"For he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes." Matt. vii. 29.
The Scribes were interpreters of the law of Moses, the expounders of the religious writings of national leaders, long since deceased. They depended wholly on past opinions. Jesus' words were not born of earthly thought, but of heavenly reflection; hence they must be eternal. He knew the way to heaven, and he knew its requisites. He knew the Principle of the celestial kingdom, and spake as one having a direct message from God; hence with authority.
Truth must voice itself with authority, and to speak as one having authority is within the province of everybody. To attain this height is the right of all humanity, and must be achieved sooner or later.
7. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.
This Beatitude teaches compassion, forgiveness. It teaches us to do unto others as we would have others do unto us. It teaches clemency, graciousness, kindness. It is the outward expression of the inward hungering and thirsting after righteousness. Mercy is a near relation of Love. Mercy introduces Love to the needy, the troubled, the sick, and sinful in belief. Mercy is the "oil upon the waters." Luke says, "Be ye also merciful, as your Father also is merciful."
We must be merciful to one another if we would expect mercy from God. Forgive and we shall be forgiven. Showing mercy to others opens our hearts to a merciful Father, who will show mercy to us. The wretched, the criminal, are not the only ones who need mercy; there are times when we all need it. Let us then ever remember that the merciful obtain mercy.
8. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
This Beatitude is the centre around which all the others are gathered,—the spotless lens through which mortals may see their Heavenly Father, and discern the celestial beauties prepared for those who love Him! treasures which mortal eye hath never seen, sounds which mortal ear hath never heard, beauties which it never "entered into the heart of man," to conceive.
It enjoins to be pure, even as the Father in Heaven is pure. It teaches man to be spotless, holy, upright, and sincere in motive and purpose. The pure in heart loathe everything of a sensual nature. Only the pure can enjoy God. The impure, the sensual, cannot enjoy the upright, the holy. The only impurity that exists is in human consciousness, is born of an impure mind. Purity only can see purity. Spiritual discernment is promised to those who possess pure hearts.
"Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right mind within me," was David's petition. David realized the heavenly direction given by a clean heart and right motives. The light of the sun is the medium by which we see according to mortal sense. Spiritual light or purity of heart, is the Divine medium, through which we shall see God. A consciousness that is imperfect, impure, or blurred by worldly mists, will not reflect God.
The pure in heart are honest,—honest everywhere and on every occasion, honest with brethren, honest with themselves, honest with God. Jesus of Nazareth was an honest man. He uttered the Truth and nothing but the Truth. He came from the bosom of the Father. His words were words of authority, for they were Spirit and they were Life. Jesus is our model, our ideal; he was honest and pure in heart, and what has been can be again.
We all desire to speak with the authority of Jesus, but are we willing to give up the world—the only condition on which we can gain this authority. Are we ready to say, "My kingdom is not of this world"? The law of Moses was written on stone, a material foundation. This was lost. The law of the Gospel is inscribed on the heart. It is eternal. It can never be lost. Each one must work out his own salvation. Jesus has not saved one of us a single experience. He said, "I have overcome the world, follow me." He showed us the Way. In following him let us then remember that only "the pure in heart see God."
9. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God.
Jesus came as the great peacemaker, reconciling man to God. The angelic overture which heralded his birth was, "Peace on earth, good-will toward man." The peacemakers are those who terminate strife, check foolish debate, heal variances, hinder contentions, planting in their places peace and amity. Such peacemakers bring divine tranquillity to wayward hearts, leading them to Jesus, the Prince of Peace. Those who seek to prevent fires of discord from being kindled, or when kindled from breaking out, or who try, when the fires rage, to prevent further spread, are true peacemakers.
The Gospel of Christ brings peace to every heart, supplying harmony in place of discord, health in place of sickness, life in place of death. It opens the door of the heart, and pours in a flood of heavenly sunshine, and causes Love to permeate every part of our being. The declaration of peace terminates discord. It turns hate into Love, and sense into Science.
Peacemakers shall be called the children of God, because they reflect God and bear His image and likeness.
10. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake; for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who are unjustly despised, ridiculed, scoffed at, scourged, cast out for righteousness' sake. Blessed are those who endure to the end, who, amid seeming failure and baffled expectations, still continue steadfast, fighting the "good fight," "forgetting the things of the past, and pushing forward to the goal." To such, the kingdom of heaven is realized as an eternal harmonious existence.
This Beatitude is the last of the seven. The reward in the first and the last Beatitude is the same; namely, "For theirs is the kingdom of heaven," showing that the kingdom of heaven is the beginning and the end, a reign of eternal harmony. Jesus has finished the Beatitudes. His words of Spirit and of Life are stirring within the thoughts of the people. These words have agitated nations, and have given to mankind a conception of the kingdom Jesus came to establish in human minds.
The Jews saw that the temporal kingdom and kingship are not attainable through Jesus. Mortal man's idea of the kingdom is still very imperfect, but with the eye of understanding we catch glimpses of it. Shall we not strain our eyes to see the glorious shores? Shall we not speak to Jesus? He has never left us. He is present with us to-day. Only the material sense of Him has disappeared, leaving the spiritual, immortal Christ.
God has sent the Christ to lift us up that we may see all. He stands ever at hand to elevate us above matter and personality, above worldliness, that we may see glories of a brighter, higher, better home. We can do nothing of ourselves, but we can do something for ourselves. In the Beatitudes Jesus declares that a heavenly kingdom is man's real dwelling-place; that only spiritual paths lead to it; that the way is opened only by aggressive warfare, by meeting error with its opposite, Truth, by destroying materialistic claims with spiritual understanding.
Spirit, God, is not a "respecter of persons." It says to the rich, "Sell what thou hast, and give to the poor." To the poor it says,"Come, buy and eat, buy wine and milk, without money and without price." The world curses, but Spirit blesses. The world gives a crown of thorns; Spirit a crown of eternal life. Which shall our crown be?
The Beatitudes have two sides, the inward and the outward; the spiritual or mental, and the outward or material expression.
The inward or mental expressions of the Beatitudes are as follows:
They who hunger and thirst after righteousness; the pure in heart; they who are poor in spirit; they who mourn;
The outward or physical expressions are the meek, the merciful, the peacemakers.
In the inward characteristics, there is a progression mentally, from poverty of spirit to purity of heart. The reward also is increased, showing that each step heavenward brings its richer blessings. In the outward progress we advance from passiveness to activity, from meekness to peace-making, showing that Spirit quickeneth. The inward and the outward correspond, for the poor in spirit are necessarily the meek. Those who mourn will be merciful. Those who hunger and thirst after righteousness will seek to establish peace. The pure in heart rejoice in the world's persecution, and are able to stand.
The inward or mental are reflections from God to His children.
The outward manifestation is the effect of the inward or spiritual expression. The fruit of the Spirit is the effect of a spiritual concept.
The words of the Beatitudes are words of Spirit and they are words of Life.
Let us endeavor to live up to their highest meanings. They were Jesus' guide through the wilderness of sense into the green pastures of Science, and to the still waters of a true Christianity. If they so led him, they will lead us, if we follow the instructions contained in Jesus' sermon on the mount, to Christ and Eternal Life. Then our words will be words of authority, then we shall speak as "having authority and not as the Scribes."
(To be continued.)
