The Beatitudes – Sermon On The Mount
The Beatitudes are referred to the account of ‘Sermon on Mount’ preached by Jesus Christ, written in Mat 5: 3-12 in New Testament. It is one of the most quoted teaching of Bible, not only among the Christians, but among others. . Similar list of beatitudes is also mentioned in Luke 6:20-23.
Q. What is the meaning of ‘Beatitudes’? And how does it refer to word ‘Blessed’ used in Matthew 5:3-12?
The word ‘Beatitude’ is not found in the English bible. But it is descended from Latin word ‘Beatus’ which means ‘Happy’ or ‘Blessed’, the meaning of which is very close to original Greek word Jesus that used . The Greek word for ‘Blessed’ is ‘Makarioi’ which means ‘happy, supremely blessed, fortunate’. Before we get into the beatitudes, let us look at the similarity and differences in the gospel accounts of Matthew 5:3-12 and Luke 6:20-23.
In Matthew, all the 8 beatitudes are in third persons (‘those’), except the last. On the other hand, in Luke, Beatitudes are in second person (“you”), followed by the list of ‘Woes’ as well. (Luke 6:24-26) The sites where Jesus preached the message are different. (Mat 5:1 – ‘On the Mount’ and Luke 6:17 – ‘On the plain’) Bible scholars disagrees on their positions regarding these two accounts, whether they are
a) Different records of the one sermon, or
b) Two different sermons with similar contents
Peoples often point out to such differences to disrepute the legitimacy and reliability of gospel records. But these minor variations actually serve as an evidence of the genuineness of these records. [Consider an illustration of Professor giving homework to his students. If 2 students have identical, word by word solutions, Professor would first suspect ‘copying or cheating’!] Apart from these minor differences, there is a exceptional unity and order of thought and substance in the gospel records.
Beatitudes are the great paradox to the worldly notion of ‘blessedness’ and ‘happiness’. It is no wonder that it does not make sense and almost seems contradiction to the carnal mind.
The beatitudes and the Sermon on Mount also defy the great expectations of an earthly kingdom, which Jews believed Messiah would establish! For how can you establish a worldly kingdom by the Weak and the Meek? How can you be merciful to your oppositions? How can you be pacifiers, if you are to set a kingdom? How can you let people persecute and insult you? It is evident that Jesus not talking about earthly kingdom. But he is offering ‘Kingdom of Heaven’.
The more we learn about the beatitudes, the more we realize that these characteristics are not something you can have instantaneously. It is a subtle, gradual change. There are not set principles to accomplish them. Only thing you can do is to allow God to totally transform you from within. And it is very difficult to give up control of our life and let God be in charge.
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