Text for the Week: The Beatitudes part 3

Scripture: Matthew 5:1-12

When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the hillside, and sat down. His disciples came to him. ²He took a deep breath, and began his teaching:

³‘Blessings on the poor in spirit! The kingdom of heaven is yours.

⁴‘Blessings on the mourners! You’re going to be comforted.

⁵‘Blessings on the meek! You’re going to inherit the earth.

⁶‘Blessings on people who hunger and thirst for God’s justice! You’re going to be satisfied.

⁷‘Blessings on the merciful! You’ll receive mercy yourselves.

⁸‘Blessings on the pure in heart! You will see God.

⁹‘Blessings on the peacemakers! You’ll be called God’s children.

¹⁰‘Blessings on people who are persecuted because of God’s way! The kingdom of heaven belongs to you.

¹¹‘Blessings on you, when people slander you and persecute you, and say all kinds of wicked things about you falsely because of me! ¹²Celebrate and rejoice: there’s a great reward for you in heaven. That’s how they persecuted the prophets who went before you.’

Questions

1. What does it mean for one to be a peacemaker in the world, particularly one that seems to be contaminated by violence?
2. What does it mean to be a “child of God” and why is this title reserved for peacemakers?
3. The last two beatitudes seem to reflect the same idea why does Jesus repeat this concept in two distinct blessings?
4. Why does Jesus change the pronoun in verse 11, the previous blessings were for anyone who met the description why is this last one reserved for Jesus’ disciples?

Background

Related Scriptures: Leviticus 26, Isaiah 9:2-7, 32 16-20, Luke 6,

Peacemaking is about how one handles conflict and injustice either individually or corporately, it is primarily about one’s response to conflict, but can also refer to action taken to prevent conflict.

“God’s children” refer, to God’s covenant people and reflects a unique relationship with God, where God provides protection and peace as in Isaiah 32 and Zechariah 9.

Verse 10 creates a strong connection between the work of peace and a life of justice/righteousness and also reminds us of the previous three beatitudes indicating that living a life committed to peace, justice, mercy, and pure hearts will cause a person to face harassment from others.

There is a strong parallel between “God’s children” (v9), “kingdom of heaven” (v10), and “a great reward for you in heaven” (v11) each reflects gaining an inheritance in the world Jesus has come to establish.

Verses 11-12 are a hinge that shift the focus in two important ways, first the pronouns change from a generic “anyone” to “you”, second the verb forms shift together these indicate that the disciples listening are to take on all the characteristics mentioned as a lifestyle reflecting Jesus in the world and as they do they will be most blessed.

Reflection

It’s a common cliché to laugh at the pageant contestant standing on stage who says her greatest desire is world peace. We laugh because we recognize that such an idea is completely unrealistic given the climate of the world. Even in a world which defines peace as the absence of conflict we recognize that such and idea of removing all conflict from the world is far-fetched. In a world where we define peace as being civil toward one another as peace we laugh at the thought of someone saying “can’t we all just get along”. But when Jesus says, “Blessings on the peacemakers” he means even more than simple toleration of others or simply getting along with those we do not like. Peace in Scripture is defined not by the absence of conflict but by the presence of God’s blessing. A person is at peace when they are in a state of prosperity, success, or blessing provided by God. To be at peace with one’s neighbor is to share in the blessings which God has provided for the world. And to be a peacemaker is to be a person committed to seeing this peace established in their relationships individually and corporately.

In a world that believes it is unrealistic that we can all tolerate one another Jesus pronounces a blessing on the person who is working to ensure that all of their neighbors share in the prosperity that God offers. This is why Jesus places this beatitude first in this last grouping of three, throughout the Bible peace is directly connected to righteousness, and so the person who is a peacemaker is probably also longing for righteousness and displaying mercy in the world. A commitment to wanting to be right with God and neighbor will eventually lead a person to the desire to share God’s peace with those people. Peacemaking is about both taking steps to restore relationships and community and about taking steps to prevent the hostility and violence that so often plagues our relationships. Like showing mercy or hungering after righteousness, peacemaking is connected to seeing another person and making a conscious decision to help that person. In this case, it is about making decisions to see others blessed.

On the other side of peacemaking Jesus offers a blessing to those who are harassed or persecuted because of righteousness. Jesus seems to recognize that the person who is committed to doing right by others, seeing justice in the community, and bringing peace to their world will undoubtedly face opposition. In a world that thinks the idea of everyone getting along is laughable, what are they going to think of the person whose life is devoted restoring relationships and bringing prosperity to their neighbors? This is the ridiculous nature of Jesus’ calling, we are blessed when we see how people around us need help, how we are blessed by God and how we can take those blessings to serve and restore the hurting. And this is specifically US as Jesus’ disciples. Throughout the Beatitudes Jesus pronounced the blessings on anyone and everyone who met the criteria. But in the last of the Beatitudes, Jesus suddenly shifts his language from a general third person to “you” his disciples. Jesus is expecting his disciples to live out most if not all of the Beatitudes and thus to be harassed and persecuted because they are living out lives built on the principles he has called blessed. What follows in the Sermon is Jesus providing more detail about how one lives out these beatitudes but here we recognize that we are to be blessed in the kingdom that Jesus has come to establish and the way we do it is by committing to the lifestyle that he calls blessed and finds reward.

Jesus wants us to understand that if we take him and his kingdom proclamation seriously we will be pledging our lives to building right relationships with God and that commitment means we will be obliged to love, serve, and build up those around us. And in a world that so often is unconcerned with or even promotes violence and injustice we will be at odds with others who want to maintain their pleasure and power while we are endeavoring to see God’s blessings spread over the world.