The Sermon on the Mount is the first major sermon Jesus gave. Right at the beginning are the Beatitudes. The word "blessed" means "happy." The Beatitudes, therefore, describe paths to happiness as Jesus teaches them. In this series, we examine each of the Beatitudes individually. In doing so, we put ourselves in the shoes of the listeners of the Sermon on the Mount: Jews in Jesus' time. How might they have understood the Beatitudes?
By Kees de Vreugd, translation by Marie-Louise Weissenböck
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. (Matthew 5:6)
At first glance, one might think this is about people who experience injustice or suffer hardship. Luke also states it this way: “Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be filled” (Luke 6:21), just as in the preceding beatitude: “Blessed are you who are poor…” Luke is speaking of a situation of “social injustice.”.
It's about concrete, material hardship: hunger, poverty. In the Beatitudes, Jesus promises that this hardship will be alleviated. The question arises whether this is the only possible interpretation. It seems more fitting for Matthew to seek a different approach. Certainly, Matthew doesn't deny the concrete hardship. But in his Gospel, everything is focused on the fulfillment of the Torah. Righteousness, therefore, in the Sermon on the Mount and elsewhere in Matthew, is a concept with an active meaning. This begins as early as Matthew 3:15. There, Jesus says to John the Baptist, who believes he should be baptized by Jesus: "For it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness." There is much to say about this statement. For the moment, however, it suffices to state that righteousness is fulfilled, that is, actively practiced.
What, then, is justice? The Hebrew word "tzedakah" provides the basis. While it can mean legal justice, in the New Testament it already took on the connotation of neighborly love, which it retains in Judaism to this day. It is about bringing justice to someone in need, to the poor, the needy. Therefore, hungering and thirsting for justice is not primarily an intense desire to receive justice, but above all, a desire to practice tzedakah. Those who do this will be satisfied. This satisfaction consists of nothing less than the Kingdom of Heaven (Matthew 5:10, 20).
Those who listen with Jewish ears of that time also hear this in Psalm 17:15: “But I shall see your face in righteousness (in the sense of loving my neighbor); when I awake I shall be filled with your likeness.”
Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. (Matthew 5:7)
Mercy is a concrete implementation of justice as understood in the biblical sense. Jesus repeatedly teaches that this is the highest form of obedience to the Torah, but he illustrates this in a particularly striking way. When questioned about eating with tax collectors and sinners, he quotes God's word from the prophet Hosea (Hosea 6:6; Matthew 9:13): "Go and learn [a typically rabbinic exhortation] what it means: 'I desire mercy and not sacrifice.'" He quotes these words again when the Pharisees rebuke him for the disciples picking grain on the Sabbath (Matthew 12:1–8). This rebuke is all the more striking when one considers that on that Sabbath, there was no one to offer Jesus and his disciples hospitality.
The third time Jesus alludes to God's word from Hosea is in his address to the Pharisees: “The greatest things in the Torah are justice, mercy, and faithfulness.” (Matthew 23:23) This does not mean, however, that the rest (such as tithing, etc.) is irrelevant. Jesus says, “Do these things without neglecting the others.” The mercy to which Jesus calls in these examples, and which he himself demonstrates, is not cheap. It leads to the repentance of the sinner and thus to a deeper fulfillment of the Torah. This is the core of his mission.
The call to mercy is familiar to Jewish ears. “Whoever is kind to the poor lends to the Lord, and the Lord will reward them for their goodness.” (Proverbs 19:17) Whoever is merciful reflects God’s mercy, for God is the Merciful: “The Lord is gracious and compassionate.” (Psalm 145:8) In rabbinic tradition, a saying attributed to Rabban Gamaliel (late first century) is known: “Whenever you are merciful, the Merciful will be merciful to you.”
Finally, I refer to James, who included so much from the Sermon on the Mount in his letter: “For judgment will be without mercy to anyone who has not shown mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.” (James 2:13)
Also read Part 1 and Part 2 of this series.
This article first appeared in our newspaper "Israelaktuell," issue 145. You can order the newspaper here . We would also be happy to send you several copies for distribution.
