Most of us are familiar with the Beatitudes, even if we can’t remember exactly what they say. They have been seen by many as the heart of Jesus’ teaching. While the Gospels record them as part of a sermon Jesus preached, more likely they were things he said from time to time. Some scholars think they were included in the Gospels because they represented a theme to which Jesus returned again and again. I tend in that direction on purely pragmatic grounds. If Jesus was roaming the country teaching and preaching on an almost daily basis, creating enough new material to satisfy that task would have been daunting. More likely, he had ideas he wanted to proclaim wherever he went so he used them over and over. However they came to be, they are powerful, though potentially confusing for modern ears.
In Matthew, each begins with the words “Blessed are the...” for example, “Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” (Matt 5:3) Luke’s version is, “Blessed are the poor, for yours is the kingdom of heaven.” (Luke 6:26b) There are other differences between the Matthew record and the Luke record. So to keep this simple, I’m focusing only on Matthew’s list. Perhaps another time we can look at the reasons the two accounts differ as much as they do.
To properly understand what Jesus is saying, we need to translate the word historically translated as “blessed” a different way, says William Barclay in his book on the Beatitudes, on which much of this topic is based. The word, he says, is “bliss,” as in “Oh the bliss of...” The word in Greek was an attribute of the gods. It represented the ultimate sense of pleasure, happiness, well being, or as one writer put it, “spiritual prosperity.” Consequently bliss carries more of that meaning than blessed. With that in mind, let me offer you a different way to think about these Beatitudes in this post and the next several.
Poor In Spirit
O the bliss of the one who has realized his/her own utter helplessness and utter inadequacy and who has put his/her whole trust in God; for then that one will humbly accept the will of God, and doing so, become a member of the Kingdom.
The idea behind this translation is that a citizen of any kingdom or modern state is expected to obey the laws of that entity. A good citizen is one who is upright, does his/her duty, serves the good of the kingdom, and bends his/her will to the greater good. To be a citizen of the Kingdom of God would imply one would follow the commandments of God and live in a way that is characterized by gratitude, discipline, and obedience. To do that, one would reasonably have to assume that God knows what is best and that left to our own devices, we may make bad choices as citizens. If then, we seek to know and follow God’s lead, then we humble ourselves. (Note: if humble is opposite of arrogant, we could define arrogant as “unteachable” and humble as “teachable,” rather “than having or showing a modest or low estimate of one's own importance.”) Or to put all this another way, we put our complete trust in God’s grace and mercy and seek to know and do God’s will. That makes us members of the Kingdom, by definition.
Next time: Blessed Are They Who Mourn. Here’s a preview: O the bliss of the person who is moved to bitter sorrow at the realization of his/her own sin for they shall be encouraged and comforted.
Peace, Jerry+
No comments:
Post a Comment