3“Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
5Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth.
6Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled.
7Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
8Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.
9Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called sons of God.
10Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11“Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
13“You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.
14“You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. 15Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.”
Original Meaning
THE BEATITUDES OPEN the Sermon on the Mount with a sober yet dazzling vision of the operation of the kingdom of heaven among God’s people. More than simply a formal literary introduction,1 the Beatitudes summarize the essence of the sermon’s message, giving in a nutshell the way in which the kingdom makes its impact on the lives of those who respond to it. The character of this kingdom life contravenes the values that most people hold dear, because God’s blessing rests on the unlikely ones—the poor in spirit, mourners, the meek, the persecuted. “Thus the Beatitudes line an upside-down reality, or—more precisely—they define reality in such a way that the usual order of things is seen to be upside down in the eyes of God.”2
The Beatitudes of the Kingdom of Heaven (5:3–12)
APART FROM THE Lord’s Prayer, these are the most familiar verses of the SM. The name “beatitude” is derived from the Latin beatitudo/beatus, because the first word of each statement in the Latin Vulgate is beati, which translates Matthew’s Greek word makarios (traditionally translated “blessed”). Some recent versions translate makarios as “happy” or “fortunate,” which can be good renderings, but the modern usage of those terms tends to trivialize the meaning by simply suggesting a temporary emotional or circumstantial state. The somewhat ambiguous English “blessed” perhaps is still the best term to describe Jesus’ statements.
Makarios is a state of existence in relationship to God in which a person is “blessed” from God’s perspective even when he or she doesn’t feel happy or isn’t presently experiencing good fortune. This does not mean a conferral of blessing or an exhortation to live a life worthy of blessing; rather, it is an acknowledgment that the ones indicated are blessed.3 Negative feelings, absence of feelings, or adverse conditions cannot take away the blessedness of those who exist in relationship with God.
Structure. Each beatitude is composed of two poetic clauses. The first clause begins with the statement of blessing (“blessed”) followed by a statement of the identity of the ones who are blessed (e.g., “the poor in spirit”), a structure similar to the opening verse of Psalm 1.4 The second clause begins with “because” (hoti), giving the reason for what precedes it (e.g., “theirs is the kingdom of heaven”).
Eight primary statements of blessing make up the Beatitudes, with the ninth statement of blessing (5:11–12) being an extension and personalization of the eighth beatitude for Jesus’ disciples who experience persecution.5 The overall structure of the Beatitudes gives an important clue to their theme. The first and the eighth beatitudes (5:3, 10) form a sort of bookends, another example of the common Hebrew literary device called an inclusio,6 because the causal clause of the first beatitude is repeated in the last beatitude—“for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (cf. 5:3, 10). The repetition of the present tense clause signals the main theme of the Beatitudes, that the blessedness of the kingdom of heaven is a present possession and operation among those who respond to Jesus’ ministry. However, the second through seventh beatitudes (5:4–9) have a future tense in the causal clause, indicating that the kingdom is also a future expectation and hope.
1. Blessed are the poor in spirit . . . (5:3). The “poor” are those who have encountered unfortunate circumstances from an economic point of view (19:21; 26:11), but also persons who are spiritually and emotionally oppressed, disillusioned, and in need of God’s help.7 Those who have experienced the harsh side of life in which deprivation and hunger are their regular lot have no resources of their own to make anything of their lives. This also includes those who recognize that they can produce no spiritual or religious self-help before God. They are spiritually bankrupt.8 We hear this in the psalmist as he cries out in Psalm 40:17:
Yet I am poor and needy;
may the Lord think of me.
You are my help and my deliverer;
O my God, do not delay.
This attitude of humility in the harsh realities of life makes a person open to receive the blessings of the kingdom of heaven.
. . . for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. The kingdom of God belongs to those who know they have no resources, material or spiritual, to help themselves before God. These are the “poor” to whom Jesus has come to announce “good news” (11:5) and to whom the kingdom of heaven belongs. This first beatitude undercuts the predominant worldview that assumes that material blessings are a sign of God’s approval in one’s life and that they automatically flow from one’s spiritual blessings. Instead, Jesus teaches that the norm of the kingdom of heaven is spiritual bankruptcy, unlike the spiritual self-sufficiency that was characteristic of the religious leaders. Jesus’ disciples will experience their most complete personal fulfillment as they draw on the resources of the kingdom of heaven to guide their lives.
2. Blessed are those who mourn . . . (5:4). Those who are bankrupt are also those who mourn. The loss of anything that a person counts valuable will produce mourning, whether it’s one’s financial support, or loved ones, or status in society, or even one’s spiritual standing before God. The psalmist understands this latter kind of mourning, for he says, “Streams of tears flow from my eyes, for your law is not obeyed” (Ps. 119:136). Those who are self-satisfied are tempted to rejoice in themselves and their accomplishments, but those who have reached the bottom of the barrel, whether it is spiritual or emotional or financial, or those who see the bankruptcy of those around them, will mourn.
. . . for they will be comforted. But, “Comfort, comfort my people” (Isa. 40:1), God says to those who have realized their loss and mourn over it. The arrival of the kingdom of heaven in Jesus’ ministry brings the first taste of God’s comforting blessing. The poor in spirit and those who mourn now experience the fulfillment of the messianic blessing promised in Isaiah 61:1–3. Jesus has come to save his people from their sins (Matt. 1:21; 11:28–30), but they will receive final comforting in the presence of the heavenly Lamb, when “God will wipe every tear from their eyes” (Rev. 7:17).
Mourning does not exclude the joy that is to typify Jesus’ followers, but instead characterizes life in the already-not yet presence of the kingdom. We weep with those who weep and rejoice with those who rejoice (Rom. 12:15). But our mourning does not turn to the grief of those who have no hope (1 Thess. 4:13). We mourn oppression and persecution, but we do not despair, because we know the end of the story. We mourn over personal sin and social evil, because we mourn the things that God mourns. But as we mourn, we become instruments of the good news of the kingdom of heaven as we bring the comfort of God with which we ourselves have been comforted (2 Cor. 1:3–7).
3. Blessed are the meek . . . (5:5). The domineering, the aggressive, the harsh, and the tyrannical are often those who attempt to dominate the earth and establish their own little kingdoms. But Jesus says that it is the “gentle” who will inherit the earth, harking back to the psalmist who encourages those who have been treated harshly by evildoers (Ps. 37:9, 11). This shifts the focus from individual personal qualities (“poor in spirit,” “those who mourn”) to interpersonal attributes (“the gentle”), to people who do not assert themselves over others in order to advance their own causes. This does not imply weakness, however, for this same term is applied to Jesus, who describes himself as “gentle and humble in heart” (11:29; cf. 21:5). Jesus was not afraid to confront the religious leaders when necessary or to rebuke his own disciples for self-centeredness. He will be strong enough to face the most torturous death possible as he endured the cross.
. . . for they will inherit the earth (5:5). Jesus exemplifies best what it means to be gentle. It takes tremendous strength to bring others into God’s will, but when that strength is coupled with a selfless nonassertiveness, it produces a gentle person who can patiently endure much to bring about God’s purposes for his people. Such gentle persons “will inherit the earth.” Jesus assumes this gentle posture as he preaches good news, proclaims freedom, and announces the arrival of the Lord’s favor (11:5), and blessed are those who do not take offence at his gentle messianic ministry (11:6). Ultimately this points to the reign of Christ on this earth (25:35), but even now Jesus’ disciples have entered into their spiritual inheritance (e.g., Eph. 1:18; Col. 1:12; Heb. 9:15).
4. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness . . . (5:6). Persons who “hunger and thirst” are in dire need. They will perish if they are not filled. Such is the passion of those who desire righteousness. In the context of the preceding beatitudes, righteousness includes several facets. It includes “justice” for those who have been downtrodden or who have experienced injustice. It includes the idea of personal ethical righteousness for those who desire a life lived above the entanglements of sin. And as in 3:15, it includes the salvation-historical sense of God’s saving activity. Those who hunger and thirst for righteousness desire to see justice executed on earth, they long to experience a deeper ethical righteousness in their own lives, and most of all they crave God’s promised salvation come to the earth.9
. . . for they will be filled (5:6). The ultimate source of this kind of righteousness is God himself (cf. Ps. 42:1–2; 63:1). His enablement is the only satisfaction for those who long for his standard of righteousness written in his law (119:10–11, 20, etc.).10 Although the teachers of the law and the Pharisees focus on attaining righteousness through studying and interpreting the law, their efforts result in self-righteousness, which will not enable them to enter the kingdom of heaven (cf. 5:20). But for those who deeply long for God’s multifaceted righteousness, they will be filled. That divine satisfaction will come in a final sense in God’s future reign, but it will be experienced in the present by those who respond to Jesus’ invitation to kingdom life and enter into a relationship with him as he fills their deepest personal hunger and thirst for righteousness (cf. 12:1–8; 26:26–29; John 4:13–15; 6:35ff.).
Jesus’ disciples see firsthand the contrast between the self-righteousness of the religious leaders and God’s righteousness in Jesus’ life and ministry. As they continue to experience the transformation that accompanies life in the realm of the kingdom of heaven, their hunger and thirst for God’s righteousness remains real as they live in the already-not yet of the present age, experiencing a passionate concern for the right things in kingdom living. This passionate pursuit of righteousness flows from a transformed heart. Jesus’ disciples will be vessels of God’s righteousness as they strive for justice, as they exemplify a life of righteousness, and as they bring God’s gift of salvation to a world still held in the sway of the evil one (Eph. 2:1–10).
5. Blessed are the merciful . . . (5:7). Mercy is a central biblical theme, because in God’s great mercy he does not give humans what they deserve; rather, he gives to them what they do not deserve (see Ps. 25:6–7; cf. Prov. 14:21). Likewise, the merciful are those who demonstrate forgiveness toward the guilty and kindness for the hurting and needy. The religious leadership in Jesus’ day tended toward being merciless because of their demand for rigorous observance of the law. Their motive was commendable in that it was driven by a desire for the people of Israel to be pure, but it was inexcusable because their unbending demands produced harshness and condemnation toward those who did not meet their standards.
. . . for they will be shown mercy (5:7). Without sacrificing God’s standard of holiness, Jesus commends those who demonstrate mercy toward the needy, because the mercy that they show others will be shown toward them. Showing mercy toward others does not earn a person entrance to the kingdom; rather, it is a heart attitude that opens a person to receive the offer of mercy that Jesus has proclaimed in his gospel of the kingdom. The religious leaders cannot receive God’s mercy because they have become so self-satisfied with their own religious attainments that they don’t believe that they need mercy.
Jesus’ disciples learn from this beatitude that God’s good requirement has always been mercy. Recall the classic statements of Micah: “He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God” (Mic. 6:8). Those who receive mercy will demonstrate mercy, a theme reemphasized somewhat differently in the parable on forgiveness (Matt. 18:33). The true disciple has experienced God’s merciful forgiveness toward an undeserving sinner, which in turn will produce such overwhelming gratitude and deep understanding of forgiveness that he or she will in turn demonstrate that same mercy toward other undeserving sinners.
6. Blessed are the pure in heart . . . (5:8). In the sixth beatitude Jesus goes to the core of human life, the heart. Purity or cleanliness was an important religious theme in Jesus’ day. Observing all the Old Testament laws of being clean could bypass the most important purity of all, purity of the heart. Jesus declares here that a pure heart is what produces external purity, not vice versa (e.g., 15:1–19). In this beatitude Jesus continues an important Old Testament theme in which a pure heart describes a person whose single-minded loyalty to God affects every area of life. “He who loves a pure heart and whose speech is gracious will have the king for his friend” (Prov. 22:11; cf. Ps. 24:3–6; 73:1).
While the people of the Old Testament knew clearly that the human heart was evil (see Prov. 20:9; Jer. 17:9), they knew equally well that God’s work in an evil heart could bring purification and a new motivation for following him. “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit in me” (Ps. 51:10). The pure in heart are those who have not necessarily attended to all of the ritual purification ceremonies of the Pharisees but who nonetheless have given undivided loyalty to God and his ways.
. . . for they will see God (5:8). The undivided devotion of the pure in heart will be rewarded by their greatest hope: “They will see God.” While no human can look fully at the glorious face of God (Ex. 33:20), the hope that culminates this age is that “they will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads” (Rev. 22:4). But Jesus’ pronouncement of this beatitude to those of his day also has an immediate fulfillment of their hopes. Jesus is Immanuel, “God with us” (1:23). For those who have set their heart on God and not simply religious ritualism and who respond to Jesus’ message of the gospel of the kingdom, they are invited to enter into a fellowship with him in which they will experience the unthinkable; they will see God in Jesus.
7. Blessed are the peacemakers . . . (5:9). The seventh beatitude focuses on “the peacemakers.” The theme of “peace” (Heb. šalom; Gk. eirene) permeates the biblical record. It indicates completeness and wholeness in every area of life, including one’s relationship with God, neighbors, and nations (cf. Ps. 28:3; Eccl. 3:8; Isa. 26:3). The zealots of Jesus’ day attempted to bring self-rule back to Israel through the guerrilla-warfare tactic of divide and conquer, while the religious leaders brought as much division within Israel by their sectarian commitments. But the real peacemakers are those who bring the good news that “your God reigns,” who brings ultimate harmony between all peoples (cf. Isa. 52:7). Making peace, therefore, has messianic overtones (cf. “Prince of Peace” in Isa 9:6–7), and the true peacemakers are those who wait and work for God, who makes whole the division created by humans.
. . . for they will be called sons of God (5:9). Jesus turns aside the various political, religious, and militaristic attempts of those within Israel to establish their supremacy. They have created even more division; thus, he turns to those who want God’s peace. With the inauguration of the kingdom of heaven, Jesus himself is the supreme peacemaker, making peace between God and humans, and among humans (Eph. 2:11–17; Col. 1:20). Those who have waited for God’s messianic peace can now respond to Jesus’ invitation, and they will receive the ultimate reward: to be called “sons of God,” fulfilling the role that Israel has assumed but taken for granted (Deut. 14:1; Hos. 1:10). Those who respond to Jesus’ ministry are heirs of the kingdom and reflect the character of their heavenly Father as they carry Jesus’ mission of peacemaking to the world.
8a. Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness . . . (5:10). The eighth beatitude makes it once again clear that the Beatitudes are not entrance requirements to the kingdom of God, or else Jesus would be sanctioning torture or martyrdom as a way of earning one’s entrance to the kingdom. At the same time, this again makes clear that the Beatitudes are not ethical demands for personal behavior, or else Jesus would be implying that it would be good for his disciples to seek out persecution in order to gain his blessing.
Instead, in the eighth beatitude Jesus comforts those who have suffered undeserved persecution.11 Persecution for one’s own sin or foolishness may be deserved (cf. 1 Peter 2:20; 3:14; 4:14–15), but these people have been persecuted because of their stand for righteousness. With his comforting words, Jesus emphatically pronounces condemnation on those doing the persecuting. Although the persecutors are not named, Luke’s parallel beatitude pronounces a “woe” on those who receive religious acclaim from the masses, as did the false prophets of the Old Testament (cf. Luke 6:26). This implicates once again the religious leadership of Jesus’ day, who persecuted those who did not adopt their particular brand of righteousness.
Persecution can take the form of physical or verbal abuse, or both, but it especially points to the way that the religious leaders hounded the populace and excluded from their fellowship any who did not meet up to their standards (cf. Luke 6:22; Matt. 23:34).12 Sadly and ironically, the religious leaders were persecuting in the name of their self-righteousness the very people who stood for true righteousness.
. . . for theirs is the kingdom of heaven (5:10). As difficult as is the persecution, the reward far outweighs the hazard, because “theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” This is a present tense declaration that duplicates the causal clause of the first beatitude (5:3).13 Jesus here gives hope to the people of his day who have stood up and contended for God’s form of righteousness against the self-righteousness of the religious leaders. Although they have been persecuted for it, Jesus says that the kingdom of God belongs to them, not the religious leaders, and all they need to do now is to respond to his invitation to join the kingdom.
8b. Blessed are you when people insult you . . . (5:11–12). The emphasis shifts more and more from pronouncement on the crowds and the religious leadership to instruction for Jesus’ disciples. This is made explicit by the shift from the general third person plural (“those who”) to the second person plural (“you”), the disciples whom Jesus teaches in the SM (cf. 5:1–2). The religious leadership will insult, persecute, and utter evil against the disciples in God’s name, but Jesus will reveal these leaders to be no different than the hypocritical leaders of the Old Testament, who persecuted God’s true prophets. The harrassment his disciples receive is more specific than “because of righteousness” (5:10); it is “because of me” (5:11). Since Jesus himself will experience opposition and persecution, his disciples should expect the same.14
In this instruction Jesus prepares his disciples for the time when persecution will indeed come to them, offering them the hope that no matter how hard the circumstances, they are truly heirs of the kingdom. Although the kingdom belongs to them, it does not at this time usher in a time of peace and safety. In fact, Jesus indicates that their reward will not come in an earthly kingdom but “in heaven.” He looks down the long corridor of time until the kingdom is established on earth in its final form and offers hope during those times when it seems doubtful that his kingdom will ever arrive. It may not look like it from a religious, economic, or social perspective, but the kingdom is theirs nonetheless—and in this they will truly rejoice.
Salt and Light (5:13–16)
IN THE BEATITUDES Jesus gave a pronouncement to the crowds and religious leaders and instruction to his disciples concerning the nature of life in the kingdom of heaven. Now with two piercing metaphors, he focuses on his disciples and declares how they will impact this world with the kingdom life they possess. Into the world in which they can expect to find persecution (5:10–12), Jesus’ disciples are to go as “salt” and as “light” (5:13–16). These metaphors reveal the nature of kingdom life that pervades those who belong to Jesus, the impact that life will have on a watching world, and the responsibility of Jesus’ disciples as they live in this world and await the coming of the kingdom of God.
You are the salt of the earth (5:13). Salt had a variety of natural qualities and uses in the ancient world. It was so important that it was used as a medium of exchange in commercial ventures across the Mediterranean, Aegean, and Adriatic seas.15 The variety of uses for salt leads to different interpretations of what Jesus meant to communicate with the analogy. (1) A primary use for salt until recent years was as a preservative. In a society with no refrigeration, salt could be rubbed into meat or fish to slow decay. Some suggest that with this analogy Jesus was indicating the influence his disciples would have on the moral decay of a fallen world.16
(2) Salt is also an essential element in the diet of human beings and other warm-blooded animals. For humans, salt is normally ingested as a seasoning added to foods, while animals commonly ingest salt from natural or artificial salt licks. This is the most familiar use of salt to modern readers, so many suggest that Jesus indicates that his disciples will provide a God-enhanced, kingdom seasoning to this world with their presence.17
(3) Salt was also used in small quantities as a fertilizer when applied to certain types of soil (“earth”). Thus, some suggest that Jesus’ disciples will enhance the growth of God’s work in this world.18
(4) A widely held view suggests that since salt had a varied use in the ancient world, Jesus is not pointing to one specific application but is using it in a broad, inclusive sense to refer to a vital necessity for everyday life. Sirach echoed such a perspective (Sir. 39:26), and Pliny commented that “there is nothing more useful than salt and sunshine.”19 Taken in this way, the metaphor indicates that Jesus’ disciples are vitally important to the world in a general religious sense.20
This last suggestion is appealing because to stress too closely one particular application of salt can lead to inappropriate allegorizing. In other words, Jesus indicates with this metaphor that his disciples themselves (“you are the salt”) are necessary for the welfare of the world. That is, the disciples have experienced a transformation in their lives as they have come into contact with the kingdom of heaven. They are now different from the people of this earth, and their presence is necessary as God’s means of influencing the world for good.
Jesus’ next statement has caused considerable discussion: “But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men” (5:13). Strictly speaking, salt cannot lose its saltiness, because sodium chloride is a stable compound. What then did Jesus mean?
(1) One possibility is that Jesus is alluding to rock formations that contained deposits of sodium chloride. Meat and fish were packed in these rocks to preserve them. After a period of time the salt leached out of the rocks, so the rocks were not good for anything and so thrown out. As believers, we are either a preservative or a worthless rock!
(2) Jesus may also have had in mind the salt that was collected from the Dead Sea by evaporation. This salt often included crystals of another mineral, gypsum, which is formed by the precipitation of calcium sulfate from seawater. Salt and gypsum were often mixed in various saline deposits. When people went to collect salt, this impure mixture of salt and gypsum could easily be mistaken for pure salt. But the mixture was not usable for either preservation or seasoning, so was regarded as having lost its usefulness.21
(3) Jesus may be alluding to the use of salt blocks by Arab bakers to line the floor of their ovens. After some time the intense heat eventually caused the blocks to crystallize and undergo a change in chemical composition, finally being thrown out as unserviceable.
(4) A quotation attributed to Rabbi Joshua ben Haninia (c. A.D. 90) may offer some help. When rebuffing a trick question, Rabbi Haninia alludes to a proverbial saying when he asks, “Can salt lose its flavor?” The context of the saying implies that it is impossible for salt to lose its flavor, because he parallels the saying by asking, “Does the mule (being sterile) bear young?” (b. Bek. 8b). Sterile mules can no more bear young than salt can lose its flavor.
If this last option is the background, Jesus is citing a known proverbial saying on impossibilities to describe an equally impossible characteristic of his disciples.22 As they go out into the world as salt, they must recognize that the proof of the reality of their profession is in the nature of their lives. True disciples cannot lose what has made them disciples, because they have become changed persons, made new by the life of the kingdom of heaven. However, imposter disciples, who simply attempt to put on the flavoring of the kingdom life, will be revealed. Their salt is only an external flavoring, not a real personal change. This imposter cannot be made salty again because he or she never had that kingdom life in the first place.
Jesus’ next statement drives home the seriousness of the issue: “It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.” The response to imposter disciples is rejection and judgment by the very people for whom they are to have value. Imposters will be known for what they are. They have nothing to offer the world, because they are no different from the world. So the world turns on them for their arrogant hypocrisy. The challenge is for professing disciples to examine their nature and to confess honestly whether or not they have been transformed by the life of the kingdom of God.
The light of the world (5:14–16). Jesus’ disciples are not only “the salt of the earth” but also “the light of the world.” The light metaphor continues the salt metaphor and takes it one step further to illustrate Jesus’ point. “Light” is an important theme in Scripture, normally emphasizing the removal of darkness in the unfolding of biblical history and theology. The literal contrast between physical light and darkness provokes a profound metaphorical contrast between metaphysical good and evil, God and evil forces, believers and unbelievers. Jesus later declares that he is “the light of the world” (John 8:12; 9:5), who has come as the light that enlightens all people (1:4–14), so that those believing in him will no longer be in darkness (12:46).
In the same way as Jesus’ life and message of salvation bring light to those in darkness (Matt. 4:15–16), his disciples are a living demonstration of the arrival of the kingdom of heaven. The light of revelation from God that accompanies Jesus’ announcement of the kingdom is not just carried by his disciples; they are that light (Matt. 5:14–16; cf. Eph. 5:8; Phil. 2:15).
Jesus continues the proverbial “impossible” language he used in the salt metaphor by stating that “a city on a hill cannot be hidden,” and “neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl.” The city to which Jesus refers may be Jerusalem, which sits on Mount Zion, since Israel with Jerusalem as the holy city was considered light to the world (Isa. 2:2–5; 42:6; 49:6). But since Jesus is now in Galilee near Capernaum, he may be using a local city as his illustration, because he often used images from his surroundings to illustrate his teaching.23 In either case, it is impossible to hide a city located on a hill.
The lamp used in a typical Palestinian home was a partially closed reservoir made of clay. It had a hole on top to pour oil in and a spout on one end into which a wick of flax or cotton was set. It was a fairly small lamp, which gave off only a modest light; thus, to give maximum illumination it was placed on a lampstand. Since many Jewish homes were often modest one-room structures, such an elevated lamp could give light to everyone in the house. Lamps were essential for finding one’s way in enclosed areas during the night and were placed under a measuring bowl only to extinguish the light (cf. m. Šabb. 16.1).24
Jesus’ disciples are called to be the light of the world. They cannot be hidden, for their very nature, the kingdom life within them, is living testimony to those in the world who do not yet have that light. Their good works are produced by the light and life that come from God. It is not of their own making, because those who see them in action will glorify not them but their “Father in heaven” (cf. the motive of the religious leaders in 6:1). The title “Father” is used in Matthew here for the first time, introducing the special relationship that exists between God and Jesus’ disciples. Jesus has been declared to be the beloved Son (3:17), and now those who have received the kingdom light are children of the heavenly Father as well (cf. John 1:7–13).25
Jesus’ disciples possess kingdom life, which produces good deeds from a changed life. Bearing the light of the gospel in both message and life will bring people to know that the kingdom of heaven truly is in the world, and they will glorify their heavenly Father. The Beatitudes hinted at this direction, but the metaphors of salt and light are the first explicit indication that the presence of the kingdom produces changed lives.
Bridging Contexts
WE THE PEOPLE of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish Justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.26
The Preamble of the Constitution of the United States is one of the most memorable statements in American history. It states succinctly the ethos of the nation to be, and provides a summarization of the articles of the constitution to follow. It gives insight to the intention of the framers of the Constitution, the details of which are enumerated in the articles. The preamble is a hint that the Constitution would be a boldly original attempt to create an energetic central government at the same time that the sovereignty of the people was preserved.27
In a similar manner, the Beatitudes serve as a sort of preamble to the SM, but they are an even more memorable treasure for humanity. They give a succinct statement of the ethos of the kingdom of heaven that Jesus has announced and summarize the principles of kingdom life that he will articulate in the Sermon that follows. We find in them an abstract of Jesus’ history-altering intention for establishing the kingdom of heaven as well as a clue to Matthew’s organization of his Gospel. The Beatitudes are a radically bold statement of Jesus’ intent to establish the kingdom of heaven on earth, which will bring true peace and freedom for all who dare to follow him as his disciples. It is through those disciples that his kingdom will bring blessing to all of the peoples of the earth.
Interpreting the Beatitudes. The Beatitudes and the Sermon on the Mount as a whole must be interpreted according to Jesus’ original intention, or else we will find ourselves going contrary to his objective for establishing the kingdom of heaven on earth. When approaching the Beatitudes we must avoid sliding into various extremes. (1) We must not conclude that Jesus is calling his listeners to a meritorious attempt at earning salvation by living out these character qualities in order to enter the kingdom. Jesus’ Beatitudes are statements of grace, not law. (2) We must avoid making these into burdensome ethical demands on those who are members of the kingdom. There are no imperatives here, except to “rejoice” when one experiences the blessing of God in the middle of persecution (5:12). (3) We must not conclude that these are eschatological blessings that only will be realized at the end of the age. The kingdom blessings are found in both the present tense (5:3, 10) and the future tense (5:4–9).28
Jesus uses the Beatitudes to speak to a variety of listeners and to communicate several messages about the kingdom of heaven. Specifically, he makes a pronouncement about the kingdom to Israel as a whole, and at the same time he gives instruction about the nature of kingdom life to his disciples.
(1) Pronouncement. In fulfillment of the prophecy of Isaiah 61:1, Jesus is the Coming One, who is endowed with the Spirit and anointed by the Lord to preach good news to the poor and to proclaim freedom for the captives and release for the prisoners (cf. 11:5). The kingdom of heaven belongs to those who respond. The boundaries that separate successful from unsuccessful, clean from unclean, righteous from unrighteous, have tended to be of human creation, and they are now broken down. In these eight brief declarations, Jesus makes two sweeping pronouncements.
(a) A pronouncement of invitation to those awaiting God’s blessing. The kingdom of heaven is available to the oppressed in the land, to those who doubt themselves or are declared to be unworthy of the kingdom. The statement of blessing in the first half of each beatitude responds to the character qualities of those in the Old Testament who have sought God. “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” is Jesus’ eschatological reply to the cry of the psalmist, “This poor man called, and the LORD heard him; he saved him out of all his troubles” (Ps. 34:6). Not the rich, not the powerful, not the high and the mighty, but the poor in spirit are those who seek God.
So begins Jesus’ pronouncement about the arrival of the kingdom of heaven. The poor in spirit, those who mourn, the meek, those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, the merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers, those persecuted because of righteousness—these are the people who have pursued God by rejecting pride and self-sufficiency, which is the path of sin and idolatry. They are indeed blessed, because now Jesus invites them to respond to his message of the arrival of the kingdom of heaven.
(b) A pronouncement of condemnation on those who think that they have God’s blessing. The second pronouncement is one of condemnation on those who have rejected God’s ways and have found satisfaction in the pleasures of life apart from God. This is especially emphasized in Luke’s version of the Sermon, where Jesus gives four woes to counterbalance the pronouncements:
But woe to you who are rich,
for you have already received your comfort.
Woe to you who are well fed now,
for you will go hungry.
Woe to you who laugh now,
for you will mourn and weep.
Woe to you when all men speak well of you,
for that is how their fathers treated the false prophets. (Luke 6:24–26)
These “woes” suggest that we look for a note of condemnation in Matthew’s record of the Beatitudes. This pronouncement of condemnation is especially directed to the religious leaders of Israel. Jesus will stun the crowds and his disciples by declaring that the teachers of the law and the Pharisees are not in the kingdom of heaven (Matt. 5:20). They have found self-satisfaction in their self-righteousness, which has excluded them from the blessing that has arrived with Jesus’ ministry.
Thus, each of Jesus’ Beatitudes contains an explicit pronouncement of invitation to those seemingly unworthy of the kingdom, but each also contains an implicit pronouncement of condemnation on those who think themselves to be worthy but are not. For example, in the first beatitude Jesus graciously pronounces that the kingdom belongs to those who see themselves as having no spiritual resources worthy of the kingdom. But at the same time he pronounces condemnation on the religious elite who are full of pride in their religious accomplishments. Indeed, the religiously wealthy must humble themselves before God to recognize that they have no spiritual resources that warrant entrance to the kingdom of God.
Rooting the Beatitudes in the historical context of the original meaning of Jesus’ ministry helps us avoid contemporary misinterpretation. The SM was intended, at least in part, as a historical indictment of the religious establishment’s way of satisfying God. The teachers of the law and the Pharisees are held up throughout the Sermon as a foil to Jesus’ declaration of kingdom life, because they are setting a wrong example of righteousness,29 namely, the performance of a specific interpretation of the law. The tendency of these Jewish leaders was to develop external righteousness without due regard to inner righteousness. External righteousness that masks inner corruption is what Jesus refers to as “hypocrisy” (cf. 23:27). He declares, by contrast, that the righteousness of the kingdom of God is first internal, a matter of the heart, which will in turn affect outward behavior (15:16–20). Thus, each beatitude contains an implicit condemnation of religious hypocrisy that the people are to reject.
But it is not enough only to hear a pronouncement. While the Beatitudes are not entrance requirements, they do offer an invitation to the crowd to respond to Jesus’ announcement of the kingdom of heaven. There are only two choices: the way of the kingdom or the way of the religious establishment. As Jesus pronounces the availability of the kingdom to all, he offers the way to life. But the door to life is narrow—as narrow as Jesus (cf. 7:13–14). All must come through him.
(2) Instruction. The Beatitudes also have special instructional value for his disciples. The qualities that exemplified the godly person in the Old Testament are now made an eschatological reality with the arrival of the kingdom of God. These qualities will accompany the transformation that occurs in the life of each disciple as each submits to the operation of kingdom life through the Spirit. In the Beatitudes, and indeed in the SM as a whole, the emphasis is on a righteousness that begins with the transformation of the inner life and then moves to conform external behavior to inward values (e.g., 5:20–48).
The problem with the teachers of the law and the Pharisees was their tendency to promote external righteousness first (cf. 15:6–9; 23:25–28). Jesus focuses instead on the transformation of the heart by the arrival of the kingdom of heaven, which will then direct the transformation of the entire person—word, thought, action, and deeds. This had been God’s intention from the original creation, but now with arrival of the kingdom of heaven in the ministry of Jesus, discipleship to him will bring congruency between inner and external life (cf. 5:17–20). The Beatitudes are statements of reality about the kind of characteristics that will be produced in the disciple who participates in kingdom life.
Therefore, the Beatitudes are not imperatives or required standards that disciples must perform in order to procure God’s approval. If that were the case, they would not be much different than the rigorous demands for purity found among the Jewish leaders, and they would lead to the same kind of religious hypocrisy that Jesus condemns. Instead, they provide guidelines for the kind of life that God intends to produce in his disciples. With the arrival of the kingdom of God in each disciple, these character qualities become a concrete reality. This is the link between Jesus’ teaching on discipleship and later New Testament discussions of regeneration and sanctification through the work of the Holy Spirit. Note, for example, Peter’s description of the transformational process for those who have been born anew by the living and enduring word of God in 1 Peter 1:22–2:3. As Jesus’ disciples face the daily challenges lived in the realities of a fallen world, they must reject the evil path and allow God’s Spirit to produce these Christlike characteristics in them.
As such, the Beatitudes contrast Jesus’ values with the values of the world. Larry Richards displays this contrast of Jesus’ values and those of the world in the following way:
Jesus’ values poor in spirit mourn meek hunger and thirst for righteousness merciful pure in heart peacemakers persecuted because of righteousness | Countervalues self-confident, competent, self-reliant pleasure-seeking, hedonistic, “the beautiful people” proud, powerful, important satisfied, “well adjusted,” practical self-righteous, “able to take care of themselves” “adult,” sophisticated, broad-minded competitive, aggressive adaptable, popular, “don’t rock the boat”30 |
Each of these can be explored more fully, but they help illustrate the values that Jesus establishes with the arrival of the kingdom of heaven. The Beatitudes are bold statements of the nature of kingdom life. It begins with abandoning pride in one’s spiritual accomplishment before God and proceeds as one allows God to produce kingdom life in his disciples’ everyday lives.
Contemporary Significance
THE APPLICABILITY OF the Beatitudes. The Beatitudes with which the SM begins are pronouncements of blessing on those waiting for God’s messianic activity, pronouncements of condemnation on the religious establishment who have attempted to secure God’s blessing through their own efforts, and instructions for Jesus’ disciples about the life that is truly “blessed” from God’s perspective. But many people grate under them because they can seem so foreign to our ideas of human aspiration. Who really wants to be poor, to mourn, to be meek . . . ?
Dallas Willard’s influential book The Divine Conspiracy is a forceful development of Christian discipleship, concentrating on the Gospel of Matthew and the SM in particular as his biblical foundation. In his discussion of the Beatitudes, he recounts how a woman told him that her son had dropped his Christian identification and left the church because of the Beatitudes. This son, a strong, intelligent, military person, had had an unhappy experience:
As often happens, he had been told that the Beatitudes—with its list of the poor and the sad, the weak and the mild—were a picture of the ideal Christian. He explained to his mother very simply: “That’s not me. I can never be like that.”31
I understand this young man’s experience. In my teens I also renounced my Christian identity and church for similar reasons. I clearly remember sitting in youth group meetings where the characteristics of the Beatitudes were held up as ideals for us to emulate. I remember snickering in the back row with my buddies as the youth leaders cajoled us to cease being cocky and macho and become meek and mild. The four of us were three-sport athletes in high school, and the picture of the Christian life that was held up for us from the Beatitudes seemed lamely pathetic. As I think back, our youthful cockiness and machismo were probably just as pathetic, but the Christian life painted by that church had nothing to offer us as a viable, robust alternative.
Not too many years after ruling out the Beatitudes for real life, I sat under the brilliant stars in a jungle in Vietnam and their significance overwhelmed me. I was a member of a cocky airborne infantry combat battalion. We were a well-trained, exceedingly efficient war machine. One night as I sat on guard duty after one especially ravaging battle, I experienced the reality of what Jesus addressed in the Beatitudes. I had killed gleefully that day. I had ripped the life from other young men without a twinge of conscience. I saw the bodies of my nineteen-and twenty-year-old squad members ravaged by other young men who were our hated enemies, yet probably none of us on either side could really offer any adequate explanation for our animosity.
That night I experienced brokenness. I became poor in spirit as I recognized the depth of my depravity and shuddered as I considered the possibility of my fate before God, if he existed. I mourned at the evil in me and at the evil that I saw emerge so quickly in all of us. For the first time in my young life, I understood that I was not the invincible captain of my ship. I could be killed at any moment. So from that very night I began to realize that there was indeed a very different way to live. I did not articulate it that night in these words, but meekness, righteousness, mercy, purity, and peacemaking all became so much more clearly preferable than the way that I had been pursuing significance and success.
I now realize I was experiencing the beginnings of the pronouncement aspects of the Beatitudes. I saw for the first time the horror of my life as a human apart from God. I desperately needed something, but what it was, I had no clue. I experienced the condemnation of my old cockiness and self-sufficiency, and above all, the condemnation of my arrogant abuse of people in my quest to satisfy my own lusts. This transition in my life readied me and enabled me to accept Jesus’ invitation to the life of the kingdom of heaven two years later.
I didn’t try to do anything to get to this place. It came about as it should in any person who takes an honest look at the way of humans apart from God. It came about as I realized in the depth of my soul that there truly is an either-or choice in life—Jesus’ way of the kingdom of God or the world’s way to destruction. It is no coincidence that Jesus culminates the SM with these either-or choices (7:13–27).
No, I didn’t do anything to get to this place, but I now know that someone else did. Jesus says later, in the last fateful night before his crucifixion, that he would send another in his place: a Counselor, the very Spirit of God, who will “convict” the world of sin and righteousness and judgment (John 16:8). That’s what happened to me—and that’s what happens to every person apart from Jesus and the kingdom of heaven, because that is the only way a person can repent and turn to God. It is the Spirit’s work of conviction that brings a person to the place where she or he can respond to the invitation to the gospel of the kingdom, and in that they are blessed.
In the same way that the Beatitudes express the blessedness that comes to the crowds from the convicting work of the Holy Spirit, they also express the blessedness that comes from the renewing work of the Holy Spirit in the life of a disciple. I don’t believe I have ever tried to be poor in spirit or consciously wanted to mourn or be meek. I tend to be repulsed by people who talk too much about wanting to be righteous, merciful, or pure, or who talk about making peace and will gladly suffer for Jesus’ sake. But remarkably, I have seen these characteristics produced in this formerly cocky, arrogant young man as I have focused my life on walking with Jesus.
The individual characteristics of the Beatitudes are not self-produced, nor can we simply learn or emulate them in an attempt to bring them about in our lives. They are products of a life energized by the Spirit of God. They are, like the listing Paul gives in Galatians 5:22–23, the fruit of the Spirit. They are a wholistic view of what the Spirit will produce in the life of a disciple of Jesus who is walking in his ways and is being transformed into his image.
So it does help tremendously to study the Beatitudes, because they reveal the values of the kingdom of heaven. As in any study of Scripture, they show us God’s ways in distinction from the world’s ways and help us to know the right path. But the wonderful truth behind the study of the Beatitudes and our obedience to their truth as the Word of God is that the characteristics of the Beatitudes are ultimately produced by the Spirit of God.
The young man mentioned earlier had turned away from Christianity because of the perception he had of the Christian life displayed in the Beatitudes. Two things are probably at play here. (1) Like me, he is a product of a world that glories in self, in personal and institutional strength and bravado. The Beatitudes turn those values on end to show what humanity rightly related to God and to each other will be through the arrival of the kingdom of God.
(2) He quite likely has seen faulty applications of the Beatitudes in his church experiences. Throughout church history the Beatitudes have been subjected to faulty interpretation that has led to extremes. Many years later I came to understand that the church I left in my teens was theologically liberal. They really did believe that the Beatitudes were an expression of the ideal life that humans need to pursue to find God. They rightly recognized that the Beatitudes are an ideal statement of the Christian life, but they mistakenly thought that they could do it on their own. Some groups have contended that these characteristics are not for today’s rough-and-tumble, sin-wracked world, but await some far-off future kingdom. Still others have based entire personal and ecclesiastical practices of pacifism and nonviolence on the Beatitudes’ overriding centrality for a present-day theological system.
No wonder the young man did not see what Jesus meant to communicate. The Beatitudes are neither a means of entering nor of advancing in the kingdom. They are expressions of Spirit-produced kingdom life, revealing to the entire world that a transformation of creation is beginning in Jesus’ disciples. That is why we are blessed.
The applicability of the sayings on salt and light. Throughout history humans have attempted to establish their own little kingdoms on the earth, whether through a Nazi blitzkrieg, a Communist revolution, or an Islamic jihad. It is a real temptation for humans to resort to such means, for fallen creatures want to impose their ways on others. But Jesus has brought the kingdom of God in a very different way. It is the way of regeneration and renewal by the Spirit. Spirit-produced poverty in spirit, mourning, meekness, righteousness, mercy, purity, and peace are the characteristics of Jesus’ disciples that allows God to establish his kingdom in his way. The sayings on salt and light are natural outgrowths of the Beatitudes, since the kingdom life found in Jesus’ disciples is demonstrated in their lives in this world.32
The salt metaphor informs us that our lives are important to this world. Regardless of our status or profession, the kingdom life that we possess is invaluable for the preserving/seasoning/fertilizing effect it will have in our daily realm. The metaphor also has a warning for imposter disciples, because the kingdom life that is transforming the lives of true disciples cannot be imitated or manufactured. The light metaphor continues the thought, but emphasizes more directly the positive influence disciples will make in this sin-darkened world. We not only carry the light of the gospel of the kingdom of God, but we are that light. Because of the work of the Spirit in our lives, our transformation has produced kingdom light in us, affecting every aspect of our being.
Two implications from these truths call for our attention. (1) Scripture speaks directly to the need of Christians to meet together regularly for support, encouragement, and training (e.g., Heb. 10:24–25). The church is our haven, our hospital, and our training center. But to be salt and light, we must go out into the world of people who are dying without the message of the gospel. This emphasis was initiated in the calling scene of chapter 4, where Jesus called two sets of brothers to be fishers of men. The people we are to reach are in the world around us. They are our next-door neighbors, our mail delivery person, our children’s friends and parents and teachers, our coworkers at the office, our server in the local restaurant, and on and on. The church or Bible study or retreat center performs an invaluable service to support, guide, and prepare us for life, but life is mostly played out beyond those confines. Disciples who are salt and light are called to be intentional sojourners in the world.
(2) Intentional sojourning in the world as salt and light requires that we know who we are and what makes us different from the world. It isn’t just a religious title. We must speak the truth of the gospel for people to know it, but we are called to live the truth of the gospel for people to see that it is real. The light of the kingdom will produce a changed life in us, “that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven” (5:16). The Beatitudes emphasize the change produced in the character of disciples who are transformed by the arrival of the kingdom. Intentional sojourning in the world requires us to be alert to the stark difference between our discipleship and the world’s values and habits, and to live out the kingdom values summarized in the Beatitudes and revealed more fully in the rest of the SM.
Much of this is accomplished in the ordinariness of life. We may think that being salt and light will be carried out in dramatic ways as we preach, witness, or go on a short-term missions. But if, as we have suggested, the world to whom we are to go are people found in the everyday routines of life, they will see our transformed life in our everyday activities. It is the transformation of those everyday activities that will cause them to praise our Father in heaven. Everyday people are so affected by sin that they are less than what God has created them to be. They lie when they don’t want to, they cheat just to try and get ahead, they hurt most the ones they most love. Many people we encounter don’t really want to be like that, but they have no cure for the sin that has distorted who they are as created in the image of God.
Others have developed a “who cares” attitude. They speak into a cell phone as if they were the only person for blocks. They curse like Madonna on the David Letterman show; their kids think the world is their personal playground, and they drive like maniacs. A recent poll by the research group Public Agenda found that rudeness is getting worse in America. Seventy-nine percent of those surveyed said that lack of respect and courtesy is a serious problem. Eighty-eight percent said that they often or sometimes come across people who are rude or disrespectful. Poor customer service has become so rampant that nearly half of those surveyed said they have walked out of a store in the past year because of it. But interestingly, the people surveyed had few solutions. Thirty-six percent said that when confronted with rude behavior, the right thing is to respond with excessive politeness. Twenty percent said it is best to point out the bad behavior. But forty-two percent said the best thing to do is walk away.33
It may seem trivial, but this is what the Beatitudes address, as well as Jesus’ sayings on salt and light. Yes, we have and must declare the saving message of the gospel. People can’t change until they have heard the message. But the old adage is so true that actions speak louder than words. We must show by our lives that we are different. Otherwise we are hiding our light from the world. Are we rude and disrespectful? Do we go along with the crowd that is ridiculing a player on an opposing team? Do we give the best service to our customers, whether they are customers in Wal-Mart, students at your school, or parishioners in your church? Jesus tells us that his disciples won’t be rude and disrespectful if we allow the kingdom life to do its full work in us. And when we are respectful, courteous, considerate, and service-oriented, the world around us will see that Jesus really does make a difference.
Donald McCullough has written a fascinating book with practical advice in this direction.34 While this book is not targeted primarily toward Christians, he is a professing Christian, and he bases the respect that we owe one another on the fact of humanity’s creation in the image of God. Clever titles of chapters range from “Don’t Show Up at the Wedding in a Baseball Cap,” to “Kneel Down to Speak with Children,” to “Leave a Tip Worth Working For.” His intention in writing about these seemingly insignificant issues is worth our attention:
I’m more interested in the little things, such as remembering to say “thank you” and to call your mom on Mother’s Day. These things may not seem very important when compared with the major problems facing our culture. Yet they may be the best place to begin; they may be the only honest place to begin. If a person can’t remember to say thank you to her housekeeper, it probably won’t matter much if she writes a major philosophical treatise on kindness; if a person is rude to his family, the angels probably won’t give a holy rip if he preaches soaring sermons on the nature of love.35
Likewise, Jesus teaches us that we witness to the reality of the presence of the kingdom of God in little kindnesses. Disciples who are poor in spirit will mourn over rudeness and abuse, and we will be gentle, pursuing righteousness, practicing mercy, and being peacemakers, even if it brings us grief. In so living, we will be revealed as sons of God, the true salt of the earth and the glowing light of the world.