Matthew 5:1–16
5 Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him.
2 And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying:
3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
5 “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.
8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons1 of God.
10 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
13 “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet.
14 “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that2 they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”
1 Greek huioi; see Preface 2 Or house. 16Let your light so shine before others that
Section Overview
The Beatitudes function as a virtue list in the Christian imagination. Pastors commonly preach sermon series on the Beatitudes, granting one week to each topic from “poor in spirit” to “peacemakers.” This approach can lead to studies of strings of virtues or character traits that readers should somehow acquire. The Beatitudes only faintly overlap the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22–23 or other virtue lists such as Colossians 3:12–15 and 2 Peter 1:5–8. They also contrast with classic Greco-Roman virtues: courage, wisdom, temperance, justice. They are equally distant from the contemporary praise of authenticity, tolerance, determination, and honesty. Indeed, the Beatitudes seem to be traits that no society admires. The first three name weakness and neediness. Who aspires to be poor in spirit, mournful, or meek? Given that the Greek behind the word “blessed” (makarios) typically means “happy,” even “carefree,” the question deepens. What might “Happy are those who mourn” signify? Jesus cannot have ordinary happiness in mind. His happy disciples are poor and hungry; they mourn and suffer persecution. The best approach is to regard the Beatitudes as a whole, as a portrait of a disciple, not as a list of discreet traits. Jesus’ blessing rests on people with this character.
The Beatitudes are steeped in the OT. Some psalms begin, “Blessed is the man who . . .” (Pss. 1:1; 112:1), or, “Blessed is the one whose . . .” (Ps. 32:1; cf. Ps. 41:1). Each beatitude has ties to OT themes. The blessing on the poor and comfort for mourners (Matt. 5:3–4) comes from Isaiah 61:1–2. Psalm 37:11 declares that “the meek shall inherit the land,” and Psalm 24:3–5 blesses the pure in heart.
The promises attached to the Beatitudes are theological. In the first and last, the poor in spirit and the persecuted hear that “theirs is the kingdom.” That is, they already have a place in God’s universal reign. The second to seventh beatitudes offer future blessing. Each has the form “Blessed are [x], for they shall [y].”
The Beatitudes also align closely with Matthew’s portrait of Jesus. Seven of the eight beatitudes cite traits that Matthew later ascribes to Jesus, typically using the same Greek terms. Jesus repeatedly says that a disciple should be like his master (Matt. 10:24–25; Luke 6:40; John 13:16; 15:20). So Jesus blesses those who mourn (Matt. 5:4), and Jesus mourns over Israel (9:36; 23:37). Jesus blesses the meek (5:5), and he is meek (11:29). Likewise, Jesus pursues righteousness (5:6; 3:15) and shows mercy (5:7; 9:27–29; 20:30–34). He also grants and exhorts purity (5:8; 8:3–4; 23:25–26), offers peace (5:9; 10:13), and endures persecution (5:10–11; 26:47–27:44). Thus Jesus blesses disciples whose character conforms to his. Matthew frequently explores the way Jesus fulfills, and the disciples participate in, the Beatitudes.
Section Outline
III. The First Discourse: Discipleship in Jesus’ Kingdom (5:1–7:29)
A. Overture to the Sermon on the Mount (5:1–16)
1. The Setting (5:1–2)
2. The Beatitudes (5:3–12)
3. The Response to the Blessed: Persecution and Praise (5:13–16)
While some readers see atomistic virtues, many scholars observe a coherent series. Some see two sets of four beatitudes. In this view, each set has three kingdom values followed by a response. We first see beatitudes of aspiration. A disciple is poor in spirit, mourns sin, and is humble, creating a hunger and thirst for righteousness. The next four are beatitudes of action. Disciples show mercy and purity and make peace, provoking a hostile reaction in the world.
A second structure also begins with three beatitudes of need, but it calls the fourth, a hunger and thirst for righteousness, the centerpiece. The desire for righteousness then expresses itself in mercy, purity, and peacemaking. The whole then provokes a fourfold result, starting with persecution (5:10–12). Other responses are increasingly positive. The disciple may function like salt, retarding decay (v. 13), may give light to the world (vv. 14–15), and may lead observers to praise God (v. 16). Cf. figure 1.1.
FIGURE 1.1: Structure of the Beatitudes
Response
It is impossible to expound Matthew 5 without beginning to call for a response, as recent paragraphs show. First, every beatitude prompts self-examination. We must ask ourselves: Am I poor in spirit? Am I humble as a result? Do I mourn over my sin and seek purity, or am I blasé and self-exculpatory? Do I mourn sin in society, or have I become cynical? Am I meek and humble, or do I still assert myself? Am I hungry and thirsty for righteousness, or am I content with a sip and a nibble of decency? Am I merciful? Do I pursue peace or seek unnecessary conflict? Every question invites us to go deeper. Take meekness: it is easy to tell the Lord “I am a wretched sinner,” but hard to admit it to others. If someone says, “You are a wretched sinner,” do you agree or do you defend yourself fiercely?
Second, this passage summons disciples to meditate on Jesus as the Gospels portray him. Since it is a disciple’s aspiration and destiny to become like Jesus, we should know him and follow his ways.
Third, we should aspire to shape society. Persecution is miserable, but at least it shows that society has taken notice. Of the four responses described in verses 10–16, only one is wholly negative. Disciples should aspire to be who we are: salt in an age of decay, light in a dark world. When we shine, we should direct the praise to God.
Finally, we may revisit the hunger and thirst for righteousness. Are you hungry for righteousness? Are you desperate for it as a truly thirsty man is desperate for water? Or are you content to drift along, perhaps as a moral person but without passion, more committed to duty than to God’s cause? If you are hungry, you will work to become more just, loving, and good. And as you work, you will also see how you fall short and so long for the righteousness Christ bestows through his atoning sacrifice, accomplished on the cross at the conclusion of Matthew and applied to you by faith in Jesus himself.
Greek huioi; see Preface
Or house. 16Let your light so shine before others that
5:1–5 Contextually, vast crowds are following Jesus at this time, largely because of his miracles (4:25). But Jesus seeks disciples, not merely a crowd of followers. The moment has come to describe the nature of discipleship.
The first three beatitudes describe awareness of need. When Jesus says, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom,” he establishes a kingdom virtue that clashes with other notions of virtue. To be poor in spirit is to know one’s spiritual neediness and dependence on God (Ps. 34:6; Isa. 41:17; Zeph. 3:12; Luke 4:18).
The West typically admires self-reliance and confidence in the face of obstacles. True disciples, by contrast, know their spiritual weakness. “Poor in spirit” signifies awareness of sin and inability, not a lack of strength, energy, or personality. The poor in spirit know they cannot rely on themselves to be good or faithful. When disciples take their poverty to God, he gives them his grace and his kingdom.
The poor in spirit will then mourn their poverty. A base translation of the Greek, “Happy are those who mourn,” seems like a contradiction. To mourn is to be unhappy, is it not? But there is a mourning that leads to blessedness. This mourning is not connected to loss (of wealth or position) or mere shame (over misdeeds). Disciples mourn sin: their own sin; the sinfulness of friends, of family, of the church; social sins such as oppression of the weak; spiritual sins such as unbelief and ingratitude. God comforts such mourning. It is blessed to mourn over sin, since this leads disciples from sin to God and righteousness.
James, following Psalm 51:1–12 and especially Psalm 119:136 (“My eyes shed streams of tears, because people do not keep your law”), likewise calls for mourning: “Cleanse your hands, you sinners, . . . mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom” (James 4:8–9). A promise follows: “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you” (James 4:10). Jesus promises God’s comfort to those who mourn correctly. Forensically, he forgives the guilt of sin. Morally, he removes the defilement of sin. Eschatologically, he will renew the earth.
The second beatitude leads to the third. Those who know their spiritual poverty and mourn it will be meek and “shall inherit the earth” (Matt. 5:5). Again, meekness is not a personality trait—compliance, deference, or an inability to protest indignities suffered. Jesus describes the character of discipleship, not accidents of disposition. In Scripture, meekness often appears in virtue lists that contrast with sinful traits or vices. In the NT, to be meek is the opposite of boldness (2 Cor. 10:1), quarrelsomeness (2 Tim. 2:24–25), and jealousy and selfish ambition (James 3:13–14; cf. 1:19–21; 1 Pet. 3:15–16). Meekness contrasts, therefore, with self-assertion. Thus a person can be strong and assertive yet meek if he uses his power not to assert himself but to assert the cause of God or of the weak. Jesus was bold, forceful, even confrontational, but meek. A supremely confident person is meek if, like Christ, he promotes others rather than himself. Because the meek know their spiritual poverty and grieve it, they refuse to assert themselves.
5:6 The pivotal beatitude promises that God will fill or satisfy those who “hunger and thirst for righteousness.” If disciples know their sin and weakness, bewail it, and live humbly because of it, they will also ask God to meet their need for righteousness.
“Hunger and thirst” is a dead metaphor in a prosperous land. Water is plentiful, and we experience an excess of food, not a deficit. In Israel, by contrast, water was scarce and food in modest supply. To hear the text, readers should remember (or imagine) a time of deprivation. As hikers long for water after a long, hot journey, so disciples will be thirsty, desperate with longing, for righteousness.
A theological reader may interpret “righteousness” through a Pauline lens and think of the legal righteousness, the atonement, that wipes away sin’s guilt and punishment. To be sure, Jesus describes his atonement in chapter 20 and accomplishes it in chapter 27, but in chapters 5–7 he describes the personal righteousness of his followers. They do the right thing for the right reasons. They need God’s Word because they love him and trust him (5:48). The Sermon on the Mount also promotes social righteousness for women (5:31–32), outsiders (5:38–42), and enemies (5:43–47).
5:7–9 The beatitudes of action all flow from the beatitudes of need and flow through the hunger for righteousness.
Disciples are merciful (v. 7) because they are poor in spirit. Because disciples recognize their own weakness and sinfulness, they are patient with others’ flaws. Mercy has narrow and broad senses. Narrowly, the merciful forgive those who offend them (18:21–35). Broadly, they show compassion to the weak and the suffering. Jesus demonstrates his mercy in his miracles. Compassion stirs him to heal the sick (9:35–36; 14:14), feed the hungry (15:32), and forgive sinners (9:2).
Mercy is a disposition that leads to action. The merciful help others, whether or not they have a claim to it. Mercy is both a gift and a requirement. Jesus mentions the requirement first, but mercy actually begins with God. Because he is merciful (Ex. 34:6), God says, “I desire mercy” (Matt. 9:13; 12:7), and Jesus calls mercy a “weightier” matter in the law (23:23). Mercy is both a demand and a gift. As Augustine prayed, “Demand what you will and give what you demand.” Disciples show mercy because they receive mercy (5:7; 18:21–35).
The disciple who mourns his or her sin will be pure in heart (5:8). If a disciple sees his sin—indeed, his affection for some sins—and weeps over it, he has a great impulse to root out sin, to become pure, and so he will long to see God. Purity has two nuances in Scripture. First, purity joins noble disposition and righteous action. David shows this when he asks, “Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord? . . . He who has clean hands and a pure heart” (Ps. 24:3–4). Second, purity signifies simplicity rather than duplicity. It is a resolve to live without compromise. The pure do good not for a reward but because they love beauty and holiness (Ps. 96:4–9; 1 Pet. 3:3–5).
Since God is a peacemaker, peacemakers are called “sons of God” (Matt. 5:9). Peacemaking flows logically from the meekness of the third beatitude. Because the meek know they lack merit, they stop grasping and asserting themselves; peace tends to flourish when people stop grasping and promoting themselves. Moreover, those who have given up self-promotion make peace by settling disputes because they are honest judges, seeking the favor of neither party.
Peacemaking is a common interest in Scripture. God’s Word urges people to negotiate peace, pursue it, make it, and live in it (2 Samuel 3; Ps. 34:14; Prov. 15:1; Rom. 12:18; 1 Cor. 7:15; Heb. 12:14; 1 Pet. 3:11). God also exhorts men to make peace with him. He instructs, “Make peace with me” (Isa. 27:5). He declares that Jesus, the Prince of Peace (Isa. 9:6), creates peace between God and man (Ps. 34:11–20; Luke 2:14; 7:50; 24:36; John 14:27; Eph. 2:11–19). He says that we should accept his offer of peace with him (Rom. 5:1; 10:15 [cf. Isa. 52:7]; Heb. 12:18–29). It is no surprise that several passages in Scripture promote peace both with God and with mankind (Isaiah 9; Psalm 34; Ephesians 2; Hebrews 12).
5:10–12 The path to peace often first requires conflict. Jesus certainly makes peace through conflict. He cries, “I came to cast fire on the earth, and would that it were already kindled!” (Luke 12:49). The climax of the Gospels arrives through conflict between Jesus and the Roman and Jewish leaders. He also does combat with Satan himself. This fulfills God’s purpose as he reconciles mankind to himself, “making peace by the blood of his cross” (Col. 1:20; cf. Rom. 5:1–11).
“It is no accident that Jesus should pass from peacemaking to persecution, for the world enjoys its cherished hates and prejudices so much that the peacemaker is not always welcome.” Disciples endure the fate of the Master (Matt. 10:24–25) and the prophets (5:12). Jesus reassures, “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me” first. Why? “Because you are not of the world, . . . therefore the world hates you. . . . If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you” (John 15:18–20). Disciples will be reviled, persecuted, and slandered (Matt. 5:11). Persecution is blessed if one suffers “for righteousness’ sake” (5:10). There is no blessing in suffering for sin or folly (1 Pet. 2:19–20), but there is great reward for those who suffer for their allegiance to Christ (Matt. 5:12).
5:13–16 The pattern changes from “Blessed are” to “You are,” but the theme continues. Since salt retards decay, “You are . . . salt” means that disciples restrain moral and spiritual decay (v. 13). Still, to impede decay, salt must stay pure. In Jesus’ day, salt was often impure, making it tasteless and worthless. The point, therefore, is that disciples must live by kingdom values if they hope to impede the immorality of their age.
“You are the light” is a common metaphor playing off the supreme value of light for life (v. 14). As a symbol in the OT, light is linked with purity, truth, knowledge, revelation, and hope, and opposed to sin, ignorance, and lack of direction. In this case, disciples must ensure that their light shines broadly (vv. 14–15). Yet we should do so without calling attention to ourselves. At best, our light will lead to praise of the Father, as people turn from our little lights to the source of all light (v. 16).