Matthew 5:1–12a

The Sermon on the Mount

5 Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him.

The Beatitudes

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 sons 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.

Matthew 5:1–12a ESV – Bible Gateway

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In the lectionary, this Gospel passage marks the start of six consecutive Sundays focusing on the Sermon of the Mount, and we start with the Beatitudes. These verses are charged with meaning and are the template for living the Christian life.

We can blithely pass over “he went up on the mountain” and pass quickly to the Beatitudes. Dr. Brant Pitre brings out an important aspect regarding this:

Just as Moses went up Mount Sinai in order to get the 10 Commandments, the old law, so now Jesus, the new Moses, goes up to the top of this mountain in Galilee in order to give his disciples the new law, the law of the Gospel. So Jesus is a new Moses here. However, it’s important also to note though that there’s both a difference and a similarity. The difference here is significant. If you go back to the book of Exodus in Exodus 19 and 20, Moses, when he gets the 10 Commandments, the old law, he brings it down to the bottom of the mountain and gives it to the people at the bottom of the mountain. But when it comes to Jesus, the new Moses, with the new law of the Sermon on the Mount, he actually doesn’t deliver it at the bottom of the mountain, he gives it at the top of the mountain. So he’s bringing the disciples up to a higher law, a higher commandment, because Moses’ law was ultimately oriented toward the kingdom of Israel, toward the earthly kingdom in Jerusalem, but Jesus’s new law is going to be ordered toward the kingdom of heaven, a heavenly kingdom. So there’s a similarity but there is also a big difference here with regard to Jesus as the new Moses of the new mountain giving the new law.[1]

To continue with a note from the Ignatius Catholic Study Bible:

The mountain signifies the higher precepts of righteousness, for the precepts given to Israel were lower. God gave lesser laws to those requiring the bonds of fear, but higher laws to those ready to be set free by love. The higher precepts are for the kingdom of heaven, just as the lower precepts were for a kingdom on earth (St. Augustine, On the Sermon on the Mount 1, 1, 2). he sat down: The posture of a Jewish rabbi speaking with authority (cf. 23:1–2; Jn 8:2). [2]

Dr. John Bergsma gives a quick overview of what the Beatitudes are:

Now, with respect to the Beatitudes (which are just the introduction to the Sermon on the Mount and not synonymous with the entire Sermon, which lasts from Matt 5–7), we should note that there are eight main ones (vv. 3–10), followed by an epilogue on persecution (vv. 11–12). The first and eighth beatitudes promise the blessing of the “kingdom of heaven.” That is a literary device called an inclusio (beginning and ending on the same topic), which highlights the main point. So the Beatitudes are about the kingdom of heaven; specifically, they are the virtues that are required of kingdom citizens.[3]

and

Finally, we should note that the beatitudes are not a simple grab-bag of random virtues, but there is a certain progression as we move through them. They are all interrelated, and to a certain extent they move from one to the next.[4]

I need to be reminded of what the translated word “blessing” means:

The Greek word being translated as blessing here is actually makarios, which means happy. That is the literal translation of the word. So when you read the Beatitudes it’s not just a list of blessings, it’s actually a description of how to be happy, it’s the secret of happiness. And you can see this much more clearly if you read a Latin translation of the Bible like the Latin Vulgate, because the Latin word is beatus, which means happy, and that’s where we even get the word beatitude from.[5]

Dr. Brant Pitre also writes:

…the Catechism says that the Beatitudes “depict the countenance of Jesus Christ.” In other words, the Beatitudes are not just something that he’s calling his disciples to, they are something that he himself embodied. So if you look at each of the Beatitudes, they kind of give you a spiritual profile of Jesus himself. They depict the face of Christ himself. [6]

Specifically, the Catechism says:

CCC 1717 The Beatitudes depict the countenance of Jesus Christ and portray his charity. They express the vocation of the faithful associated with the glory of his Passion and Resurrection; they shed light on the actions and attitudes characteristic of the Christian life; they are the paradoxical promises that sustain hope in the midst of tribulations; they proclaim the blessings and rewards already secured, however dimly, for Christ’s disciples; they have begun in the lives of the Virgin Mary and all the saints.[7]

Looking at the individual Beatitudes, you can quickly come to the opinion that they are a serious pushback against almost everything the world attempts to teach daily. This is not surprising, as this is the very pattern of Jesus’ teaching method. To stand us on our heads to see his magnificent creation as it is and that it permeates the moral law with this same magnificence and wonder.

The Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture for the Gospel of Matthew puts this idea succinctly:

Jesus’ beatitudes represent a reversal of values, turning the world’s standards for happiness upside down. Many of the people whom the world would consider to be among the most miserable—the poor, the mourning, the meek, the persecuted—Jesus proclaims to be in an advantageous situation, for God looks now with favor on them and assures them of consolation in the future. Jesus thus challenges his followers to see life from God’s viewpoint, not the world’s. When his followers live by God’s standards, they are truly in a fortunate state in life, no matter what their circumstances may be, for they bring a glimmer of the joy and hope of the heavenly kingdom into the afflictions of the present world.[8]

These references provide a quick summary of the concept of the Beatitudes, and I am only going to do a quick look at one of them. The second Beatitude addresses those who mourn, and this is one I never understood correctly since I have jumped to the common meaning of mourn.

“Blessed are they who mourn” or “happy are they who mourn.” Here St. Augustine and other commentators say that Jesus is describing those who lament the sufferings, the sin and the death that are part of this present life. So someone who mourns is someone who is experiencing the pain of loss, whether lamenting their own sinfulness or the sinfulness of others, lamenting their own suffering or the sufferings of others, and especially of course the primary expression of mourning is mourning for those who have died. What does Jesus say? “Blessed are they who mourn, for they shall be comforted.” He points to a promise of comfort beyond the sufferings of this life.[9]

St. Thomas Aquinas, in his commentary on Matthew, states:

And this mourning can be explained in three ways. Firstly, mourning can be not only for one’s own sins but also for others’ sins; because if we lament those who have carnally died, much more should we lament those who have died spiritually; “How long wilt thou mourn for Saul,” etc.[10]

I will finish with two more quotes from the Church Fathers:

St. Ambrose: When yon have done thus much, attained both poverty and meekness, remember that you are a sinner, mourn your sins, as He proceeds, Blessed are they that mourn. And it is suitable that the third blessing should be of those that mourn for sin, for it is the Trinity that forgives sin.[11]

St. Augustine. Otherwise; mourning is sorrow for the loss of what is dear; but those that are turned to God lose the things that they held dear in this world; and as they have now no longer any joy in such things as before they had joy in, their sorrow may not be healed till there is formed within them a love of eternal things. They shall then be comforted by the Holy Spirit, who is therefore chiefly called, The Paraclete, that is, ‘Comforter;’ so that for the loss of their temporal joys, they shall gain eternal joys.[12]

Sources

• Catholic Productions, Commentaries by Brant Pitre
• The Ignatius Catholic Study Bible꞉ The New Testament
• The Word of the Lord: Reflections on the Sunday Mass Readings for Year A—John Bergsma
• Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2nd Edition
• The Gospel of Matthew (Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture)
• Commentary on the Gospel of St. Matthew
• Photo by Ben White on Unsplash

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1. Catholic Productions, Brant Pitre, 4th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A)  ↩
2. Ignatius Catholic Study Bible: New Testament  ↩
3. The Word of the Lord: Reflections on the Sunday Mass Readings for Year A, John Bergsma, 4TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME  ↩
4. ibid  ↩
5. Catholic Productions, Brant Pitre, 4th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A)  ↩
6. ibid  ↩
7. Catholic Church. (2000). Catechism of the Catholic Church (2nd Ed). United States Catholic Conference.  ↩
8. The Gospel of Matthew, Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture, Edward Sri and Curtis Mitch  ↩
9. Catholic Productions, Brant Pitre, 4th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A)  ↩
10. Commentary on the Gospel of St. Matthew, Dolorosa Press  ↩
11. St. Ambrose, Archbishop of Milan, A.D. 374. Ambrose. (ubi sup.) Catena Aurea: Commentary on the Four Gospels, Collected out of the Works of the Fathers: St. Matthew (J. H. Newman, Ed.; Vol. 1, p. 150).  ↩
12. St. Augustine, Bishop of Hippo, A.D. 396. (Serm. in Mont. i. 2.) Catena Aurea: Commentary on the Four Gospels, Collected out of the Works of the Fathers: St. Matthew (J. H. Newman, Ed.; Vol. 1, p. 150).  ↩