The Beatitudes: Jesus and our happiness (Mt 5:1-11)

Introduction

Happiness – is this not what we are all pursuing?We want to be happy. This is the simple motivation of so much that we do and intend, that we wish for and dream of. For us the one big question in life is: what must I do to become a happy person? How can I attain happiness?
The beatitudes are about happiness. But they do not answer our question directly. They do not tell us what to do to become happy. They do not provide the entrance conditions to a happy, prosperous and successful life.
Instead, they help us to a new understanding of what happiness really is. They point out who the most fortunate people are. And they introduce us to the one person who can truly make us happy.

Right at the start of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus talks about human happiness. But he does so by giving a new description of happiness. He calls us happy, blessed by God, for very particular reasons:

1.      Firstly, we are fortunate because we possess the Kingdom of  heaven. This is not like having a place reserved in an old age home.
“Heaven”here refers to God; it means living
      under the rule of God.

      -      This is the only reason that is repeated twice, at the  
          beginning  and the end of the series of blessings. It
          forms the indispensable framework for everything
         else Jesus says here. 
     -      And it is stated in the present tense: it is not a
         promise, but a present reality: we are citizens of
         heaven NOW, we can know and experience 
         God’s rule over our lives NOW.

2.      Then there follows a series of promises in the future tense. But this future profoundly transforms our present experience (we are blessed now, in the present, because of these future events!):

Happiness is :
   -          To be comforted

   -          To inherit the earth –the great promise of the Old 
         Testament finally fulfilled!

   -          To have our sense of justice satisfied. Good finally
          triumphs over evil.

   -          To receive mercy. To be treated more leniently than 
         we deserve.

   -          To see God –something that was not even possible
          for Moses!

   -          To be called a child of God:
               to know God as our Father
               to share in the identity of Jesus (Son of God)

   -          To receive a heavenly reward

Happiness is to be able to look forward to all of this.
The darkness of the world in which we live is lighted up by the light of  God’s  future–which is now also our future!

“The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, and for those who sat in the region and the shadow of death, light has dawned” (Mt 4:16)

Who is happy?

Jesus turns our views of who are happy upside down!Not the rich, the powerful, the satisfied – those whom we call fortunate.
No, it is those we consider to be the most unfortunate people, or at best just naïve idealists and dreamers, these are the people whom Jesus declares happy:
     -      The poor, the ptochoi, those who are poor to the point of
         having to beg to survive.

    -          Those who mourn – who are deeply unhappy!

    -          The meek: the soft-hearted ones who are pushed around 
          by everybody, always the first to get hurt.
    -          Those who hunger for justice: the truly starving in our
          world! (while thousands die because of lack of clean
          water, others go on expensive diets because of over
         eating!)
    -          The merciful: those who do not insist on their rights, who
          give up legitimate claims for the benefit of others.
    -          The pure in heart, those striving for peace: people mal-
          adapted for life in an evil world where might is right and
       “peace” only means victory over my enemies.
     -          The persecuted: those who suffer persecution because
           they stand in the way of the world; they try to block the
           injustice which is the basis of worldly “happiness”
     -          Those who are reviled, persecuted, slandered: pushed out
           of mainstream society. Unwanted. Not welcome!

These people are supposed to be happy?? Is this not cheap comfort? To call suffering people happy, instead of changing their conditions?
No! Jesus does not call these people happy just to avoid having to actually do something for them. Just before the sermon, Jesus heals many people, relieves suffering on a grand scale. Jesus is willing to remove suffering, to help the helpless to the point of sacrificing his life for them.

Jesus does not call them happy because they have hard lives; no, he calls those with hard lives happy, because their hardship is somehow connected to following him.
The description of the blessed, the happy, reads like a description of Jesus himself: poor, mourning, hungry for God’s justice, meek, merciful, pure in heart, making peace, reviled, persecuted and slandered.
We who follow Jesus are expected to become like him. The description of the “happy” in the beatitudes is a description of those who have answered Jesus’ call, who have decided to follow him. He addresses the disciples (5:2). He talks about what happens “for my sake” (5:11).
Following Jesus changes us into the people described here. Following Jesus brings on this type of life conditions!

Jesus gives happiness. Jesus makes us happy.

These are not just words. They are blessings.
By calling such people happy, Jesus actually makes them happy.
They are not happy because of the hardships they suffer, because of all they lack:
       The poor are not happy because they are poor;
       The persecuted are not happy because they are persecuted. No: it is because Jesus himself here opens the gates of the Kingdom to the poor and the persecuted!
Poverty and persecution thus become signs of belonging to the Kingdom of Heaven, of being citizens of  God’s new world!
This Kingdom has a future, worldly kingdoms don’t. However much the world may offer in terms of “blessings”, they are all temporary.
The Kingdom of God has a future, because God will act to turn our present world upside down. Or rather, to put an upside down world right again! God is the author of all the actions in the beatitudes (divine passives: Jesus uses the passive to refer to what God will do):
We are happy, fortunate people, because
God will comfort us
God will satisfy our hunger for the justice we do not see in this world
God will extend his mercy to us
God will call us his children.
God will give us the new earth
God will live in our midst that we may see him!
Jesus addresses the blessings to his disciples, those who have responded to his call: Follow me! (4:19a)
Jesus intends the blessings for the crowd too (he saw the crowd, then started speaking, 5:1-2).It is among them that the disciples will “fish for people”(4:19b).
Jesus himself is the true source of happiness.
      -     It is through him that God establishes his Kingdom.
      -     It is he alone who has the authority to bless us, to call us
          happy, to transform us into happy people.
      -     Knowing him, following him, we have access to the true
          happiness he announces here.  

Jesus takes the initiative to call us, to bless us, to bring happiness into our lives.
So, to return to the question we asked at the start: what must I do to be happy? Nothing! Jesus has done it,Jesus is doing it.
Jesus grants us happiness as a free gift, unconditionally.
Happiness can only be received, not earned by our efforts. Happiness does not depend on our present conditions, but on the presence of Jesus in our lives.
Jesus challenges us to live happy lives in the midst of hardships. To be children of the light in the midst of a dark world.
To react to his blessing :
“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say: Rejoice!”
(Phil 4:4)

 Be happy, because you are happy! 

u 而且，在這裡，耶穌使用的時態是現在式：說明天國不只是一個應許，它同時也是現在已經存在的現實。耶穌現在稱呼我們是天國的子民，現在我們就了解並體驗上帝對我們日常生活的掌管。 

2. 然後，經文緊接著是一連串用未來時態所表達的應許。但是，這個未來卻深深地改變了我們現在的經驗(我們現在被祝福，是因為這些未來的事件)： 

u得到安慰！

u承受地土！─舊約中最大的應許終於被實現！

u我們對正義的渴慕得到滿足！
 ─善終於戰勝了邪惡。

u得蒙憐恤。我們得到的對待，比應得的更寬厚。

u 必得見神─這是連摩西都沒法得到的。

u必稱為神的兒女：
得以認上帝為我們的阿爸父神

    同時和耶穌分享祂的身分認同(上帝的兒子) 

u得到屬天的賞賜

快樂，總而言之，就是能夠期待這一切的發生。我們所生活的黑暗世界，正被屬神的未來所帶來的亮光點燃，而這個未來現在也是屬於我們的。

耶穌將我們所認為誰是快樂的人，這樣的看法上下顛倒過來！不是那些有錢的、有能力的、感到滿足的─我們稱之為「幸運」的人。

不！耶穌看為「快樂」的人，是那些我們稱之為最不幸的人，或是那些充其量被稱之為天真幼稚的理想家和夢想家：

u那些貧窮者，就是貧窮到一個地步必須以乞討為生的人。

u那些哀慟者─就是那些非常「不」快樂的人！

u 那些溫柔的人：擁有一顆柔軟的心，被別人欺侮擺佈，永遠是首先受到傷害的人。

這些人算是快樂嗎？這不是廉價的安慰嗎？只是稱呼這種人是快樂的人，卻不幫助他們改變現在的景況？

不！耶穌不是只稱呼這些人是快樂的人，為了避免幫助他們。就剛在登山寶訓這篇講道之前，耶穌已經大規模地醫治、釋放這些人。耶穌願意挪去這些人的痛苦，幫助那些無助的人，甚至於願意犧牲自己的生命。  

耶穌稱呼我們是快樂的人，並不是因為我們苦難的生活；

不！耶穌稱呼我們有苦難生活的人是快樂的人，是因為我們承受苦難的原因，來自於跟隨耶穌。

經文中，對那些有福的、快樂的人的形容，讀起來就像在形容耶穌祂本人：貧窮、哀慟、渴慕上帝的公義、溫柔、憐憫人、清心、追求和平、被辱罵、被逼迫、被毀謗。

我們跟隨耶穌的人，應當學像耶穌。

在八福中，被形容為「快樂」的人，就是形容那些已經回應耶穌呼召，決定要跟隨祂的人。耶穌向門徒說話(5:2)。 
耶穌提到「因為我」而發生的這些事(5:11)。

因為跟隨耶穌，我們被轉變成經文裡所形容的那些人。 

因為跟隨耶穌，我們的生活將遭受到這些苦難的處境！

 耶穌賞賜快樂，耶穌使我們快樂！

「八福」不單單只是「話語」而已，這些是耶穌所賜的祝福！藉著稱呼這種人是快樂的人，耶穌事實上真的使這些人快樂。
這些人快樂不是因為他們所遭遇到的困難，也是不是因為他們所缺乏的。
 - 貧窮的人快樂，不是因為他們是窮人
- 受逼迫的人快樂，不是因為他們受逼迫 

不是！那些貧窮的人和受逼迫的人快樂，是因為耶穌為他們開啟了天國的大門！
 貧窮和迫害因此成為一個屬於天國的記號─證明我們是上帝新世界裡的國民。  

天國有未來，而地上的國度卻沒有。雖然，世界提供了我們非常多，所謂的「福氣」，但它們只是暫時的。
  

上帝的國度有未來，因為上帝將以祂的行動使這個世界顛倒過來，換句話說，就是將這個「顛倒」的世界，重新翻轉成「正」的。

上帝是八福裡，所有行動的主詞(耶穌用被動語態來談論上帝所要做的事)
 

我們是快樂，幸福的人，因為：

  上帝會親自安慰我們

  上帝將親自滿足我們對公義的渴慕，雖然這公義在這世界上看不到。

  上帝將施與祂的憐憫在我們身上

  上帝將稱我們為祂的兒女

  上帝將給予我們一個新的世界

  上帝將生活在我們當中，讓我們得以見祂榮面。

耶穌將這些祝福賜給祂的門徒，就是那些回應祂的呼召：「來跟從我」的人！(4:19a)

耶穌也將這些祝福賜給圍繞祂的群眾(耶穌看見這許多的人，就上了山，他就開口教訓他們…5:1-2)。

而就在這些群眾當中，祂的門徒要「得人如得魚」(4:19b)
 
耶穌本身才是快樂真正的源頭。

u透過耶穌，上帝建立了祂的國度

u只有耶穌擁有權柄賜與我們祝福、使我們快樂、並且轉變我們成為快樂的人。

u藉著認識祂、跟從祂、我們便能獲得耶穌在「八福」所宣告的真正快樂！

所以，回到剛開始，我們所問的問題：我要做什麼，才能成為快樂的人？

什麼都不用做！因為耶穌「已經替我們做了」，而且耶穌還在「做」。

耶穌把快樂，當作是一件免費地禮物，無條件地賜與我們。

快樂只能領受，無法用我們的努力來賺取。我們喜樂，並不是靠著我們現今的處境，而是完全依靠耶穌在我們生活中的同在。

耶穌挑戰我們在艱難的處境中，仍然喜樂。
- 在黑暗的世代中，成為光明之子。

- 回應上帝所賜的祝福！

「你們要靠主常常喜樂。我再說，你們要喜樂。」(腓4:4)

我們要快樂，因為我們是快樂的人！