[The first part of this series dealt with the question of why Jesus appeared when He did and where He did. It may be viewed here. This second part discusses Jesus' Sermon on the Mount. (Matthew 5:3-7:29)]
In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus presented a clear and succinct picture of the character of a God-fearing person. The description has been a guide to Christians ever since, but what is not often considered by commentators is what He said by implication about the Pharisees, who undoubtedly were present and listening to him. The commentary in this chapter emphasizes what Jesus said in the Sermon about the Pharisees and the mission of the Israelites.
The contrast in the sermon between Jesus’ picture of sanctity and the Pharisees’ beliefs was palpable and direct. Jesus seemed to make his points in just such a way as to heighten the contrast. One can imagine the Pharisees becoming more and more uncomfortable, even outraged, as the sermon progressed.
“Blessed are the poor in spirit”. Jesus was looking at two groups of people --those who would be priests to the world and those who are proselytized. In both cases a quality that is needed is the desire for spiritual growth, a drive for union with God. To be poor in spirit is to be His follower and to be a lover of God. He made this point to the multitude to show them how they ought to act toward others if they are to be priests to the world. Those present undoubtedly knew exactly who did not have this quality -- those who knew they were very rich in spirit and always made sure everyone saw their fine spiritual state; those who were full of themselves, full of pride in their spiritual achievements, and full of self-importance – in other words, the Pharisees.
“Blessed are those who mourn”. Those who aspire to lead the world to God ought to be like Him especially in the qualities of compassion and acting from the heart. A test of these qualities is death itself because genuine mourners for the dead do have emotions and compassion for the departed, just as Jesus did at Lazarus’ tomb. Jesus here makes a pointed, implied criticism of the Pharisees who were so ritualistic in matters of death that they had no room for acting from the heart.
“Blessed are the meek”. When one contemplates the incomprehensible – that is, who God must be – the experience engenders a basic humility. One stands meekly in awe of the Almighty and His Son. Those who hunger for God will of necessity have this meekness. Jesus made the point to show that the Israelites must have this character if they expect to be God’s people and his priests. Indirectly, Jesus condemned the prideful, arrogant, and aggressive Pharisees who by mocking meekness display their disregard for God. No one could miss the point.
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness”. A qualitative difference exists between righteousness and self-righteousness. No hunger or thirst is involved in the later which was a Pharisee speciality. The Pharisees were smug and self-satisfied in their knowledge of the law and substituted their own self-importance for righteousness. In contrast Jesus pointed to God’s admiration for those who humbly seek Him out and who love God with all their heart and soul. Jesus was entirely contemptuous of those whose love of God was confined to ritual.
“Blessed are the merciful”. The Pharisees structured society around fulfillment of the law. The Pharisees’ judgment of people was an evaluation of whether one had fulfilled the law, most of which were man-made and worthy of Jesus’ condemnation. Mercy and compassion had little to do with this system. You either observed the law or not. Jesus is denounced this way of life. He wanted his followers, the priests to all mankind, to be merciful from the heart to others . At another time he said to the Pharisees, “Learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice’”. (Matthew 10:13).
“Blessed are the pure in heart”. When Jesus first encountered the apostle Nathaniel, He said (John 1:47), “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile.” Jesus seemed to state this as a surprise, as if to say, ‘what a unique thing, a Israelite without guile.’ Such is the legacy of the Pharisees’ mis-education of their followers. The Pharisees' exclusiveness and attitude of superiority had led them to become manipulative with an ‘agenda’ toward others, often with the aim of maintaining a separation from the 'unclean'. Jesus made the point in this beatitude that spiritual leaders must be pure of heart, utterly without guile, if they want to fulfill God’s wishes.
“Blessed are the peacemakers”. When resurrected Jesus appeared after the crucifixion he stated at one point, “Peace be with you.” (Luke 24:33) God created man to be peaceful and peaceable. Jesus desires humanity to make its way back to this state. He expects His human leaders to be men of peace because they cannot lead others to peace by being otherwise. The implication is that the Pharisees lacked a peaceful nature. They engendered into the populace the constant anxiety of figuring out if one had fulfilled the law. The Pharisees were hardly peaceful with their practice of running around telling people that they lacked holiness if they failed to uphold some rule that the Pharisees had made up.
“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake…,”and “blessed are you when men revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my [Jesus’] account”. Jesus, of course, knew what was to transpire at the hands of the Pharisees and those they influenced – his own crucifixion and the persecution of His followers. He taught that a believer in God must be prepared to face such persecution to bring about God’s kingdom. In blessing those who are prosecuted He was preparing them for their purpose and also warning the Pharisees that their intent to kill and disrupt his followers was known, and thereby exposed.
Fulfillment of the Law
Continuing his exhortation, Jesus goes on to explain, “Think not that I have come to abolish the law and the prophets; I have come not to abolish them but to fulfill them.” (Matthew 5:17) This statement was an answer to the Pharisees’ criticism that Jesus did not obey the laws, that He wanted to do away with them. Jesus made clear that He not only is for the laws, He is for what is behind them: compassion and action motivated from the heart, in a word, righteousness. He made sure the fundamental nature of this point was understood by saying to the multitude, “For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:20)
Jesus elaborated by illustrating how the law is fulfilled from the heart. He recited the commandment thou shall not kill, but explained that what is in the heart is what calls for judgment. He pointed to anger in the heart as an example. Similarly He noted that prohibition of adultery is in the law, but He cautioned that lust in the heart is evil. He made contrasts in other examples between what it means to formally observe the Pharisee traditions and to observe them from the heart. His examples include the formality of divorce and the reality of separating what God had united, swearing falsely and speaking honestly, and the Pharisee penchant for revenge and the love that is in one's heart, including love of one's enemy.
Jesus then turned to an outright attack on the Pharisees, repeatedly calling them hypocrites. He said that their piety, praying, and fasting were for others to notice. He accused them of collecting treasures, warning them that they cannot serve both God and mammon. He said that they are full of darkness and therefore anxious about life, food, drink and clothes. Jesus reminded them that one should rely only on God. “But first seek his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things shall be yours.” (Matthew 6:33)
He went on to denounce the Pharisees for presuming to judge others when they have so many faults of their own, citing the well-known analogy of having a log in their eye when they try to take a splinter out of someone else’s. Instead of judging others He called on the Pharisees to observe the golden rule.
He finished his oration by telling his listeners to “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves.” (Matthew 7:15) Can there be any doubt what group He meant by 'false prophets'? To call them 'ravenous wolves' was the talk of all-out war. He told his followers to enter the kingdom of heaven by the narrow gate, implying that Pharisees’ lack of a genuine piety will not bring them to heaven.
In summary: Jesus' sermon on the mount illustrated that Jesus had drawn a line for all eternity between the kingdom of God and the Pharisees' outlook on life. The sermon backed up His whole orientation to expose the Pharisees' evilness and hypocrisy to the masses of the Israelites, to demonstrate by words and example how God’s people should conduct their lives. He underlined repeatedly that no similarity existed between the Pharisees' teaching and what God wants. He said the Pharisees are pompous, prideful, anxious for recognition, hypocritical, ritualistic, evil-doers, lustful, full of darkness, ravenous and covetous of wealth. His condemnation could not have been more thorough.
[The next part of this series will examine what Jesus says about the Pharisees in Matthew 23.]
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