“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:3).
“Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth” (Matthew 5:5).
Deserving a more thorough Rough Cut, suffice here to say, it is wrong to take the poor out of the poor in spirit and to make the meek anything but the meek. I have heard from those speaking in God’s place and from the “Beatitudes” that the “poor in spirit” referred to by Jesus on that hill far away were not really poor (economically), but those who are poor in their spirit:
“blessed are the poor in spirit who are depressed and feeling bad about themselves, for the kingdom of God belongs to them.”
And to make matters worse, I heard that the meek referred to by Jesus on that same hill were really not the meek but “the strong who are in control of their attitudes”—it will be those who will inherit the earth. These changes to the meaning of the words and to the objects of Jesus’ description changes everything that Jesus said and meant. We are now to understand the Sermon on the Mount wholly different—just to suit our needs and times and ease and middle class life…
“Blessed are those who feel bad about themselves for the kingdom of God belongs to them…Blessed are the strong who control their attitudes for they will inherit the earth.”
This poor interpretation and the exchanging of the meanings of poor and meek turns Jesus’ words on their head, making them actually the complete opposite of their original intention. A few factors are overlooked, forgotten, or even ignored in hearing these texts.
1) First, we know from Luke’s account, the “Sermon on the Mount” took place as Jesus was finishing up some direct-contact ministry:
“Jesus came down with them and stood on a level place; and there was a large crowd of His disciples, and a great throng of people from all Judea and Jerusalem and the coastal region of Tyre and Sidon, who had come to hear Him and to be healed of their diseases; and those who were troubled with unclean spirits were being cured. And all the people were trying to touch Him, for power was coming from Him and healing them all. And turning His gaze toward His disciples, He began to say, ‘Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God…’” (Luke 6:17-20).
We know from Matthew’s own account that Jesus had attracted crowds that followed him, multitudes made up from the sick, those suffering from diseases and pain, those possessed, and the lame. Both accounts tell us that there were even those from Gentile (pagan) territories such as Tyre and Sidon and Syria:
“Jesus was going throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness among the people. The news about Him spread throughout all Syria; and they brought to Him all who were ill, those suffering with various diseases and pains, demoniacs, epileptics, paralytics; and He healed them. Large crowds followed Him from Galilee and the Decapolis and Jerusalem and Judea and from beyond the Jordan” (Matthew 4:23-25).
The crowds who listened in that day would have been surprised to find out that Jesus wasn’t speaking to them or about them, nor promising them anything.
2) Jesus wasn’t speaking to a 21st century audience of self-reflecting, introspective Americans. No, he was—as the above indicates—speaking to the crowds of people who were attracted to his ministry and words who lived in that day and time. We know the crowds were the people of the land, the politically weak and powerless, the voiceless, and economically dependent on the alms of two governments with powerful structures for the elite and privileged (i.e., the Roman and the other, the Sanhedrin). These who gladly heard His voice were those who didn’t who were without landed property, those without status or without a stake in the land. It would be to them the Kingdom of God belongs and it was promised to them that they’d inherit the earth. It was to them, and their poor and humble status, that Jesus spoke of a new kingdom for which there would be a place for them. Jesus promised that they’d “inherit the earth,” not the rich and powerful. Jesus, the new king, would turn everything on its head.
Posted by Chip Anderson at 06:56 AM. Filed under: In the Margins • Gemara (expository notes) •
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