The Teaching That is Foolishness

Summarizing the Beatitudes

1 Corinthians 1: 21 For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. 22 For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom: 23 But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness; 24 But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God. 25 Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, by D. Martin Lloyd-Jones

Jesus Christ: His Life and Teaching, Vol.2 - The Sermon on the Mount, Metropolitan Hilarion Alfeyev

MHA: It is not incidental that we have analyzed each of the Beatitudes in such detail. … In them, Jesus speaks of how genuine happiness (blessedness) is possessed by the one who, by human standards, is deeply unhappy; he cites as positive qualities those that are not so highly valued in human society.

Before moving on to the next part of this Sermon, I think it worthwhile to summarize each of the Beatitudes in order; it will be helpful, at least for me, to see these as a whole.  For each Beatitude, I will offer a link to my original post and what I found to be the key comments from each of the two authors.  Where I offer some form of conclusion for each Beatitude, it will be some version of my conclusion or my comments from the original post.

This will run a bit longer than usual….

First, something of the introduction from the two authors:

DMLJ: …no man can live the Sermon on the Mount unaided. … The Beatitudes immediately take us into a realm that is beyond the law of Moses completely.

MHA: Grace is the divine gift that is necessary in order for people to fulfill Jesus’ commandments and to live in truth.  With the help of grace, and not by their own efforts alone, his followers are called to seek and attain the kingdom of heaven.

And then something of the purpose of the Beatitudes – as well as the purpose for us as Christians in our lives:

MHA: Even within the context of the Sermon on the Mount, the Beatitudes constitute a complete spiritual program; in them Jesus enumerates the qualities that his followers are called to possess.

DMLJ: Our ambition should be to be like Christ, the more like Him the better, and the more like Him we become, the more we shall be unlike everybody who is not a Christian.

I have long read these words – the Beatitudes – and thought, gee isn’t that nice.  What they described seem so far away from any reality I knew – this must be about heaven, or Jesus is talking to someone else.

The point made by both Lloyd-Jones and Metropolitan Alfeyev: on one hand, I was right – these point to a reality far away from any reality I knew; on the other hand, I was wrong – these are meant for me, right here, right now. 

Now, on to each one in turn.

Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

DMLJ: …if one feels anything in the presence of God save an utter poverty of spirit, it ultimately means that you have never faced Him.  That is the meaning of this Beatitude.

MHA: In the words of Macarius the Great, to be poor in spirit means to be “never thinking [oneself] to be anything, but holding [oneself] in a lowly and humble attitude as one knowing or having nothing, even though [one] does know and does have much.”

MHA, citing Gregory of Nyssa: What greater poverty is there for God than the form of a servant?  What more humble for the King of creation than to share in our poor nature?” … Take this, He says, as an example by which to measure your humility.”

DMLJ: …look at Him, and then you will have nothing to do to yourself.  It will be done.  You cannot truly look at Him without feeling your absolute poverty and emptiness.

To be poor in spirit does not indicate the weakness of a man; it is the highest strength, a recognition and acceptance of one’s place in the world.  Look at the strength of Jesus, all the way to the cross.  The one poor in spirit, as Christ describes, does not run away in fear from his lot in life; he acknowledges and lives in it and through it.

Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.

DMLJ: To ‘mourn’ is something that follows of necessity from being ‘poor in spirit.’  It is quite inevitable.  As I confront God and His holiness, and contemplate the life that I am meant to live, I see myself, my utter helplessness and hopelessness.

MHA: The second Beatitude, like the first, has a rich history of interpretation.  In the Eastern Christian tradition, the interpretation that became established connected this Beatitude with the theme of repentant mourning, which must be the Christian’s lifelong labor.

The one who mourns sees the suffering of mankind, of wars and rumors of wars; he sees the whole world is in an entirely unhealthy and unhappy condition – and he knows this is due to sin.  And he mourns because of it.

So, where is the comfort that is promised in the second half of this Beatitude?  The man who truly mourns will repent and will be converted.  If we truly mourn, we will rejoice because of this – we see our condition for what it really is, which moves us to the joy and life of what we were meant to be.

Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.

DMLJ: Meekness is essentially a true view of oneself, expressing itself in attitude and conduct with respect to others. … It is my attitude towards myself; and it is an expression of that in my relationship to others.

MHA (quoting John Climacus): “Meekness is an immovable state of soul which remains unaffected whether in evil report or in good report, in dishonour or in praise….it is a mark of extreme meekness, even in the presence of one’s offender, to be peacefully and lovingly disposed towards him in one’s heart.”

DMLJ: Meekness is compatible with great strength.  Meekness is compatible with great authority and power. … The meek man is one who may so believe in standing for the truth that he will die for it if necessary.  The martyrs were meek, but they were never weak; strong men, yet meek men.

There is no weakness in such a man, one who will stand immovably and with love regardless of the situation he faces.  The meek man is the strongest and bravest man.  Such a man truly will inherit the earth.

Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.

DMLJ: I do not know of a better test that anyone can apply to himself or herself in this whole matter of the Christian profession than a verse like this.

MHA: In the Old Testament, particularly in the book of Psalms, the image of thirst is used to describe a person’s strong and burning desire for God, to fulfill his law and commandments.

MHA: In this context, those who “hunger and thirst after righteousness” are those who fervently seek to fulfill the commandments of God. … [they are] the ones who seek God with all their heart, since God is the source of all righteousness.

Righteousness is a desire to walk with God, to spend our time with Him in prayer, to be free from the power of sin, and a desire to be holy.

What is the blessing for those who hunger and thirst after righteousness?  They will be filled.  What does this mean?  First note: while hungering and thirsting is an active state, to be filled is a passive state on the part of the one being filled.  The one who actively hungers and thirsts will not be able to fill himself; he will be filled by another – God.

To be filled is immediate; we know we have been forgiven.  Yet we continue to hunger and thirst after righteousness.  The more we are filled, the more we hunger and thirst; we never reach a point of satisfaction.  Lloyd-Jones describes this in terms of the process of sanctification; I have been filled, I am being filled, I will be filled.

Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.

MHA: The merciful who are spoken of in the fifth Beatitude are those who possess the compassion and love that reflect divine love, who do not divide people into friends or enemies, evil or good, righteous or unrighteous. 

Lloyd-Jones offers a contrast between grace and mercy:

‘Grace is especially associated with men in their sins; mercy is especially associated with men in their misery.’

Grace sees sin; mercy sees and acts on its consequences.  The first place to look to put mercy in action is in myself, when someone has sinned against me.  Yes, I have some right, some control or power over the transgressor.  But what do I do with that?  Mercy, while not forgetting or ignoring the sin.  This is the point.

DMLJ: …the man who truly realizes his position face-to-face with God, and his relationship to God, is the man who must, of necessity be merciful with respect to others.

Lloyd-Jones points out that some Christians see the cause and effect the wrong way: only if we show mercy will we obtain mercy.  The logic works the other way.  Consider: this Beatitude is built on the ones that precede it: I recognize I am poor in spirit, therefore I mourn; because I mourn, I am meek; because I am meek, I hunger and thirst for righteousness.

Can such a person not be merciful?  It seems highly unlikely.  Is it possible for an individual to walk through any of these Beatitudes, let alone all of them, without God pouring His grace and mercy on the individual?  This merciful individual has obtained God’s mercy – it was God’s mercy that brought this individual to the point of being merciful.

Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.

DMLJ: [The heart] is the centre of man’s being and personality; it is the fount out of which everything else comes.  It includes the mind; it includes the will; it includes the heart.  It is the total man; and that is the thing which the Lord emphasizes.

DMLJ: …we can perfectly express it by saying that being pure in heart means to be like the Lord Jesus Christ Himself….

MHA: In the language of the Old Testament, the concept of purity is connected primarily with sacred objects, divine service, the offering of sacrifices, the alter, the tabernacle, and the temple; nothing impure is to touch what is sacred.

MHA: Purity of heart is a precondition for communion with God. … Without purity of heart it is impossible to touch the sacred, to meet God, to see the face of God.

Only the pure in heart will see God; it cannot be any other way.  This pure heart, while being God’s work, does not mean we remain in a passive state.  The apostle James writes, draw nigh to God and He will draw nigh to you.  The apostle Paul offers that faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.

Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.

DMLJ: These easygoing, peace-at-any-price people are often lacking in a sense of justice and righteousness; they do not stand where they should stand; they are flabby.

What can be said of this peacemaker?

DMLJ: Passively we can say that he is peaceable, for a quarrelsome person cannot be a peacemaker.  Then, actively, this person must be pacific, he must be one who makes peace actively. …he does all he can to produce peace and maintain it.

MHA: Peacemakers are not simply peaceable people: they are the ones who “make peace,” that is, they actively work to bring peace to people.

What are his characteristics?

DMLJ: …one must have an entirely new view of self… one really must be entirely delivered from self, from self-interest, from self-concern … as long as you are thinking about yourself, and shielding yourself, you cannot be doing the work properly…. You must not be sensitive, you must not be touchy, you must not be on the defensive.

We have an example of one who has met such a demand: Jesus did not stand on His dignity; He did not demand on focusing only on the right and wrong, but also on righteousness and peace.  He suffered tremendously, ultimately becoming the greatest peacemaker in history.

Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

This continues: Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.  Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.

MHA: It is not incidental that the list of Beatitudes concludes with the words concerning the persecution of Jesus’ followers.

DMLJ: [The Christian] is persecuted because he is a certain type of person and because he behaves in a certain manner. … So let us be careful that our ideas about Christ are such that the natural man cannot easily admire or applaud. … If you try to imitate Christ the world will praise you; if you become Christ-like, it will hate you.

DMLJ: …I sometimes think that this is the most searching of all the Beatitudes.  Are you suffering persecution?

As Jesus said: if the world hates you, know that it hated me before it hated you.  If they persecuted me, they will persecute you.  This persecution led Jesus to the cross.  Fully living Christian ethics, as described in these Beatitudes and centered on Christ, will lead us to the same cross – perhaps not physically, but in every other way.

Conclusion

MHA: Like the subsequent sections of the Sermon on the Mount, the whole story of Jesus’ life, passion, and death would become a revelation of the meaning of the Beatitudes.

Answering the question, how should we then live, which is the question I wanted to answer when deciding to begin this study.  It is not sufficient to say we should grow to become Christ-like, without some understanding of what Christ-like means.  These Beatitudes offer a glimpse.

The rest of this Sermon on the Mount will better fill in this picture.  So…more to come.