12 April 2024
This chapter begins another section of the book, two chapters on the Beatitudes.
Bailey immediately offers another structural outline. First, there is Luke's version, laid out in couplets that match ABCD,ABCD -- positive blessings and then negative woes. Sandwiched in the middle is an extended comment on facing persecution for the sake of following Jesus. Matthew's version is nine positives, with another extended comment about persecution, but at the end.
Bailey goes to some lengths to explain that "blessed" is one of two terms, in both Hebrew and Greek, that are translated into English. This one refers to someone who is already possessed of great fortune. Thus, the thrust of the Beatitudes is not so much encouraging the listeners to do something, but to realize what kind of privilege it is to embrace the Father's ways. It's not about work and reward; the tradition of calling these things "beatitudes" is frankly misleading. It's not attitudes to emulate, but treasures to discover.
This chapter covers the first three of Matthew's list.
1. "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven." I honestly believe Bailey misses the point on this one, but he comes close. Luke words it without the "in spirit" part that we find in Matthew's version. It's good that Bailey traces it down to Isaiah 66:2, who prophesies that God will seek out those who are humble and contrite, who tremble at God's Word.
Still, in Hebrew thinking (remember Pageau) there is an image of the honest poor. It's not a question of socio-economic status; it never was. Rather, those who are humble tend to pursue spiritual wealth, so they miss out on some of the material. They aren't broke; the Lord takes good care of them. Rather, they can't be bothered to let material wealth own them. It's a figure of speech, and Luke captures the European version of the concept, while Matthew pulls up the ancient Hebrew imagery.
2. "Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted." Again, I'm a little disappointed. Bailey starts down the right path, talking about the paradox of sorrow in this world. There's plenty of sorrow that people get themselves into through folly. However, this is another of those Hebrew images of mourning as a partner to poverty, pointing out that a righteous heart will not let us avoid weeping about what we see and experience in this fallen world. There's a nice link to Ecclesiastes 7:2-4. The burden of living in fallen mortal flesh is ineffable.
But then he wanders off, as if he cannot absorb the paradox. He mentions emotional scenes at a funeral, and then pushes a button by mentioning Anne Frank. Finally, he comes back to mention that this life is supposed to suck, but then he slips and talks about an attitude to be emulated, negating his own introduction. Mourning for this nasty situation is a privilege of faith.
3. "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the land." Bailey correctly notes that Jesus refers to "the land" in the sense of the Promised Land Israel inherited, connecting it to Psalm 37. Much of it had been lost by His time, but the Messianic promises featured a recovery. Yes, while the Pharisees took that literally, the Hebrew mystical term (Pageau again) refers to the full range of home and stability that God promised His people. It's not just the Bible Lands, but the whole earth.
Bailey notes that it is the meek who shall see their spiritual home, not the aggressive warriors. He runs through a list of those who had been fighting, or soon would after Jesus' time fight, to control Palestine. Then he mentions that it would not be the literal sons of Abraham, but the spiritual sons who were meek.
He then launches into an explanation of the most likely Hebrew term and Matthew's choice for translating it into Greek. The latter refers to a philosophical Golden Mean between extremes; it's often translated as "gentle" but not weak. The Hebrew term points to someone submissive to God -- His choices, His timing, His way of doing things. It's adhering to God's standard of justice in every context. God does the work; we are along for the ride.
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