Bible Commentaries
Luke 6

Verses 20-26

The Beatitudes (Matthew 5:1-12; see Luke 6:20-26)

A comparison of the parallel texts shows us that in Luke these words are clothed in direct form. They are briefer, more incisive, and the four beatitudes of Luke have their counterpart in the fourfold "woe to you," omitted by Matthew. We are, then, in the presence of two different versions, and it is likely that Luke’s is the more primitive. Matthew does not change the meaning but makes it more explicit.

"Blessed [or happy] are the poor in spirit." The term "poor" has a double meaning in the biblical tradition. It means both poverty and humility. The poor in Israel are those who, both literally and figuratively, have nothing and hope only in God. "Poor in spirit" means those who have the spirit of poverty and of humility (see Isaiah 57:15).

The saying, ". . . theirs is the kingdom of heaven," is a simple affirmation that the children of the Kingdom are the "poor" who come to God with empty hands. For them the coining of the Messianic Era is truly "good news," the long-awaited deliverance.

The second Beatitude must be understood in a similar sense (vs. 4). It is a reminder of the Messianic promise: "The LORD has anointed me to bring good tidings to the afflicted ... to comfort all who mourn" (Isaiah 61:1-2). An era of joy is opened in this world for all the oppressed and the suffering, because Jesus is here.

The third Beatitude (vs. 5) also expresses a reversal of things. In the world which we know, power belongs to the strong, to the violent It is they who "succeed." It is they who "possess the earth." But in the Kingdom, the earth will belong to the humble, to the peaceful, to the "children," to those who put their confidence in God, to those who let themselves be despoiled without bitterness and without anger (see Psalms 37:5-11).

The Messianic Era will be a time when righteousness shall reign on a renewed earth (vs. 6). This was the hope and the constant expectation of the prophets. It was at the same time a matter of the righteousness of God, of his fidelity and his truth illuminating and saving men, and of righteousness in human relations. It is this "righteousness" which characterizes the MessianicKing (Isaiah 11:5; see 42:1-4; Psalms 72:1-15). Blessed, said Jesus, are those who hunger and thirst for this righteousness, for it will be revealed at the Last Day.

The first four Beatitudes describe men who wait for the Kingdom of God with the intense nostalgia of those for whom God is their only hope and stay. And Jesus, in his sovereign authority, assigns the Kingdom to them. He speaks in his capacity as King, who has come to inaugurate the Messianic Age. He is the messenger of joy and comfort, the foretold King of righteousness. But he is also the one who has chosen the way of poverty for himself, who will submit to the injustice of men. He is the master who is "gentle and lowly in heart" (Matthew 11:29; see 21:5). Thus the Church, in reciting the Beatitudes, meditates on the Lord who has both proclaimed and lived them. But at the time when he pronounced them, the meaning of his words was still veiled, as was his Messiahship.

The four Beatitudes that follow have a character somewhat different from the earlier ones. They deal not so much with a want which is to be filled as with an attitude. Here we are speaking deliberately of an attitude, not of a virtue.

The first of these (vs. 7) relates to the judgment of God. Before the tribunal of the Most High and the Most Holy, man can hope only for his pity and his pardon. But how can one who does not pardon, who does not exercise mercy toward his neighbor, anticipate the pardon of God? Jesus later repeats this warning several times (Matthew 6:12; Matthew 6:14-15; Matthew 18:21-35; see also James 2:13). It is God’s nature to be merciful. Consequently, he who exercises mercy is blessed; he thereby shows himself to be a son of his Father in heaven (Luke 6:35-36). He bears the stamp of his Father.

Purity of heart (vs. 8) is essentially "integrity" or "honesty" of heart, as is set forth in the Psalms (Psalms 24:3-4; Psalms 51:10), sincerity of intentions and attitudes, truth, transparency of being all of which translate themselves into words (Matthew 5:37) and acts (7:21-23). Only the one who is "true" in this profound sense can face the judgment. He comes to the light (John 3:20-21), and this light will one day be revealed to him in all its fullness (1 Corinthians 13:12; 1 John 3:2).

Verse 9 speaks of "the peacemakers." The word "peace" in the Old Testament expresses health, well-being, harmony, the return to unity of that which has been divided and torn asunder. The longing for peace is so profoundly anchored in the heart of humanity that it has always looked forward to a world where peace would reign among men. In the Bible this hope is often associated with the coming of the Messiah. He is the "Prince of Peace" (Isaiah 9:6). A humanity reconciled with God will know peace (Isaiah 57:18-19; Isaiah 60:17). In the New Testament, this reconciliation is the work of Jesus Christ He is "our peace" (Ephesians 2:13-14).

The term "son of God" is applied in the Old Testament to Israel (see Hosea 11:1). Jesus used it on several occasions as applying to the believing individual (see Matthew 5:45-48). God, at the Last Judgment, will recognize as his "sons" those who belong to him (Revelation 21:7; see Romans 8:13-14; Romans 8:19; Romans 8:23).

God is a God of peace. Those who, here below, are the instruments of peace among men, and between God and men, bear the stamp of their Father.

The next Beatitude (vs. 10) deals once more with demeanor or attitude. The righteousness of God is to be seen in his faithfulness to the Covenant which he has made with his people. The "righteousness" of the believer is to be seen in his fidelity to God, in his obedience unto death, in his willingness to do battle with unrighteousness in all of its forms. By such fidelity he exposes himself to the misunderstanding and the persecution of men. The Old Testament had already testified to the fact that the destiny of the "righteous" is to suffer, and the figure of the Servant proclaims the One who will redeem the world by his sufferings (Isaiah 52:13 to Isaiah 53:12).

The first eight Beatitudes form a unity: they must be understood as a Messianic proclamation. Only the One whom God installs as Judge and King of the world can open the Kingdom. And he opens it to the humble, to the "nobodies"; to those who hope only in God; to those who hunger and thirst for "righteousness" and are ready to suffer for it; to those who, having hoped only in the mercy of God, have their hearts open to the pain of others; to the workers of righteousness and peace.

He who spoke in this fashion is himself the incarnation of this righteousness and this love. The teaching of Jesus Christ is inseparable from his Person. It is on his Person that the authority of his word rests. It is because he is present, because in him all the promises of God have been fulfilled, that the Beatitudes are a message of joy. Apart from him, from the righteousness and peace of which he is the guarantor, they could be only our condemnation.

This is likewise true of the ninth Beatitude (vss. 11-12), which is actually a development of the eighth. This development perhaps reflects the experience of the first Christian generation. Persecution is seen as a normal consequence of the vocation of discipleship to Jesus. Blessed is the one who is persecuted because of his fidelity to his Lord accused unjustly for love of him (the word "falsely" does not exist in all manuscripts, and is perhaps a later addition) . He undergoes the lot of the prophets. The Apostolic Church in its preaching frequently came back to this theme of the necessity for suffering on the part of those who do battle for the cause of Christ To suffer for him, or because of him, is a privilege (Philippians 1:29; Philippians 2:17-18; 1 Peter 1:3-9; 1 Peter 2:20-24; 1 Peter 4:12-14). Jesus himself, on several occasions, prepared his disciples for these struggles (see, for example, the parallel account of this passage in Luke 6:22-23; see also Matthew 10:16-25).

The Beatitudes proclaim a magnificent reversal of our human manner of measuring people and things. It is those whom the world judges "wretched" whom Jesus proclaims blessed. It is those whom the world calls "happy" the rich, the powerful, those who "succeed," those who know how to gain the esteem of all of whom Jesus pronounces the final destitution (Luke 6:24-26). One may be "rich" in the eyes of the world, yet poor and empty before God; or "poor" in the eyes of the world, yet rich toward God. The Gospel by Luke expresses this paradox in all its force, while Matthew spiritualizes it (poor "in spirit"), omitting the contrast with the rich. But the profound judgment uttered by Jesus is the same in both Gospels: it is to those who know themselves poor before God, to those who love him with the grateful love of the poor, that he opens the Kingdom.