The Sermon on the Mount is Jesus’ kingdom manifesto. It is a prime example of Jesus’ “preaching the gospel of the kingdom” (Matthew 4:23). As news spread of his ministry, great multitudes from all parts of the land of Israel converged in Galilee.[1] Like Moses before him, Jesus ascended a mountain, sat down, and began to teach.

This scene was familiar to people living in Jesus’ day. Frustration with Roman occupation, the advance of pagan culture, and oppressive living conditions had fueled the fires of messianic expectation. To the average observer, Jesus was another in a long string of messianic contenders in a politically turbulent time when anti-Roman violence was deemed acceptable, necessary, and even righteous.

However, Jesus’ audience was about to have every expectation challenged. Their ideas concerning kingdom, power, and glory were about to be turned upside-down. With his disciples in the foreground and the listening crowd in the background, Jesus began his kingdom manifesto with a surprising series of blessings, commonly called “the beatitudes.”

An Open Kingdom

Jesus’ kingdom manifesto explodes with an extended pronouncement of blessing. To the Jewish listener, blessing was not simply the experience of happiness, but the knowledge that one was a recipient of God’s divine favor. “The Greek word (makarios) is a way of expressing good fortune which, because it is known, brings joy.”[2] “Fortunate are the poor in spirit” would be an accurate translation. Even more colloquially: “Oh, you lucky person!”[3] From the perspective of creation, to be blessed is to know God’s initial and original blessing from ages past (Genesis 1:26-31). From the perspective of redemption, it is to be confident that God’s face smiles down with approval on one’s life (Numbers 6:24-26). In context, all of Jesus’ beatitudes have to do with joyous participation in God’s gracious deliverance, in other words, participation in God’s kingdom.[4]

The beatitudes clarify the primary theme of Jesus’ life and ministry – the kingdom of God is present and available to all! Dallas Willard writes, “The gospel of the kingdom is that no one is beyond beatitude, because the rule of God from the heavens is available to all. Everyone can reach it, and it can reach everyone.”[5]

The openness of the kingdom exceeded the expectations of Jesus’ listeners. In contrast to the Pharisees’ expectations, the blessed ones of the kingdom are not the most religiously devout, but rather, are the poor in spirit, the mourners, the meek, those hungry and thirsty for righteousness. In opposition to the Zealots who used violence to advance God’s kingdom, Jesus announced that God’s blessed ones are the merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers – people who refuse to return evil with evil.

Contrary to everyone’s expectations, Jesus declares that the blessed ones of the kingdom are the “spiritual zeros,” the “beautiful losers,” the “peaceful revolutionaries.” The “little flock” to whom God gladly chooses to give the kingdom is filled with “children,” “babes,” the “last” and the “least”. These are definitely not the kind of people you want leading a revolution – unless your revolution is completely different than anything previously known.

Though often unrecognized and unrewarded in the present, the future of this rag-tag, motley crew is blessed indeed. They will know divine comfort; they shall inherit the earth; they shall be satisfied with goodness; they shall receive mercy; they shall see God; they shall be called children of God; they shall receive a great reward. None of these things can be obtained by human effort alone. All are divine gifts of grace – given freely, fully, abundantly. All these grand and glorious realities are summarized in “theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Their present possession of the kingdom (“is” is in the present tense, Matthew 5:3, 10) is the guarantee of their future participation in the kingdom’s consummation (“they shall…” Matthew 5:4-9).[6]

A Peaceful Revolution

The beatitudes reveal the values of the kingdom. Jesus’ revolution honors those who are spiritually weak, sad, gentle, merciful, and pure. He honors peacemakers who refuse to exact revenge from their enemies. He honors these qualities because they reflect his kingdom. His kingdom will not be established by manipulation, violence, or oppression.

The qualities and values he honors are in conflict with the kingdoms of this world. The world values the confident, self-assertive, strong, and successful. Power, prestige, possessions, and prominence are gained by those who strive hard to work their way to the top. But things are different in Christ’s kingdom.

Jesus honors people who are without honor in their culture. By doing this he demonstrates that God honors them as well – enough to bless them with the kingdom! He rejects his culture’s fascination with status, power, and privilege. He values the weak, unfortunate, and misunderstood. He teaches that true blessedness is not found in riches, fame, power, prestige, possessions, health, or fulfillment. Instead, true blessedness comes to the needy, poor, disenfranchised, and marginalized.

Jesus calls for a peaceful revolution, not violent retaliation. The blessed ones of the kingdom are not self-righteous separatists but the marginalized, the oppressed, the downcast, the poor. His kingdom triumphs, not through the power of violence, but by the power of divine grace and compassionate love.

Upside-Down Values

How can a kingdom of weak, sad, misunderstood peacemakers survive? They survive because of the paradoxical nature of the kingdom which is revealed in the beatitudes. The kingdom consists of:

Wealthy Paupers (Matthew 5:3)
Happy Mourners (Matthew 5:4)
Unaggresive Conquerors (Matthew 5:5)
Lusting Saints (Matthew 5:6)
Self-Enriching Benefactors (Matthew 5:7)
Realistic Visionaries (Matthew 5:8)
Militant Pacifists (Matthew 5:9)
Winning Losers (Matthew 5:10-12)[7]

The kingdom is divine, a mystery. It is not of this world. It is something completely new! Like all divine mysteries, it is best explained using the language of paradox. On the surface, a paradox appears to be an absurd contradiction. How can the poor of spirit be wealthy? How can the sad be joyful and blessed? Through the use of two statements that seem to be in conflict, the complex nature of our experience is explained. Some realities are “too complex to be explained from a single viewpoint. [Paradox] allows us to ‘say the whole truth’ by simultaneously juxtaposing two seemingly contradictory or conflicting assertions.”[8] As Sorensen says, “Paradoxes mark fault lines in our common-sense world.”[9] This is exactly what the beatitudes do – they expose the worlds’ fault lines!

We are so used to hearing the beatitudes that usually we miss this dimension. Originally the beatitudes were intended to startle. Simple observation of the world as it is informs us that the rich, not the poor, are blessed; that those who are happy, not those who mourn, are blessed; that those who have power, not the meek, are blessed; that those who are filled, not the hungry and thirsty, are blessed; and that those who are well treated, not those who are persecuted, are blessed. So the beatitudes have things backward. To take them seriously is to call into question our ordinary values.[10]

Jesus is not naïve. He is not suggesting that the beatitudes are timeless truths or practical principles about the way the world works. If so, he is wrong: the poor do not overcome the strong; mourners often remain uncomforted; the meek do not inherit the earth; those who long for justice often go to their grave without satisfaction.

What Jesus is announcing is a completely new reality breaking into the present. The kingdom of heaven is invading the earth. As it does, the kingdoms of the world are exposed as misguided, powerless, corrupt, evil. The beatitudes may seem upside-down, but it is the world and its kingdoms that are really upside-down. In Jesus, God is acting to turn the world and its wisdom rightside-up. This cannot be done without first turning everything on its head.

God’s great reversal of fortunes is a common theme of the Hebrew prophets (see Isaiah 61:1-9; Luke 2:51-53). Jesus also emphasizes this in his teaching. For example:

• “The last shall be first, and the first last.” (Matthew 20:16)
• “The one who is least among you is the greatest.” (Luke 9:48)
• “Those who find their life will lose it and those who lose themselves for my sake will find it.” (Matthew 10:39)
• “All who humble themselves will be exalted.” (Matthew 23:12)

On the surface, these paradoxes may seem absurd. But it is the world that is absurd. The logic of heaven is true to reality.

The righteous rule of heaven appears upside-down, but it is the world that is upside-down because of sin. For this reason, God’s kingdom is completely unlike all human kingdoms. Its motives, values, and methods are completely different – and thus, completely opposed – to the kingdoms of this world. This creates tension which results in misunderstanding and persecution of God’s blessed ones.

When we pray, “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven,” we are praying for God’s open kingdom, peaceful revolution, and upside-down values. We dare to dream God’s dream – an “impossible” dream by the world’s standards, but possible by God’s grace and goodness!

The Impossible Dream

When judged against all past and present kingdoms, Jesus’ kingdom vision seems shocking, unrealistic, and downright silly. It is an impossible dream. Jesus’ message was a scandal to his generation – and to ours! This is simply not the way the world works! His kingdom is unlike any human kingdom: “My kingdom is not of this world” (John 18:36). As a result, the vision and values of his kingdom appear absurd and arouse opposition.

Jesus’ kingdom exposes the bankruptcy of all other kingdoms. Jesus proclaims “good news” that confronts the “good news” of the world. The kingdom is a new reality – a challenge to all existing social orders. Its vision, values, and methods are not simply a superior version of the world’s vision, values, and methods. The kingdom could “come with bigger weapons, sharper swords, cleverer political organizing”[11] but it would suffer from the same shortcomings. Evil cannot be conquered by evil. Martin Luther King, Jr. said it well:

Through violence you may murder a murderer, but you can’t murder murder.
Through violence you may murder a liar, but you can’t establish truth.
Through violence you may murder a hater, but you can’t murder hate.
Darkness cannot put out darkness. Only light can do that.

The power of Christ’s kingdom is the power of paradox – the upside-down wisdom that allows the last to be first, the least to be greatest, the weakest to be strongest, the dead to live, and failures to succeed. Brian McLaren gets to the heart of this mystery:

What if our only hope lies in this impossible paradox: the only way the kingdom of God can be strong in a truly liberating way is through a scandalous, noncoercive kind of weakness; the only way it can be powerful is through astonishing vulnerability; the only way it can live is by dying; the only way it can succeed is by failing? (69-70)

The world’s powers do not give in easily. They do not appreciate the way Christ’s kingdom challenges their values. Consistent with their methods, the world’s kingdoms seek to extinguish Christ’s kingdom. This truth is behind Jesus’ certainty that a cross awaited him. By committing to live and love in accordance with God’s kingdom, he chose to love until it killed him. “He was aware that a cross was the inevitable outcome of His aggressive love for others which frequently violated social norms.”[12] He chose to pit the power of love against the love of power.

We can only expect the same. “A disciple is not above his or her master” (Matthew 10:24). For this reason Jesus’ beatitudes do not exclude the possibility that our efforts at mercy, purity, and peacemaking will be misunderstood, indeed, even bring persecution (Matthew 5:10-12). It is inevitable that those who refuse to comply with the powers of this world will face a cross. Like Jesus, we must commit to combating the love of power with the power of love. For this reason, Jesus urges his disciples to recognize their blessedness (regardless of suffering or persecution) and to continue to share his kingdom vision and embody his kingdom values so they can be salt, light, and a city on the hill. If they fail to do this, the salt will become tasteless, the light impure, and the city a ghost-town (Matthew 5:13-16).

Admittedly, this is a crazy dream. McLaren writes,

This kind of revolution, on the one hand, seems laughable. It’s the crazy dream of poets and artists, not the strategy of generals and politicians. Anyone who believes it should be laughed at or perhaps pitied. It’s hard to imagine anything more unrealistic – perhaps pathetic is the most fitting word for it. On the other hand, what other kind of revolution could possibly change the world? Perhaps what’s crazy is what we’re doing and pursuing instead – thinking, after all these millennia, that hate can conquer hate, war cure war, pride overcome pride, violence end violence, revenge stop revenge, and exclusion create cohesion. Perhaps. (33)

Practically speaking, it is an impossible dream. But the impossible is possible with God! Indeed, should we expect anything less?

Dreaming the Impossible Dream

If we dare to dream God’s dream, we must share Jesus’ mission, see Jesus’ vision, and embody Jesus’ values.

We share his mission by proclaiming his gospel, “Behold, the kingdom of God has drawn near.” We have the responsibility of bearing the secret of God’s reign. We fulfill our responsibility by existing as a sign, instrument, and foretaste of the kingdom. By word and deed, we bear witness to the fact “that all is not what is seems to be” and that “the truth, like the kingdom, is hidden.”[13]

We see Jesus’ vision by renewing our minds. We need a new way of thinking – a new logic. The kingdom is a new reality – a challenge to the existing social order. It will not make sense to us, if we continue to think with the present categories, values, and methods of the world. We must have a new vision of power, privilege, and prestige. We must not simply baptize the American dream with kingdom language. “[O]ur hope is not fundamentally in any particular social or political arrangement, but in the infinite mystery of God.”[14]

We must embody Jesus’ values. The power of Christ’s kingdom is completely different than anything the world has to offer.

His kingdom, then, is a kingdom not of oppressive control of dreamed-of future, not of coercive dominance but of liberating love, not of top-down domination but of bottom-up service, not of a clenched iron fist but of an open, wounded hands extended in a welcoming embrace of kindness, gentleness, forgiveness, and grace.[15]

As theologian Paul Fiddes summarizes, the “power of weakness unmasks the weakness of power.”[16]

We must regularly re-evaluate our values and consider how they accord with Jesus’ kingdom values. We may start by asking ourselves the following:

• What do you consider blessedness? How would you fill in the blank: “If only I had ____________, I would be blessed.” Can you fill in the blank with a quality from the beatitudes?
• What is it you desire most? Comfort, “a permanent inheritance, true satisfaction, the vision of God, and unprecedented intimacy with God”?[17] Or are there other possessions you seek more?
• What fuels your ambition? The secular values of your cultural environment or kingdom values?
• Have you simply baptized the American dream with kingdom language or have you allowed God’s kingdom to change your vision, values, and dreams?
• In whose eyes do you want to be successful? Are you prepared to appear as a social failure in God’s upside-down kingdom? Jesus certainly did – the loss of his disciples, the rejection of his people, and the agony of the cross were all indications of failure. The apostle Paul labeled himself God’s “slave” – usually considered the least successful person in most social systems.
• “What would it mean if we honored those whom God honors? What would happen if we stopped playing all of our culture’s games for status and power and privilege? What would it cost us if we lived more deeply into justice, and mercy, and humility?”[18]

We are called to live in the present in a way that will make sense in God’s promised future. Why? Because that future has arrived in the present in Jesus. The kingdom is a present reality (“theirs is the kingdom of heaven”) with a future consummation (“they shall…”). It may seem upside-down now, but it is the right way to live – it accords with the divine life, the life of eternity, the eternal dream of God. Following Jesus, we begin to live out heaven’s rule now.

We harbor a crazy dream, but it is God’s dream! New creation is breaking into the old. Original blessedness is overthrowing the curse. The power of love is overcoming the love of power.

When we participate in the beatitudes we participate in the blessing of God. We are not simply recipients of God’s blessing – we actually enter into the blessed life, joy, and fellowship of God. All of the qualities pronounced blessed in the beatitudes describe Jesus. All of them are true of him. He not only embodies every quality, he has received every reward. In spite of others’ misunderstanding; in spite of others’ rejection, persecution, insults, and hatred; in spite of it all, Jesus lived the values he honored! And, in and through the cross, he “crossed out” all human wisdom (see 1 Corinthians 1:18), exposing its weakness in comparison to the power of divine love.[19]

Jesus invites us to join his resistance movement – the revolution of divine love – and fight the godless powers. He invites us to end God’s nightmare of oppression, violence, pride, hatred, and evil, and risk dreaming God’s dream – Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven!

God wants us to dream the impossible dream, for all things are possible with God (Matthew 19:26) – even the ultimate triumph of the spiritual zeros, beautiful losers, and peaceful revolutionaries of God’s kingdom of love and grace.

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© Richard J. Vincent, 2006