Some of the best known and most loved of Jesus's words are found on the occasion of an afternoon on a hillside. People refer to it as the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5.1-12).
People had begun hearing about this man from Nazareth not long before this day. They were saying he was unusual, that he spoke of God in a whole new way, that he seemed to have the knowledge of the rabbis, and that he called himself the Son of Man. They wanted to hear more from him. How did he know so much about God and Heaven? So, when they heard that Jesus was in the hills close to their villages, they went to see and hear for themselves.
Jesus opened the afternoon session that day with words of encouragement to the people who had come to listen to him. I'm sure he was watching the men and women as they gathered and thought of their conditions and their places in life. The story doesn't record the nature of the people there, but judging from his words the number of prestigious people there must have been sparse. He noticed some who looked haggard and hungry. He saw some who appeared sad and oppressed, whose slogan for life was probably "Life is long." He noticed people who were quiet and reserved, who didn't mingle with the others around them. They had all come to him in this setting outside their villages to hear him speak of his father and of how to serve him. They had all heard the rabbis speak of this. But Jesus offered something so different from the norm.
So, he began to speak that afternoon. He thought it best to speak succinctly. These people needed to remember what he said, so he chose a short, pithy structure in which to couch his words. They would remember this, and it would be powerfully meaningful - satisfying and encouraging. Their lives were hard, but they had hearts for God. Jesus wanted to commend them for that and give them the impetus to continue living for God.
He spoke, "μακαριοι οι πτωχοι τω πνευματι οτι αυτων εστιν η βασιλεια των ουρανων."
He didn't speak mysterious words, irrelevant words. He spoke of his father's realm and the kind of people that inhabited it. His first word was μακαριοι. They had heard that word before by both Jews and Greeks. It marked someone who was smiled upon by the gods (for Greeks) or someone who had found favor in God's eyes (for Jews). They knew from his first sentence how encouraging Jesus's words were going to be. His first words were for the dispirited among them. How favored are people poor in spirit. Heaven's realm is made up of them.
Jesus wanted to speak next to those in the crowd who were sad, perhaps lonely, to those who hadn't had much work out very well for them in life . He spoke again beginning with μακαριοι. How favored are people who grieve. They will have someone standing beside them. These people had hearts for God. They had to know that God appreciated them and would have his presence in their most trying moments.
Six more times Jesus addressed the types of people who were in the crowd to let them know that they were the types of people that his father smiled upon. Each time he began with μακαριοι. Each time he named a group of people finding favor and included an extra note about them.
How favored are unassuming people. They will receive the promised land.
How favored are people who hunger and thirst for decent living. They will be satisfied.
How favored are people who show mercy. They will be shown mercy.
How favored are people with genuine hearts. They will see God.
How favored are people who work for peace. They will be called God's children.
How favored are people who get persecuted for living decently. Heaven's realm is made up of them.
The villagers on the hillside that day sat enamored with Jesus's words. He spoke to their hearts, their sense of goodness, their ability to endure during trying times. He opened with a note about God smiling on their lives. They had to have felt encouraged. Jesus went on that afternoon to talk about other matters. But, what a grand opening to capture their wonder and awe of his father's true nature.
There is a tasty morsel in these μακαριοι sayings. In his third statement (5:5), he spoke of a time that had been promised to the Jews, a time when the Messiah would arrive. Hidden in these sayings was something that people in that culture would not have missed. Gentile Christians miss it today for two reasons. First, the idea of a promised Messiah doesn't hold the same sway as it did to Jewish people. Gentiles have never been promised that a Messiah would come, so it is hard to feel excited as the Jews felt then, that a long-promised message was coming true in their lifetimes. Second, people today don't know that the phrase used in this portion of the saying was an established phrase, a stock phrase, for another promise. This second idea is worth another word or two.
μακαριοι οι πραεις οτι αυτοι κληρονομησουσιν την γην. (How favored are unassuming people. They will receive the promised land.)
The last two words of this saying, την γην, are most often thought of as the Earth. In this case, however, there is a specialized meaning for these two words. Since the Jews established residence in Palestine, the reference to the southern kingdom in particular was called "the land " (that had been promised to them). Psalms 37:9, 11 are clear examples of this. Even 700 years later, the same idea is mentioned in the Jewish story of Tobit (4:12). The same idea is seen again in Isaiah 61:7, a contemporary period with Tobit. Shortly after this time the idea changed slightly. By the time of the Maccabees, a little less than two hundred years before Jesus, the idea of the Messiah was that he would come to lead the Jews in their final triumph over the world and give them "the land," a figurative kingdom or realm. "The land" was formulaic and figurative, not associated with the physical land of Israel any longer, yet still referred to as "the land."
So, it seems that Jesus was using the figurative expression of "the land" promised by the Messiah in two nuanced ways. He primarily was saying that because he himself was speaking of "the land's" inhabitants, he was the messiah that would lead them there. Secondarily, Jesus was equating the figurative promised land to his first and last sayings that speak of the realm of God being made up of two other groups of unassuming people, the dispirited and persecuted.
It was also true that Jesus was quoting Psalms 37:11, a passage that was written to comfort the Jews of old during a time of disillusionment. Quoting the Old Testament as the basis for a current teaching was something the rabbis did regularly. Some called Jesus a rabbi although he had no training as such. Yet, he knew and could apply the Old Testament's words to his own time so easily - something the messiah would be able to do.
If I look very hard at these 8 sayings, I see Jesus actively working to reassure the everyday person listening to him that day. He wanted them to know and feel that there was hope because God smiles upon all the things they were doing like living decently, making peace, showing kindness to people who had suffered loss, and working hard to fill their emptiness both physical and spiritual. What a comfort to know this about God from the one promised to lead them out of their oppression at the hands of the Romans and their other surrounding pagan neighbors like the Greeks, Persians, and Egyptians.
I have fit into all of the categories Jesus mentioned in his μακαριοι [makareoy] (how favored you are) sayings at different times in my life. I am in that crowd of followers listening on the hillside even though I live in another time and place. I hear his leadership in his words. I hear his voice reaching out to my condition and assuring me that my attempts to do the right things in life lead to God's promised realm. I believe him when he says that someone stands beside me in my grief and loss. I am more than relieved to hear that I will see God if I have a genuine heart. I hear Jesus telling me how favored I am.
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