Context No. 898 of 4322 · Matthew
Context · Reflection
Matthew 5:1-10: in context
1Seeing the multitudes, he went up onto the mountain. When he had sat down, his disciples came to him. 2He opened his mouth and taught them, saying, 3“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven. 4Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. 5Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth. 6Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled. 7Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. 8Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. 9Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God. 10Blessed are those who have been persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.
Jesus goes up on the mountainside, sits down as a teacher, and opens the Sermon on the Mount with the Beatitudes. One after another he calls blessed exactly the people the world does not envy: the poor in spirit, those who mourn, the gentle, those who hunger for righteousness, the merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers, and those persecuted for righteousness. Each blessing comes with a promise, from theirs is the kingdom to they shall see God.
The Beatitudes are not entry requirements or a checklist of virtues to grind out; they are announcements, God's own reckoning of who is actually well off. And it is a reckoning that turns the ordinary scoreboard upside down. The people the world counts as losing, the grieving, the meek, the ones who ache for a justice they cannot produce, are the ones Jesus pronounces blessed, because the kingdom he brings is theirs. This is not a claim that suffering is good; it is a promise that the door of the kingdom opens exactly where people have run out of their own resources, where they are poor enough in spirit to receive it. Notice too that the blessings bend toward mercy, purity, and peacemaking, the character of the kingdom's king himself. Jesus is describing his own heart and calling those who share it blessed. The sermon begins not with a demand but with good news for the wrong crowd.
Which of these does the world tell me is a losing position, and can I believe Jesus that it is exactly there the blessing lies?
Sources
- Matthew 5:3: blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven
- Luke 6:20-21: blessed are you who are poor... blessed are you who are hungry now
- Isaiah 61:1-2: he has sent me to bring good news to the poor... to comfort all who mourn