SS ee Fe ee en a a ee
It is intelligible how the more spiritual teaching might have been coarsened in transmission, under the influence of strongly held false theories concerning a man’s relation to the material world, to the form which Luke derived from his sources; but how
Jesus’ teaching as recorded in Matthew.
could the reverse have happened? Who could subsequently have perfected Jesus’ teaching by creating the lofty spiritual conceptions contained ha WM Were
Jesus wished to establish, as the first principle of the better life, that true well-being is not reckoned in earthly goods, or obtained by them ; on the contrary, ideal manhood and womanhood come through complete self-committal to God, drawing from Him our spiritual sustenance, mak- ing His will our will, and finding in His supreme purpose the only object of our lives. Of such men, and of such alone, can it be said that the Kingdom of God is theirs. He would turn men away from the customary material standard of well-beimg to the pursuit of the highest good, where one’s ex-
‘ternal conditions become a matter of comparative
indifference. Those are blessed who, instead of being self-seeking and self-sufficient, strive ear- nestly for that communion and co-operation with God which will enable them to realize the highest type of character and to perform the highest kind of service. The conditions of possessing the King- dom are not external but internal, not material but spiritual. Poor and rich may alike possess it. The poor have it, not as a reward or a recompense for their poverty, but because they set their hearts on things which are above; and the rich have the Kingdom for the same reason, inasmuch as they use their material possessions for the spread of right- eousness, truth, joy, and peace.
The second clauses of the Beatitudes respectively express the results of realizing the character or performing the service described in the first clauses. They are promised blessings which correspond to current longings, and are worded in the fixed phrases by which those longings had of old found expression. These blessings, although varied in form, are kindred in meaning ; they promise not so much a number of different things, as they con- vey the idea in various ways that the entire good of which God is the creator and provider will come to those who sincerely seek it in the way He appoints.t ‘The Kingdom of God’ was a phrase which had long been used to express all conceiv- able good, to sum up the longings of the devout souls of Israel. Jesus therefore tells them how they may obtain all their desire. And the pos- session of the Kingdom is not a thing of the far dis- tant future, but of the immediate present: ‘theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.’ The Kingdom of God, while it has its consummation in the future, was an existing reality when Jesus spoke; and its blessings were available at once for those who would comply with the conditions of receiving them.t
(2) ‘Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.’§ Here, also, Jesus has taken up an OT phrase, which may be seen in Is 61? (‘to
with Ebionitic tendency has interpreted the words of the Lord which lent themselves to this apparent condemnation of all material possessions, as well as other words concerning the Kingdom, in a similar way.’
* Yet O. Holtzmann, Leben Jesu (1901), p. 186f., holds that just this change was made.
t So Kabisch, SK, 1896 ; Ibbeken, Bergpredigt?, p.19. Tholuck, Bergrede5, p. 67 (Eng. tr. p. 64), says: ‘If we consider the sub- stance of the several promises, we shall find that they are all essentially identical, and that the difference is merely rhetorical ; formally, they correspond to the thing desired or possessed, but each of them really comprises all spiritual blessings.’
{ Upon the meaning and use of the term ‘Kingdom of God’ in Jesus’ teaching, see esp. Wendt, Lehre Jesu, ii. 293-328.
§$ Mt 54 peoczec pros of revOovveres, or wdrol ropaxranOgcovre: ; Lik 621b peuxcepior of zAciovres viv, ors yeacoere. The Lukan form is second- ary, and its harsh, superficial tone is unsatisfactory. Compare with it Ja 49,
SERMON ON THE MOUNT
comfort all that mourn,’ o>ax) and Ps 1266, The term ‘mourning’ (evOodvres) is so general a one that it is difficult to determine precisely its scope. The early commentators inclined to regard it as the sorrow of penitence for sin (cf. 2 Co 14 7”), while others think of it as the sorrow which comes from afflictions, adversities, and persecutions.* There seems no sufficient reason why the term should not be understood here in the inclusive sense, to designate all those experiences of life— internal or external, physical, mental, or spiritual, —which bring sadness and sorrow to men. The world is full of mourning; no one escapes the anguish of pain, disappointment, bereavement, and conflict with sin. And men have always longed for a better day, when this mourning shall be no more. It was one element of the Messianic hope that with the advent of that glorious Divine King- dom complete comfort and consolation for the world’s sorrows would be given to God’s faithful ones, Is 61°; cf. Lk 2” 418, Jesus gave the assur- ance that this hope would be realized. The Apoca- lyptist has repeated with thrilling joy the promise : ‘And he shall wipe away every tear from their eyes; and death shall be no more; neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain any more: the first things are passed away’ (Rev 214).