By Roy B. Blizzard
The passage in translation for today is actually going to be the beginning of a series of eight verses from Matthew 5: 2-10. However, we will take them one verse at a time and go into more of an explanation than usual. Theses verses are usually known as the Beatitudes.
Beatitude in English means consummate bliss although the word in Greek is makarios, which is a poetic word that translates into English as blessed. It is used some 49 times in the Psalms alone. Many of the bishops and church leaders in the Greek Orthodox Church are named Makarios.
In Hebrew, it is the word ashrey, which can be translated as happy. Perhaps the best definition for a Beatitude is an attitude for kingdom people to be in.
It may come as a surprise to you to learn that these verses that we commonly call the Beatitudes do not mean what they appear to mean on the surface; rather something much more profound. However, in order to understand them, one must understand several things.
First of all, these are all truisms; that is, a proverbial statement that is eternally true. We might say that these truisms are in what we would call the proverbial future, which is actually the present tense. In other words, each one of these statements is eternally true. It was true yesterday. It is true today. It will be true tomorrow.
Let me give you a few examples found in the Proverbs. For example, Proverbs 12:7 is an example of the proverbial future.
The wicked are overthrown and are not but the house of the righteous shall stand. (It should be the wicked are overthrown and are not but the house of the righteous stands.)
Proverbs 12:8
According to one’s intelligence is he commended, but the one who vacillates back and forth is despised.
Proverbs 12:21
There shall no mischief befall the righteous but the wicked are filled with evil.
The Proverbs are actually full of truisms. Further, in order to understand the Proverbs, one must know something about how the Rabbis taught in Jesus’ day. In His day, they used the word pardes, which means an orchard to describe the four levels of instructions that form an acrostic.
- Pshat – The first level – was the simple exegesis.
- Remez – The second level – meant hinting at. They would hint back at something that had already been said or already was known.
- Drash – The third level – was the homiletical exposition.
- Sod – The fourth level – represented the secret or hidden meaning.
Jesus is a master at remez. He rarely ever says anything that is original with Him. He is always hinting back at something that had already been said or already written. Because His listeners had the Biblical text committed to memory, all He had to do was use a word or a phrase and there was an immediate understanding on His listeners’ part of the phrase or the passage or the theology at which He was hinting.
Additionally, each Beatitude contains two parts. In each part of the passage, or doublet, we might say Jesus is referring or hinting at an idea. In Matthew 5:3, Jesus says:
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
There are many passages in the Biblical text that refer to poor in spirit or wounded in spirit or bruised in spirit; such as, Isaiah 66:2 that refers to the poor and humbled in spirit. In Isaiah 57:15, it refers to the contrite and the humble of spirit. All of these terms are synonymous. As a matter of fact, we find the term "poor in spirit" used by those from the Dead Sea community at Qumran. They refer to themselves as the "poor in spirit folk" and then in abbreviated form just the "poor." It has nothing to do with poverty, but rather the condition of one’s heart. "Poor in spirit" means those who are sorry for their sins, who have repented of their sins, who have turned to God, who love His word and keep His commandments. These are the characteristics of those who make up God’s Kingdom.
You might say how blessed are those who know no other way but God’s way, who follow no other word but His word. These are the people over whom He is ruling.
Before we complete our look at Matthew 5:3, we need to say something about "kingdom of heaven." "Kingdom of heaven" and "kingdom of God" are synonymous. "Kingdom of heaven" is Hebraic and "Kingdom of God" is Greek.
The point is, again, that "kingdom" is not something out in the future. Kingdom is something for the now. There can be no kingdom without a king. There can be no king without a kingdom. Kingdom for Jesus was the people who were a part of His movement, those people over whom God was ruling and who were demonstrating His rule in their life in action.
Again, each one of these Beatitudes is a doublet. Jesus is referring back to statements or passages that are already well known.
Now, those of you with concordances see if you can figure out the passages to which He is hinting when He says, "Blessed are they that mourn for they shall be comforted," and we will take a closer look at it in the next article.
