Imet Kevin about fifteen years ago at a small church I was attending. One day our pastor asked Kevin—who was in his late twenties at the time—to come forward and give his testimony. The only problem was that Kevin could not speak; he barely makes sounds. He had been born with Down Syndrome and a host of other physical ailments, including a reconstructed palate. As a result, he emitted grunts and snorts that only his mother could completely interpret.
The pastor therefore had to speak for Kevin, asking him yes or no questions, to which he would nod and grunt, and occasionally light up with a smile that said more than words could.
“So, Kevin, you just got back from the Special Olympics, where you won a medal. Was that a lot of fun?”
Kevin nodded furiously and smiled as he held his medal high. The pastor then turned to the congregation and explained how Kevin might have won more medals that day, but he stopped in every race to help other runners who had fallen or were lagging behind.
“Isn’t that true, Kevin?” the pastor asked.
Again, Kevin nodded, but this time with a kind of shyness and humility.
The pastor then said, “Kevin, you are about the happiest person I know. To what do you attribute the joy in your life?”
Kevin pointed up.
“God?” asked the pastor.
Kevin shook his head yes, several times, then raised his hand as if to correct him, or to add to what was said.
“Something else?” the pastor questioned. Kevin grunted as if to say yes. “What else?”
Kevin then held his arms outstretched, as if he were Jesus on the cross.
“Do you mean Jesus, and his dying for you?”
Kevin not only nodded, but with great excitement started grunting and jumping up and down. He used sign language to say that Jesus loves us all, and that he, Kevin, loved us as well. He gave the pastor a huge hug, and most of us in the pews were misty-eyed if not downright crying. It was the best testimony I ever heard. And that was the moment I first began to understand what the Beatitudes are all about.
False Narrative: The Beatitudes Are Prescriptions for Blessedness
At one point while I was in seminary I began an intensive study of the Beatitudes at the beginning of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount.
When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain; and after he sat down, his disciples came to him. Then he began to speak, and taught them, saying:
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
“Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
“Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteous ness, for they will be filled.
“Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.
“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
“Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” (Matthew 5:1-12)
Jesus said that the “poor in spirit,” “those who mourn,” “those who are meek” and “those who are persecuted” are blessed. Because my most common narrative said we have to earn God’s favor through our actions (legalism), I naturally assumed this list was a prescription for how to get God to be happy with me. Jesus seemed to be teaching that those who had these inner attitudes (meekness) and outer behaviors (willingness to be persecuted) were the truest of all believers. As I meditated on the Beatitudes and studied each one of them one by one, I began to believe that those who practiced them were the Marines of the Christian army, the select few who were a cut above the rest.
I was not alone in my interpretation. In fact, I would later discover that this is the dominant narrative concerning the Beatitudes. A few years earlier I had heard a pastor preach a series on the Beatitudes, and each week he encouraged us to try to be poor in spirit or to be meek or to stand up for Jesus, and if all went well we would experience persecution. Then we would know for sure that we were blessed. This narrative says the Beatitudes are prescriptions for blessedness or means to obtain spiritual wellness.
The problem is, this is a wrong interpretation. And of course, when you interpret a significant passage like this one incorrectly, a host of other problems emerge. After all, this is the opening section of the greatest sermon given by the greatest person who ever lived. If we begin in the wrong direction, you can be sure we will make a lot of other mistakes as we continue. Before we get to the correct understanding of the Beatitudes, I want to explain the context for Jesus’ teaching. Failure to see the context is one reason we fail to interpret the Beatitudes correctly.
The main subject of Jesus’ teaching is the kingdom of God. When Jesus arrived on the scene, everyone wondered when God would restore the kingdom to Israel. And there were five stipulations about who the kingdom was for. By taking a look at these five criteria we can more easily see what Jesus was saying in the Beatitudes, and how shocking those words must have been to some of his hearers and how exciting they were for others.
Five Requirements for the Kingdom of God
The dominant narrative of the Jewish religious leaders was that God had chosen the nation of Israel and was not going to invite non-Jews to the kingdom. Only those who were Jewish would be allowed to interact with God.
The recipients of the kingdom would be male only. In Jesus’ day women were considered second class, or even worse, mere property. Some rabbis even said that women did not have the same souls as men.
The rightful recipients of the kingdom would be faithful keepers of law—holy and ritually pure. The kingdom was not available to someone who did not eat kosher or observe the sabbath—much less someone who was a known sinner (such as a prostitute, an adulterer or a tax collector).
The kingdom could be entered by the physically whole and healthy. Sickness was a sign of sin and God’s curse. The kingdom would not be available to the diseased, the blind or the lame.
The poor had been abandoned by God. Therefore the kingdom was for those who were wealthy. Even though the wealthy could be blessed by giving alms to the poor, the poor were not on the kingdom guest list.
Those who would enter the kingdom of God comprised an exclusive club: they were Jewish, male, religiously upright, healthy and wealthy. Jesus’ ministry ran counter to this narrative. Jesus blessed the poor, touched lepers, healed and forgave Gentiles (even female Gentiles), and notoriously sinful females!
The religious leaders were shocked. By associating with known sinners and non-Jews, Jesus was saying, “You are invited.” As L. Greg-ory Jones says, “because the cultically impure were welcomed at Jesus’ table, they were implicitly included in a relationship of communion with God.” The Pharisees grumbled and criticized Jesus for this, and Jesus responded with this little gem: “Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are going into the kingdom of God ahead of you” (Matthew 21:31).
How could Jesus say this? Because he is the kingdom of God. He is a living, breathing, tangible, touchable, real-life expression and embodiment of the kingdom. When he touches or dines with people, they have come into contact with the kingdom. Matthew, a former tax collector, and Mary, a former prostitute, are in his inner circle. They have entered into the kingdom ahead of the Pharisees.
Jesus’ Narrative: The Beatitudes Are Invitations of Inclusion
Think about a time you have been excluded from some group. What was that like?
The broken down, sinful, ragamuffins of Israel flocked to Jesus. They tore apart roofs, climbed trees and formed huge crowds to see him. They knew he offered a vast treasure and was giving it away freely to everyone. Jesus was roaming Galilee telling everyone that God loves them, that God wants to commune with them and bless them, no matter who they are or what they have done, regardless of their gender or ethnicity. And he was not just saying nice things; he is healing people too. This was no ordinary man; God was with him—and he proclaimed we too have access to God! Those not on the guest list are invited into the kingdom of God.
Now we can better understand what Jesus is saying in the Beatitudes. The Beatitudes, far from being a new set of virtues that further divide the religious haves and have nots, are words of hope and healing to those who have been marginalized. I will endeavor to explain what the Beatitudes meant to those who sat on the hill listening to this provocative teacher.
Blessed are. Each Beatitude begins with the words blessed are. Some translations say “happy are.” Neither one of these does true justice to the Greek word used here, which is makarios. Makarios means something like “truly well off” or “those for whom everything is good.” Blessed is a religious word to many of us today and is associated with being pious. Happy refers to temporary condition based on externals; it denotes a more shallow state of being. Today, the most accurate translation of makarios might be “well off.” This translation heightens the shock value: “The poor in spirit are truly well off, because . . .”
There were other makarios sayings that Jesus’ hearers were familiar with. An intertestimental book says:
Blessed is the man who lives with a sensible wife. . . .
Blessed is the man who does not sin with the tongue. . . .
Blessed is the man who has not served as an inferior. . . .
Blessed is the man who finds a friend. (Sirach 25:7-11, my translation)
All of these conditions are favorable. It is a good to have a sensible spouse and not to be inferior. These beatitudes make sense, and they do not shock us.
The same is true of the rabbinic teaching that those who mourn will be comforted in the hereafter. The more we suffer in this life, the less we will suffer in the next. “Be comforted,” a rabbi might say to a person in mourning, “because you can look forward to a better life in the next.” This too makes sense. There is justice in this: One day you will get your reward. Again, this teaching is not shocking.
But Jesus gives us a jolt. The Beatitudes countered the rabbinic teaching of Jesus’ day. Jesus used words and phrases of and expressions similar to well-known rabbinic quotations, but in each case he turned them upside down. Alfred Edersheim concludes that Jesus’ teaching not only differed from the rabbis but was teaching “quite the opposite,” thus revealing “the difference between the largeness of Christ’s World-Kingdom, and the narrowness of Judaism.” Jesus’ teaching is different and new.
When Jesus delivered his Beatitudes, I imagine his hearers gasped. He looked out at the crowd of desperate, sad, broken and persecuted people, and called them makarios.
Poor in spirit. “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” The poor in spirit have nothing going for them. These are folks who are in a bad state, and Jesus is announcing to them that even they are invited to the kingdom. Poor “in spirit” sounds like something close to being humble, but in Luke’s version Jesus says bluntly, “Blessed are the poor,” which is more difficult to spiritualize. Dallas Willard translates “poor in spirit” as “spiritual zeroes,” meaning the kind of people who humans typically think have no place before God.
So the opening beatitude might read something like this: “Blessed are you who are feeling marginalized from God, who have nothing going for you spiritually—for you too are invited to the kingdom.” Anna Wierzbicka notes that Jesus demonstrated great sympathy “for those who were marginal to society or outcasts.”
The poor in spirit were in the crowd. Jesus was looking at them. They are the type of people this world overlooks. Jesus starts with them and says, “You are very well off. You are welcome in the kingdom of God.”
The eyes that normally looked down in shame suddenly gazed at Jesus with hope and joy. Females, sick people, the poor, the second-class half-Jew, the person whose life had been broken by bad choices—all heard the good news. “Who me? Is he talking about me? I am welcome in the kingdom of heaven? It is here for me, now?” This was very good news.
Those who mourn. “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.” Those who mourn may refer to people who have undergone loss and are feeling overwhelming grief. It refers to a person “whose situation is wretched.” Imagine a young woman who has lost her husband to cancer and is angry, confused and drowning in depression. Jesus is taking a very negative state and proclaiming that it can be turned into something good. People who grieve in the kingdom grieve altogether differently than those not in the kingdom. As Paul said, “We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about those who have died, so that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope” (1 Thessalonians 4:13).
In the kingdom we find comfort because God is in control, God gets the last word, which is heaven. Heaven changes how we grieve. We still feel pain, but we take comfort in knowing that we will see our loved ones again, and there will be no more tears. Laughter and joy await us. As in the first beatitude, Jesus says an unblessable condition can be blessed.
Those who are meek. “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.” Because meekness (or gentleness) is one of the fruits of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23), we think of it as a virtue, and of course it can be. But there is a dimension of meekness that is not necessarily a virtue. Scholars believe Jesus spoke in Aramaic, and the word he likely used for “meek” is praus, which refers to those who cannot retaliate when harmed. The kid who is not able to stand up to a bully is praus. He is not merely humble or gentle, but has no capacity to resist.
This is not a good thing to be in the eyes of this world. Certainly a person in this condition is not blessed. But Jesus calls this kind of person blessed because a praus will inherit the earth. This likely refers to land. The people in the crowd were too poor to own land (as most people were in that day). The landowners were often oppressive, charging large fees and asking for a lot of work simply to live on rented land. So when the praus hear that they will “get their due,” it was very good news. This beatitude promises that “the kingdom of the heavens enfolds them, the whole earth is their Father’s—and theirs as they need it.”
Those who hunger for righteousness. “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.” Those who hunger and thirst after righteousness certainly desire a good thing: righteousness. But these people do not merely desire righteousness, they “hunger and thirst” for it. Hunger and thirst are conditions of great need. These people are starving for something they do not have. They yearn for things to be made right. Perhaps the wrong is in them or is an injustice foisted on them. This is an admirable but not an enviable condition.
But as before, there is good news available to them. Jesus has a promise for people such as these: their hunger will recede. God will restore them to a new place where forgiveness and love will dominate. Jesus says to them, “I have come to make the world right, to make you right and to make all things new.” That place is nothing other than the kingdom of God.
Those who are merciful. “Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.” Jesus is not describing people who are simply nice in this beatitude. He is describing people who give until it hurts. I think of my paternal grandfather who ran a fix-it shop in small-town Indiana. According to people I have met, he was generous to a fault. People quite often could not afford to pay their bills, and he did not force them to do so. As a result, he and his family could barely survive financially. We all admire people who give of themselves for others, and most of us strive to live that way. When we do, however, we make ourselves vulnerable, and someone usually takes advantage of us.
As in every beatitude, the merciful are given a promise. Those who are merciful will receive mercy. In a society bent on revenge, being merciful is not often seen or highly valued. But God is merciful and loving and forgiving, and he will show mercy to the merciful. In the kingdom their kindness does not go unnoticed.
Which of the Beatitudes do you most relate to? Describe the negative and positive.
Those who are pure in heart. “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.” Most of us strive to be pure in heart. We live in a broken and depraved world, and we find a lot of darkness in our own hearts. In “As the Ruin Falls,” C. S. Lewis wrote, “I have never had a selfless thought.” Our motives are mixed and often selfish. We would like to speak without guile, to love with pure intentions and to serve with the right motives. But it eludes us. We find that we are a mixture of good and evil. We long to do right, just as the person who hungers for righteousness, but in this case our yearning is to be pure so that we can see God.
This beatitude is built on Psalm 24:
Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord?
And who shall stand in his holy place?
Those who have clean hands and pure hearts, who do not lift up their souls to what is false, and do not swear deceitfully (Psalm 24:3-4)
Who can stand in God’s presence? Those who “have clean hands and pure hearts.”
Jesus is addressing people whose longing is never fulfilled. They are never perfect enough. God seems to elude them. They grit their teeth and resolve to do better because they want to see God so badly. Jesus informs them they will see God. Of course, he knows that this is not just a future promise. When they look at Jesus they see God. They have found what they have been seeking and are truly well off.
Those who are peacemakers. “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.” Peacemakers stand amid those who are fighting; they are “caught in the middle.” A police officer allowed me to ride with him for about three hours, which was about all I could handle. During that time he dealt with several people who had or were in the process of committing crimes. The officer had to step in and use as much force as necessary to deal with people who were less than polite.
The officer is a peacemaker. He goes where we would not, and does it because he believes in protecting the innocent. This is what Jesus is addressing in this beatitude. Using force to make an enemy bow is not peacemaking. Peacemakers are willing to suffer and even die for the cause of peace. Peacemakers will be called the sons and daughters of God because they do what their heavenly Father does. Our God is a peacemaker, and human peacemakers resemble him.
Those who are persecuted. “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” The last to be blessed are the persecuted. We rightly esteem those willing to suffer for their faith. I read with awe the stories of men and women who accept martyrdom with courage and even joy. But this certainly is not valued in this world. We are easily offended by a slight criticism. We want everyone in it to think well of us. We want praise, not persecution.
Jesus observes that those who pursue righteousness are going against the grain of society, and that will result in persecution. Following Jesus is dangerous—if we lead the kind of life he calls us to. When we choose to fight for justice and peace or not to lie or judge others, we will face backlash.
The promise in the last beatitude is the same as in the first: “for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” When we align ourselves with Jesus and observe his ways, we are in the kingdom.
Blessed Because They Are Poor?
The people mentioned in the Beatitudes are not blessed because they are in those conditions. They are blessed because of Jesus. They have hope because the kingdom is available to even them. Their character traits are not highly valued by the world. As my friend and colleague Matt Johnson put it so well, the Beatitudes “are characteristics that won’t lead to power, prestige, or possessions.” Jesus opens the Sermon on the Mount with the radical teaching that these people are invited to the great banquet.
People are not blessed merely because they are poor in spirit. The condition is not important. What is important is that these people are not cut off from God. Their life situation does not prevent them from entering the kingdom. Most of Jesus’ teaching went against the grain of dominant narratives (“You have heard that it was said. . . . But I say to you . . .”). The Beatitudes are not different. The life circumstances Jesus called blessed are commonly thought to be anything but that. And the Beatitudes are radical because they teach that these people have the same access to the kingdom as the rich and happy.
What if I am not on the list? If I am not poor, is the kingdom of heaven mine as well? If I am happy, is there any comfort for me? Of course. Jesus does not include the rich in spirit because everyone already knows they are blessed. But they did not know that people who were poor in spirit had equal opportunity in the kingdom.
Warning to the Rich and Powerful
In Luke’s version of the Beatitudes Jesus offers a warning that is worth heeding, perhaps especially today:
But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation.
Woe to you who are full now, for you will be hungry.
Woe to you who are laughing now, for you will mourn and weep. (Luke 6:24-25)
Jesus warns them not because God does not accept rich, satisfied or happy people, but because rich, satisfied and happy people often think they have no need for God.
Have you seen this in your life or in the lives of others?
Wealth, power and possessions can easily numb us to our need for God and make us overlook the needs of others. The wealthy must be concerned for the poor. Eating gourmet meals when others have nothing to eat should cause us to reflect a bit. Pursuing pleasure in a world with so much pain creates uneasiness in those who follow Jesus. God is not against fine food or having fun, but we ought to think deeply about our decisions—what and how much we buy, what is truly important— because we live in a world of great disparity.
The solution is not to close out our bank account and hand it all to a charitable foundation or to stop eating. Jesus’ stern warning is born of love. He knows that we try to find solace in our wealth and fulfillment in our bellies. And we confuse fleeting pleasure with joy. When all is well in the kingdom of this world, we are tempted to think we have no need of the kingdom of God. When the wealthy, full and happy share with those who have less, they find satisfaction in things that truly satisfy.
The Blessed Shall Bless
In the Beatitudes Jesus invites the down and out to live in fellowship with him. He invites them to the kingdom of God. Jesus is the kingdom of God in the flesh. He is Immanuel, God with us. He does not introduce people to a concept or a religious idea, he invites them into a vibrant, interactive relationship with himself. And Jesus embodies and fulfills the Beatititudes. He was poor in spirit, meek and pure in heart. He hungered for righteousness, mourned for Jerusalem and wept for Lazarus. And he was persecuted. Pope Benedict XVI explains this beautifully:
The Beatitudes, spoken with the community of Jesus’ disciples in view, are paradoxes—the standards of the world are turned upside down as soon as things are seen in their right perspective, which is to say, in terms of God’s values, so different from those of the world. It is precisely those who are poor in worldly terms, those thought of as lost souls, who are truly fortunate ones, the blessed, who have every reason to rejoice and exult in the midst of their suffering. The Beatitudes are promises resplendent with the new image of the world and of man inaugurated by Jesus.
Jesus inaugurated and exemplified this upside-down world through his life and in his teachings.
Those who are in Christ become living beatitudes, walking, talking blessings to the world. Immediately after the Beatitudes Jesus says, “ You are the salt of the earth. . . . You are the light of the world. . . . [L]et your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:13-16). Jesus not only invited these ragtag people into the kingdom but calls them the salt of the earth and the light of the world. Those who live with Jesus in his kingdom are destined to be witnesses for another way of life, where the last are first and the greatest are least.
When I heard Kevin speak in church I was watching a living beatitude. His condition seemed unblessable in the kingdom of this world. According to society’s values, he has nothing going for him. He is marginalized, ostracized and neglected. No one would choose his situation. And yet he is welcomed, esteemed and valued in God’s kingdom, which is why he smiled. It is also why he never competes—there is no competition in the kingdom. We are all on the same team, all members of the same family, where everyone wins.
How has God used you, especially in your weaknesses?
Kevin lets his light shine in our congregation through his compassion for people who have lost their spouses. Many people in this congregation were elderly, and every few weeks one of our members would pass away. Kevin would look the surviving spouse in the eyes, touch his finger to his eye and run it down his cheek, to indicate tears. Then he would put his hands together in a posture of prayer. Finally, he would give them a big hug and walk away. Without words he conveyed, “I am sad with you. I am praying for you. I love you.” The people who receive his blessing say the same thing: “Of all the people who tried to help me after I lost my spouse, Kevin helped me the most with my grief.” Kevin, rejected by the world but one in whom Christ dwells, brings comfort to those who mourn.
Soul Training Hospitality
The Beatitudes invite marginalized people into the kingdom of God, and hospitality can help us practice this essential aspect of the kingdom: God cares deeply about those who are left out. The kingdom is inclusive, but the world we live in is exclusive. And if we are honest, we likely are more exclusive than inclusive in our own lives. The authors of Radical Hospitality note:
When we speak of hospitality we are always addressing issues of inclusion and exclusion. Each of us makes choices about who will and who will not be included in our lives. . . . Our entire culture excludes many people. If you are in a wheelchair, for example, you are excluded because there are places you can’t go. If you are very young, if you are very old, you are excluded. In high school you can be excluded if you don’t wear the right shoes or listen to the right music. Women are excluded, as are people of color, and those who practice a different religion from our own. . . . The poor are always excluded; they are our embarrassing little American secret.
Living in the kingdom of God involves loving others, because our King is a God of love. Living in the kingdom of God involves forgiving others, because our King is a God of forgiveness. In the same manner, living in the kingdom of God involves hospitality— inviting and including others—because our King is a God of hospitality.
Practicing hospitality makes us vulnerable, and this is why we refrain from it. As long as I spend time with people I know, people who are like me, I feel relatively safe. But if I open myself or my home to someone outside of my comfort zone, I may encounter something I do not like. This does not mean that we put ourselves in situations of risk: “Opening yourselves to the stranger is not equivalent to leaving your door unlocked and bringing strangers into your home. Hospitality does not mean you ignore obvious threats to personal safety.”
That said, we will still likely feel a bit uncomfortable. When we open ourselves to someone else we become vulnerable: What if they reject my hospitality? What if the situation becomes awkward? Knowing this is going to happen will help alleviate those fears. Simply remind yourself that feeling a bit uncomfortable is normal. Once you do it a few times, those fears will diminish.
Try to do two or three of the following suggestions this week.
Reach out to someone outside of your comfort zone. Ask if they want to have coffee or go out for lunch. This might be a coworker you seldom connect with or someone who has few friends. Intentionally connect with someone who is different. Who might that be?
She is the liberal if I am conservative, and rich if I am poor. He is the guy who does not go to the same places I go, the family that does not worship where I worship or shop where I shop. The other is the person from the neighborhood I avoid; the guy I don’t want sitting next to me on the plane.
If you feel uncomfortable stretching this much, then back off a bit and connect in small ways with someone you have never met.
Listen to people. Become aware of the people around you and become a great listener.
Be a “preparer.” Preparing involves doing small things that show you care for other people.
You prepare for others when you plan a quiet time with your child, when you set candles on the dinner table, when you shovel your sidewalk, or trim the tree away from the street sign. These are ways of preparing to receive others—in other words, through these activities you prepare a table for others. When we are preparing a table, we are also preparing ourselves.
My wife is great at this. When people come to our home, she does little things (candles, special appetizers, nice table settings) that communicate “You are welcome here.” She never has to say it; her preparation speaks loud and clear.
Pay attention to the people you love: “You can put down the phone and listen to your coworker talk for a minute. You can shut off the radio and play checkers with your child. . . . How much do people matter? How important is it to make room for others?”
Welcome others into your “group.” Quite often we spend time in cliques, our usual group of friends at work or in our personal life. And there are others who would like to spend time with you and your friends but feel uninvited. This week invite them!
