In Nomine etc..
Today’s Gospel presents the Evangelist Luke’s version of the Beatitudes, which in Matthew’s Gospel begin the Sermon on the Mount. In Luke’s Gospel, the Beatitudes, in our translation called Blessings and Woes, begin the Sermon on the Plain, and they are different in tone and content from Matthew’s. It is possible that Luke located the sermon “on a level place,” as our text says, in order to emphasize his differences from Matthew. Luke’s version is not as lofty as Matthew’s, not as spiritualized. Luke’s version is grounded, solidly on the level, in this-world terms.
“Blessed are you who are poor,” says Luke’s version. Not “poor in spirit,” as Matthew says. To be sure, Luke promises the Kingdom, as Matthew does, but I think I hear in Luke’s version a hint of fulfilment beginning in an earthly kingdom, not waiting for its arrival in some remote eternity. The poverty is real, here and now, and is not some refined, merely spiritual state.
“Blessed are you who are hungry now.” Now, real physical hunger. “For you will be filled.” Now, or as close to now as possible. Matthew’s hungry, hunger for righteousness alone...perhaps they have enough to eat, and so have time and energy to spare, to yearn for righteousness, whatever that may be exactly. Our Lord promises Luke’s hungry real food.
“Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh.” The promise is laughter; Matthew promises only comfort to those who mourn. Luke, it seems to me, is keeping his feet on the ground in the real world; Matthew is somewhat aloof, concerning himself only with comfort for mourners; laughter for those who are weeping for any other reason, doesn’t occur to him.
“Blessed are you when people hate you...on account of the Son of Man.” Here, the recollections of Matthew and Luke are in agreement. They record Jesus’s realism about the possible consequences of following him; there is a reward, a promise of heaven, where they will be in the company of genuine prophets who endured the same experience. Luke’s recollections lead to the same awareness that Jesus and Matthew have, the reality of the heavenly kingdom. Here, at least, Luke’s grounded realism and Matthew’s spiritualizing complement each other, and unite in their devotion to the Son of Man.
But Luke goes on where Matthew left off. Luke matches his blessings with woes. The woes are very this-world realistic, and not spiritualized at all. “Woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation.” Woe because they will not enter the kingdom, not because they are rich, but because they do not share with the poor. “Woe to you who are full...you will be hungry,” not because they are well-fed, but because they do not share. “Woe to you who are laughing...you will...weep,” not because they are enjoying themselves, but because they do not care about the unhappiness of others.
These woes could be describing a party, a banquet, any gathering of prosperous, self-satisfied people, oblivious to the need around them.Doubtless in our own city there are many such gatherings, of people who think well of themselves and each other, who intend no harm, but who nevertheless are in spiritual danger. The final woe in today’s Gospel is a warning to them, and to us too, lest we think we are above all this. “Woe to you when all speak well of you, for that is what their ancestors did to the false prophets.” It is not clear who “their” refers to, but it is clear that “speaking well” of each other, without doing what needs to be done to relieve poverty, hunger, and other ills, allies us with false prophets, of whom there are many in our society, whose message is one of denial, evasion, irresponsibility, and more. Theirs is not the kingdom of Heaven.
In Nomine etc.. (16.II.19 Adv.)
No comments:
Post a Comment