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Matthew 5:3-10 – Beatitudes of Blessings or Catalogue of Curses?
Do you feel guilty when you read the Sermon on the Mount? Do you look at yourself and think, “I just don’t measure up?” If you do, you are not alone. But maybe, and this is an important life-changing point, you are reading it totally wrong.
Contrary to how it is commonly interpreted, the Sermon on the Mount is not advocating an impossible ethicism beyond human capacity therefore imprisoning us to a life of bondage through guilt and angst for falling short. Neither is this masterful manifesto of the Messiah promoting unattainable righteousness beyond the scribes and Pharisees that enslaves and depresses because it is too difficult to obey. The purpose is not to so depress us so that we realize we are spiritually alienated from God.
And yet that is often how it is read by the experts, and how we often read it ourselves. Hope is the last emotional we are filled with when reading this oration. Many a time, I have read it and left feeling guilty, even spiritually empty. While reading it with such an eye does challenge us to be better, it can leave us with doubt, insecurities and helplessness.
No doubt there is a divine purpose and need for feeling such. No doubt we all need to deeply believe, accept and apply that “all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God,” and take it so personally that are name becomes “All.” Probably many don’t read it and gain a since of being blessed. Seeing Jesus’ teachings, we aren’t filled with joy when comparing them to our lives. We read and think, “’Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect (Mt.5:48)?’ I can’t live up to this. I can’t never be angry, or never lust, physically turn the other cheek.”
If that were the true way to approach the teaching of Jesus, it should begin not with Beatitudes of Blessings, but with a Catalogue of Curses.
- Cursed are you because you know you are never poor enough in spirit.
- Cursed are you because you know you don’t mourn deeply enough for your sins.
- Cursed are you because you know you are not always meek and gentle but proud and arrogant.
- Cursed are you because you know you hunger and thirst after real food and material blessings more than my righteousness.
- Cursed are you because you know you don’t want to show mercy, but want revenge through gossip, insinuations, and grudges.
- Cursed are you because you know your heart is not pure but battles angel, greed, envy and lust.
- Cursed are you because you know you are hurting too deeply to make real peace by forgiving fully and lovingly.
- Cursed are you because know you are not different enough to be persecuted for being a Christian.
Within each “curse” I repeated “because you know” purposely. We know ourselves better than anyone else. Outside we might appear good and godly, we attend church, and don’t commit big sins, but “you know” what you are really like.
May I suggest an alternative approach? There’s an old saying, “It all in how you look at it.” If we look at the teaching of Jesus as impossible ideals to be met in order to be a good Christian, then we will fail. If, however, we look at the words of Jesus as methods on how to be free the Catalogue of Curses again become Beatitudes of Blessings. Freedom from: 1) Self and our Sin; 2) Self –serving Solutions; 3) Patterns of Self-destruction; 4) Self-righteous Religion. When viewed as words of freedom, and not impossible ideals, then the words of Jesus are gospel, that is good news.
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