The Common Beatitudes: Part 2

This post is the second part of the examination of the beatitudes common to both Matthew and Luke. I am hoping that I will not get as carried away as I did in the last one, but some of the details I find incredibly interesting. As the final beatitudes are both quite long and detailed, they will end up being a separate post as well, so this one doesn’t get too long.

The second beatitude shared by both Gospels is second in Matthew’s list but third in Luke’s.

Matthew 5:4 – Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
Luke 6:21b – Blessed are those who weep now, for you will laugh.

Matthew’s second and Luke’s third beatitude are the most divergent of the four common beatitudes. Matthew addresses those who mourn, while Luke those who weep. Language from both appears elsewhere in the beatitudes and Luke’s woes. In the third woe in Luke (6:25), those who laugh now will both mourn and weep in the future, combining the language of both beatitudes. The comfort promised to Matthew’s mourners is the same language for the comfort already received by the rich in Luke’s first woe (6:24). 

Matthew’s beatitude promises consolation to those who are mourning the loss of someone or something, or indeed the state of the world around them. By contrast, Luke’s use of “weeping” refers to the act of crying, which can be part of mourning (Luke 8:52) but can also be expressions of other powerful emotions (Luke 7:32, 38). The weepers are promised laughter – a transition from sadness to joy, rather than comforting loss (as in Matt 5:4). This transition from sadness to joy hints that whatever the weepers are distressed about will be rectified in God’s kingdom, bringing them great joy.

Even though these two beatitudes deal broadly with the same subject, I can’t help wondering, if it weren’t for the mention of mourning by Luke in the corresponding woe, whether these two beatitudes would be linked as closely as they are. 

Matthew 5:6 – Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
Luke 6:21a – Blessed are those who hunger now, for you will be filled.

There is ambiguity in Matthew’s fourth beatitude. Is it addressing those who eagerly pursue righteousness or those who are hungry and thirsty because they are righteous? The first of these options is generally favoured (see Stott 1985; Nolland 2005) as it fits better within the wider context of Matthew’s beatitudes. However, it has also been understood to mean both meeting the needs of the hungry and thirsty as well as God’s justice prevailing in the world (see Blomberg 1992). It does not appear to address those who have become hungry and thirsty because they are righteous as they hunger and thirst for righteousness not because of it. So this group are those who seek to bring God’s righteousness into the world in the same way that a hungry, thirsty person seeks food and water. Their desire for righteousness will be met through God’s kingdom.

Luke’s second beatitude is broader, focusing on those who are hungry, both in the physical and spiritual sense. Those who are physically hungry could be so because they don’t have the resources to buy food due to their social circumstances. They could also be Jesus’ followers, destitute and starving social outcasts because of their faith. Luke’s first three beatitudes can all be read as addressing either Jesus’ followers who find themselves poor, hungry, and weeping, or the outcast and marginalised of society who his followers should be seeking to help. 

Luke lacks the specific concern for justice and righteousness, although it is implied in a spiritual understanding of hunger. Those who hunger after the things of God and become hungry because of their allegiance to God will have those needs met through his coming kingdom. 

Both Gospels promise that these people will be “filled” – their hunger and thirst, physical or spiritual, will be satisfied/filled. The final verb in both Gospels, chortazō (satisfied or filled) means “to cause to eat so as to become satisfied” (Louw-Nida 1989, 250), so does describe having enough (indeed more than just enough) to eat. Its use by Matthew has led to a figurative understanding as well: “to be satisfied or content with some object or state” (Louw-Nida 1989, 298), to fit with the figurative understanding of the first half of Matthew 5:6. Just as the hungry and thirsty can be satisfied with food and water, so those who hunger and thirst to bring about righteousness will be satisfied through God’s kingdom.

Placing these beatitudes side by side helps to see some of the different emphases of the two Gospel writers. Luke’s beatitudes show a concern for a range of needs being met for a range of people by God’s kingdom and these needs can be physical or spiritual, depending on a person’s circumstances. Matthew has a pointed focus on the attitudes and desires of people to act in accordance with God’s kingdom. 

In the final part of this series on the common beatitudes, we will turn to the final beatitude shared by both Matthew and Luke.

Reference list

Blomberg, Craig. 1992. Matthew. New American Commentary. Nashville: Broadman & Holman.
Louw, Johannes P. and Eugene A. Nida eds. 1989. Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Based on Semantic Domains. 2nd Logos ed.  Vol. 1. New York: United Bible Societies.
Nolland, John. 2005. The Gospel of Matthew: A Commentary on the Greek Text. New International Greek Testament Commentary. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans.
Stott, John R. W. 1985. The Message of the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7). Leicester; Downers Grove: IVP.