Paper on Matthew
p.102
"Lange's Commentary discusses the differing opinions in regards to the meaning of poverty. Some commentators give explanations that refer to poverty solely related to some transitory materialistic gain. Some commentators believe that Christ is indicating intellectual poverty. Whereas, others believe that Christ's statements are actually in reference to physical poverty.
Rose Publishing. Beatitudes (Kindle Location 101). Rose Publishing. Kindle Edition.
"Those who mourn" refers to people wishing God to send his Messiah, hoping God will restore his kingdom and set the world right. Isaiah 61:2-3 tells of the coming Messiah who will "comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion." These are people who understand the mess the world is in and wish for God's redemption. Their comfort consists in knowing that the Messiah has come and the redemption they have hoped for is about to occur! How can a mournful person be happy?" The pursuit of happiness has become for us a goal above all goals. We have become very adept to hiding from pain and reality. Nothing is solved, but we can continue to pretend to be happy. In stark contrast, Jesus asserts that the way to true happiness must come through a radical shift in thought, a change of mind that first makes us see ourselves as we really are - and our world as it really is - and mourn. Only after we recognize this sorrow can God comfort us. Knowing that the Messiah has come and offers redemption is the greatest comfort for those who mourn.
Commentary - p.100
A striking historical illustration, by way of contrast, is connected with the Horns of Hattin, assuming that ridge to be the Mount of Beatitudes. On the spot where Jesus had described the kingdom of heaven, and pronounced the meek and the peacemakers blessed, the most bloody battles have been fought!
The World of the New Testament
Again in distinct contrast to New World slavery, the education of slaves was encouraged, which generally increased their value. Rescuing and educating children whose parents had abandoned (" exposed") them in public places could be a profitable business (note that Greco-Roman moralists do not seem to have commented on this practice, nor do any NT writers). Some slaves were better Joel B. Green and Lee Martin McDonald; eds.. The World of the New Testament (Kindle Locations 4450-4452). Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.
Commentary- p.102
Again, Jesus declares those blessed whom the men of the world would hold to be most unhappy. He designates by that term circumstances which, to those looking merely at the outside, would appear far from enviable, and traits of character running directly contrary to the carnal views and the legal righteousness of the Jews. Hence these sentences are so many paradoxes. "Although these statements of Christ run directly counter to the carnal prejudices of His contemporaries, His utterances contain nothing that was either entirely new or unknown, since all these beatitudes are based upon passages of the Old Testament. Isa. lvii. 15
The World of the New Testament
An owner usually based good treatment of slaves on the desire to gain a reputation for generosity rather than on insight into a slave's inherent equality as a human being. Joel B. Green and Lee Martin McDonald; eds.. The World of the New Testament (Kindle Locations 4520-4522). Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.
Chambers, Oswald. Studies in the Sermon on the Mount: God's Character and the Believer's Conduct (Kindle Locations 84-90). Discovery House. Kindle Edition.
Beware of placing our Lord as Teacher first instead of Savior. That tendency is prevalent today, and it is a dangerous tendency. We must know Him first as Savior before His teaching can have any meaning for us or before it can have any meaning other than that of an ideal that leads to despair. Fancy coming to men and women with defective lives and defiled hearts and wrong mainsprings, and telling them to be pure in heart! What is the use of giving us an ideal we cannot possibly attain? We are happier without it. If Jesus is a teacher only, then all He can do is to tantalize us by erecting a standard we cannot come anywhere near. But if by being born again from above we know Him first as Savior, we know that He did not come to teach us only: He came to make us what He teaches we should be. The Sermon on the Mount is a statement of the life we will live when the Holy Spirit is having His way with us.
Chambers, Oswald. Studies in the Sermon on the Mount: God's Character and the Believer's Conduct (Kindle Locations 110-115). Discovery House. Kindle Edition.
Divine Disproportion 5:1-12 Our Lord began His discourse by saying, "Blessed are . . . ," and His hearers must have been staggered by what followed. According to Jesus Christ they were to be blessed in each condition that from earliest childhood they had been taught to regard as a curse. Our Lord was speaking to Jews, and they believed that the sign of the blessing of God was material prosperity in every shape and form, and yet Jesus said, Blessed are you for exactly the opposite: "Blessed are the poor in spirit. . . . Blessed are those who mourn."
The World of the New Testament
For example, a certain Erastus, identified as the city treasurer of Corinth who had become a Christ-follower there (Rom. 16: 23), most probably had to sell himself to the city (as a form of "bonding insurance"?) to be appointed to this responsible position. Holding this office in a Roman provincial capital most likely made Erastus the most socially distinguished member of the congregation in Corinth. Also, in an action that displays some Christians' astonishing compassion, "many Joel B. Green and Lee Martin McDonald; eds.. The World of the New Testament (Kindle Locations 4469-4472). Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.
Location 294
Giving, especially to those who are in need, will lead to happiness quicker than if we are only on the receiving end. The life that constantly takes without giving is a selfish life, and selfishness only leads to greater unhappiness. Meeting other peoples' needs is the road to a blessed life. Jesus tells us that he came to sere, not to be served (Matthew 20:28). He came to give himself and calls us to the same lifestyle. It is easy to miss that this giving was a joy to him because he delighted to do what God had called him to (John 17:13). "A servant is not greater than his master" and we are blessed when we follow the Mater's example (John 13:15-17). "... And if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday" (Isaiah 58:10)
The World of the New Testament
In the homes of the wealthy, public and private space were divided primarily by status rather than by gender. That is, no rooms were restricted to be used only by women or only by men. Moreover, slaves served every area of the home. The paterfamilias would invite his peers (i.e., men of high status) to private areas such as the dining room or small rooms adjacent to the dining room that served as bedrooms at night. Here business contracts were struck and political alliances were made, as men did much of their work in the home. Women were patronesses in their own right, owning property and slaves, having clients and business concerns. The materfamilias would oversee the operations of the home, which could include the commercial production of goods, for example, from looms located in the house. Roman custom included the materfamilias at the evening dinner party (convivium), but the guests were predominantly male, and the meal focused on male socializing and politicking. In Greek homes, the women of the family did not participate in the evening dinner party (symposium) if men unrelated to the family were present (e.g., Cicero, Verr. 2.1.26). Joel B. Green and Lee Martin McDonald; eds.. The World of the New Testament (Kindle Locations 4593-4601). Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.
The World of the New Testament
Indeed, even while they were slaves, they could own property, and some already owned their own slaves. They could accumulate a fund, called a peculium, which they might then use to purchase their own freedom (manumission) from their owners. On the other hand, the enslavement of debtors by their creditors was a well-known practice among Greeks and Romans as well as Judeans; it was the primary source of slaves in Israel in the Second Temple period. Joel B. Green and Lee Martin McDonald; eds.. The World of the New Testament (Kindle Locations 4446-4449). Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.
Location 159
Just as poverty leads to hunger, the recognition of one's spiritual poverty leads to a hunger for righteousness. Jesus is talking to people who desire God's rule. It is a rule that brings justice for all. It is a reign in which God will satisfy the hungry and thirsty for righteousness. A fulfillment of God's promise in Isaiah 65:13, "My servants will eat ... my servants will rejoice ... ."
Commentary - p.99-100
Manifestly, this discourse is esoteric- an exposition of the fundamental doctrines of the kingdom of heaven in their relation to the teaching of the Old Testament, and to the ordinances and practice of a spurious traditionalism, which could only have been intended for the disciples.
Location 184
Mercy is part of God's own nature. "The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness ... " (Exodus 34:6). Besides, God expects mercy from his people: "He has shown you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God (Micah 6:8)." People have experience mercy and forgiveness are filled with gratitude. Their gratitude cultivates a merciful attitude in return.
p.102 - Mourning
Mourning, according to Lange's Commentary, is an intense feeling of dissatisfaction. An individual is fully acquainted with what the benefits and pleasures this world offers; however, there is an incessant, continuous discontent or disapprobation with its material promises. This disapprobation of what the world has to offer will be completely obliterated by the kingdom of heaven. Every sorrow shall be removed and that lingering and maddening feeling of discontent shall be expunged.
Rose Publishing. Beatitudes (Kindle Locations 91-98). Rose Publishing. Kindle Edition.
Now and Future Kingdom In the New Testament, the kingdom of heaven is God's gracious rule. In other words, it is where God's will is done. The gospels make it clear that the kingdom was a present experience (Luke 11:20, 17:21). Jesus' miracles, teachings, and ministry are all manifestations of the kingdom. Yet, the rest of the New Testament, the apostolic letters, makes it also clear that the kingdom is a reality in the future. That is, the fullness of the kingdom will only be experienced when Jesus comes back at the end of times. Some theologians call these two realities about the kingdom of heaven the "already-not yet." The kingdom of heaven and the promises within it are already part of the church's experience. However, the fullness of the kingdom's power and influence is not yet experienced. Christ will bring about the fullness of the kingdom in his second coming.
Location 309-322
Righteousness Righteousness in the Old Testament was a relational concept. It described a legal relationship. That is, it was a relationship in terms of law, courts, judges, and so on (see Psalm 9:4; Psalm 15; Isaiah 5:7). In other words, it meant ethical or fair behavior. It described a covenant relationship. It is a description of God's relating and doing right toward his people; it was also the expected behavior of God's people toward God (see Ezekiel 18:5-9, 25-32). Righteousness in the New Testament reflected the two-fold distinction in the Old Testament. The Apostle Paul expanded the legal sense of the concept. He applied it to Christ's work. Because of Jesus' atoning death on the cross (he died in our place), God makes right (justifies) sinners (romans 4:5). Paul did not mean that God makes people righteous - that we can now only do what is right. Rather, he meant that God has applied Christ's righteousness - his perfect obedience and guiltlessness - to us, so we become "legally" (in the sense of a court proceeding) acquitted of the penalty of sin, which is death. In Matthew, Jesus was not using the. "legal" sense of the concept. Rather, righteousness in the Sermon on the Mount goes back to the "covenant relationship" sense. That is, in the kingdom of heaven, relationship are restored: (1) relationship between God and humanity; (2) relationship between humanity and creation; and (3) relationships among humans. In the kingdom of heaven, people relate rightly, doing what is right in all relationships.
Location 282
Shalom Traditionally, this Hebrew word is translated as "peace." When we think about peace, we tend to define it as absence of conflict. However, shalom means much more than that. The best example of what shalom means is the Garden of Eden. In Eden, all things functioned according to the order and purpose that God assigned them. There was order and harmony, balance and wholeness. When Adam and Eve rebelled against God, this state of being was broken. Things are no longer the way they are supposed to be. Shalom is about relationships. When humans sinned in the Garden, three relationships were broken: 1. Our relationship with God; 2. Our relationship with Creation: 3. Our relationship with each other. Jesus brings peace in all these relationships. Jesus restores this shalom. The kingdom of heaven is the context in which shalom prevails. Things work according to God's original design. Only in this context, true joy is possible.
Rose Publishing. Beatitudes (Kindle Locations 77-86). Rose Publishing. Kindle Edition.
The "poor in spirit" are those who recognize their need for God in all things. Like the poor and destitute who depend on others, the poor in spirit know that only God can save and protect them. What the WORLD Says What JESUS Says The world and every kind of human-made religion value the "spiritual master," the guru, the great teacher. The idea is that if you know and do the right things, you can find your own spiritual salvation. People have their own answers to their problems, if they could only recognize it. Jesus tells us that the opposite is true. The truly happy people are those who have recognized they are spiritually bankrupt before God. Their happiness consists in relying on God's strength because they know he cannot fail, and having the certainty that in the kingdom of God, the Messiah will be fully in charge (Isaiah 29:19).
Sermon on the Mount p. 4 "The Curse"
The Beatitudes in the Sermon on the Mount
Chambers, Oswald. Studies in the Sermon on the Mount: God's Character and the Believer's Conduct (Kindle Locations 90-97). Discovery House. Kindle Edition.
The Sermon on the Mount produces despair in the heart of the natural man, and that is the very thing Jesus means it to do, because as soon as we reach the point of despair we are willing to come as paupers to Jesus Christ and receive from Him. "Blessed are the poor in spirit"—that is the first principle of the kingdom. As long as we have a conceited, self-righteous idea that we can do the thing if God will help us, God has to allow us to go on until we break the neck of our ignorance over some obstacle, then we will be willing to come and receive from Him. The bedrock of Jesus Christ's kingdom is poverty, not possession; not decisions for Jesus Christ, but a sense of absolute futility, "I cannot begin to do it." Then, says Jesus, "Blessed are you." That is the entrance, and it takes us a long while to believe we are poor. The knowledge of our own poverty brings us to the moral frontier where Jesus Christ works.
p.102
The author seems to believe that when the Scriptures states that blessed are those who mourn, it should not be considered a blessing to those who mourn because of the weighty, constricting effects of sin or because of the sadness in general that is to be expected from suffering in life. On the contrary, the author believes that the Scriptures refer those who mourn because of the entangling and inescapable state of spiritual poverty. It is inescapable from a human standpoint; however, that point of seemingly inescapable mourning should be considered a moment of profound realization. In that mourning, an individual realizes how incapable one is of becoming whole and cognizant of the meaning of Christ's message without the wealth of insight that Christ brings into the life of a believer.
The World of the New Testament
The family in the Greco-Roman world valued the community over the individual and promoted corporate honor and fortune. Those living in the domus (" home") included parents and children, and perhaps extended family, such as adult siblings, cousins, and grandparents, as well as slaves, freedmen, and freedwomen. Each individual had a specific status within the home, and each family member deemed the social status of the family, including its wealth and social prestige, as of equal or greater value than their personal happiness. Idealized portraits of the Roman family are preserved in artwork and public monuments. For example, domestic landscape paintings often depict a mother and daughter standing by the sea, presumably waiting for their husband and father to return. Most commonly, mothers and daughters are presented in a religious context, before an altar or shrine. Boys are never painted with their mother, unless they are quite young. Instead, they are shown with their father in public scenes, doing business, for example (Fuchs, "Ancient Landscape"). Public imperial art on monuments, columns, and coins conveys a similar theme. Roman families are designated with a father and his child (son or daughter). Non-Roman families are depicted as a mother and her children, without a father and in postures of submission. These scenes serve to promote the ideals of the Roman elite that fathers are involved with their children's well-being, and children represent the potential of Rome (Uzzi, Joel B. Green and Lee Martin McDonald; eds.. The World of the New Testament (Kindle Locations 4574-4584). Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.
The World of the New Testament
The father held the highest social and legal standing in the family and possessed power over his children and property. Scholars have used the Latin term paterfamilias to describe this all-encompassing power; however, the definition of "paterfamilias" has been challenged (Saller, "Pater Familias," 191). The term is found predominantly in legal documents and reflects primarily the running of an estate; thus a man can be a paterfamilias yet unmarried and without children. The term is almost never used in describing a father; instead, the ideal Roman father is characterized as beneficent, that is, using his power in the patriarchal system to help the family (e.g., Cicero, Cat. 4.12; see Severy, Augustus, 9- 10). The feminine form of the term, "materfamilias," conveyed a woman of virtue, modesty, and sterling character. Joel B. Green and Lee Martin McDonald; eds.. The World of the New Testament (Kindle Locations 4587-4593). Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.
Commentary on the Holy Scriptures - Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by John Peter Lange p.99
The fundamental idea of both is evidently the same - the exaltation of the humble and the humiliation of the proud.
Lange's Commentary p. 102
The poor in spirit - This dative is here used to designate them more particularly: in their spirit, or in reference to their spirit, or spiritual life; those who feel themselves spiritually poor, and hence realize their deep and inexpressible want of the Spirit, and long for the religion of the Spirit. Hence the expression does not imply poverty of spirit in reference to man, far less intellectual poverty. The idea, that it refers to external poverty, voluntarily chosen, or to a Roman Catholic commentators imagine, deserves no further notice. The essential characteristic of Christianity. Although wanting in the corresponding passage in Luke, the expression refers there also to spiritual poverty. Kostlin fancies that the omission in Luke is due to Ebionite leanings; while Matthew purposely added the words, "in spirit," to mark the difference. But this hypothesis is only an attempt to carry out the theory of Baur, that the first Christians had been Ebionites. It is indeed true that the expression bears special reference to the poor and needy of the Old Testament theocracy. But those Ebinites were not poor in the sense of their entertaining carnal expectations of the Messiah, but in that of spiritual longing of true righteousness. This feeling of spiritual poverty, which appeared at the time of the prophets, had now attained full maturity. It had been "fulfilled"; and hence coincided with the blank in its origin, as this grace unfolds in the two succeeding beatitudes, and forms the germ of the blank. The full meaning of the expression is brought out in the following remark of Tholuck:-" To translate accurately, we must render the term by evening and medici, for this is the meaning of blank, while bank corresponds to the Latin pauper." On the humility cherished by Gentile sages, especially on that of Socrates, comp. Since the time of the Old Testament, there was an unutterable longing for spiritual wholeness and restoration. When we discuss that aspect of the beatitudes that covers the blessing promised to those who are poor in spirit, it covers the realization of humanity's spiritual imperfection. After the fall, humanity became incomplete, and for those who can actually realize there is something missing that cannot be completed on one's own terms or strength, there are blessings that will result from that. INCOMPLETE
The World of the New Testament
The separation between Roman and non-Roman children in art does not reflect the reality that free children often slept in the slave room with their wet nurse and played with their family's slave children Joel B. Green and Lee Martin McDonald; eds.. The World of the New Testament (Kindle Locations 4585-4586). Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.
Commentary - p.101
The seven beatitudes form an ascending line, in which the new life is traced from stage to stage, from its commencement to its completion. At the basis we have poverty in spirit, the grand final result of the Old Testament discipline. But, in studying this ascending line of Christian righteousness or virtue, which rests on the basis of spiritual poverty, we must not lose sight of the parallels, which they contain. Manifestly, each of the beatitudes expresses as new (religious) relationship toward God, and, side by side with it, a new (moral) relationship toward the world.
Chambers, Oswald. Studies in the Sermon on the Mount: God's Character and the Believer's Conduct (Kindle Locations 131-134). Discovery House. Kindle Edition.
The teaching of Jesus Christ comes with astonishing discomfort to begin with, because it is out of all proportion to our natural way of looking at things, but Jesus puts in a new sense of proportion, and slowly we form our way of walking and our conversation on the line of His precepts. Remember that our Lord's teaching applies only to those who are His disciples.
Location 130, 134
The third Beatitude, then, refers to the meekness necessary to trust in God. It also refers to the attitude of God's servant: the meekness to serve God and do his will above our own. The World's Perspective: It is the proud and strong who will inherit the earth. Only the mights have the power to seize the prize of ruling the planet. Only those who are clever and confident in themselves and their abilities have any hope of holding on to authority and dominion. "Nice guys finish last" describes this attitude that gentleness never gets you anywhere.
Lange's Commentary, p.102
They that mourn - We must not apply the term (with Chrysostom and most of the older interpreters) to deep mourning on account of sin, nor yet to sadness and sorrow in general. This state of mind is explained by the poverty in spirit from which it springs, and tends toward hungering and thirsting after righteousness. From the first, the righteousness of the kingdom of heaven was the great object aimed after - even in poverty of spirit, much more in mourning. But as yet this object has not been clearly realized by the consciousness. Hence it implies spiritual mourning, divine sorrow, in opposition to the sorrow of the world. This mourning in God, after God, and for God, includes not only mourning on account of sin, but also on account of its consequences; more particularly, it is the expression of a state of mind when the world, with its possessions and pleasures, is no longer capable of satisfying, gladdening, or comforting. Those who thus mourn are to be comforted - of course, in the same sense in which they mourn; but their consolation is to be absolute. This comfort necessarily implies the forgiveness of sin; it also includes the promise that their godly sorrow shall, in every respect, be removed by this kingdom of heaven, which is promised to the poor in spirit.
Location 214
True happiness begins in the presence of God. It is a hope that sustains and inspires those living in the kingdom of heaven. On of Jesus' constant criticisms of the Jewish leaders was their hypocrisy. That is, their desire to appear pure and holy, while being corrupted and impure inside. Jesus came to fulfill the promise in Ezekiel 36: 25-27: " I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean ... I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you ... ."
Rose Publishing. Beatitudes (Kindle Locations 56-59). Rose Publishing. Kindle Edition. Rose Publishing. Beatitudes (Kindle Locations 63-66). Rose Publishing. Kindle Edition.
WHAT ARE THE BEATITUDES? The word beatitude comes from a Latin word (beatus) that means "happy" or "blessed." So the word beatitude is about some happiness or blessedness. What does it mean to be happy or blessed? The answer to this question is found in the context of the Beatitudes in Matthew 5. The Beatitudes are not imperatives; they are not commands the believer must fulfill to enter the kingdom of God. Rather, they are results of the coming of this kingdom. They are part of the Gospel, the good news that Jesus, the Messiah, has come. The good news is that God was about to intervene decisively in history and produce people like the ones described in the Sermon on the Mount.
The World of the New Testament
Without a solid knowledge about slavery in the Roman Empire, readers of the NT can make major errors in interpretation. A clear grasp of how one was made a slave, the wide range of responsibilities carried by slaves, how one was treated as a slave, and what hope those enslaved nurtured regarding their future freedom provides insight into many NT passages that are otherwise quite puzzling. For example, in his letters, Paul of Tarsus not only refers to enslaved Christ-followers (see, e.g., 1 Cor. 1: 11; 7: 21; 16: 15; Philemon) but also frequently employs metaphors taken directly from the experience of slavery in his world. Three keywords in Paul's vocabulary—" redemption," "justification," and "reconciliation"— draw directly on the process and results of manumission from slavery, which releases the believer from the slavery to sin and alienation (and from "social death," if a slave) and Joel B. Green and Lee Martin McDonald; eds.. The World of the New Testament (Kindle Locations 4522-4528). Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.
How Christianity Changed the World
Yet many people today may not know , or may even try to deny , the many contributions that the transformed followers of Christ for two thousand years helped to bring about . These Christ - inspired individuals took the words of Jesus to heart : " Let your light shine before men , that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven " ( Matthew 5 : 16 ) . And because of them , the world became a more humane and civilized place . Schmidt, Alvin J.. How Christianity Changed the World (p. 38). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.
The World of the New Testament
educated than their owners, who had purchased them to carry out important functions outside and inside the home, to educate the owner's children, and to add to the owner's public reputation. Rome's cultural leadership in its empire largely depended on educated non-Italians who had been enslaved. Joel B. Green and Lee Martin McDonald; eds.. The World of the New Testament (Kindle Locations 4452-4454). Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.
The World of the New Testament
elevates the Christ-follower to the status of "son" or "daughter" and a "brother" or "sister" (see Patterson, Slavery, 70). Joel B. Green and Lee Martin McDonald; eds.. The World of the New Testament (Kindle Locations 4528-4529). Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.
The World of the New Testament
gave themselves into bondage that they might ransom others [from slavery]. Many sold themselves into slavery and provided food for others with the price they received for themselves" (1 Clem. 55.2). Joel B. Green and Lee Martin McDonald; eds.. The World of the New Testament (Kindle Locations 4472-4473). Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.
