Mark Allan Powell’s article, “Matthew’s Beatitudes: Reversals and Rewards of the Kingdom,” interprets the passage, Matthew 5: 2-12, in hopes of accomplishing two main purposes. The first purpose is to demonstrate how the two-stanza structure of the beatitudes allows for the passage to be interpreted as a “coherent unit that promises both eschatological reversals for the unfortunate and eschatological rewards for the virtuous.” The second purpose is to challenge the long term idea that these reversals and blessings are specific to the faith community; as well as propose the idea that they are the result of God’s reign coming to earth. Powell first addresses the structure of the beatitudes. The first eight beatitudes are broken up into two stanzas, with each containing four verses. This structure is reminiscent of synonymous parallelism found in Hebrew poetry, where sets of two, three, and four lines occur. The beatitudes, then, should be …show more content…
The merciful are those who seek to put right what is wrong in the world. Because of this they will be shown mercy at the final judgement. The pure in heart will enjoy the presence of God, because their true purity is exemplified through their actions. Peacemakers are the people who work for wholeness in a broken world. Their reward will the title of ”Children of God”, because they acted as such. The last beatitude in this stanza speaks of those who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness. These are the people who are so committed to the actions exemplified in the previous three beatitudes that they are willing to suffer for it. In conclusion of the first eight beatitudes, Powell says, “When God’s kingdom comes, and God’s will is done, no one will have to be poor in spirit, mourn, or hunger and thirst for righteousness, but everyone who is ruled by God and does God’s will is merciful, pure in heart, committed to peacemaking, and will to suffer for the sake of
Donald Kraybill’s The Upside-Down Kingdom does a wonderful job explaining the realities of Jesus’ life and teachings. Kraybill examines the literary text of bible and adds the historical and religious facts of that time to further show the true context behind the life of Jesus. Kraybill takes the teachings of Jesus and brings to light the importance of the political and social climate. Kraybill reveals that Jesus’ teachings directly correlated to the social conditions of his time. He addresses how the teachings of Jesus were directly influenced by the economic, political, and religious struggles that the people of Jesus’ time faced. Throughout the book Kraybill explores the ideas of Jesus, and examines the facts that Jesus’
As eighteenth century poet and artist William Blake once wrote: "Where mercy, love, and pity dwell, there God is dwelling too." The three sensations commented on by Blake are prevalent with the 2008 graphic novel Kingdom Come and 2006 book The Road, but arguably the most interesting is the Christian concept of mercy within the story. The term 'mercy' comes from the Latin word 'merces' or 'merced' which translates as 'reward,' according to an online dictionary the contemporary meaning of the term: "compassionate or kindly forbearance shown toward an offender, an enemy, or other person in one's power; compassion, pity, or benevolence." It is my belief that through the expression of mercy, humanity cannot only better understand God, but their fellow humans as well and help achieve ulimate redemption with the divine.
N.T Wright (2008) stated that “When we read the scriptures as Christians, we read it precisely as people of the new covenant and of the new creation” (p.281). In this statement, the author reveals a paradigm of scriptural interpretation that exists for him as a Christian, theologian, and profession and Bishop. When one surveys the entirety of modern Christendom, one finds a variety of methods and perspectives on biblical interpretation, and indeed on the how one defines the meaning in the parables of Jesus. Capon (2002) and Snodgrass (2008) offer differing perspectives on how one should approach the scriptures and how the true sense of meaning should be extracted. This paper will serve as a brief examination of the methodologies presented by these two authors. Let us begin, with an
The word “beatitude” comes from the Latin word beatitudo meaning “blessedness”. The Beatitudes describe the happiness we can get from inner spiritual qualities. The Beatitudes are short passages that hold deep meanings and is addressed to everyone. Each of them serve a different purpose. They are deep interpretations of different principles. It measures our faith and trust in God. It expresses our need for Jesus and God’s guidance. God explains how things that seem to be undesirable are also blessed in a way we might not think. It elaborates the meaning behind unwanted qualities and how they can be good. These conditions might make us unhappy but God’s words tells otherwise. The piece suggests the kind of people who really are blessed. The Beatitudes is similar to the Ten Commandments. Both are God’s wishes that we hope to follow. This also contains the goal of our existence. It is basically describes how we, as God’s children, are expected to live. It fulfills God’s promises by showing a way to the Kingdom of Heaven. It is a path to our inner happiness and pureness. Why do we study the beatitudes? It leaves us choices on how we could purify our hearts. This piece describes how we can live our lives as God’s disciples. It is to remind us that people who are suffering are being cared for. It helps us further understand the concept of salvation. We could incorporate this teaching in our everyday lives by praying, allowing us to have a talk with God. Another way is to simply believe in God. By believing in him, we prove that we are faithful and that we put our trust on Him. We could always instill good behaviours within us, to promote goodness. There are a lot of interpretations of the Beatitudes. Many of the passage is applied in...
The Gospel of Matthew is an eyewitness story written for an audience of believers, under great stress, and persecution. Matthew develops a theological plot incorporating genealogy, speeches, parables, inter and intra textual references, common vocabulary, and fulfillment quotations, with a tension that builds as we are invited into the story. The crucifixion and resurrection bring us to a Christological climax that symbolically points beyond its conclusion to God’s Kingdom, bringing atonement, salvation and the ushering in the Eschaton. The extraordinary events surrounding the crucifixion act as commentary, adding important details concerning the death of Jesus.1
Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition Bible. Eds. Dom Bernand Orchard, Rev. R. V. Fuller. San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1966. Print.
Baptist Publication Society, 1886). Clarke, Adam; ed. ; pp. 63-63. Clarke's Commentary (New York: Abingdon-Cokesbury Press, 2003). no date. Criswell, W. A. & Co., W. A. Expository Notes on the Gospel of Matthew (Grand Rapids: Zondervan).
New International Commentary on the New Testament. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1997. Osborne, Grant R. Revelation. Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2002.
Verstraeten, J. Scrutinising the Signs of the Times in the Light of the Gospel. Leuven: Leuven University Press, 2007.
New Revised Standard Version. New York: American Bible Society, 1989. Print. The. Russell, Eddie.
Be Merciful (Luke 6:31). "Be merciful just as your father is merciful." (Matthew 5:7): "Happy are those who are merciful to others; God will be merciful to them." The passage s teaches us mainly about being merciful to our enemy and God will be merciful toward us. Forgiveness of kind especially toward our enemy. We should not harm others even if they done bad things against us. We should show compassion towards others because if we don't people might not show compassion towards us. The passage told us that Jesus is merciful even towards his enemies. Perfect example of this is forgiving Jusus' enemy when he was put on the cross. Jesus even prayed for them to not punish them.
Holy Bible: Contemporary English Version. New York: American Bible Society, 1995. Print. (BS195 .C66 1995)
Senior, Donald. 1998. "The Gospel of Matthew and the Passion of Jesus : Theological and Pastoral Perspectives." Word & World 18, no. 4: 372-379. ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials, EBSCOhost (accessed March 13, 2014).
“You of little faith, why do you doubt?” (Matthew 14:31) I feel like at some point in our lives, this quote describes every human being. Faith is so simple, yet we always seem to complicate it. We often forget how easily Christ can take away our doubts and turn them into triumph. Matthew is a very powerful gospel, it gives many parables, miracles, and shows Christ’s love for all of mankind. I love how Christ’s character is revealed so much more, not that the other gospels don’t reveal that, but just the idea of another gospel that Christ is present in. It’s remarkable.
We all know God is love and it is shown everywhere in the Bible. To be merciful means to have broad grace. To be just means to be respectably good and fair. These two attributes seem to contradict each other because how can a merciful God judge a person for their wrongdoing or how can someone who hates sin have mercy on the people who do evil? Many atheists question how could a merciful God be just? The answer to this question is Gods mercy is expressed to us through His love. God is a perfect God meaning his justice and mercifulness is also faultless. This paper will focus on comparing and contrasting the attributes God is just and merciful by pointing out the similarities, differences, and by showing ways in which God demonstrates them to mankind.