Matthew 5:3-10

2. The subjects of Jesus’ kingdom 5:3-16

Their condition 5:3-10 (cf. Luke 6:20-26)

This pericope describes the character of the kingdom’s subjects and their rewards in the kingdom.

Kingsbury identified the theme of this Sermon as "greater righteousness" and divided it as follows: (I) On Those Who Practice the Greater Righteousness (Matthew 5:3-16); (II) On Practicing the Greater Righteousness toward the Neighbor (Matthew 5:17-45); (III) On Practicing the Greater Righteousness before God (Matthew 6:1-18); (IV) On Practicing the Greater Righteousness in Other Areas of Life (Matthew 6:19 to Matthew 7:12); and (V) Injunctions on Practicing the Greater Righteousness (Matthew 7:13-27). [Note: Kingsbury, p. 112. See also idem, "The Place, Structure, and Meaning of the Sermon on the Mount within Matthew," Interpretation 41 (1987):131-43; Robert A. Guelich, The Sermon on the Mount: A Foundation for Understanding; and Hagner, pp. 83-84.]

"Looked at as a whole . . . the Beatitudes become a moral sketch of the type of person who is ready to possess, or rule over, God’s Kingdom in company with the Lord Jesus Christ." [Note: Zane C. Hodges, "Possessing the Kingdom," The KERUGMA Message 2:2 (Winter 1992):5.]

Jesus described the character of those who will receive blessings in the kingdom as rewards from eight perspectives. He introduced each one with a pronouncement of blessedness. This form of expression goes back to the wisdom literature of the Old Testament, particularly the Psalms (cf. Psalms 1:1; Psalms 32:1-2; Psalms 84:4-5; Psalms 144:15; Proverbs 3:13; Daniel 12:12). The Beatitudes (Matthew 5:3-10) may describe the fulfillment of Isaiah 61:1-3. [Note: See Bock, Jesus according . . ., pp. 128-29; and Robert A. Guelich, "The Matthean Beatitudes: ’Entrance-Requirements’ or Eschatological Blessings?" Journal of Biblical Literature 95 (1973):433.] They describe and commend the good life. [Note: France, The Gospel . . ., p. 161.]

The English word "beatitude" comes from the Latin word for "blessed," beatus. The Greek word translated "blessed," makarios, refers to a happy condition.

"The special feature of the group makarios, makarizein, makarismos in the NT is that it refers overwhelmingly to the distinctive religious joy which accrues to man from his share in the salvation of the kingdom of God." [Note: Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, s.v. "makarios," by F. Hauck, 4:367.]

"It [makarios] describes a state not of inner feeling on the part of those to whom it is applied, but of blessedness from an ideal point of view in the judgment of others." [Note: Allen, p. 39.]

Blessedness is happiness because of divine favor. [Note: C. G. Montefiore, The Synoptic Gospels, 2:30.] The other Greek word translated "blessed," eulogetos, connotes the reception of praise and usually describes God.

". . . the kingdom is presupposed as something given by God. The kingdom is declared as a reality apart from any human achievement. Thus the beatitudes are, above all, predicated upon the experience of the grace of God. The recipients are just that, those who receive the good news." [Note: Hagner, p. 96.]

The "for" (Gr. hoti) in each beatitude explains why the person is a blessed individual. "Because" would be a good translation. They are blessed now because they will participate in the kingdom. The basis for each blessing is the fulfillment of something about the kingdom that God promised in the Old Testament. [Note: See Vernon C. Grounds, "Mountain Manifesto," Bibliotheca Sacra 128:510 (April-June 1971):135-41.]

The Beatitudes deal with four attitudes-toward ourselves (Matthew 5:3), toward our sins (Matthew 5:4-6), toward God (Matthew 5:7-9), and toward the world (Matthew 5:10, and Matthew 5:11-16). They proceed from the inside out; they start with attitudes and move to actions that are opposed, the normal course of spirituality.