Zephaniah 2:3,3:12-13
Psalm 145(146):6-10
1 Corinthians 1:26-31
Matthew 5:1-12a
Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven.
Today’s gospel consists of a short but very concentrated passage of teaching by our Lord, coming in Matthew’s gospel almost at the beginning of His public ministry. Indeed, it was just in the previous chapter that we had Christ’s temptations in the desert, the start of His teaching, and the call of the first of His disciples. But already, great crowds are following Him, attracted by His message, by His authority, and, of course, by His ability to cure the sick. The work He was doing closely matched what the Old Testament prophesies said were signs of the Messiah, and so many were attracted to that possibility.
The first verse of our reading today tells us that Jesus went up on the mountain. I am sure that you remember that in the book of Exodus, God’s law was revealed to Moses on Mount Sinai; mountains were somehow closer to God, places in some way sacred. By emphasising that this first and most dramatic sermon of Christ took place on a mountain, Matthew in some way evokes the idea of mountains as places where God’s will for His people is revealed. And so we have a similarity; but we also have a clear difference – Moses went up the mountain and received the teaching. The authority of his teaching came from his having received it from God. Our Lord goes up the mountain and gives the teaching Himself; He teaches by His own authority. He takes the Old Law and perfects it; in His person, in His deeds, in His miracles, in His teaching, He reveals God, He reveals the presence of God in all things, in a way which was not possible before His incarnation. He brings to its fulfilment all that had been revealed before, now made perfect in Him.
And what of the beatitudes themselves, what of the moral and spiritual values which our Lord is putting before the people? Well, so much could be said but here are two observations. The first of these is seen most clearly in the third of these eight blessings: “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.” The notion of righteousness is essentially a religious one. A righteous person is one who sincerely strives to do the will of God, which is discovered in his commandments, in one’s religious duties, and in a life of prayer. So righteousness, in the language of the Bible, is the same as what is nowadays usually called “holiness”. But the point I want to draw to your attention is this: Our Blessed Lord is asking us not to have simply a vague desire for this holiness; we must hunger and thirst for it.
It must be as basic to the needs of our spiritual life as food and drink are to our bodily existence. We must long for it, depend upon it, and constantly strive to be holy. We must constantly try to discover what makes a person righteous in God’s eyes and then keep doing what we can to become holy. Being holy or righteous means being in a right relationship with God, and so necessarily enjoying his favour, being blessed by him.
Any person who genuinely wants to reach Christian holiness should love the means which the Church offers to us all and teaches us to use, for the Church is the continuing existence of the body of Christ here and now. And what means does the Church offer to us? Frequent use of the sacraments, an intimate relationship with God in prayer, and a true understanding and acceptance of our responsibilities, within our families, within our work, and within society. These are all means by which we can grow in holiness. And they all show two things: that we have obligations, that there are things which we can and must do if we are to grow in holiness, but that ultimately, it is by God’s gift to us, his grace, that we are made holy. And that is the meaning of what is commended to us in the first beatitude: “Blessed are the poor in spirit.” This attitude refers not precisely to humility, but more to an attitude of dependence upon God and detachment from earthly supports.
And the second point I want to bring to your attention is the reward, the blessing which is promised in the first of the beatitudes: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” And indeed, this reward clearly runs through all the beatitudes until it is repeated quite explicitly in the last one. The most striking deviation from the Old Testament teaching is the timing of the reward.
The assumption in the wisdom books is that virtue or good actions are rewarded in the present, that earthly happiness is a blessing from God and a reward for good behaviour, and unhappiness and misfortune are a kind of punishment. In contrast with this, these New Testament beatitudes promise their reward in God’s kingdom. They primarily refer to our heavenly reward, to the end of time, although there may be some anticipation of the reward in the present. The spirit of the beatitudes does give us, in this life, peace in the midst of tribulation. But that is not their main promise: when God’s kingdom comes, the kind of people who possess the virtues extolled and do what they entail will be rewarded. The beatitudes lay out the characteristics and the actions that will receive their full reward from God at the end of time.
And so, in their simplicity and directness, the beatitudes constituted a challenge to those who gathered on the mountain to hear the teachings of the new covenant from the very lips of the Word of God Himself. They had been taught the old covenant and now this was being affirmed again in the way that Jesus fulfilled it. He showed that the law remained; but now He showed them the true depth of the will of God and the truth of the reward which He was offering. And, in their simplicity and directness, the beatitudes continue to constitute a challenge to us now; with the help of God’s grace, may we not be found lacking
Fr Joseph Osho