Conforming to the world brings shame, but standing with the righteous brings eternal glory. In Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount found in Matthew 5, He gives the world a path to follow, an outline of how to live commonly known as the Beatitudes. The Beatitudes are puzzling to us. They are difficult to put together rationally and find the logic in them. God’s plans for our world and for our lives are not always logical to us, but He is God and does things for reasons we cannot understand. We can see through the Beatitudes and Beyond the Gates of Splendor that the Peacemaker is the Child of God who can rejoice when persecuted “for righteousness’ sake.” This type of persecution shows that the Peacemaker has been recognized as someone who has not conformed to the pattern of this world, and has lived a life worthy of their call of Christ Jesus which then allows them to enter the Kingdom of Heaven and be called children of God.
One of the biggest contradictions we seem to be faced with in the Beatitudes is the eighth and final one. “Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you” (Matthew 5:10). It does not seem to be logical to be blessed when evil is against you. I struggle with the
This initially comes as something of a shock when one considers the common paradigm of Jesus as a figure of peace who only preaches forgiveness and nonviolence. One of the most interesting parables in the Gospel of Luke which contradicts this paradigm is one which describes a steward who is physically violent towards the servants of his master’s estate. Commenting on this story, and referring to the abusive steward, Jesus promises that “his master [God] will come on a day he does not expect and … will cut him off and send him to the same fate as the unfaithful” (12. 45-46). Adding to this, Jesus then continues with, “I have come to bring fire to the earth. Do you suppose that I am here to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. For from now on, a household of five will be divided: three against two and two against three” (12. 51-52). This quote by Jesus firstly implies that the violence of the steward toward the servants is unjustified. This implication comes from the vow that God will punish the steward for his violence. In his article titled “Christian Pharisees and the Scandalous Ethics of Jesus,” Patrick Colm Hogan writes that, in this parable, “the steward clearly represents the earthly rulers, both spiritual
This passage shows how Christ set the example for all to follow by giving his life for us and that if these people coming to the world would follow Christ’s pattern, they in turn could be an example to others one day.
In the Christian community, every single person plays an important role in making the community as safe and caring as possible. One of the most vital beliefs of a Christian is that we are all equal, so we when we are called to serve and help each other, we should obey. This call, although we may hear it at different times and see it in different ways, the call comes to everyone. We may have different understanding of the call, or we may even conflicting ideas of how to answer this call, but in the end, every single idea is important.
by one spirit of peace for everyone is a worthy servant of Christ. On the other
Society neglects the ability for humans to see actual truths and purpose in their lives, which makes it easy for them to think about themselves and only want to fulfill their own personal desires. These personal desires are contrary to the teachings of Jesus, which includes loving your neighbor, compassion for others, and the desire to serve. Humans in the words of Pedro Arrupe must, “live not for themselves but for God and his Christ Following the teachings of Jesus” (Arrupe 1). Doing this makes one
The message given by Jesus and the apostles is resoundingly clear. Whether our conflicts involve minor irritations or major legal issues, God is eager to display his love and power through us as we strive to maintain peace and unity with those around us. Our dependence on him and obedience to this call will show the power of the gospel and enable me to enjoy the personal peace that God gives to those who faithfully follow him.
Some Christians believe achieving peace means rejecting the use of violence. Christians who hold this reject this view focus on Jesus teaching on ’love thy neighbor’, even when Jesus faced his own enemies (the Romans) Jesus gave himself up to death. Also, when Jesus own follower slices off an ear of a servants, Jesus heals the ear of a servant and criticizes his follower for using violence to interfere with God’s plan. This shows that Jesus used pacifism instead of violence and that means all Christians should be
When one first looks at the beatitudes, one might think that they are a set of blessings that apply only to a certain group of people and that they have no influence on the ‘common folk’ who struggle to barely fulfill the 10 commandments. But if one reduces it to that, they miss out on the true purpose of the beatitudes and lose its hidden value.
Our Lord warned his disciples to prepare for persecution to avoid anything that would give an advantage to their enemies, there could be no interferance with worldly concerns or even the appearance of selfishness and evil at all measures. Christ foretold troubles, so that the troubles would not be a surprise, to His disciples, but that they might "affirm and bring to light their faith!"
In a world that does not know the Gospel anymore, we must indulge in it, and love our fellow community though they may not share similar values, but find balancing in still remaining in our own values. Though many of times we find ourselves in opposition of the majority of the world, we must exude Christ love onto others as He does to us unconditionally. The author addresses ways in which we are able to live out our faith and still find a place within our community though they may not share similar values.
Each of the eight statements of the Beatitudes begin with the word Blessed. This is ironic because those who would have been listening to the Sermon on the Mount would have probably been Jewish. For those Jews who would have lived during that time probably never would have used the word blessed to describe themselves. Therefore, those who were not convinced that Jesus Christ was the son of God would not have taken Jesus literally. Because each Beatitude contained the word “blessed”, this gave the crowd an
The fifth beatitude is found in the book of Matthew chapter five verses seven. This is a beatitude between man and his fellow humans. It states; blessed are the merciful for they shall be shown mercy. This is a beatitude said in a present tense context. It says those who are showing mercy to fellow human will expect to be shown mercy during judgment day.
Well known Apostle and Evangelist, Matthew of Galilee, records a parable told by Christ in Chapter 13:24-30 in the Gospel of Matthew. Christ expresses through his story that people will often bring negativity into your life to purposely cause you pain and suffering. Although the negativity can easily become a heavy burden on your life, sometimes it is best to let it stay, as God will later set you free from the weight on your shoulders. Matthew’s purpose for recording this parable is to relay the message of Christ that although there will be evil in everything around you, you shouldn’t take getting rid of it into your own hands. A lot of times, humans will turn to revenge, hate, and even torture to ease the pain caused by those around them.
Believers have been unified in salvation by grace and are called to live like Christ.
The gospel according to Matthew is full of the Lord’s messages of love, how you should love people, and the types of people you should love if you follow the messages and teachings of Jesus. This gospel also provides an outline of the way people who seek to be a part of the Catholic faith should live their lives. Focusing specifically on love and how you should treat other people, Jesus gives precise directions on how we should approach and deal with others, especially those who wrong us. One of the instructions Jesus provides for us through Matthew is, “But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven;” (Matthew 5:44-45). The word of Jesus is very clear here, that we should love all those around us, our neighbors and even those who wish the worst on us. His message becomes even more clear when