The Pulpit Commentary — Matthew — Volume 1 — Section 187

HOMILIES BY VARIOUS AUTHORS. Vers. 3-5.-The secret of happine.ss. Jesus begins his first great sermon with the word "blessed." His whole mission is a benediction. It is his object to encourage and cheer, not to repress and humiliate. 1. But he knows the secret of happiness too well to attempt to shed joy in any other way than through those channels by which, in the very constitution of things, God has appointed it to flow. There is a necessary connection between each Beatitude and the character blessed. The reward is not an extraneous gift, but a natural fruit, although it is by the generosity of God that the fruit is made to grow. 2. Moreover, it is to be noted that, although there ie this necessary connection between character and happiness, there is more than one way to the goaL Joy is manifold, and different kinds of people may reach it by different roads. Therefore there is a plurality of Beatitudes. 3. A common tone pervade11 all the Beatitudes. They all depend on some excellency of character, and all the excellences are unpretentious and gentle. Together they suggest a new type of character, as distinct from the stem Jewish ideal as it is from free and superficial pagan notion of goodness. To a large extent the Beatitudes are facets from the character of Christ himself. He who enjoys all these blessings in his own person will be most like the great Teacher who revealed them. Let us consider the first three Beatitude&- !. POVERTY OF SPIBIT, In the world wealth is increasingly favoured. But no golden key opens the gates of the kingdom of heaven. Christ's gospel ie for the poor (eh. xi. 5), because it is for all. The poor in spirit, however, are not the same as those people whose earthly possessions are meagre. They are the people who are con- scious of their own spiritual deficiency. 'l'bey are the spiritually humble. Thus their disposition is the exact opposite of the pride of Pharisaism. The great, comprehensive blessing of the kingdom of heaven is for such souls. Christ had announced the coming of the kingdom in his earlier preaching. Now he shows who are to receive it. Humility, a sense of emptiness and helplessness,-this is just the condition in which to receive Christ and his kingdom. II. MotrnNING. The second Beatitude had a direct relation to the state of Israel in the days of Christ; that was a condition of moral and national decay. Some were indifferent, others proudly rebollious. For such people Christ, hod no blessing. But for those who deplored the evil of the times_ there was comfort in the gospel of Christ. 1. Christ brings consolation to those who mourn for sin by bringing forgiveness. 2, He r,omforts those who deplore the evils of society by introducing a hope of hwnall llll, v. 1-48.] THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. MATTHEW. 179