Kingdom Character: The Beatitudes (preaching resource for 2/1/26, Epiphany 4)
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| "Sermon on the Mount" by Blosch (public domain via Wikimedia Commons) |
Introduction
The beatitudes (Matthew 5:3-12) describe the character of those who participate in the Kingdom life and love of Jesus. The beatitudes then describe certain blessings that come from sharing Jesus’ life. Before we discuss each beatitude, we need to address four questions.
1. Who are the people being described?
The beatitudes are fundamentally descriptions of Jesus’ character as it is expressed in and through his followers—citizens of his Kingdom. The disciples of Jesus are meek and merciful, poor in spirit and pure in heart, mourning and hungry, the peacemakers and the persecuted. The people who express these qualities are not the Christian elite—to the contrary, the beatitudes apply to all who share Christ’s life. Just as the nine-fold fruit of the Spirit, which Paul lists in Galatians are to ripen in every Christian’s character, so the eight beatitudes which Christ lists here describe his life and love being manifested in and through every citizen of God's Kingdom present in our world.
2. What are the qualities being commended?
It is evident that the characteristics to which Jesus refers here are fundamentally matters of the heart—the attitude; the spirit. Rather than concerning himself merely with outward piety and external behavior, Jesus points his followers to essential qualities of his heart and mind that are shared by his followers. Out of this heart flow words and actions that reflect Christ's Kingdom life.
3. What are the blessings being promised?
Each follower who shares Jesus’ heart and the life that flows from it are pronounced 'blessed'. As we share in Jesus’ life and love, we are also possessors of the enjoyments that flow from Jesus’ Kingdom reign in our life. What are those blessings? Citizens of the Kingdom possess the kingdom of heaven and they inherit the earth. The mourners are comforted and the hungry are satisfied. They receive mercy; they see God and they are called the sons of God. Their heavenly reward is great. And all these blessings belong together.
Are these blessings present or future? It would seem that the answer is 'both'. Certainly the second part of the last beatitude promises the persecuted a great reward in heaven, and this must be principally future (11). But it is plain from the rest of Jesus' teaching that the Kingdom of God is a present reality which we 'receive', 'inherit' or 'enter' now. Similarly, we obtain mercy and comfort now, are God's children now, and in this life can have our hunger satisfied and our thirst quenched. Jesus promised all these blessings to his followers in the here and now. So then the promises of Jesus in the beatitudes have both a present and a future fulfillment. We enjoy the first-fruits now; the full harvest is yet to come.
4. Is Jesus teaching legalism?
Do the beatitudes teach salvation by human merit (good works)? Does not Jesus state clearly, for example, that the merciful will obtain mercy and the pure in heart will see God? And does not this imply that it is by showing mercy that we win mercy and by becoming pure in heart that we attain the vision of God? Some say yes and try to represent the Sermon as a Christian law code. Here is Jesus the lawgiver, they say, issuing his commandments, expecting obedience and promising salvation to those who respond. In other words, Jesus is preaching law not gospel, and offering righteousness by works not by grace through faith.
It was this fear that the promises of the Sermon on the Mount depend for their fulfillment on human merit that led John Darby in the mid 1800s to relegate them to a future 'kingdom age'. His dispensationalism was popularized by the Scofield Reference Bible which, commenting on Mat 5:2 calls the Sermon 'pure law', although conceding that its principles have 'a beautiful moral application to the Christian'. But Darby’s conclusion is without merit. Indeed, the very first beatitude proclaims salvation by grace not works, for it pledges the kingdom of God to 'the poor in spirit', that is, to people who are so spiritually poverty-stricken that they have nothing in the way of merit to offer.
But how can we explain the expressions which Jesus used in the beatitudes, indeed his whole emphasis in the Sermon on *righteousness*? The answer is that the beatitudes lift up Christ the righteous One, and send people running to him for both salvation and sanctification. Jesus is showing the lost that they cannot achieve Kingdom perfection through their own effort—he is the only way to salvation. Secondly Jesus is showing his disciples that in their human weakness they will need to cry out like Paul, ‘O, wretched man that I am’, for they too are unable to attain his perfection and must run to him for sanctification.
Thus the Sermon is not about human effort—not about justification by human works, nor about sanctification through human effort. Rather it’s about Christ’s perfection—about his life and love, possessed and expressed in and through his followers. It is not about being saved or sanctified by obedience to prescriptive or proscriptive laws, but about the good news of the availability of the Kingdom in Jesus and an invitation to be connected to him—the One John calls ‘the vine’ (John 15) from whom flows all we need including the salvation, moral character and blessings described in the Sermon.
In the beatitudes Jesus is not describing the moral perfection that one must attain to ‘qualify’ for citizenship in the Kingdom. Jesus does not say, for example, ‘blessed are the poor in spirit because they are poor in spirit.” Those poor in spirit are called ‘blessed’ by Jesus because precisely in spite of and in the midst of their deplorable condition (spiritual poverty in this case) the rule of the heavens has moved redemptively upon and through them by the grace of Christ. Alfred Edersheim makes this point:
In the Sermon on the Mount…the promises attaching…to the…“Beatitudes” must not be regarded as the reward of the spiritual states with which they are respectively connected, not yet as their result. It is not because a man is poor in spirit that his is the Kingdom of Heaven, in the sense that the one state will grow into the other, or be its result; still less is the one the reward of the other. The connecting link is in each case is Christ Himself: because He…has opened the Kingdom of Heaven to all believers.
The whole Sermon thus presupposes an acceptance of the gospel, an experience of conversion and new birth, and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit who opens to us the life of Christ—his Kingdom way. It describes people dwelling in Christ and exhibiting those fruits and receiving those blessings. All of these are from God—gifts of his grace, not the fruit of human effort or rewards for human achievement.
The beatitudes
We are ready now to look at the beatitudes in detail. Various classifications have been attempted. This post views the beatitudes as did Chrysostom who referred to them as 'a…golden chain'. According to this view the eight beatitudes are not a random list, but a progressive experience and manifestation of the life of Christ—one characteristic leading the follower of Jesus deeper into the experience of Jesus’ life and love. Moreover, we see that the first four describe the Christian's relation to God while the second four his relations and duties to his fellow men.
1. Blessed are the poor in spirit
Because the needy had no refuge but God (Zeph. 3:12), in the Old Testament, 'poverty' came to have spiritual overtones and to be identified with humble dependence on God. Thus the psalmist designated himself 'this poor man’, who cried out to God in his need, 'and the Lord heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles'. (Ps. 34:6) The 'poor man' in the Old Testament is one who is both afflicted and unable to save himself, and who therefore looks to God alone for salvation, while recognizing that he has no claim upon God. This kind of spiritual poverty is specially commended in Isaiah. It is 'the poor and needy', who 'seek water and there is none, and their tongue is parched with thirst', for whom God promises to 'open rivers on the bare heights, and fountains in the midst of the valleys', and to 'make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water, (Is. 41:17, 18).
The 'poor' are also described as people with 'a contrite and humble spirit'; to them God looks and with them (though he is 'the high and lofty One who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy') he is pleased to dwell (Is. 57:15; 66:1, 2). It is to such that the Lord's anointed would proclaim good tidings of salvation, a prophecy which Jesus consciously fulfilled in the Nazareth synagogue: 'The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. (Is. 61:1; Lk. 4:18; cf. Mt. 11:5). Further, the rich tended to compromise with surrounding heathenism; it was the poor who remained faithful to God. So wealth and worldliness, poverty and godliness went together.
Thus, to be 'poor in spirit' is to acknowledge our spiritual poverty, indeed our spiritual bankruptcy, before God, for we are sinners who deserve nothing but God’s judgment. We have nothing to offer, nothing to plead, nothing with which to buy or earn God’s favor. We do not belong anywhere except alongside the publican in Jesus' parable, crying out with downcast eyes, 'God be merciful to me a sinner!’ To such the kingdom of God is given. For God's rule which brings salvation is a gift as absolutely free as it is utterly undeserved. It is received with the dependent humility of a little child. Thus, right at the beginning of his Sermon on the Mount, Jesus contradicted all human judgments and all nationalistic expectations of the kingdom of God. The kingdom is given to the poor, not the rich; the feeble, not the mighty; to little children humble enough to accept it, not to soldiers who boast that they can obtain it in their own prowess.
In our Lord's own day it was not the Pharisees who entered the kingdom, who thought they were rich, so rich in merit that they thanked God for their attainments; nor the Zealots who dreamed of establishing the kingdom by the blood and sword; but publicans and prostitutes, the rejects of human society who knew they were so poor they could offer nothing and could achieve nothing. All they could do was to cry to God for mercy; and he heard their cry.
Perhaps the best later example of the same truth is the nominal church of Loadicea to whom John was directed to send a letter from the glorified Christ. He quoted their complacent words, and added his own assessment of them: 'You say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing; not knowing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked' (Rev.3:17). This visible church, for all its Christian profession, was not truly Christian at all. Self-satisfied and superficial, it was composed (according to Jesus) of blind and naked beggars. But the tragedy was they would not admit it. They were rich, not poor, in spirit and God sends the rich away empty (Lk. 1:53).
2. Blessed are those who mourn
One might almost translate this second beatitude 'happy are the unhappy' in order to draw attention to the startling paradox it contains. What kind of sorrow can it be that brings the joy of Christ's blessing? It is plain from the context that those here promised comfort are not primarily those who mourn the loss of a loved one, but those who mourn the loss of their own innocence, their own righteousness, their own standing with God that they thought they had through their own efforts and obedience. They mourn the loss of self-respect and self-esteem. It is not the sorrow of bereavement to which Christ refers, but the sorrow of repentance. This is the second stage of spiritual blessing. It is one thing to be spiritually poor and acknowledge it; it is another to grieve and to mourn over it. Or, in more theological language, confession is one thing, contrition another.
We need, then, to observe that the Christian life, according to Jesus, is not all joy and laughter. Some Christians seem to imagine that, especially if they are filled with the Spirit, they must wear a perpetual grin on their face and be continuously boisterous and bubbly. No. In Luke's version of the Sermon Jesus added to this beatitude a solemn woe: 'Woe to you who laugh now' (Lk.6:25). The truth is that there are such things as Christian tears. Jesus wept over the sins of others, over their bitter consequences in judgment and death, and over the impenitent city which would not receive him. We too should weep over the evil in the world and within ourselves. We are reminded of the words of Paul who groaned, 'Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?', and to write to the sinful church of Corinth: 'Ought you not rather to mourn?' (Rom. 7:24; 1 Cor. 5:2; cf.2 Cor. 12:21).
Our tears of mourning are the holy water which God is said to store in his bottle (Ps.56:8). Such mourners will be comforted by the only comfort which can relieve their distress, namely the free forgiveness of God. 'Consolation' according to the Old Testament prophets was to be one of the offices of the Messiah. He was to be 'the Comforter' who would 'bind up the broken hearted'. (Is. 61:1; cf. Is. 40:1). That is why Godly men like Simeon were said to be looking and longing 'for the consolation of Israel'. (Lk. 2:25). And Christ does pour oil into our wounds and speak peace to our sore, scarred consciences. Yet still we mourn over the havoc of suffering and death which sin spreads throughout the world. For only in the final state of glory will Christ's comfort be complete, for only then will sin be no more and 'God will wipe away every tear from our eyes' (Rev. 7.17).
3. Blessed are the meek
The Greek word translated ‘meek’ means 'gentle', 'humble', 'considerate', 'courteous', and therefore exercising the self-control without which these qualities would be impossible. Jesus described himself as 'gentle and lowly in heart' and Paul referred to his 'meekness and gentleness' (Mt. 11:29; 2Cor. 10:1; cf. Zc. 9:9). But what sort of gentleness is it, on account of which those who have it are pronounced blessed?
It seems important to note that in the beatitudes 'the meek' come between those who mourn over sin and those who hunger and thirst after righteousness. The particular form of meekness referred to here surely has to do with this sequence. Such meekness has to do with holding a true view of oneself which is expressed in attitude and conduct with respect to others. The man who is truly meek is the one who is truly amazed that God and man can think of him as well as they do and treat him as well as they do. This makes him gentle, humble, sensitive, and patient in all his dealings with others.
The 'meek' people, Jesus added, 'shall inherit the earth'. One would have expected the opposite. One would think that 'meek' people get nowhere because everybody ignores them or else rides roughshod over them. In our world the overbearing succeeds. But followers of Jesus express their Lord’s meekness, and they are reassured that everything is ours if we are Christ's (1Cor. 3:22).
Such was the confidence of holy and humble men of God in Old Testament days when the wicked seemed to triumph. It was never expressed more aptly than in Psalm 37, which Jesus seems to have been quoting in the beatitudes: 'Fret not yourself because of the wicked ... The meek shall possess the land ... Those blessed by the Lord shall possess the land ... Wait for the Lord, and keep to his way, and he will exalt you to possess the land; you will look on the destruction of the wicked' (Ps.37:1, 11, 22,34: cf. Is. 57:13; 60:21).
The same principle operates today. The godless may boast and throw their weight around; yet real possession eludes their grasp. The meek on the other hand, although they may be deprived and disenfranchised by men, yet because they know what it is to live and reign with Christ, can enjoy and even 'possess' the earth, which belongs to Christ. Then on the day of Jesus’ return in glory there will be 'new heavens and a new earth' for them to inherit (Matt. 19:28; 2Pet. 3:13; Rev.21:1). Thus the way of Christ is different from the way of the world, and every Christian even if he is like Paul in 'having nothing' can yet describe himself as 'possessing everything' (2 Cor. 6:10).
4. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness
Followers of Jesus share in his hungering and thirsting for righteousness. The supreme ambition of Jesus’ disciples is not material but spiritual. They are not engrossed in the pursuit of possessions; but are walking with Jesus in 'seeking first' God's kingdom with its kingdom righteousness (Mt. 6:33). In the Bible, *righteousness* has three aspects: legal, moral and social.
Legal righteousness is *justification*, a right relationship with God. The Jews 'pursued righteousness', Paul wrote later, but failed to attain it because they pursued it in the wrong way. They sought 'to establish their own' righteousness and 'did not submit to God's righteousness', which is Christ himself (cf. Rom.9:30-10:4).
Moral righteousness is that righteousness of character and conduct which flows from and expresses the love and life of Christ. Jesus contrasts this Christian righteousness with pharisaic righteousness (Mat. 5:20). The latter being an external conformity to rules; the former being an inner condition of heart, mind and motive. As disciples of Jesus we hunger and thirst for his way; his righteousness to be expressed in and through our lives.
This moral, or personal righteousness, necessarily extends into social righteousness: it is concerned for the whole community; it seeks to liberate others from oppression, it seeks civil rights, justice in the law courts, integrity in business dealings and honor in home and family affairs. Thus Christians hunger for righteousness in the whole human community as something pleasing to a righteous God.
Christians, who are in possession of legal righteousness *hunger* for Christ’s moral and social righteousness. There is perhaps no greater secret of progress in Christian living than such a hunger. Again and again Scripture addresses its promises to this hunger. God 'satisfies him who is thirsty, and the hungry he fills with good things' (Ps.107:9). If we are conscious of slow growth, might it be that we have a jaded appetite? It is not enough to mourn over past sin; we must also hunger for future righteousness.
Yet in this life our hunger will never be fully satisfied, nor our thirst fully quenched. True we receive the satisfaction which the beatitude promises. But our hunger is satisfied only to break out again. Even the promise of Jesus that whoever drinks of the water he gives 'will never thirst' is fulfilled only if we keep drinking (Jn. 4:13,14; 7:37). Like all the qualities included in the beatitudes, hunger and thirst are perpetual characteristics of the disciples of Jesus, as perpetual as poverty of spirit, meekness and mourning. Not till we reach the new heaven and new earth will we 'hunger no more, neither thirst any more', for only then will Christ our Shepherd lead us 'to springs if living water' (Rev.7:16,17).
Summary of first four beatitudes
Looking back, we can see that the first four beatitudes reveal a spiritual progression. Each step leads to the next and presupposes the one that has gone before. To begin with we are to be 'poor in spirit', acknowledging our complete and utter spiritual bankruptcy before God. Next we are to 'mourn' over the cause of it, our sins, yes, and our sin too - the corruption of our fallen nature, and the reign of sin and death in the world. Thirdly we are to be 'meek', humble and gentle towards others, allowing our spiritual poverty (admitted and bewailed) to condition our behavior to them as well as to God. And fourthly we are to 'hunger and thirst for righteousness'. For what is the use of confessing and lamenting our sin, of acknowledging the truth about ourselves to both God and men, if we leave it there? Confession of sin must lead to hunger for righteousness.
In the second half of the beatitudes (the last four) Jesus seems to turn even more from our attitude to God to our attitude to our fellow human beings. Certainly the 'merciful' show mercy to men and 'peacemakers' seek to reconcile men to each other, and those who are 'persecuted' are persecuted by men. It seems likely therefore that the sincerity denoted by being 'pure in heart' also concerns our attitude and relation to our fellow human beings.
5. Blessed are the merciful
'Mercy' is compassion for people in need—it causes people to extend relief and help to the hurting. Jesus does not specify the categories of people he has in mind to whom his disciples are to show mercy. He gives no indication whether he is thinking primarily of those overcome by disaster, like the traveler from Jerusalem to Jericho whom robbers assaulted and to whom the good Samaritan 'showed mercy', or of the hungry, the sick and the outcast on whom he himself regularly took pity, or of those who wrong us so that justice cries out for punishment but mercy for forgiveness. There was no need for Jesus to elaborate. Our God is a merciful God and shows mercy continuously; the citizens of his Kingdom show mercy too.
Of course the world (at least when it is true to its own nature) is unmerciful, as indeed also the church in its worldliness has often been. The world prefers to insulate itself against the pains and calamities of men. It finds revenge delicious, and forgiveness, by comparison, tame. But those who show mercy find it. 'How blest are those who show mercy; mercy shall be shown them' (NEB). The same truth is echoed in the next chapter: 'If you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father also will forgive you.' (Matt. 6:14). This is not because we can merit mercy by mercy or forgiveness by forgiveness, but because we cannot receive the mercy and forgiveness of God unless we repent, and we cannot claim to have repented of *our* sins if we are unmerciful towards the sins of *others*.
Nothing moves us to forgive like the wondering knowledge that we ourselves have been forgiven. Nothing proves more clearly that we have been forgiven than our own readiness to forgive. To forgive and be forgiven, to show mercy and to receive mercy: these belong indissolubly together, as Jesus illustrated in his parable of the unmerciful servant (Matt. 18:21-35). Or, interpreted in the context of the beatitudes, it is 'the meek' who are also 'the merciful'. For to be meek is to acknowledge to others that *we* are sinners; to be merciful is to have compassion on others, for *they* are sinners too.
6. Blessed are the pure in heart
One commentator defines the pure in heart as 'the single-minded, who are free from the tyranny of a divided self' (cf. Ps. 86:11, 12). A pure heart is a single heart and stands in parallel with the 'single eye' which Jesus mentions in the next chapter (Matt. 6:22, KJV). To be pure in heart is thus to be free of falsehood in our dealings with God and with man. In Psalm 24:4, the person with 'clean hands and a pure heart' is one 'who does not lift up his soul to what is false, and does not swear deceitfully'. And so the pure in heart are 'the utterly sincere' (JBP). Their whole life, public and private, is transparent before God and men. Their very heart – including their thoughts and motives – is pure, unmixed with anything devious, ulterior or base. Hypocrisy and deceit are abhorrent to them; they are without guile.
Yet how few of us live one life and live it in the open? Are we not rather tempted to wear a different mask and play a different role according to each occasion? To do so is play-acting, which is the essence of hypocrisy. Some people weave round themselves such a tissue of lies that they can no longer tell which part of them is real and which is make-believe. Alone among men, Jesus Christ was absolutely pure in heart, being entirely guileless. In Christ, we share this purity of heart. And through the singleness of Christ’s heart we “see God”—now with the ‘eye’ of faith and we will see, ‘face to face’, his glory in the hereafter.
7. Blessed are the peacemakers
The sequence of thought from purity of heart to peacemaking is natural, because one of the most frequent causes of conflict is intrigue, while openness and sincerity are essential to true reconciliation. Every Christian, according to this beatitude, is meant to be a peacemaker both in the community and in the church. True, Jesus was to say later that he had 'not come to bring peace, but a sword', for he had come 'to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law', so that a man's enemies would be 'those of his own household’ (Matt. 10:34-36.). And what he meant by this was that conflict would be the inevitable result of his coming, even in one's own family, and that we must love him best and put him first, above even our nearest and dearest relatives (Mt. 10:37). It is clear beyond question throughout the teaching of Jesus and his apostles, however, that we should never ourselves seek conflict or be responsible for it. On the contrary, we are called actively to 'pursue' peace, we are to 'strive for peace with all men', and so far as it depends on us, we are to 'live peaceably with all' (1Cor. 7:15; 1Pet. 3:11; Heb. 12:14; Rom. 12:18).
Peacemaking is a divine work, for peace means reconciliation, and God is the author of peace and reconciliation. Indeed, the very same verb which is used in this beatitude of us is applied by the apostle Paul to what God has done through Christ. Through Christ, God was pleased 'to reconcile to himself all things...*making peace* by the blood of his cross.' And Christ's purpose was to 'create in himself one new man in place of the two (Jew and Gentile), so *making peace* (Col. 1:20; Eph. 2:15). It is hardly surprising therefore that the particular blessing that attaches to peacemakers is that 'they shall be called the sons of God.' For they are seeking to be the agent of the Father’s gift of reconciliation—loving people with his love, as Jesus is soon to make explicit (Matt. 5:44-45). It is the devil who is a troublemaker; it is God who loves reconciliation and who now through his children is bent on advancing peace.
But peacemaking is a costly work—it means extending yourself and getting in the ‘middle’ of often warring factions. Sometimes neither side in a dispute will want your assistance. Perhaps neither side will trust you, because they know that you are looking at both sides and thus can’t possibly be on their side. Yet we are to ‘make peace and pursue it’ despite the personal merit or attractiveness of those involved. We are to be like our Heavenly Father who is ‘kind to the ungrateful and the wicked” (Luke 6:35 REB). We are even to make peace with our personal enemies—to seek reconciliation with those who have (and still are) harming us. This does not mean that we are to invite further injury. But we are to pursue peace and reconciliation in every way possible—which includes asking our heavenly Father to change hearts supernaturally so that reconciliation (restoration of fellowship) may be achieved.
8. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake
It may seem strange that Jesus should pass from peacemaking to persecution, from the work of reconciliation to the experience of hostility. Yet however hard we may try to make peace with some people, they refuse to live at peace with us. Not all attempts at reconciliation succeed. Indeed, some take the initiative to oppose us, and in particular to 'revile' or slander us. This is not because of our foibles or idiosyncrasies, but 'for righteousness' sake' (10) and on 'my [Christ’s] account' (11), that is, because they find distasteful the righteousness for which we hunger and thirst (6), and because they have rejected the Christ we seek to follow. Persecution is simply the clash between two irreconcilable worldviews and value systems.
How did Jesus expect his disciples to react under persecution? Verse 12: *Rejoice and be glad!* We are not to retaliate like an unbeliever, nor to sulk like a child, nor to lick our wounds in self pity like a dog, nor just to grin and bear it like a Stoic, still less to pretend we enjoy it like a masochist. What then? We are to rejoice as a Christian should rejoice and even 'leap for joy' (Lk. 6:23). Why so? There are at least three reasons to which Jesus alludes.
First we rejoice because, our *reward is great in heaven* (12a). We may lose everything on earth, but shall inherit everything in heaven - not as a reward for merit, however, because 'the promise of the reward is free.' Second, we rejoice because persecution is a token of genuineness, a certificate of Christian authenticity, *for so men persecuted the prophets who were before you* (12b). If we are persecuted today, we belong to a noble succession. But the third reason we rejoice is the most significant: we are suffering, Jesus said, *on my account* (11), on account of our loyalty to him and to his standards of truth and righteousness. Certainly the apostles learnt this lesson well for, having been beaten and threatened by the Sanhedrin, 'they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name' (Acts 5:41). They knew, as we should, that 'wounds and hurts are medals of honor'.
It is important to notice that this reference to persecution is a beatitude (blessing) like the rest. Indeed, it has the distinction of being a double beatitude, for Jesus first stated it in the third person like the other seven *Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness* sake (10), and then repeated it in the direct speech of the second person *Blessed are you when men revile you and persecute you* (11). Since all the beatitudes describe what every Christian disciple is intended to be, we conclude that the condition of being despised and rejected, slandered and persecuted, is as much a normal mark of Christian discipleship as being pure in heart or merciful.
Every Christian is to be a peacemaker, and every Christian is to expect opposition. Those who hunger for righteousness will suffer for the righteousness they crave. Jesus said so both here and elsewhere. So did his apostles Peter and Paul (E.g. Jn. 15:18-25; 1Pet. 4:13, 14; Acts 14:22; 2Tim. 3:12). It has been so in every age. We should thus not be surprised if anti-Christian hostility increases, but rather be surprised if it does not. We need to remember the complementary woe which Luke records: 'Woe to you, when all men speak well of you' (Lk. 6:26). Universal popularity was as much the lot of false prophets as persecution was of the true. Following Christ means allegiance to the suffering Christ and it is therefore not surprising that Christians should be called upon to suffer. In fact, it is a joy and a token of his grace.
Conclusion
The eight beatitudes paint a comprehensive portrait of the love and life of Christ, and thus of his disciples. We see such a disciple first alone on their knees before God, acknowledging their spiritual poverty and mourning over it. This makes them meek and gentle in all their relationships, since honesty compels them to allow others to think of them what before God they confess themselves to be. Yet they are far from acquiescing in their sinfulness, for they hunger and thirst after righteousness, longing to grow in grace and in goodness.
We see such a disciple next with others, out in the human community. Their relationship with God does not cause them to withdraw from society, nor are they insulated from the world’s pain. On the contrary, they are in the thick of it, showing mercy to those battered by adversity and sin. They are transparently sincere in all their dealings, seeking to play a constructive role as a peacemaker. Yet they are not thanked for their efforts, but rather are opposed, slandered, insulted and persecuted on account of the righteousness for which they stand and the Christ with whom they are identified.
Such is the person who is 'blessed', that is, who has the approval of God and finds true fulfillment as a human being. Yet these values and ways of Jesus are in direct conflict with the commonly accepted values and ways of the world. The world judges the rich to be blessed, not the poor, whether in the material or in the spiritual sphere; the happy-go-lucky and carefree, not those who take evil so seriously that they mourn over it; the strong and brash, not the meek and gentle; the full not the hungry; those who mind their own business, not those who meddle in other men's matters and occupy their time in do-goodery like 'showing mercy' and 'making peace'; those who attain their ends even if necessary by devious means, not the pure in heart who refuse to compromise their integrity; those who are secure and popular, and live at ease, not those who have to suffer persecution.
To fully experience Jesus and his way necessitates a transformation of our core values. It means rejecting the core values of this power-obsessed world and embracing Jesus and his values. More precisely, because we have embraced Jesus’ person, we share in Jesus’ passion (his core values—his heart). The ways of Jesus appear topsy-turvy to men.
God exalts the humble and abases the proud, calls the first last and the last first, ascribes greatness to the servant, sends the rich away empty-handed and declares the meek to be his heirs. The culture of the world and the counter-culture of Christ are thus at loggerheads with each other. In brief, Jesus congratulates those whom the world most pities, and calls the world's rejects `blessed'. Jesus holds up as the idea a little child and bids us to become as one in him.