Matthew’s beatitudes are proclaimed several times in the course of the Sunday liturgy and at numerous weddings and funerals. You’ve heard me preach on them many times. Today we have an opportunity to reflect on them in more depth.
Let’s recall Matthew’s introduction to the Beatitudes. Jesus was baptized by John and then retreated into the desert for 40 days. He then called the first disciples, Peter and Andrew and James and John. Jesus then got in full gear “teaching in the synagogues, preaching the Good News of the Kingdom and healing people who had all kinds of illnesses and diseases.”
This introduction mimics the account of the exodus. The Jewish people marched through the Red Sea and then wandered in the desert for 40 years. When they came to Mount Sinai, Moses climbed the mountain, received the Law from God, instructed the people and then led them to the Promised Land, the land of milk and honey.
Matthew presents Jesus climbing the mountain and then sitting down. This is a very important detail. Rabbis almost always sat when they taught. In fact, any profound message was proclaimed sitting down. Then, “he opened his mouth and said to them…” That phrase tells us that something important is about to be spoken. Moses gave the people the old Law, the 10 commandments. Jesus was about to give the people the new Law, the 9 Beatitudes, the epitome of God’s word to the world. Let’s look now at the Beatitudes themselves.
Each Beatitude begins with and important Greek word that is often translated simply as “blessed.” It makes much more sense to use the phrase, “O the blessedness of.” This is a congratulatory exclamation. With this in mind, I’m going to put the Beatitudes in my own words, and offer my personal interpretation.
O the blessedness of the poor in spirit – those followers who acknowledge that in God’s presence they are totally and completely impoverished and that they can do nothing without God’s power. They have experienced the Kingdom of God.
O the blessedness of those who mourn those followers whose hearts break for the suffering of the world and who see their own sins as part of that suffering. Their mourning will bring the comfort of the Kingdom into their hearts and the world.
O the blessedness of the meek – those followers who have the humility to recognize their own weakness and ignorance and who can control their passions. They will bring the Kingdom’s light into the world.
O the blessedness of those followers who are starving for what is good and right and just. They will discover the Kingdom in their hearts.
O the blessedness of those followers who mercifully forgive as Jesus forgave when he prayed, “Father forgive them for they do not know what they are doing.” They will enjoy the endless mercy and forgiveness of the Kingdom.
O the blessedness of those followers who are clean of heart, who speak the truth in every situation and to all people, friends and foes alike. They will be filled with the divine light of the Kingdom.
O the blessedness of those followers who are peacemakers, who not only yearn for peace but bring about peace in their relationships and the political world they live in. The Kingdom of God is experienced in and through their labor.
O the blessedness of those followers who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, who treat everyone as children of God, who run an honest business, who are compassionate and respectful in their dealings with others. They bring the energy of the Kingdom into everyday life.
O the blessed of those followers who are insulted and violently persecuted and have every kind of evil uttered against them falsely because of their faith in Jesus. They will be crowned with glory in God’s heaven.
I invite you to pray with the Beatitudes. Read them slowly, line by line. Interpret them personally. They’re the new Law that Jesus proclaimed. They’re the foundation of the Christian life. The old Law lists things we shouldn’t do so that we can live harmoniously with others. The new Law teaches us who to be, how to live in a way that the Kingdom of God can manifest itself through us. As Jesus put it, “The Kingdom of God is like a woman who takes some yeast and puts it in a bushel of flour until the whole batch of dough rises.” The world is the flour, we’re the yeast. The end product is the bread, broken and shared – the Kingdom of God on earth.
