We have just entered Lent, the forty days traditionally set aside as a fast in preparation for Easter. It also recalls the fast of Jesus in the Wilderness after his baptism when, according to the gospels, he was tempted by the Devil. When he emerged from the Wilderness he commenced his ministry of teaching, preaching and healing that is the foundation of the Christian religion as an ethical and, in the true sense, humanist way of life, with love of God and one’s neighbour – love of God in one’s neighbour - at its heart.
The gospel accounts of the ministry of Jesus include those teachings that have often been seen as the heart of Christianity as an ethical faith, most notably the Beatitudes. The version in Matthew is the best known and the best loved, although a shorter and perhaps somewhat harder one can be found in Luke. The Beatitudes are thought by scholars to be among those New Testament passages which record most accurately the actual words of Jesus.
When we consider the Beatitudes we can see, perhaps, the fruit of Jesus’ struggle in the wilderness, the temptations there reflecting his own internal spiritual struggle. The temptation to turn stones in to bread is about the pursuit of the material, of worldly wealth. The temptation to jump from the parapet of the temple is about spiritual pride, the claim to an exalted status that deserves special treatment. The temptation to global dominion is about overweening arrogance and seeking power over others. All these were tempting possibilities for Jesus as a charismatic leader endowed with the ability to command and to move people – to be a prophet, even a king, with claims to the status of a quasi-divine ‘saviour’. History – and the world today – is littered with people who faced the same temptations and surrendered to them, with or without a struggle.
In the Beatitudes we see the repudiation of these temptations and their false values. Instead we see set out a way of being human that models membership of what Jesus called the Kingdom of God, the community dedicated to the way of love. We find there resonances for our own lives as individuals and for the wider human condition – not least as we see it today, beset with such challenges as the agony of Turkey and Syria in the aftermath of the earthquake; of Ukraine – suffering in a war not of its making, inflicted on it by a ruthless and inhuman enemy.
The Beatitudes spell out which people reflect the values of the Kingdom of God and exemplify the best in humanity.
There are those who renounce the selfish pursuit of material gain, who reject the accumulation of wealth as the motive for existence, who refuse to see riches as the mark of divine favour.
There are those whose grief calls forth the love of others and reveals the sustaining love they themselves have for those they have lost. There are those who live humbly among their fellows, untainted by personal arrogance, self-satisfaction and concern for their own position and social status.
There are those who strive to live righteously - but not self-righteously; who live well themselves and so encourage righteousness and virtue by the influence of their own lives.
There are those who are ready to forgive, to avoid harsh judgements, to defend the weak and, above all, to be kind.
There are those whose nature is honest and loving, selflessly devoted to the cause of human welfare, without guile or ulterior motives.
There are those who seek to heal the wounds and divisions that make enemies of human beings and of nations, upholding the vision of just and humane relationships at every level.
There are those who, in striving for a fairer and more loving world, have incurred the wrath of tyrants, persecutors and oppressors, who have suffered imprisonment, torture and death because they stood for truth and championed humanity against its enemies.
In setting out these ways in which some people live their lives – and in which Jesus lived his – the Beatitudes have profound lessons for how we can live ours. They present us with something upon which to reflect and meditate in Lent and throughout our lives.