1When Yeshua saw the crowds, He went up on the mountain; and after He sat down, His disciples came to Him. 2He opened His mouth and began to teach them, saying,

As a miracle worker and as a teacher who taught in His own authority, the Master always had large crowds following Him. Those within the crowds, however, much like many who sit in churches today, were not interested in actually learning the teachings and the ways of Yeshua but are simply there for the ride. Knowing this, Yeshua often tried to escape the crowds and this incident was no exception. Here, Yeshua went up on a small hill (likely not a mountain) and sat down. In the first century, when a rabbi sat down it indicated that he was about to teach and the same was true of Yeshua; when the disciples saw that the Master had sat down, they knew He was about to open His mouth and teach. What He was about to teach is traditionally called the “Sermon on the Mount,” and is His first discourse of teaching in the book of Matthew.

3"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4"Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. 5"Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth. 6"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. 7"Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. 8"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. 9"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. 10"Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11"Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. 12"Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

The formula that the Master employed in these statements did not originate with Him but instead are found throughout the Tanakh, particularly in the Psalms and Proverbs (see Psalm 84:4-5 and Proverbs 29:18 for examples) and are also found in rabbinic literature. The Greek word translated by the NASB here as “blessed” is “makarios” and is equivalent to the Hebrew word “asher.” Normally, the word “blessed” translates the Hebrew word “baruch” (meaning “blessed”), so why did the NASB use “blessed” to translate “makarios/asher?” The answer is found in the fact that there isn’t really a word in English to translate the word “asher.” Other translations use the words “happy,” “fortunate,” “praiseworthy” or even “lucky” but all of those words fail to properly convey how the word is used, particularly by the Master. As we’ll see, the Master used the word to convey a deep sense of contentment, contentment that comes through reliance on God. Eby and Lancaster have suggested that the phrase “contentment awaits” more accurately conveys the meaning of the word and this makes sense since although there is certainly a sense of satisfaction that comes in trusting God now, the full breadth of that contentment will come when the Messiah returns and ushers in the Messianic era. How can one be assured that contentment will await them in the Messianic kingdom? The Master gives us nine situations in life in which we can know that contentment will await us. 

Contentment awaits the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Firstly, contentment awaits the poor in spirit, for those who are poor in spirit the kingdom of heaven belongs to them. Put very simply, unless a person first recognizes his own moral bankruptcy and humbly serves God as a result, he will not have a share in the kingdom of heaven. One who is "poor in spirit" is best understood as being a person who is incredibly humble, who cowers before God’s holiness and realizes his own moral destitution. An excellent example of this is when the Master spoke of two men going up to the Temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector (see Luke 18:10-14). The tax collector, poor in spirit, not even willing to lift his eyes up to heaven, beat his breast in repentance. It’s not that the Pharisee was out of order for not being a swindler, unjust or an adulterer (cf. Luke 18:11), it was that he had missed that God looks first to the heart and then weighs one’s outward observance against that. King David said: “the sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise” (Psalm 51:17). We must not forget that Yeshua is a Torah teacher, teaching within a Jewish context, so He is teaching that the kind of Torah observance that God approves is one that is born out of a humble heart. Only those who are poor in spirit can truly be recognized as those who have taken upon themselves God's rule (the kingdom of heaven).

Contentment awaits those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. 

Secondly, contentment awaits those who mourn, because those who mourn and hope in God will be comforted in the Messianic age. The type of mourning that the Master referred to here is not mourning for the sake of earning something, like the monastic movements of the later centuries employed. Rather, He’s referring to being mournful over sin both our own sin and the sin that’s all around us. Does our own sinfulness truly grieve us or do we feel that it doesn’t matter? Furthermore, are we satisfied with the world around us or are we grieved over the sinful and fallen state of our society? In the first century Jewish context, the Master is calling Israel to repentance for their sin and for the sinfulness of the paganism that surrounded them, namely Rome. In that way, Yeshua is encouraging those who recognized the exilic state Israel was in and mourned over it; to those the Master promised that they will be comforted. In this way, this statement is similar to what the Psalmist said: “he who goes to and fro weeping, carrying his bag of seed, shall indeed come again with a shout of joy, bringing his sheaves with him” (Psalm 126:6). Those who mourn over sin can expect contentment and comfort because those who are mournful over sin will be comforted with eternal life, a share in the Messianic era and the World to Come.

Contentment awaits the gentle, for they shall inherit the [Land].

Let’s not forget that the Master is speaking to fellow Jews in first century Israel; a time when Israel was under Roman occupation. If we are right to interpret these statements in light of the covenant God made with Israel at Sinai and that Yeshua is instructing His fellow Israelites in the manner in which they were to keep the Torah, then this particular statement has great significance. Unlike the Zealots of His day who wanted to regain the Land of Israel from Rome by brute force, the Master taught that it would be those who are gentle who would inherit the Land. It's true that the Greek word "ge" can be translated as "earth," but the specific earth that the Master referred to is the Land of Israel. To be gentle is to be meek; that is, you are humble and selfless. The Master is not saying that we should be passive, especially in regards to sin. Instead, the gentleness referred to here is one of self-control, especially to those who would be eager to exert power. Only in God is there true power and it is only those who walk in humility who can have a share in that power, just as it says in the Psalms: "for though the LORD is exalted, yet He regards the lowly, but the haughty He knows from afar" (Psalm 138:6, quoted by Peter in 1 Peter 5:5 and James in James 4:6). How can Israel truly have victory over their oppressors and be rewarded with permanent and full possession of the Land of Israel? When they recognize their own destitute position before God and walk in humility before Him. When God's people are gentle, they will then live in the land promised to the fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

Contentment awaits those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

It's very likely that Matthew structured these sayings of the Master in such way to display the progression that sinful humanity is to take to be sure that contentment would await them. Firstly, it is necessary for a person to recognize their sinfulness ("poor in spirit"), secondly, to be remorseful over their sin ("mourn"), thirdly, to be repentant in their attitude ("gentle") and now, fourthly, to hunger and thirst for righteousness. In the same way that a lack of hunger or thirst is indicative of some physical malady, the lack of a hunger and thirst after righteousness is indicative of a spiritual malady or, worse, that a person is spiritually dead. Indeed, that someone immensely and continually desires the things of God proves that they have been regenerated by God's Spirit. Notice that the Master did not say that contentment awaited those already are righteous. Rather, Yeshua was well aware of the sinful state of humanity. In every religious circle, including that of the Master's day, there are some who smugly assume that they have it all together in regards to righteousness. To their surprise, it is those who recognize the own inability to be righteous who will be satisfied with true righteousness. What is the righteousness spoken of here and when will those who desire it be satisfied? The righteousness that we are supposed to desire is the doing of what's right and it's only in the Scriptures that we can know what's right and what's wrong. As believers, we do not espouse the human philosophy that morality is relative. Instead, we trust that God has revealed to us in His commandments what's right and wrong, as the Apostle Paul said: "…I would not have come to know sin except through the Torah…" (Romans 7:7). This statement of the Master indicates to us that His people are not yet satisfied with their current state of righteousness. If a professing believer is satisfied in their current spiritual state, it's likely that such a person is not truly a believer. Instead, the satisfaction promised to those who desire righteousness will only come in the Messianic era when believers will be raised to immortality. In that day, the Torah will go forth from Zion and all believers will be keeping God's ways perfectly. In that day, no pagan culture, whether Rome or the one in our day will oppress God's people and believers will be able to freely enjoy living out God's righteousness.

Contentment awaits the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.

Continuing along, the Master promises that contentment awaits those who are merciful because they will receive mercy. For those who are poor in spirit, who mourn, who are gentle and who hunger and thirst for righteousness, the appropriate way to treat other is with mercy. The true people of God recognize that God had to first show mercy to us for us to even be counted among His people. The least God’s people can do is show mercy to others. There, of course, is a reciprocal aspect to this statement since in order for God’s people to show mercy, they must first be shown mercy by God and it is then those who have shown mercy who will ultimately receive eternal mercy in the Messianic age. Once again, we mustn’t forget the context in which the Master spoke these words. In the midst of internal Jewish fighting and the ongoing struggle with Rome, the natural inclination was not to show mercy. The Master cuts to the heart of the struggle and proposes that mercy is the answer. To be merciful is to not treat others for what you think they deserve but to “treat others the same way you want them to treat you” (Luke 6:31). Showing mercy, however, does not mean we give a blind eye to sin; rather it is recognizing that all of us are sinners and are in need of compassion. Like the Master often did, we should confront people with mercy but also encourage them to sin no more.

Contentment awaits the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

Drawing upon the rich symbolism of the ritual purity laws of the Torah, the Master consistently taught that only those with a pure heart can be granted the ability to see God. Just like it was impossible to enter God’s holy presence in the Temple in a state of ritual impurity, so too is it impossible to enter relationship with God with an impure heart. The Master taught that “…from within, out of the heart of men, proceed the evil thoughts, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries, deeds of coveting and wickedness, as well as deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride and foolishness. All these evil things proceed from within and defile the man” (Mark 7:21-23). In Jewish thinking, the heart is the center of human thinking, the place where one makes decisions. The Master, then, taught what the Prophets before him taught: “the heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick…” (Jeremiah 17:9). Who, then, are the pure in heart? The pure in heart are those who have recognized their sin, mourned over it and have embraced God’s ways in humility. This, of course, is the work of the Spirit, who writes God’s Torah on our hearts. Jacob, the brother of the Master, said in his epistle: “draw near to God and He will draw near to you, cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded” (James 4:8). Apparently, the opposite of being pure in heart is being double-minded. It is only those who are set after the things of God and only the things of God who will be given the privilege of seeing God. What does mean, though, to see God? To see God is to be given the ability to comprehend Him, at least as far as He has revealed Himself. For believers, our devotion to our Master is comparable to seeing God for it is said if you have seen Yeshua, you have seen the Father (cf. John 14:9) and the Apostle Paul said “for now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known” (1 Corinthians 13:12).

Contentment awaits the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. 

If we are poor in spirit, we will mourn, which should make us gentle, which should result in desiring righteousness, which should cause us to be merciful, which then should enable us to be pure in heart. Further to all of that, we should be peacemakers, for the Masters that contentment awaits the ones who make peace, for they shall be called [children] of God. It is not enough that we get our own lives in order; we must also fix the world around. In Hebrew, the concept of fixing the world is called tikkun olam. The Master is not calling His people to become pacifists, as is commonly assumed. Biblical peace sometimes requires taking an aggressive stance and, certainly, Biblical peace is never at the expense of truth. To make peace, it is not enough to simply ensure that there is no conflict but instead conflict must be replaced by righteous relationships. All too often in believing communities, there might not be any conflict but within the congregation there is gossip, harboured hatred, adultery and much more. The leadership in such a situation might assume they have peace, but true peace results in the truth being honoured and God’s ways lived out. In fact, it is a principle of the Torah to confront the sin we see in other believers, as it says: “…you may surely reprove your neighbor, but shall not incur sin because of him” (Leviticus 19:17). In a fallen world, and in believing communities filled with false believers, the success rate of making peace will likely be low. In that case, perhaps, it is not those who actually achieve peace who will be called the children of God but those who actively try to make peace as best they can. In this way, we will be called children of God because we will be like Him because, as it says in the prayers, “He who makes peace in His heights, may He make peace upon us and upon Israel.”

Contentment awaits those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Contentment awaits you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Interestingly, the one who is a peacemaker will produce persecution but this is because the attempts at making at peace are not at the expense of truth. This resolves the seeming contradiction that the one is called the Prince of Peace said that He did not come to bring peace but a sword (cf. Isaiah 9:6 and Matthew 10:34). The Master brought division among the people because He would not flinch in regards to the truth and was met with severe persecution, ultimately giving up His life. As His disciples, we too can expect persecution and even death for standing up for what’s right. Unlike the message heard in most churches today, where following Yeshua is a matter of receiving blessing and a good life, the real call to discipleship to the Master is one of study, hard work, disciple and suffering. To put it another way, if a believer does not experience some sort of suffering in regards to persecution, there is something lacking in their relationship with God through Messiah. While there is much joy in being a disciple of the Master, believers can also expect insult, persecution, slander and even death. To live like to Messiah is to live a life that confronts sin, if not by actually confronting sin in people, at least the way you live causes discomfort in people. People should not be comfortable with their sin when you are around. This type of living won’t make you popular and it will not be easy but we can be assured that it those that live like this who will enjoy the kingdom of heaven. The Master says that those who are persecuted for devotion to Him and His righteousness will receive great “reward in heaven.” This does not refer to actually going to heaven and receiving some sort of reward but instead refers to receiving a place of great importance in the Messianic kingdom and in the World to Come. If we live out the standards set by God and by the Master here in these statements, like the prophets of old, we will find ourselves at odds with those who have not given their life over to God. Like the prophets, though, we look forward to the time when sin will be done away with and we can freely live for God in the kingdom.

13"You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men. 

The Master then went on to compare His disciples to salt, saying that we are the salt of the earth. Here, in the Greek text, the word "earth" is "cosmos," which does not necessarily refer to any particular land but to the known and inhabited world. In this way, Yeshua was not limiting the scope of this statement simply to the Land of Israel but sought to convey the fact that His disciples would be an influence among all peoples. A lot of suggestions have been made in regards to what the Master meant by using the term salt to refer to His disciples but we should understand that salt was simply used to illustrate His point. Just in the same way that tasteless salt would be completely useless to flavour food, disciples who are lacking in the particular area that the Master referred to would be useless as well. The answer to what Yeshua referred to is found in verse 16. There, light is used as an illustration for good works; therefore it's likely that saltiness is also a reference to good works as well. It's interesting that salt cannot actually lose its salty flavour but disciples of the Master can become stagnant in regards to godliness. Therefore, to be the salt of the earth, disciples of the Master must be diligent to observe God's ways and be a real influence in every situation in life. We are to be representatives of the Messiah in the world and we do this by living Godly and influential lives; if not, like tasteless salt, we will be worthless and cast out, language that is similar to the saying of the Master found in Matthew 7:23. Really, Yeshua is simply reiterating the Torah's call to holiness; rather than being like the flavourless food of the world (the common person), we are to be the source of taste (different from the world).

14"You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; 15nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. 16"Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.

Similarly, Yeshua compares His disciples to light, saying that we are the light of the world. Instead of salt giving taste to flavourless food, here the illustration is light that gives illumination to a dark house. Firstly, though, Yeshua alluded to Jerusalem which was a city set on a hill, stating that light from such a city cannot be hidden, which is illustrative of how the truth of God (light) cannot be totally obstructed. Furthermore, just as tasteless salt is worthless, so too, a lit lamp that is under a basket is also worthless. Rather, a lit lamp should be put on a lampstand so that, like a city set on a hill, it can illuminate the space it occupies. The Master clearly stated that by light He referred to good works, which in Jewish thought is idiomatic for the keeping of God's commandments. The point of both the salt and light illustrations is clear: we must make sure that as disciples of Yeshua, we are people who observe God's commandments and make a difference in the world that surrounds us. The implication is that without disciples of Yeshua (made up of the faithful of Israel and those called from the nations), the world would be completely dark and without a living example of godliness. That the Master referred to the observance of God's commandments becomes clear when we remember that the Scriptures speak of the Torah as "…a lamp to my feet and a light to my path" (Psalm 119:105). We learn in verse 16 that good deeds (observing God's commandments) glorify God. To bring glory to someone is to fully reveal what that person is like. Therefore, bringing glory to God is to have Him be revealed for who He truly is and therefore He will receive the praise due to Him. Once again, the Master is simply reiterating what the Torah first taught, that the faithful of Israel's observance of the commandments will cause those around them to recognize the one true God and give praise to Him: “So keep and do them, for that is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples who will hear all these statutes and say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people. For what great nation is there that has a god so near to it as is the LORD our God whenever we call on Him? Or what great nation is there that has statutes and judgments as righteous as this whole law which I am setting before you today?’” (Deuteronomy 4:6-8).

17"Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. 

As a teacher of Torah who taught with authority and did not speak in the name of other rabbis, it's possible that there were accusations that the Master's teachings would cause the people to actually break the commandments of the Torah. Here, the Master employed known phraseology to convey that His teachings do not abolish the Torah or the Prophets but instead fulfill them, with the phrase "Torah or the Prophets" being a reference to the Tanakh as a whole. The Hebrew equivalents of "kataluo" ("abolish") and "pleroo" ("fulfill"), "batel" and "kiyem" respectively, were used in rabbinic literature to refer to teachings that would cause the commandments of God to either be ignored (abolished) or kept (fulfilled). In other words, if a teaching misinterprets the Torah, it could lead the people astray and cause them to break the Torah, perhaps without even knowing it. On the other hand, if a teaching properly interprets the Torah, it should cause the people to understand the commandments and adhere to precautionary fence laws. The Mishnah states that the Men of the Great Assembly (Ezra and the other leaders from his era) instructed all future generations of Jewish leadership to make a fence around the Torah (cf. Pirkei Avot 1:1). To make a fence around the Torah is to establish laws that, if kept, will ensure that the commandments of the Torah itself are never broken. So, to put it simply, the Master never wants us to think that His teachings set aside, ignore or contradict the teachings that came first in the Torah and the Prophets. Instead, as we'll see, the Master's teachings set up fences that, if followed, will always ensure that His disciples will be keeping the Torah.

18"For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished. 

This verse begins with the word "for," which connects it back to verse 17. The reason why Yeshua did not come to abolish the Torah but fulfill is because the Torah cannot be done away with. The Master said "truly," which in the Greek and Hebrew is the word "amen," emphasizing that this statement is true and is to be accepted as a word from God through His Prophet, the Messiah. The phrase "heaven and earth" is idiomatic for "everything"; therefore, the Master indicated that as long as we are in this created order, God's Torah will endure. In fact, not until all is accomplished will even the smallest stroke of a letter of the Torah pass, which is a poetic way of again saying that God's Torah will endure through all time. Since certainly not everything has been accomplished, how strange that those who call themselves disciples of the Messiah claim that He and His Apostles taught that the Torah has been done away with when that is the very opposite of what He taught here. The Torah cannot be abolished, regardless of whether people's teachings cause the commandments to be broken or ignored. In fact, the Torah itself teaches that no one is allowed to come and teach contrary to the Torah. Firstly, in Deuteronomy 13:1-5, the people of Israel are clearly commanded to not listen to any teacher that comes and leads people away from Torah, even if that person's teachings are accompanied with signs and wonders. To say that the Master taught against the Torah while at the same time affirming that He performed miracles is only giving credence to idea that Yeshua matches the description of a false prophet. Furthermore, if it was possible for a teacher sent from God to come and contradict the Torah, then that person would be in violation of the commandment of God that states that no one is to add or take away from the Torah (cf. Deuteronomy 4:2), once again placing that person in violation of the guidelines set up in Deuteronomy 13.