Thursday, 30 August 2007
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the Beatitudes
Along with some other crazy seniors, I'm working through the greek of the Beatitudes for our exegesis class. I don't understand. The ones in Matthew are so very different than the ones in Luke. In Luke, the picture is of the poor, the hungry, the thirsty, the mourners. These are obviously people who are empty, but are blessed by being a part of the kingdom. The picture in Matthew seems different. Here we have the poor in spirit and those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. Here, the same conditions that are in Luke seem more spiritualized. Someone who is poor is blessed by God, but someone who is poor in spirit is another thing. If the person who is poor of spirit is being blessed by God, then we're talking about conversion: someone spiritually depraved is finding God.Both are beautiful pictures.... but different ones.
And I feel it only fair to assume all of the beatitudes are from the same perspective. Therefore, if one is positive, the others should be too. At least that's whaat makes sense to me. So, I can understand why if I thirst for righteousness I am blessed, but why am I blessed if I mourn? For mourning is obviously not a blessed place to be, but thirsting for righteousness is. Some (ie Dallas Willard) have suggested that all are negative places to be (spiritually depraved, mourning, hungry, etc) but then where do peacemakers fit in? The gospel obviously acknowledges that peacemaking is beneficial.
I don't understand.
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Comments (4)
my first thought is about mourners. i can understand why mourners are blessed... i think mourning is a sign of a pure and loving heart. if someone has something they are mourning, it means they have something or someone that they loved and have compassion for. someone who cannot mourn has a hard heart. and Jesus said they are blessed "for they will be comforted." this also implies that they have hope.
to be honest with you, i think the two "versions" of the beatitudes are very similar, so i would have to disagree with you in that aspect: "blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven" and "blessed are you who are hungry now, for you will be filled" are a parallel to me. wouldn't you say that someone who is poor in spirit is also hungry? also, "blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh"' and blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted" are a match. and also, the "blessed are the meek..." in matt. and v. 22, 23 in Luke are parallels. to me... they all parallel quite well.
Now the question is, why are they so different to us visibly? something i noticed while reading the previous verses to the beatitudes was that Jesus only spoke those things to the disciples. he was originally speaking to a crowd, then he turned to his disciples and said those things. now, matthew is a disciple and luke isn't. maybe luke was off in the crowd and couldn't hear very well. so, i guess what i'm saying is, i think it's a possibility that matthew's record may be more accurate. not that luke's is incorrect, because i think it is definitely true, but maybe he heard things a little differently than matt did. when each person recorded jesus' words, they told the story slightly different because of their slightly different perspectives.
i think that's all for now... let me know what you think.
: )
dont wanna be annoying, i just really enjoy what you have to say and am curious. enlighten me : )
I think you're right; they are different pictures. They are not intending to say the same things. I suppose that's why we have more than one Gospel =)
tim