it is said, ‘All Israel and the elders,’ etc. (Jos 8:33). Turning their faces to mouth Gerizim, they began with the blessing, ‘Blessed is the man that shall make no idol, or molten image,’ etc. And both the one and the other answered, Amen. Turning their faces to mount Ebal, they pronounced the curse, ‘Cursed is the man who shall make an idol, or molten image’: and both the one and the other answered, Amen. And so of the rest. And at last, turning their faces to Gerizim, they began with the blessing, ‘Blessed is the man who shall continue in all the words of the law’; and the answer on both sides is, Amen. Turning their faces to Ebal, they pronounce the curse, ‘Cursed is every one that shall not continue in all the words of the law’: and the answer from both sides is, Amen,” etc.
In like manner Christ here, having begun with blessings, “Blessed, blessed,” thundereth out curses, “Woe, woe,” Luk 6:24-26.
That which many do comment concerning the octonary number of beatitudes hath too much curiosity, and little benefit. It hath that which is like it among the Jews: for thus they write; “There is a tradition from the school of R. Esaiah Ben Korcha, that twenty blessings are pronounced in the Book of the Psalms, and in like manner twenty woes in the Book of Isaiah. ‘But I say,’ saith Rabbi, ‘that there are two-and-twenty blessings, according to the number of the two-and-twenty letters.’ ”
“Abraham was blessed with seven blessings.”
“These six are blessed, every one with six blessings, David, Daniel, and his three companions, and king Messias.”
Fuente: Lightfoot Commentary Gospels
Mat 5:3. The poor in spirit, not in body, nor in mind. The humble, those conscious of their spiritual needs, and thus prepared to be filled with the riches of the gospel. The discourse begins at the beginning; sense of want comes before spiritual blessings; the fruit of the law and the germ of the gospel. The Jews with their carnal hopes were not poor in spirit, hence the appropriateness of the introduction. Pride is always the first and great hindrance to obtaining a part in the kingdom.
For theirs is. It belongs to them.
The kingdom of heaven. See notes on chap. Mat 3:2; comp. chap. 13. Both the habits of the Teacher and the expectations of the audience made this a familiar thought.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Observe here, 1. It is not said, blessed are the poor in estate, but blessed are the poor in spirit: it is not a poverty of purse and possession, but a poverty of spirit, that entitles us to the blessing.
2. It is not said, blessed are the spiritually poor, but blessed are the poor in spirit: he that is destitute of the grace and spirit of Christ, that has no sense of his spiritual wants, he is spirituallly poor, but he is not poor in spirit.
Farther, 3. It is not said, blessed are the poor-spirited, but the poor in spirit. Such an act below and beneath themselves as men and as Christians, these are poor-spirited men; but these are not poor in spirit.
4. It is not said, blessed are they that make themselves poor by leaving their estates and callings, and turning beggars, as some do among the Papists; but blessed are they whom the gospel makes poor, by giving them a sight of their spiritual wants and necessities, and directing them to Christ that they may be made rich.
In sum, not those that are poor in estate, or those whom the world has made poor in possession, but those whom the gospel has made poor in spirit, that is, the truly humble, lowly spirits, have a right and title to the kingdom of heaven. Now, humility is called poverty of spirit, because it is the effect and fruit of God’s Spirit.
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
Mat 5:3. Blessed are the poor in spirit The word , here rendered blessed, properly means happy, and it may be better to translate it so, because our Lord seems to intimate by it, not only that the dispositions here recommended are the way to future blessedness, but that they immediately confer the truest and most noble felicity. As happiness was the great end to which the wisest philosophers undertook to conduct their hearers, and as it is our common aim, and an object to the pursuit of which we are continually urged by an innate instinct, our Lord, whose great business in coming into the world was, to make mankind happy by making them holy, wisely and graciously begins his divine institution, which is the complete art of happiness, by pointing out the necessary connexion it has with holiness, and inciting to the latter by motives drawn from the former. In doing this we cannot but observe his benevolent condescension. He seems, as it were, to lay aside his supreme authority as our legislator, that he may the better act the part of our friend and Saviour. Instead of using the lofty style in positive commands, he, in a more gentle and engaging way, insinuates his will and our duty by pronouncing those happy who comply with it. And, in order to render his hearers more attentive, he proposes his doctrine in certain paradoxical dogmas, which, at first sight, may seem false to such as judge by appearance, but which, when attentively considered, are found to be most true. Indeed, as an old writer remarks, All the beatitudes are affixed to unlikely conditions, to show that the judgment of the word and of the world are contrary. By this expression, the poor in spirit, Grotius and Baxter understand those who bear a state of poverty and want with a disposition of quiet and cheerful submission to the divine will; and Mr. Mede interprets it of those who are ready to part with their possessions for charitable uses. But it seems much more probable that the truly humble are intended, or those who are sensible of their spiritual poverty, of their ignorance and sinfulness, their guilt, depravity, and weakness, their frailty and mortality; and who, therefore, whatever their outward situation in life may be, however affluent and exalted, think meanly of themselves, and neither desire the praise of men, nor covet high things in the world, but are content with the lot God assigns them, however low and poor. These are happy, because their humility renders them teachable, submissive, resigned, patient, contented, and cheerful in all estates; and it enables them to receive prosperity or adversity, health or sickness, ease or pain, life or death, with an equal mind. Whatever is allotted them short of those everlasting burnings which they see they have merited, they consider as a grace or favour. They are happy, because theirs is the kingdom of heaven The present, inward kingdom, righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost, as well as the eternal kingdom, if they endure to the end. The knowledge which they have of themselves, and their humiliation of soul before God, prepare them for the reception of Christ, to dwell and reign in their hearts, and all the other blessings of the gospel; the blessings both of grace and glory. For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy, I dwell in the high and holy place: with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones. Isa 57:15; Isa 66:2. And those in whom God dwells here shall dwell with him hereafter.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
XLII.
THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT.
(A Mountain Plateau not far from Capernaum.)
Subdivision B.
BEATITUDES: PROMISES TO MESSIAH’S SUBJECTS.
aMATT. V. 3-12; cLUKE VI. 20-26.
a3 Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. [The sayings in this subdivision are called beatitudes from the word “beati (meaning blessed), with which they begin in the Vulgate, or Latin Bible. According to Matthew, these beatitudes are nine in number and seven in character, for the last two, which concern persecution, do not relate to traits of character, but to certain external circumstances which lead to blessings. Luke gives us [228] beatitudes not recorded in Matthew. Most of the beatitudes are paradoxical, being the very reverse of the world’s view, but Christians who have put them to the test have learned to realize their unquestionable truth. The poor in spirit are those who feel a deep sense of spiritual destitution and comprehend their nothingness before God. The kingdom of heaven is theirs, because they seek it, and therefore find and abide in it. To this virtue is opposed the pride of the Pharisee, which caused him to thank God that he was not as other men, and to despise and reject the kingdom of heaven. There must be emptiness before there can be fullness, and so poverty of spirit precedes riches and grace in the kingdom of God.] 4 Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted. [ Isa 42:2, Isa 42:3, Luk 2:25, Rom 8:18, Joh 16:20, Joh 16:21. The blessing is not upon all that mourn ( 2Co 7:10); but upon those who mourn in reference to sin. They shall be comforted by the discovery and appropriation of God’s pardon. But all mourning is traced directly or indirectly to sin. We may take it, therefore, that in its widest sense the beatitude covers all those who are led by mourning to a discerning of sin, and who so deplore its effects and consequences in the world as to yearn for and seek the deliverance which is in Christ. Those to whom Christ spoke the beatitude bore a double sorrow. Not only did their own sins afflict their consciences, but the hatred and opposition of other sinners added many additional sighs and tears. Joy springs from such sorrow so naturally that it is likened to harvest gathered from the seed ( Psa 126:6). But sorrows, even apart from a sense of sin, often prove blessings to us by drawing us near unto God.] 5 Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth. [His hearers were full of hopes that, as Messiah, he would glut their martial spirit, and lead them to world-wide conquest. But the earth was not to be subjugated to him by force. Those who were meek and forbearing should receive what the arrogant and selfish grasp after and can not get. “Man the animal has hitherto possessed the globe. Man the divine is yet to take it. The [229] struggle is going on. But in every cycle more and more does the world feel the superior authority of truth, purity, justice, kindness, love, and faith. They shall yet possess the earth” (Beecher). The meek shall inherit it in two ways: 1. They shall enjoy it more fully while in it. 2. They shall finally, as part of the triumphant church, possess and enjoy it. Doubtless there is also here a reference to complete possession to be fulfilled in the new earth– Dan 7:27, Rev 3:21, Rev 5:10.] 6 Blessed are they who hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled. [Our Lord here declares that those who feel a most intense desire for righteousness shall obtain it. Under no other religion had such a promise ever been given. Under Christianity the promise is clear and definite. Compare Rom 8:3, Rom 8:4, Heb 7:11, Heb 7:19, Heb 7:25. This promise is realized in part by the attainment of a higher degree of righteous living, and in part by the perfect forgiveness of our sins. But the joy of this individual righteousness, blessed as it is, shall be surpassed by that of the universal righteousness of the new creation– 2Pe 3:13.] 7 Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy. [As meekness is rather a passive virtue, so mercy is an active one. The meek bear, and the merciful forbear, and for so doing they shall obtain mercy both from God and man. This beatitude, like the rest, has a subordinate, temporal application; for God rules the world in spite of its sin. This beatitude has primary reference to the forgiveness of offences. The forgiving are forgiven– Mat 6:14, Mat 6:15.] 8 Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God. [The pure in heart are those who are free from evil desires and purposes. They have that similarity of life to the divine life which excludes all uncleanness, and which enables them to comprehend, after a sympathetic fashion, the motives and actions of God. Such see God by faith now, that is, by the spiritual vision of a regenerate heart ( Eph 1:17, Eph 1:18), and shall see him face to face hereafter ( 1Co 13:12, 1Jo 3:2, 1Jo 3:3). The Jews to whom Christ spoke, having their hearts defiled with carnal hopes and self-righteous pride, failed to see God, [230] as he was then revealing himself in the person of his Son, thus forming a sad contrast to the gracious promise of the beatitude. “They only can understand God who have in themselves some moral resemblance to him; and they will enter most largely into the knowledge of him who are most in sympathy with the divine life”–Beecher.] 9 Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called sons of God. [The term includes all who make peace between men, whether as individuals or as communities. It includes even those who worthily endeavor to make peace, though they fail of success. They shall be called God’s children, because he is the God of peace ( Rom 15:33, Rom 16:20, 2Co 13:11); whose supreme purpose is to secure peace ( Luk 2:14); and who gave his Son to be born into this world as the Prince of Peace ( Isa 9:6). Here again Jesus varies from human ideas. In worldly kingdoms the makers of war stand highest, but in his kingdom peacemakers outrank them, for the King himself is a great Peacemaker– Col 1:20, Eph 2:14.] 10 Blessed are they that have been persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. [Those who suffer because of their loyalty to the kingdom of heaven are blessed by being bound more closely to that kingdom for which they suffer.] cBlessed are ye poor: for yours is the kingdom of God. 21 Blessed are ye that hunger now: for ye shall be filled. Blessed are ye that weep now: for ye shall laugh. [These three beatitudes given by Luke, like the two closing beatitudes of Matthew are pronounced not upon character, but upon those in certain trying conditions. They are addressed to the disciples ( Luk 6:17), and are meant to strengthen and encourage them to continue in the life of sacrifice when discipleship demanded. For light upon the meaning of these beatitudes, see such passages as these: Mat 10:37-39, Mat 16:24-26, Mar 10:28-30, Mat 10:22-25. The service to which Jesus called meant poverty, hunger, and tears, but it led to rich reward– 1Co 11:23-33, 1Co 12:1-5.] 22 Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when [231] they shall separate you from their company, and reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, aand persecute you, and say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my cthe Son of man’s sake. [The Master here presents the various forms of suffering which would come upon the disciples by reason of their loyalty to him. We shall find several like statements as we proceed with the gospel story. They would first be conscious of the coldness of their brethren before the secret hate became outspoken and active. Later they should find themselves excommunicated from the synagogue ( Joh 16:2). This act in turn would be followed by bitter reproaches and blasphemy of the sacred name by which they were called–the name Christian ( Jam 2:7, 1Pe 4:4). “‘Malefic’ or ‘execrable superstition’ was the favorite description of Christianity among Pagans (Tac., Ann. xv. 44; Suet. Nero, xvi.), and Christians were charged with incendiarism, cannibalism and every infamy” (Farrar). All this would finally culminate in bloody-handed persecution, and procure the death of Christ’s followers by forms of law; all manner of false and evil accusations would be brought against them.] 23 Rejoice ye in that day, band be exceeding glad: cand leap for joy: for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for in the same manner did their fathers unto the prophets. afor so persecuted they the prophets that were before you. [In commanding rejoicing under such circumstances Jesus seemed to make a heavy demand upon his disciples, but it is a demand which very many have responded to ( Act 5:41, Act 16:25). Anticipations of the glorious future are a great tonic. For instances of persecution of the prophets, see 1Ki 19:10, 2Ch 16:10, 1Ki 22:27, 2Ch 24:20, 2Ch 24:21; Jer 26:23, Jer 32:2, Jer 37:15, Jer 38:4-6, Jer 38:28, Heb 11:36-38.] c24 But woe unto you that are rich! for ye have received your consolation. [ Luk 16:25.] 25 Woe unto you that are full now! for ye shall hunger. Woe unto you, ye that laugh now! for ye shall mourn and weep. [These three woes are respectively the converse of the three beatitudes recorded by [232] Luke. This converse is to be expected, for as long as sin lasts woes stand over against beatitudes as Ebal against Gerizim. But the woe here expressed by the Saviour is more of a cry of compassion than a denunciation, and may be translated, “Alas for you!” The first woe applies to those who love and trust in riches ( Mar 10:24). Jesus does not clearly define the line beyond which the possession of riches becomes a danger, lest any, fancying himself to be on the safe side of the line, should lull himself to repose and be taken off his guard. Riches are always dangerous, and we must be ever watchful against their seduction. The second woe is kindred to the first. Righteousness is the soul’s true food. Those who feast upon it shall be satisfied, but those who satiate themselves with this world shall waken some day to a sense of emptiness, since they have filled themselves with vanity ( Ecc 2:1-11, Jam 5:1-6). The third woe is not pronounced upon those who make merriment an occasional relief ( Pro 17:22, Pro 15:13, Pro 15:15); but upon those who, through lack of earnestness, make it a constant aim. Half the world has no higher object in life than to be amused ( Pro 13:14, Ecc 7:6). Those who sow folly shall reap a harvest of tears. The truth of this saying was abundantly fulfilled in the Jewish wars, which culminated in the destruction of Jerusalem about forty years later.] 26 Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you! for in the same manner did their fathers to the false prophets. [This is the converse to the beatitudes pronounced upon those who are reviled, etc. A righteous life rebukes an evil one, and the general tendency of evil is to deride that which rebukes it. This tendency caused the wicked of Christ’s times to say that he had a demon, and that he cast out demons by the power of Beelzebub. If our lives draw to themselves no reproach, they can not be right in the sight of God. A good name is more to be desired than great riches; but we must not sacrifice our fidelity to Christ in order to attain it. If we adhere strictly to the virtues which Christ enjoined, we shall find that the world has an evil name for every one of them. Earnest contention for his [233] truth is called bigotry; loyalty to his ordinances is dubbed narrowness; strict conformity to the laws of purity is named puritanism; liberality is looked upon as an effort to court praise; piety is scorned as hypocrisy, and faith is regarded as fanaticism.]
[FFG 228-234]
Fuente: McGarvey and Pendleton Commentaries (New Testament)
Mat 5:3-12. The Beatitudes (cf. Luk 6:20-23).These nine sayings (eight if we reckon Mat 5:10-12 as one, or regard Mat 5:11 f. as having originally stood elsewhere; seven if we omit Mat 5:5) have analogies in OT (e.g. Psa 1:1; Psa 32:1; Psa 89:15; Pro 8:32; Isa 32:20) and in other parts of the Gospel and NT (e.g. Mat 13:16, Luk 12:37, Jas 1:12, Rev 14:13). Blessed connotes happy and successful prosperity. the poor (Mat 5:3), i.e. the pious in Israel, not necessarily, though usually, poor in worldly possessions, yet rich in faith (Jas 2:5). Lk. perhaps keeps the original wording, but Mt. gives the right interpretation by adding in spirit. Cf. W. Sanday in Exp., Dec. 1916. Theirs is the kingdom of heaven, i.e. potentially; the actual possession is still (Mat 5:4-9) in the future. We are not to limit mourn (Mat 5:4) to penitence for sin; one of the titles of the Messiah was Comforter. Meek (Mat 5:5) is the antithesis of arrogant; the idea of inheritance goes back to the Hebrew occupation of Canaan, and is used in Psalms 37 and in apocalyptic writings; here it is another aspect of the possession of the Kingdom (cf. Mat 19:29, Mat 25:34). If we follow some early (chiefly Latin) authorities in transposing Mat 5:4-5, we get a good contrast between heaven (Mat 5:3) and earth (Mat 5:5). Lk. omits Mat 5:5. In 6 and thirst after righteousness (Gr. the righteousness, i.e. the longed-for blessing in the coming Kingdom) is a gloss; Lk. is to be preferred. The poor (in spirit) already possess righteousness in the form of moral goodness. They also have the compassionate spirit, and they shall receive compassion in the coming Kingdom (Mat 5:7). For the connexion between righteousness and mercy cf. Psa 36:10; Psa 85:10. To possess the Kingdom is to see God (Mat 5:8), and this is for the pure in heart (as distinct from the ceremonially pure); cf. Psa 24:3 f. Note the complementary truth of 1Jn 3:2 f. The peacemaker (not, as was generally believed, every Israelite) shall be called (i.e. shall be; the name stands for the nature) in the coming age Gods son (Mat 5:9), because he shares Gods nature (cf. Mat 5:45, also Luk 20:36). Righteousness in Mat 5:10 is (contrast Mat 5:6) a quality for which the poor are persecuted; the saying connects with the first beatitude and completes the golden chain. Mat 5:11 f. is an expansion and application of Mat 5:10. The persecuted are to rejoice because of, not despite, the persecution (cf. Lk.); in heaven means with God (Dalman, Words, 206ff.). While the teaching of Jesus often reflects the current thought of His day on the question of rewards and punishments (cf. p. 665), viz. that they were graduated and quantitative, we also find in it new elements which transform the idea, and so even eliminate it. Reward is qualitative and identical for all (Mat 20:1-16,* Mat 25:21-23), it is the Kingdom of Heaven (Mat 5:3-10), it is given to those for whom it has been prepared (Mat 20:23). Cf. also Mat 25:14 f., Luk 17:9 f., and MNeile, pp. 54f.
Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible
Verse 3
Blessed; happy, highly favored–Poor in spirit; those who are humble; lowly in mind; conscious of ignorance and unworthiness.
Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament
5:3 Blessed [are] the {a} poor in {b} spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
(a) Under the name of poverty are meant all the miseries, that are joined with poverty.
(b) Whose minds and spirits are brought under control, and tamed, and obey God.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
2. The subjects of Jesus’ kingdom 5:3-16
Their condition 5:3-10 (cf. Luk 6:20-26)
This pericope describes the character of the kingdom’s subjects and their rewards in the kingdom.
Kingsbury identified the theme of this Sermon as "greater righteousness" and divided it as follows: (I) On Those Who Practice the Greater Righteousness (Mat 5:3-16); (II) On Practicing the Greater Righteousness toward the Neighbor (Mat 5:17-45); (III) On Practicing the Greater Righteousness before God (Mat 6:1-18); (IV) On Practicing the Greater Righteousness in Other Areas of Life (Mat 6:19 to Mat 7:12); and (V) Injunctions on Practicing the Greater Righteousness (Mat 7:13-27). [Note: Kingsbury, p. 112. See also idem, "The Place, Structure, and Meaning of the Sermon on the Mount within Matthew," Interpretation 41 (1987):131-43; Robert A. Guelich, The Sermon on the Mount: A Foundation for Understanding; and Hagner, pp. 83-84.]
"Looked at as a whole . . . the Beatitudes become a moral sketch of the type of person who is ready to possess, or rule over, God’s Kingdom in company with the Lord Jesus Christ." [Note: Zane C. Hodges, "Possessing the Kingdom," The KERUGMA Message 2:2 (Winter 1992):5.]
Jesus described the character of those who will receive blessings in the kingdom as rewards from eight perspectives. He introduced each one with a pronouncement of blessedness. This form of expression goes back to the wisdom literature of the Old Testament, particularly the Psalms (cf. Psa 1:1; Psa 32:1-2; Psa 84:4-5; Psa 144:15; Pro 3:13; Dan 12:12). The Beatitudes (Mat 5:3-10) may describe the fulfillment of Isa 61:1-3. [Note: See Bock, Jesus according . . ., pp. 128-29; and Robert A. Guelich, "The Matthean Beatitudes: ’Entrance-Requirements’ or Eschatological Blessings?" Journal of Biblical Literature 95 (1973):433.] They describe and commend the good life. [Note: France, The Gospel . . ., p. 161.]
The English word "beatitude" comes from the Latin word for "blessed," beatus. The Greek word translated "blessed," makarios, refers to a happy condition.
"The special feature of the group makarios, makarizein, makarismos in the NT is that it refers overwhelmingly to the distinctive religious joy which accrues to man from his share in the salvation of the kingdom of God." [Note: Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, s.v. "makarios," by F. Hauck, 4:367.]
"It [makarios] describes a state not of inner feeling on the part of those to whom it is applied, but of blessedness from an ideal point of view in the judgment of others." [Note: Allen, p. 39.]
Blessedness is happiness because of divine favor. [Note: C. G. Montefiore, The Synoptic Gospels, 2:30.] The other Greek word translated "blessed," eulogetos, connotes the reception of praise and usually describes God.
". . . the kingdom is presupposed as something given by God. The kingdom is declared as a reality apart from any human achievement. Thus the beatitudes are, above all, predicated upon the experience of the grace of God. The recipients are just that, those who receive the good news." [Note: Hagner, p. 96.]
The "for" (Gr. hoti) in each beatitude explains why the person is a blessed individual. "Because" would be a good translation. They are blessed now because they will participate in the kingdom. The basis for each blessing is the fulfillment of something about the kingdom that God promised in the Old Testament. [Note: See Vernon C. Grounds, "Mountain Manifesto," Bibliotheca Sacra 128:510 (April-June 1971):135-41.]
The Beatitudes deal with four attitudes-toward ourselves (Mat 5:3), toward our sins (Mat 5:4-6), toward God (Mat 5:7-9), and toward the world (Mat 5:10, and Mat 5:11-16). They proceed from the inside out; they start with attitudes and move to actions that are opposed, the normal course of spirituality.
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
The "poor in spirit" are those who recognize their natural unworthiness to stand in God’s presence and who depend utterly on Him for His mercy and grace (cf. Psa 37:14; Psa 40:17; Psa 69:28-29; Psa 69:32-33; Pro 16:19; Pro 29:23; Isa 61:1). They do not trust in their own goodness or possessions for God’s acceptance. The Jews regarded material prosperity as an indication of divine approval since many of the blessings God promised the righteous under the Old Covenant were material. However the poor in spirit does not regard these things as signs of intrinsic righteousness but confesses his or her total unworthiness. The poor in spirit acknowledges his or her lack of personal righteousness. This condition, as all the others the Beatitudes identify, describes those who have repented and are broken (Mat 3:2; Mat 4:17).
"’Poverty in spirit’ is not speaking of weakness of character (’mean-spiritedness’) but rather of a person’s relationship with God. It is a positive spiritual orientation, the converse of the arrogant self-confidence which not only rides roughshod over the interests of other people but more importantly causes a person to treat God as irrelevant." [Note: France, The Gospel . . ., p. 165.]
Such a person can have joy in his or her humility because an attitude of personal unworthiness is necessary to enter the kingdom. This kingdom does not go to the materially wealthy only but to those who admit their spiritual bankruptcy. One cannot purchase citizenship in this kingdom with money as people could purchase Roman citizenship, for example. What qualifies a person for citizenship is that person’s attitude toward his or her intrinsic righteousness.
One writer believed that Jesus was not talking about entering the kingdom but possessing it (i.e., it will be theirs in the sense that the poor in spirit will reign over it with Jesus [cf. Rev 3:21]). [Note: Hodges, "Possessing the Kingdom," The KERUGMA Message 1:1 (May-June 1991):1-2.]
The first and last beatitudes give the reason for blessedness: "for theirs is the kingdom of heaven" (cf. Mat 5:10). This phrase forms an inclusio or envelope that surrounds the remaining beatitudes. The inclusio is a literary device that provides unity. Speakers and writers used it, and still use it, to indicate that everything within the two uses of this term refers to the entity mentioned. Here that entity is the kingdom of heaven. In other words, this literary form shows that all the beatitudes deal with the kingdom of heaven.