In the Gospel of Matthew, the Sermon on the Mount, recounted in the Gospel passage for this Sunday, can be seen as the opening statement of the ministry of Jesus. In this speech, Jesus expounds on key concepts that he will build on in his preaching and actions throughout the rest of his public ministry. The principles outlined in the Sermon on the Mount have come to be known as the Beatitudes, from the Latin word for blessed. The Beatitudes are among the most commented on statements from the Bible, and therefore I cannot possibly provide and exhaustive interpretation of this pivotal text in a brief article. But let us look at some key thoughts regarding these teachings.
At their core, the Beatitudes are characterized by the inversion of the values of the world. Historically, the world values temporal satisfaction obtained through temporal things and experiences. The quest for such fleeting satisfaction often leads to disordered behaviors, which bring about an ever-spiraling sense of disorder in the world.
The Beatitudes point in a different direction. The first of the Beatitudes states: "Blessed are the poor in spirt, for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven" (Matthew 5:3). This teaching is sometimes misunderstood as being spiritually simple or not having a developed spiritual life. But poverty of spirit refers to emptying ourselves of things that would distract us from God. In fact, we can pair poverty of spirit with a later Beatitude: "Blessed are the clean of heart, for they will see God" (Matthew 5:8). If we are truly poor in spirit and clean of heart, the latest fads, fashions, and worldly preoccupations do not rule us. We are not mired in unwholesome attachments to the things of this world, making them our idols. Instead, we are able to maintain a single-minded focus on the things of God, opening our hearts fully to his love.
The next beatitude states: "Blessed are they who mourn, for they will be comforted" (Matthew 5:4). This teaching greatly contradicts the worldly understanding of life, which prizes feeling good as one of the chief goals. But the Christian view of life is that our true fulfillment will come in the afterlife. God has promised us eternal joy, peace, and fulfillment, which we will receive in the fulness of time. But we will often experience suffering in this life. However, our suffering is not meaningless. As long as we unite our suffering with the suffering of Christ upon the Cross, our suffering can help us to grow and become more loving persons. (Having said that, the spiritual value of suffering is not an excuse to not care about the suffering of others, which we are called to work to alleviate.)
The Beatitudes continue: "Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the land" (Matthew 5:5). Much of human history can be characterized as a dog-eat-dog struggle over the possession of land and all the fruits of the land. The strongest, most brutal, most aggressive forces tend to prevail and take control. The meek definitely do not inherit the land in the earthly here and now. But the Beatitudes invert the values of the world. Those who take and take, while hurting and destroying, will lose it all when this life ends. But those who give of themselves lovingly in this life, without striving for self-aggrandizement, will be rewarded greatly by God.
The next Beatitude states: "Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied" (Matthew 5:6). We can couple this with "Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." Righteousness in the biblical sense can be defined as the divine order of things, especially the divine ordering of society. To hunger and thirst for righteousness means that we strive for the values of Christ to direct all of society. Doing so also means taking a firm stance on controversial topics, such as defending the unborn and those in danger of euthanasia, and defending marriage and the family. Needless to say, our secular society will persecute us mercilessly for standing up for righteousness. But God has promised us the kingdom of Heaven, the eternal world that is ruled entirely by his infinite love.
The next Beatitude reads: "Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy" (Matthew 5:7). We can couple this with another one: "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God" (Matthew 5:9). The history of the human race has been characterized by an ongoing, relentless cycle of vengeful violence. One group does something horrible to another, to which the other group reacts with greater evil, to which the first group reacts with even more evil. Death, destruction, and generational hatred are the results.
But Christ has brought a new order into the world. Christ's radical message is that we must return love for hate and good for evil. We should bless and pray for those who hate us and curse us. When we do so, we stop the cycle of violence. Others might do evil, but it stops with us. We do not participate. We do not perpetuate the evil. Being merciful, being peacemakers changes the whole trajectory of human history, laying the foundations for the new world that Christ will bring about, in which his love will reign fully.
In the final Beatitude Jesus reinforces both the cost of discipleship and the eternal reward we can expect for enduring that suffering: "Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you and utter every kind of evil against you falsely because of me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven" (Matthew 5:10-12). Being a disciple of Christ will never be easy. The darkness of the world will resist us and seek to destroy us, as the darkness sought to destroy Christ himself. But just as Christ rose from the dead and was glorified, we too will be glorified in his eternal realm if we make him the center of our lives.
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The readings for the Fourth Sunday of Ordinary Time, Cycle A, are:
Zephaniah 2:3; 3:12-13
Psalm 146:6-7, 8-9, 9-10
1 Corinthians 1:26-31
Matthew 5:1-12a
The full text can be found at the USCCB website.
Photo Credit: Mount of Beatitudes by Zoltan Abraham (c) 2016.