210
BLESSEDNESS
Jesus was 'for blasphemy,' addin" ' because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God' (Jn HP). This Avas just after He had said, ' I and the Father are one (ec).' The third occasion is at the trial of Jesus. According to Mt 26"^ and JNIk U^- " when Jesus, after being adjured by the hi"h priest to declare if He were the Christ, declared that they would 'see the Son of Man sitting at the riglit hand of power and coming with the clouds of heaven,' the high priest treated this as blasphemy, rending his garments as a token of horror at the Avords. Yet the claim was not for more than the Book of Enoch assigned to the Messiah. But the Messiah in that Apocalyptic book is a heavenly being. Such a being Caiaphas would understand Jesus to claim to be, and he reckoned the pro- fession of such a claim blasphemous. This was the formal ground of the condemnation of Je-sus to death by the Sanhedrin. The first charge, that of threatening to destroy the Temple and rebuild it in three days, had broken down because of the inconsistency of the witnesses. The second charge is suddenly sprung upon ^ esus by the high priest on the ground of His words at the council ; and, on this acco\int, as guUty of blasphemy. He was con- demned to death, although it was useless to cite the words before Pilate, who would have dismissed the case as Gallio at Corinth dismissed what he regarded as 'a question about words and names' (Ac 18"). Therefore a third charge, never men- tioned in the Jewish trial, — Iwsa: majestatis, treason against Ciusar, — was concocted for use at the Koman trial.
It is to be observed that there is one common character in all th-rse accusations of blasphemy brought against Jesus. He is never accused of direct blasphemy, speaking insulting words about God. The alleged ' blasphemy is indirect, in each case claiming more or less Divine rights and powers for Himself.
Lastly, it may be noted that Lk 2-2'^^ AV has the word 'blasphemously' for the way in Avhicli the mockers spoke of Jesus ; but KV' has ' reviling,' which is the evident meaning. There is no refer- ence to our narrower sense of blasphemy as insult- ing the Divine ; the word (/aXoKr^ij/ioOvres) is used in the common wider sense.
Literature;. — S. J. Andrews, Life of Our Lord, 505-514 ; Hastings' DB, art. 'Blasphemy'; Cremer, BM.-Theol. Lex. s.vv. fiXaurip^fAiot, fi\curtprifjiiti ; and in particular on blasphemy against the Holy Ghost, Martensen, Christian Ethics, ii. p. 12811.; Gloag, Exepetical Studies, p. Iff.; Expositor, 2nd ser. iii. H882J p. 321 ff. ; A. Maclaren, Christ's Musts, 44-64.
W. F. Adeney. BLESSEDNESS. — Though the word 'blessed- ness' itself is never found in the recorded utter- ances of our Lord nor in the pages of the Gospels, the idea conveyed by it is very frequent. Tlie adjective ' blessed ' occurs in many contexts, and may, indeed, be termed a characteristic epithet on Christ's lips. The thought expressed l)y it was inherited, like so many otliers, from the Old Testa,- ment. It is one of the dominant notes of the Psalter (Heb. "lyN ' O the happiness of '), and consti- tutes one of the clearest and most common terms whereby to denote the ideal of Israel's highest hopes. It was natural, therefore, that Jesus should take •the word to set forth the great spiritual realities of His kingdom. It is in this sense that it meets us on the earliest pages of St. Matthew's Gospel. The famous form of the sayings there collected (see art. Beatitudes) is one of the best-known sections of the narrative. So throughout the jjages of the Gospels and elsewhere in tlie NT we iind sayings cast in the same mould. All of them are expressive of the .spiritual graces to be looked for in disciples of the kingdom (e.g. Mt 11", Lk 7'^ Mt 24« Ac 203»), or are indicative of high pri\i- leges open to believers in its message (e.g. Mt 13"',
Lk 11-', Jn ■Jn-"'). Spiritual gladness is not only a note of servKi' in the kingdom, but is to accom- pany all its true and inalienable rewards.
When \ve set ourstdves to discover the signifi- cance of these sayings we are struck (1) by tlieir sjiiritual character. 'I'wice (Lk IP' and 14^^) beati- tudes of a material character are uttered by our Lord's hearers, and He at once rebukes them, and shows the necessity of fixing the desires of the heart on the inward and unseen. The main <jualities designated and praised are meekness, purity, ten- dernessof heart, peaceableness, faith, patience, con- trition, qualities which have no sooner been named than we are reminded of such lists of the fruits of the Spirit as we find in Gal S--'^ or Eph i^-^. Blessedness, as Christ presented it, was therefore a condition of the mind and heart that expressed an attitude of faith and love towards God and men, and obtained the reward with certainty even if the sowing were 'in tears' and the 'interest far off.'
(2) Several of these sayings are marked by the sense of the futurity of their fulfilment. It is note- worthy that in the list of Beatitudes in Mt 5, while the majority speak of futurity, ' shall be comforted,' 'shall inherit,' etc., one or two are written in the present tense, e.g. ' theirs is the kingdom of heaven.' In v." we have the unique form of expression, 'have been persecuted . . . theirs is.' In St. Luke also we find the same com- mingling of present and future. This refiects a state of opinion that prevails throughout the Gospels, and gives rise to some of the greatest problems of interpretation, viz. in what sense the kingdom of God is to be understood— as a present or as a future condition. The Beatitudes are not only closely related to this question — they consti- tute a special aspect of it. As Titius puts it, ' Over every saying of Jesus may be written the inscrip- tion, "Concerning the kingdom of God,"' These sayings, then, reveal the nature of the kingdom in its twofold aspect as an inward, spiritual, present reality which exists, progresses, suft'ers, is in per- petual conflict ; and, as a great future fulfilment, when conflict shall turn to peace, failure to victory, suflfering to reward, and the inward desire and the outward attainment be one in the presence of per- fected power.