The Bible

 

Matthew 5:1-12 : The Beatitudes

Study

1 And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him:

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 they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.

5 Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.

6 Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.

7 Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.

8 Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.

9 Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.

10 Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

11 Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.

12 Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.

Commentary

 

The Beatitudes

By New Christian Bible Study Staff

This fresco was created by Franz Xaver Kirchebner in the Parish church of St. Ulrich in Gröden, Italy, which was built in the late 18th century.

These verses, the opening phrases of the Sermon on the Mount, hold some of the Bible’s most beautiful and best-loved poetry. Part of its beauty, though, lies in the fact that the meaning is not quite clear. What does it mean to be “poor in spirit”? What does it mean to “inherit the earth” or to be called “the children of God.” The fact that there are many possibilities causes us to linger over the phrases, pondering them.

Understood in the internal sense, these blessings show the spiritual states of the various people who could be receptive of the Lord and the new church he was launching. On a deeper level it shows that states within ourselves that can lead each of us to the Lord and to a deeper understanding of His truth today.

The “poor in spirit” are those who know little about spiritual things, but want to learn. Those that “mourn” are those who want to be good, but see no desire for good in their church. The “meek” are those who love to care for and serve others. To “hunger and thirst after righteousness” shows a desire to rise up, to learn about what’s good and to come to desire it.

The “merciful” are those who love their fellow people. The “pure in heart” are those who love only what is good. “Peacemakers” are those who are in harmony with the Lord, gaining knowledge from Him and wanting what He wants. And to be “persecuted for righteousness’ sake” means acting out of love and care for others, even though you are condemned by others for it.

There’s something of a progression there, from those who simply want to learn to those who actively want to be good people to those who actually are good and acting out of love for others. None of it, though, describes those who are learned in the Jewish traditions, or even necessarily observant in terms of ritual; they are, rather, those who sense that it is possible to be a good person and are willing to make the effort.

And they are promised their rewards! The “kingdom of heaven” is the understanding the angels have of the Lord; “comfort” represents ideas that lead to the good of life; “inheriting the earth” is a state of loving others and being loved by them in return. The overall message is simple: If we truly wish to be good people, and are willing to let the Lord teach us how to be good people, we will end up filled with love and wisdom from Him. And that’s what we need to focus on: The desire to be good, and openness to ideas from the Lord. It’s not about ritual and intellectual “correctness”; it’s about ideas that lead us to be good.

But what of being reviled and persecuted? This depicts temptation, when the hells attack our newborn good desires and true understanding. They cause us to doubt our ability to be truly good and question the ideas that are leading us. And they can do it in many ways, reminding us of the fun we’ll be missing or reminding us of all the bad things we’ve ever done to render us hopeless. They will even attack the Bible and the ideas that come to us through it from the Lord; that’s represented by the idea that people also attacked the prophets.

These states, however, are blessed in their own way; only by battling these evils, which are rooted inside us, can we finally fully embrace the good life we have been striving for. That’s why it is pictured last, and that's why it leads to the “great reward” in heaven.

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #9543

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9543. 'And the table shall be carried with them' means being thereby held firmly in being. This is clear from the meaning of 'being carried' as being brought into being and kept in being, dealt with above in 9540, thus also being held firmly in being; and from the meaning of 'the table' as the receptacle of heavenly blessings, dealt with in 9527. All this serves to describe the manner in which the inmost or third heaven receives good from the Lord; for the loaves of the Presence are heavenly good that comes from the Lord, and the table on which the loaves were laid is the receptacle of that good. But I am not allowed to present a detailed description of the nature of this reality, because the majority of the things that exist in the Lord's celestial kingdom lie beyond the range of human thought and almost beyond that of the angelic spirits who live in the lowest heaven. For everything in the Lord's celestial kingdom is founded on the good that belongs to love, and not on the truth that belongs to faith. The fact that those there also communicate with one another through forms of the good of love, and not through the truths of faith as those in the Lord's spiritual kingdom do, see the places referred to in 9277.

[2] The Lord's celestial kingdom is the inmost or third heaven, and within it there exist realities beyond comprehension or description, that is, things which have never entered anyone's mind, and which eye has not seen and ear has not heard, as everyone knows. For this reason those realities existing in that heaven are brought before the eyes of spirits below by means of objects that represent them, and from these representatives they form some idea of the incomprehensible and indescribable realities that exist there. The same realities were represented in the world by the ark, mercy-seat, cherubs, table on which the loaves of the Presence were laid, and the lampstand; and these objects serve to present visually all the realities in that kingdom. In like manner the dwelling-place and court of the tent, also the curtains and veils there, served to represent the realities existing in the Lord's spiritual kingdom, which is the second or middle heaven.

  
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Thanks to the Swedenborg Society for the permission to use this translation.