Sermon on the Mount

by Scot McKnight

  The moment one defines righteousness as conformity to Torah or to God’s Word in Scripture, three things happen. First, the scope of Scripture, especially as we find the prophetic texts, focuses our minds on big issues like justice, mercy, peace, faithfulness, worship, holiness, and love. Second, we are pushed into seeing how Jesus himself understood Torah observance, and here we think immediately of two texts, the Jesus Creed of 22:34–40 and the Golden Rule of 7:12, so that for Jesus a “righteous” person was someone who loved God and loved others as himself. Third, we are pressed into considering the antitheses of 5:17–48, where surpassing righteousness refers to kingdom behaviors.

  To those who pursue righteousness Jesus promises “they will be filled,” and the word “filled” means “sated,” “slaked,” “bloated,” or “filled to overflowing.” The metaphor expresses absolute and utter satisfaction: they will find a kingdom society where love, peace, justice, and holiness shape the entirety of creation.

  #5. Blessed are the merciful (5:7). The “merciful” are those who, because they do to others as they would want done to themselves and because they have experienced God’s merciful love, empathize and show compassion to others. Inherent in works of mercy is the self-denying virtue of entering into the injustices and tragedies experienced by others. Once again, Jesus is countercultural to some trends in his world: merciful people are like the good Samaritan, whose love interrupts his trip; like Jesus, who is constantly interrupted by those in need (9:13; 12:7; 15:21–28); or like Jesus in the (not canonical) incident with the woman caught in sin (John 7:53–8:11); and like James, the brother of Jesus, who sees the abusive treatment of the poor in the synagogue and speaks out on their behalf (Jas 2:1–13). Jesus was radical enough to suggest that mercy needed to be shown to enemies (Matt 5:43–48).

  The fifth beatitude complements the fourth beatitude, and perhaps even helps clarify the fourth, when we consider to whom the merciful show compassion. The answer can be heard the moment we begin the question: those in need, those suffering injustice, those who are poor, those who are oppressed, and those who have failed. In addition, the word “merciful” does not describe the ubiquitous and shallow virtue of “niceness” or “tolerance” in Western culture, but concrete actions of love, compassion, and sympathetic grace to those who are oppressed or to those who have sinned (cf. Gal 6:1). The writer of Hebrews depicts Jesus’ priestly relation to us in terms of mercy (Heb 2:17). James said the same thing in other words:

  Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom, because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment. (Jas 2:12–13)

  To the merciful is promised divine mercy at the judgment, that is, entrance into the kingdom. While this blessing creates disturbance for us at times about works righteousness, its design is to remind us that mercy is fundamental to a proper love of God and others (23:23; cf. 25:31–46).

  #6. Blessed are the pure in heart (5:8). If our suggestion of grouping the beatitudes into threes holds, this blessing is connected to the previous two around the theme of pursuing God’s will. The “pure” in heart know the temptation of externalism and the social honor that comes with being pure in hands, or in observance, or in reputation (15:1–20; 23:25–28).41 But the pure in heart see God as a person to be loved, so their first priority is God, and this love leads to loving others well. The best commentary on “pure in heart” is 6:1–18, where religious actions are done not for the praise of others but in order to engage with God, and 6:21, where the disciple is not shaped by wealth or possessions. James reveals an almost uncanny connection to the Beatitudes without giving so much as a hint in James 3:17–18.

  This blessing, as with the others, comes with a history. One thinks immediately of Psalm 24’s profound questions: “Who may ascend the mountain of the LORD? Who may stand in his holy place?” And the answer? “The one who has clean hands and a pure heart” (24:3–4). It is hard not to think that Paul’s spirit-flesh battle emerges out of such Jewish thinking (Gal 5:13–26). Purity of heart avoids double-mindedness (Jas 4:8).

  Christian history shows an interest in the “beatific vision” when we read, “for they will see God” (5:8).42 Thus, Bonaventure’s Journey of the Mind to God, the finale to Dante’s Divine Comedy, and Bunyan’s pilgrim, who discovers the land beyond the Jordan in Pilgrim’s Progress, are major examples. The Bible both affirms a beatific vision (see Job 19:26; Ps 11:7; 1 John 3:2; Rev 22:4) and yet seems to deny its genuine possibility (e.g., Exod 33:20; 1 Tim 6:16). There is an immensity and an unapproachability to God that prevents humans from ever gazing directly into the being of God, but we can see and admire a glory surrounding God as we engage in intoxicating, ecstatic worship (e.g., Exod 3:2; Isa 6:1–5; Dan 7:9–10).43

  Three Blessings on Those Who Create Peace

  #7. Blessed are the peacemakers (5:9). The “peacemaker” is someone who is reconciled to God, knows God is for peace, and seeks reconciliation instead of strife and war.44 Jewish expectations for the messianic kingdom were for peace; hence, a peacemaker is a kingdom person (Isa 9:5–6; Zech 9:9–10). That is, the Beatitudes look at people now through the lens of an Ethic from Beyond. Kingdom realities are now occurring through the peacemakers.45

  Once again, Jesus is countercultural for some. There was a surging development in the first century in the rise of vigilante-like zealotry into a full-blown movement of Zealots, who were a part of Jewish resistance movements.46 This beatitude turns its focus on those who, instead of seeking justice through violence, which remained a Christian temptation (see Jas 1:19–20; 4:1–3), turn from retaliation to reconciliation. The zealotry threat was resisted by the rabbis: “Hillel says, ‘Be disciples of Aaron, “loving peace and pursuing peace, loving people and drawing them near to the Torah” (m. ʾAbot 1.12).47 Bonhoeffer sketched what would in reality become his own virtue and fate: “But their peace will never be greater than when they encounter evil people in peace and are willing to suffer from them.”48

  Peacemaking is neither being “nice” (as defined today), nor is it “tolerance” (again as defined today); rather, it is an active entrance into the middle of warring parties for the purpose of creating reconciliation and peace.49 But neither is it soft-pedaling around real but not identical differences—that is, between those who have experienced apartheid and those who inflicted apartheid, between those who split a church and those who choose to remain, between a husband and wife who are struggling to get along, between two colleagues at the office, or between parents and children who can’t seem to find enough common ground to trust one another. The peacemaker, as the person whom Jesus blesses, seeks to reconcile—not by pretending there are no differences or by suppressing differences, but by creating love of the other that transcends differences or that permits the people to join hands in spite of differences. Jesus will speak of reconciliation on other occasions, and these perhaps are the best commentary on “peacemakers” (5:21–26, 43–48; 6:14–15; 18:21–35). His framing of moral relations in terms of love (22:34–40) and servanthood (20:20–28) provide foundations for peacemaking.

  Issues arise precisely because some Christians have taken these words so seriously. Two views deserve to be mentioned. First, does this beatitude teach pacifism or at least nonviolent resistance? This view has been attached to the Anabaptist tradition50 and is sometimes accused of being utopian or unrealistic, but this is precisely the point: pacifism was the way of the earliest Christians—and participation in war was clearly frowned on by nearly all early Christians—because it was the way of Jesus, and the way of Jesus is the kingdom, realistic or not. The question for the pacifist is not, “Does it work in the world?” but “What does it mean to follow Jesus in this concrete situation?”

  Second, there is another reading of these words of Jesus, that his words are about interpersonal relations and not international bodies; in other words, Christians shouldn’t use violence in their personal life but they can part
icipate in international/military violence (just war). This is the view of Augustine, Luther, and Calvin. To this one can respond pointedly that what applies to each of us as a follower of Jesus must also apply to anything in which we participate if we are consistently following Jesus. Privatizing one’s kingdom ethics is not the way of Jesus.

  So what do we think? Regardless of our posture toward the state, the military, or other countries, the goal of the follower of Jesus is peace. But we are to admit that the means is not as clear. That is, while we should all desire peace, how we get there may differ. Some Christians think the best way to get there is through military strength sufficient enough to intimidate other countries into dropping their military plans, while others (I join them) think the way of Jesus requires us to drop our military intimidation and negotiate in love for justice and peace.51

  Jesus promises peacemakers that they will be “called children [sons] of God” (5:9) at the final judgment. The word “son/sons” was used in the Jewish world to connect a person with an attribute52 or a person. Thus, a “son of God” here denotes someone who is on God’s side, implying that God is a God of peace (Rom 16:20).

  Peacemaking and justice/righteousness, which follows in verse 10, belong together in the Jewish world of Jesus. What makes this connection secure are these kinds of texts:

  Love and faithfulness meet together;

  righteousness and peace kiss each other. (Ps 85:10)

  Of the greatness of his government and peace

  there will be no end.

  He will reign on David’s throne

  and over his kingdom,

  establishing and upholding it

  with justice and righteousness

  from that time on and forever.

  The zeal of the LORD Almighty

  will accomplish this. (Isa 9:7)

  The fruit of that righteousness will be peace;

  its effect will be quietness and confidence forever. (Isa 32:17, emphasis added in the above)

  #8 and #9. Blessed are those who are persecuted … (5:10–12). Matthew doubles up on the theme of persecution. First, he has a blessing for those who are persecuted because they seek God’s justice/righteousness (5:10). Second, Matthew then expands the eighth blessing by adding another blessing for the persecuted, this time spelling out the specifics in the direction of both verbal harassment and injustice, and no doubt again this suffering has to do with following and associating with Jesus: “because of me” (5:11; cf. 10:39; 16:25; 19:29; 24:9).53 If verse 10 promises the “kingdom,” verse 12a has “great is your reward.”54 The notion here is that one’s eternal/kingdom state correlates with one’s response to God in the present life. This isn’t works righteousness but instead the moral call to responsibility in light of eternal correlation. Jesus later teaches that the disciple’s reward far outstrips the correlation (cf. 20:1–16).

  Blended together, the “persecuted” are those who seek God’s will in spite of what others want, who love God so much they are faithful to God when oppressed, and who follow Jesus so unreservedly they suffer for him. Inherent in persecution, then, are both a love of God and a denial of self. The premier example, of course, is Jesus, and next to him is John the Baptist, but one also thinks of Jesus’ words in 23:33–39 or those in Hebrews 11. If Jesus was reviled and then raised, so the disciple knows he or she will suffer the same fates (Matt 10:24–25).

  LIVE the Story

  Texts heavy with tradition and lit up with meaning for Christians of all times, like the Beatitudes, present their own challenges for the teacher. I suggest that we focus on the big ideas. Perhaps Bonhoeffer sets us on the proper course: “Here at the end of the Beatitudes the question arises as to where in this world such a faith-community actually finds a place … at the cross. The faith-community of the blessed is the community of the Crucified. With him they lost everything, and with him they found everything.”55

  Happiness Deconstructed

  The most important word in this text is “blessed,” and it needs to be discussed over against modernity’s pursuit of happiness. When the Continental Congress drafted the Declaration of Independence in June and July of 1776, the framers put into words what had been percolating in Europe for most of the century: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” Most in the Western world believe that the pursuit of happiness is a right. But something has changed: more and more we think being happy is our right.

  This leads to the question of what happiness means. Here one might toss in a hundred or so quotes, but eventually we will agree that “happiness” is about inner contentedness and material flourishing. That is, many today think it is a right not only to have life but to have a good life.56 Here are several suggestions now about what happiness means.

  1. Primarily happiness is understood as a subjective “feeling good about oneself and one’s life and one’s situation.”

  2. Happiness has become both a right and achievable now.

  3. The pursuit of happiness never ends; it is instead a “hedonic treadmill.” Once the center is pleasure or feeling good, that center becomes a source of unending demand for more and more.

  4. Happiness research shows that it is largely the comparative that satisfies the subjective: that is, one becomes happy by comparing herself or himself with others who have less, and as long as one has more, one is happy. But those studies also show that diminishment in happiness enters once one has more than the necessities of life.

  5. We also have learned that happiness is rooted in genetics: certain temperaments and dispositions are more capable of achieving this subjective sense of feeling good than are others: those who are sociable, active, stable, and conscientious tend to be more “happy.” Not only is happiness genetic, but it is connected to our life span: we reach the nadir of happiness at age 44 and after that it’s a gentle stroll of increasing happiness all the way home.

  6. Happiness can be generated falsely by the imagination. Our capacity to dream and to put things in the context of what we think our reality eventually will be creates greater chances of happiness, whether that imagined future ever occurs or not.

  Here is my point. The term happiness today, because it rests on these kinds of observations, is not the best word for translating the Greek word makarios in the Beatitudes. The happiness of the Beatitudes is not about feeling good but about being good, and being good is defined by Jesus and shaped by one’s relationship with God through him. Being blessed by Jesus may have nothing to do with one’s observable condition in life and everything to do with whether one loves God, loves self, and loves others as the self. That, along with the behaviors that emerge out of that kind of love, makes one blessed.

  A Revolution in Evaluation

  Jesus here blesses three kinds of people:

  those who are the humble poor

  those who pursue righteousness and justice

  those who create peace

  I wonder if we might examine once again the sort of people that measure up to our standards. How do we measure piety? How do we measure spirituality? How do we measure true Christianity? Jesus measures it by the standard of whether a person loves God, loves self, and loves others. He sees this in people who are the humble poor, who work for righteousness and justice, and who create reconciliation.

  His standard and our standard are often at odds. In my experience in churches, I see these sorts of standards to measure followers:

  those who read their Bible and pray daily

  those who attend church regularly

  those who tithe

  those who know a lot about the Bible

  those who preach well

  those who exercise the spiritual gifts

  those who exercise the spiritual disciplines

  those who evangelize

  those who have great stories of conversion

  t
hose who write books

  those who separate themselves from the world

  those who have succeeded in business

  those who run for public office

  those who serve in the military

  Most of us would say apart from one or two of our quibbles, Christians do these things. But here’s the problem: By what standard do we measure spirituality? By what we can see or by the inner qualities Jesus seems to be teaching? That is, do we see spirituality in those whose love for God and others has so worked into their inner fabric that they are humble in spite of their poverty and the suffering of injustice, that they are doing all they can to bring about justice in this world, and that they are seeking to reconcile those who are at odds? Are our standards those of Jesus?

  The Beatitudes of Jesus are nothing short of a revolution of evaluation. We see in those whom Jesus blesses those who truly are the Jesus people of this world, and what he calls to our attention about them are not the sort of elements that often go into our evaluation methods.

  Looking and Loving

  In the Beatitudes the good life, the life that leads to blessing and to flourishing, is the life lived by looking constantly to God for both approval and sustenance, and a life lived before God as the judge and vindicator of God’s true people. The Beatitudes provide a divine perspective on the true people of God, and Jesus is the Lord Messiah who declares who these people are.