The Beatitudes (not in Mark, in Matthew (with Stoic Twist) and Luke and in the Gospel of Thomas)
Let’s start with the sermons by Rev. Walt Marcum of Highland Park United Methodist Church
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Mark – no beatitudes
Matthew – 9 beatitudes
Luke – 4 beatitudes
John – not mentioned by minister
Gospel of Thomas – 9 beatitudes
The minister says this but I had to google.
I found this:
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The following week
8/5/2018
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Sermon on the Mount Part 1
It opens with a Prologue
Mt 5: 1-12, 9 blessings
They announce the kingdom of heaven.
Yas.
This is the condition, it will be reversed.
Three versions.
Second version: Sermon on the Plain by Luke (a collection)
Luke 6: 20-23
some continuation with verses 24-26
Third version: Thomas (scattered)
Some differences between Matthew and Luke
Blessed are you who are poor vs poor in spirit [spiritualized] but Luke’s are literal
Blessed are you who are hungry now vs hunger for righteousness [spiritualized] but Luke’s are literal
Luke’s blessings and woes is a Hebrew structure found in Hebrew scripture.
Many scholars believe that Luke preserves the earlier form of the beatitudes. [Then Matthew gives it his Stoic twist.]
Matthew’s spiritualization came later.
The persecution beatitudes are in all three versions: Luke, Matthew, and Thomas.
Most of Thomas’s beatitudes are proto-Gnostic.
The ones that are not proto-Gnostic are closer to Luke than Matthew.
Blessed are the poor.
Blessed are those who go hungry.
Blessed are those who have been persecuted in their hearts
Blessed are you when you are hated and persecuted
= = =
Tie the beatitudes to Isaiah 61: 1-3.
…he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed
to bind up the brokenhearted
to proclaim liberty to the captives and release to the prisoners
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God
to comfort all who mourn
to provide for those who mourn in Zion, to give them a garland instead of ashes,
the oil of gladness instead of mourning,
the mantle of praise instead of a faint spirit.
Jesus will repeatedly identify his ministry with the fulfillment of this passage, Isaiah 61.
Jesus’ kingdom of heaven get’s rid of Rome, Rome’s lackey’s, like the Herodians, the Pharisees, and the Temple establishment.
Jesus’ kingdom is now, at hand, among you.
= = =
These people who have been turning the world of the kingdom upside down, like the Beatitudes.
Acts 17: 67
The question I have about the sayings in Q is that if they’re so fundamental to the Jesus movement, why is Mark mostly unaware of them? Scholars do seem to see some overlap between Mark and Q but many of the ideas that are considered central to Jesus’ message, the love and forgiveness stuff, are missing. I find myself occasionally considering the idea that Jesus, following his mentor John, might have been a firebrand apocalypticist, and that the “love and forgiveness” aspect of Jesus’ message might be secondary to the tradition, perhaps invented as a way to differentiate the early Christians from the Jewish community after the First Revolt.
If this Q aspect is fundamental then how can Markan tradition go back to the historical Jesus? Would someone know this aspect of Jesus’ teachings and then just leave it out at some point?
But as I said I only consider this hypothesis occasionally. I do think there is probably a layer of tradition occluded to us because no one wrote it down. A very strange divine revelation.
Stephen said
The question I have about the sayings in Q is that if they’re so fundamental to the Jesus movement, why is Mark mostly unaware of them?
Many of the ideas that are considered central to Jesus’ message, the love and forgiveness stuff, are missing.
I find myself occasionally considering the idea that Jesus, following his mentor John, might have been a firebrand apocalypticist, and that the “love and forgiveness” aspect of Jesus’ message might be secondary to the tradition, perhaps invented after the Jewish Revolt / First Jewish-Roman War as a way to differentiate the early Christians from the Jewish community.
If this Q aspect is fundamental then how can Markan tradition go back to the historical Jesus? Would someone know this aspect of Jesus’ teachings and then just leave it out at some point?
Interesting. The teachings were not gathered when Mark wrote his gospel. Mark wrote before Jesus’ teachings were compiled. How long does it really take to take Isaiah 61 and modify it as a done deal with Jesus? It’s easier to get a guy’s biography than to crystallize his lessons to the world, especially if you want to do a 180 on them to make them Pro-Roman.
= = =
For my information (I’ve been meaning to look at books on Q) and in case others are interested
The Lost Gospel Q: The Original Sayings of Jesus (1999)
Marcus Borg and Thomas Moore
4-1/2 stars, 49 ratings
I don’t like the Table of Contents
The Lost Gospel: The Book of Q and Christian Origins (2013)
Burton L. Mack
4 stars, 69 ratings
The following week
8/12/2018
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Sermon on the Mount Part 2
first four beatitudes – Jesus’s audience
poor in spirit or the poor – their’s is the kingdom of heaven
mourn will be comforted; weep – laugh
Matthew: those who mourn that the world isn’t right, their’s is the kingdom of heaven
What is God going to do to make the world right?
the meek (those who are open to God) will get the earth
no parallel in Luke or Thomas but in Isaiah
Ps 37: 9 Those who wait for the Lord shall inherit the land.
next three beatitudes
last two about persecution
The following week
8/19/2018
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Sermon on the Mount Part 3
Matthew Blessed are those who hunger for righteousness
Luke and Thomas 69 – hunger for food
Reviewing the audience
Those who are poor in spirit
Those who mourn for what is not
Those who are meek toward God
Those who hunger for righteousness for God to make things right in the world
Qualities Needed for those who would enter and participate in the kingdom of God
Blessed are the merciful (no parallel in Luke or Thomas)
The Lord is a merciful God 160 times in the Hebrew Bible
Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God (no parallel in Luke or Thomas)
See Psalms 24: 3-4
Blessed are the peacemakers (political), they shall be children of God
= =
Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness
BDEhrman
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