Word to the Wise
Monday, June 8, 2020 - Monday in the 10th Week in Ordinary Time
[1 Kgs 17:1-6 and Matt 5:1-12]When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain, and after he had sat down, his disciples came to him. He began to teach them, saying: "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven......" [Matthew]
The "Beatitudes" that begin the Sermon on the Mount in the Gospel According to Matthew are some of the best known of all the teachings of Jesus. When we hear those introductory words, quoted above, our attention moves immediately to the "Blesseds" and away from the setting. I can understand that because my father and I were with a group of pilgrims on that "mountain" on a beautiful Spring day in 1988. Almost anyone could feel "blessed" in that traditional setting! But Matthew says a lot in the introduction that makes a difference in everything else that follows.
The first thing is that Jesus goes "up the mountain." Matthew's portrait of Jesus presents him as a kind of "new Moses," with some new "commandments" ("You have heard it said.....but I say to you.." Moses received the Ten Commandments on a mountain. When Jesus is "transfigured," this takes place on a mountain [Matt. 17:1]. When he commissions the disciples at the end of this gospel, it is on a mountain. [Matt. 28:16]. In short, a mountain is a place of revelation, which means that when Jesus went up the mountain in today's passage, we are being warned that revelation is going to happen.
The second thing is that Jesus "sat down." In Jesus' time, real "teachers" did not stand in front of a classroom. They sat on something and their disciples would sit at their feet. Jesus, the son of a carpenter from Nazareth, who had no recognized background as a rabbi or teacher, assumes a position of authority.
If we understand those two points, it can make a difference in how we understand the whole Sermon on the Mount! If what Jesus says in that "sermon" is divine revelation and we recognize him as our teacher, then after reading the whole sermon, would we pass a test on it - not just on content but on our way of living? If we are curious about what will be on the Final Exam, we can find it in Matthew 25:31-45: "When I was hungry......" AMEN
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