The Beatitudes

By Rev. David P. Scaer

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

Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

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

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.

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

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.

Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 5:3-10) The most referenced section of the Bible is the Sermon on the Mount, and in these three chapters of Matthew (5-7), the Lord’s Prayer and the Beatitudes are the most widely cited by Christians and non-Christians alike. The Beatitudes derive their name from beati, the Latin word for “blessed.” Taken out of a church context, the Beatitudes are used in ways that do not fit with Jesus’ other teachings. For example, “Blessed are the poor in spirit” has served as a call for a more equitable economic adjustment between rich and poor, and “Blessed are the peacemakers” is found on the walls of the United Nations' headquarters in New York. Christians themselves do not agree on their meaning, and interpretations vary widely from the early post-apostolic church to the present. Since Christ says that He is the content and goal of all the Scriptures (John 5:39; Luke 24:27,44), we should look first for a Christological interpretation of the Beatitudes—these words that introduce Jesus’ first recorded discourse in the New Testament.

Since the Beatitudes are presented in the plural, (“Blessed are . . . ”), most scholars hold that Jesus is speaking about His followers. However, a clue calling for adjusting this commonly held view is found in the verse immediately following the Beatitudes—a verse that might be called the "ninth beatitude": "Blessed are you when men revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on My account.” While this beatitude is similar to the eight Beatitudes, it does not begin with “blessed are,” but with “blessed are you.” Although this change from “they” to “you” might seem insignificant, Jesus is separating Himself from His followers. He makes the distinction sharper when He claims that they will be blessed in their being persecuted on account of Him. Clearly Jesus is putting himself in a distinct category from them. Their suffering for Him will be to their benefit—an astounding claim if Jesus were only a mere human being. This leads us to propose that in their primary sense, the Beatitudes describe Christ first and then believers as they are persecuted for Him.

Rather than each beatitude referring to someone different, each has the same point of reference. With the exception of the first and the last beatitudes, each holds out a different promise: Both the poor in spirit and those persecuted for righteousness’ sake are promised the kingdom of heaven. These two verses summarize the Beatitudes as a literary unit. The first beatitude, “Blessed are the poor in spirit,” describes how Jesus became poor by putting aside His prerogatives as God and not using them for His own benefit. In the eighth beatitude His self impoverishment before God is seen by us in His accepting persecution, which Matthew later tells us takes place in His being crucified. The “ninth beatitude” — the verse tacked on to the Beatitudes— describes how Christians share in Christ’s life by being persecuted for His sake, and so they share with Him in the kingdom of the heavens that is realized by His resurrection.

There is general agreement that the Beatitudes describe the highest form of moral perfection, even surpassing the Ten Commandments, but there is no agreement on how it can be obtained or who possesses it. In the Middle Ages, the perfection of Beatitudes was sought by taking vows of poverty and celibacy. For some Protestants, the Beatitudes describe how Christians can live holy lives without sinning. Appropriately, people with this belief are called perfectionists. By removing Christ, some hold that by ourselves we can work toward the perfection of the Beatitudes by fulfilling the Law. Others see them as a moral impossibility. Looking at the Scriptures through the lens of the Law and the Gospel, Lutherans tend to see the Beatitudes as impossible challenges. As different as these views are, both agree that the Beatitudes are primarily law.

But, if the Beatitudes are understood Christologically—that they first describe Christ and then those who are, by baptism, in Christ—they present a reality that is already ours by faith. Because of Jesus, we are blessed! In the Beatitudes we see the Law as fulfilled in Christ, which is, after all, what the Gospel is. The Beatitudes should be understood, not only theologically in terms of law and gospel, but also as portraits of Christ’s life and death in their immediate context of Matthew’s gospel. It is then will we see ourselves in the Beatitudes, if only dimly, until our resurrection, when Christ’s perfection will be manifest in us.

Rev. Dr. David P. Scaer is Chairman of the Systematic Theology Department at Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, Indiana. He can be reached at dpscaer@juno.com.

Rembrandt The Sermon Canvas on panel; 62 x 80 cm. Ca. 1634-36. Berlin, Germäldegalerie der Staatlichen Museen.