The Beatitudes are the "overture" to the Sermon on the Mount, found
in the Gospel of
Matthew. The entire Sermon contains the essence of
the teachings of Jesus, and is the
evidence and demonstration of the
character of Christ. These teachings were a rude
awakening to people
used to the idea of "an eye for an eye" and judging righteousness
by how closely a person upheld the strict interpretations of the laws
of the Old
Testament. With the Beatitudes, Jesus introduced his followers
to the more spiritual
concept of happiness, dependent upon letting
go of self-centered and self-protecting
thinking and actions, as well
as yielding up unloving thoughts in order to trust God
with our lives.
The Beatitudes are included as part of the
"first lessons" taught
to children in the
Christian Science Sunday School. This should alert
all those
interested in learning
Christian Science, that the study
and practice of the Beatitudes should also be one of
our first objectives,
no matter when we take up the study of Christian Science.
If the
Ten
Commandments serve to guide our actions while we are taking the first
steps in our spiritual journey -- sort of like traffic signals that
tell us when it is best
to stop and go and yield -- the Beatitudes
might be said to serve as guide posts, or
direction signs, along the
way. We know we are heading in the right direction, if we
find that
we are successfully demonstrating the qualities and attitudes that
Jesus
recommended for our happiness, and if we are also expressing
more of the character
of the Christ, and the nature of God.
BACKGROUND
INFORMATION:
Taking the time to do a little research in Bible
commentaries or dictionaries,
will often result in a better
understanding of the intended meaning. The following
details are
some you might want to share if you are teaching your children or
a
Sunday School class:
Matthew 5, verses 1 and 2, opens
the scene for the Sermon on the Mount as
follows:
“Seeing the
multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set,
his disciples
came unto him: And he opened his mouth, and taught them,
saying .
. .”
From Bible commentaries, we learn more about the meaning
of these introductory
verses than is at first clear from the English
translation of the King James Version.
A brief explanation of
these phrases will help us appreciate the Beatitudes we
will be studying.
The
phrase “and when he was set” – in other words, Jesus sits down – tells
us
that his teaching was important and official, as opposed to a more
casual
instruction which Rabbis of that time might give as they
stood or strolled about
with their pupils.
“And he opened his
mouth” is a translation of a Greek phrase which indicates
serious and
intimate utterances. The Sermon is Jesus speaking from the heart
and soul.
When understood in the Greek, the phrase “he taught
them, saying,” gives a
whole different meaning. It indicates
that the teachings that follow in the Sermon
on the Mount were not
spoken at a one-time event, but were taught repeatedly by
Jesus. As William Barclay paraphrases it: “This is what he used to teach
them.”
(The Gospel of Matthew, Volume One, page 87)
We now have
a clearer picture of the whole Sermon on the Mount, of which the
Beatitudes
are the overture, or opening. When Jesus exclaims how blessed
we
are, as our attitudes conform to his teachings, we can be assured
that we are
witnessing and sharing in the very character of Christ. Through the Beatitudes,
Jesus reveals to us ascending steps which
can bring us to see our place as
God’s children in the kingdom of
heaven.
The links below will take you to separate essays on each
Beatitude, as I finish
and post them. Also, you might want to
check out the citations from the writings
of Mary Baker Eddy on
the Beatitudes and Sermon on the Mount, as they relate
to the teachings
of Christian Science. Following these links -- and a plug for my
book
on the Beatitudes -- is William Barclay's paraphrasing of the
Beatitudes.
The Words of the Beatitudes from the King James Version
Citations
from the writings of Mary Baker Eddy on the Beatitudes
and the Sermon
on the Mount
First Beatitude: “Blessed are the poor in
spirit: for theirs is the kingdom
of heaven.”
The Beatitudes
for Children
"First Lessons in Christian Science, Volume
Two, the Beatitudes"
For those of you who may be interested in
further lessons on the Beatitudes,
I have available for purchase amanual on the Beatitudes with over 100 daily
lessons in a question-and-answer
format for parents and Sunday School
teachers to share with their
children and students. This book is part of my
trilogy on "The
First Lessons in Christian Science," which includes books
on the Ten
Commandments and the Lord's Prayer, in addition to this one
on the
Beatitudes. You may get details and read excerpts
at the above links,
or you may start with the Publications Page.
WILLIAM BARCLAY
I would like to recommend to you one of
my favorite sources for commentary on
the Beatitudes and the Sermon
on the Mount. It is the book The Gospel of
Matthew, Volume 1, Revised
Edition, by William Barclay, the world-renowned
Scottish New Testament
interpreter. In it, he gives details on the root words and
how these
would have been understood by the people of the day. I have shared
some
of those details in the Background Information above. The
book will also
help you see how he arrived at the interpretation
of the Beatitudes which are
paraphrased by Barclay as follows:
O the
bliss of the man who has realized his own utter helplessness, and
who
has put his whole trust in God, for thus alone he can render to
God that
perfect obedience which will make him a citizen of the kingdom
of heaven!
O the bliss of the man whose heart is broken for the world's
suffering and
for his own sin, for out of his sorrow he will find
the joy of God!
O the bliss of the man who is always angry at the
right time and never angry
at the wrong time, who has every instinct,
and impulse, and passion under
control because he himself is God-controlled,
who has the humility to realise
his own ignorance and his own weakness,
for such a man is a king among
men!
O the bliss of the man who longs
for total righteousness as a starving man
longs for food, and a man
perishing of thirst longs for water, for that man
will be truly satisfied!
O
the bliss of the man who gets right inside other people, until he
can see
with their eyes, think with their thoughts, feel with their
feelings, for he
who does that will find others do the same for him,
and will know that that
is what God in Jesus Christ has done!
O the
bliss of the man whose motives are absolutely pure, for that man
will
some day be able to see God!
O the bliss of those who produce right
relationships between man and man,
for they are doing a Godlike work!
by Vicki Jones Cole
