The Sermon on the Mount: A Commentary, Part 1: The Beatitudes

 

Ἰδὼν δὲ τοὺς ὄχλους ἀνέβη εἰς τὸ ὄρος,

"When he saw the crowds, he ascended upon the mountain." Jesus now takes upon the role of the New Testament Moses who goes up to the Mountain in order to deliver the law of the new covenant to the people who have assembled before the mountain.

καὶ καθίσαντος αὐτοῦ προσῆλθαν °αὐτῷ οἱ μαθηταὶ αὐτοῦ· 

"And when he sat down, his disciples came to him."

Sitting down was the normal posture for teaching Scripture in the synagogue. The Scripture was read while standing but the rabbi would sit to exposit it. His sitting signals to the disciples that they need to come to him and listen.

καὶ ἀνοίξας τὸ στόμα αὐτοῦ ἐδίδασκεν αὐτοὺς λέγων· 

"And opening his mouth he taught them, saying,"

A similar but not identical expression appears in LXX: Καὶ ἐλάλησεν κύριος πάντας τοὺς λόγους τούτους λέγων "And the Lord spoke all these words, saying,"

The presentation of Christ as the new covenant Moses displays that the teaching to follow is binding upon all members of the new covenant. As we will see in the SoM, these are the characteristic fruit of those church leaders who truly follow Jesus Christ as their Lord versus those church leaders who merely have a claim to follow him.

 Μακάριοι οἱ πτωχοὶ τῷ πνεύματι, ὅτι αὐτῶν ἐστιν ἡ βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν. 

"Blessed are the poor in spirit because the kingdom of God belongs to them." 

Each of the beatitudes define in what way those with these characteristics are blessed. Every one of them have to do with entrance into the kingdom of God, inheriting the earth, or gaining access to the presence of God. Each of these phrases are pictures of the new world to come where chaotic forces no longer dominate and oppress the people of God. Note as well that these characteristics are not something that the blessed do, but rather who they are. They have a new nature given to them in the new covenant that characterizes their identity. They don't merely do things that are poor in spirit, or do acts of mourning, or acts of meekness, or acts of hungering for righteousness, or acts of mercy, etc., but they are poor in spirit, those who mourn, those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, who are merciful, who are pure in heart, shalom-makers, and are persecuted people. In short, these people who are these things are blessed people to whom the salvation of God's Messiah belongs.

In this first statement, Matthew transforms Luke's "Blessed are the poor" to "Blessed are the poor in spirit" moving the locus of blessing from the class disposition of Luke to those who recognize their low class when it comes to the spiritual kingdom. Those who do are those to whom the kingdom of God belongs. In other words, those with no clout in the kingdom of God and recognize that are those who are given the kingdom as its rulers.

μακάριοι οἱ πενθοῦντες, ὅτι αὐτοὶ παρακληθήσονται. 

"Blessed are those who mourn because they themselves will be comforted."

Again, the blessing comes in a reversal of the person's condition. They are now characterized as being mourners now but will receive comfort. The mourning may come from their realization of having no place in God's kingdom due to their lack of status in God's eyes. One can only speculate that this is due to the sin of the individual. Hence, it is those who recognize that their sin gives them no rights to having any place in the world to come, but that very recognition will bear fruit of repentance alluded to by both John the Baptist and Jesus earlier in the Gospel will bring the blessing of salvation.

μακάριοι οἱ πραεῖς, ὅτι αὐτοὶ κληρονομήσουσιν τὴν γῆν.

"Blessed are those who are don't seek vengeance for they themselves will inherit the earth."

The term that usually translates πραΰς "meek," "mild," "humble" is not quite captured by those terms. The statement is actually a paraphrase of Psalm 36:11 that is a chapter about those who are being oppressed by the wicked but do not seek violent revenge. This understanding is consistent with the fact that the word most often translates the word group that has to do with being oppressed and of the class of people who do not have power but are wronged by those who do. Those who are wronged by others will inherit the earth as its rulers and so in the world to come they will switch status with their oppressors. 

μακάριοι οἱ πεινῶντες καὶ διψῶντες τὴν δικαιοσύνην, ὅτι αὐτοὶ χορτασθήσονται.

"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for justice because they themselves will be satiated."

Again, those who do not receive justice in this world but long for it because they are wronged will receive justice in the world to come. They are, therefore, not characterized by seeking vengeance but rather can be patient and wait on God to make the wrongs right. 

μακάριοι οἱ ἐλεήμονες, ὅτι αὐτοὶ ἐλεηθήσονται. 

"Blessed are the merciful because they themselves will receive mercy. It becomes more clear that the Beatitudes present those who belong to Christ and his new kingdom in the world to come as those who are prepared to receive forgiveness and as those who forgive, which is a major theme in Matthew. Yet, it is also clear that this same group that is forgiven and give forgiveness do so because they are like their King. 

μακάριοι οἱ καθαροὶ τῇ καρδίᾳ, ὅτι αὐτοὶ τὸν θεὸν ὄψονται. 

"Blessed are those who are clean on the inside because they themselves will see God."

This contrast with the way the Pharisees are depicted in the rest of the SoM and the Gospel of Matthew is a key element that distinguishes the people who belong to the Messiah from the people who do not. The people of the Messiah's kingdom are characterized by being clean on the inside, in their "hearts," which in the Hebrew Bible most refers to the mind, or as a synecdoche, refers to the whole inner person. It is not that they are clean on the outside as the Pharisees who look clean but rather they are truly clean/righteous people.

μακάριοι οἱ εἰρηνοποιοί, ὅτι °αὐτοὶ υἱοὶ θεοῦ κληθήσονται. 

"Blessed are those who make restoration because they themselves will be called sons of God."

Those who do shalom, i.e., they restore to the right order, between themselves and God in repentance, between themselves and others in true repentance and forgiveness, and by doing what is good and right in the world as the rest of the SoM indicates, are the rightful heirs of God's coming kingdom where God will be seen by all who belong to him.

μακάριοι οἱ δεδιωγμένοι ἕνεκεν δικαιοσύνης, ὅτι αὐτῶν ἐστιν ἡ βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν. 

"Blessed are those who are persecuted for the sake of doing what is right because the kingdom of God belongs to them."

Again, those who belong to the Messiah are viewed as oppressed and in a state of disadvantage to those who oppress them via persecution, which Matthew defines in the following verse.

 μακάριοί ἐστε ὅταν ὀνειδίσωσιν ὑμᾶς καὶ ⸀διώξωσιν καὶ εἴπωσιν πᾶν πονηρὸν καθʼ ὑμῶν [ψευδόμενοι] ἕνεκεν ⸁ἐμοῦ. χαίρετε καὶ ἀγαλλιᾶσθε, ὅτι ὁ μισθὸς ὑμῶν πολὺς ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς· οὕτως γὰρ ἐδίωξαν τοὺς προφήτας τοὺς πρὸ ὑμῶν

"Blessed are you when they speak negatively of you and they persecute and they say all kinds of bad things about you on account of me. Be joyful and shout for joy because your reward is great in heaven; for this is the way they persecuted the prophets who were before you."

The blessed, and therefore the saved, here are those who "they" ὀνειδίσωσιν ὑμᾶς "demean you," "lessen you," "tear you down." This is all for ἕνεκεν ⸁ἐμοῦ "my sake," i.e., because one seeks to do what is right in the eyes of the Lord as it is paralleled to ἕνεκεν δικαιοσύνης "for the sake of doing what is right" in the previous sentence.

One can be assured that he has the characteristics of a possessor of the kingdom to come because he is treated like the prophets were treated before him for doing what is right.

This statement, as well as the other Beatitudes, is a positive summary of Luke's expanded list that not only includes the blessings that are due to genuine covenant members but also the curses that belong to those who are false.

“But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation. “Woe to you who are full now, for you shall be hungry. “Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep. “Woe to you, when all people speak well of you, for so their fathers did to the false prophets." (Lk 6:24–26).

This is the first indication in the sermon that this text is primarily geared toward church leadership. Although one could argue that Christians will experience the disdain of the prophets, the sermon will make the fact that it is inclined toward church leadership clearer and clearer as it proceeds. The contrast will be leaders who evidence a pursuit of righteousness because they know Christ and have his character. Hence, they will be likened to the prophets of old, contrasted with the Pharisees in their teaching and practice, and contrasted with false prophets who will be distinguished by the opposite fruit of Christ's teaching and character as it is presented throughout the sermon.