Come Unto Me ~ The Beatitudes

There are some New Testament scholars who believe that the Sermon on the Mount was just a loosely fabricated selection of pithy sayings that Matthew threw together, creating some of them from whole cloth.  As "evidence" they cite the significant differences between Matthew's version of the sermon and Luke's version, proclaiming Luke's the more historically accurate of the two.  I disagree.  I believe it is one sermon, that Jesus gave it as written by Matthew, and that it is a blueprint for entering into a disciple's life.

After Jesus' resurrection, He appeared to others of the lost tribes of Israel and taught them many of the same things He had taught at Jerusalem.  One of these groups recorded His sermon at their temple in a city called Bountiful.  This sermon is more similar to Matthew's version than to Luke's, with some striking differences. A few years ago, the Dean of the Harvard School of Divinity (not a Latter-day Saint) was invited by Brigham Young University to study the two versions of the sermon and compare and contrast them.  At least one of his findings was quite dramatic.

He noted that in Matthew, Jesus was teaching in the style of the rabbis of His day, taking the Law of Moses and bringing it into a more contemporary setting.  In the Sermon at the Temple, He was teaching as a God.  He replaced the temple altar as the center of worship with Himself and consistently added the phrase "come unto me" to each of the verses we commonly call the Beatitudes.

Once you accept that this is a single, coherent sermon, you can see the pattern quite plainly.  It is the process one must undergo to become a true disciple of Jesus Christ, the process for becoming healed and whole and holy. (See Couch post, August 5, 2012)  The first verse states:

Yea, blessed are the poor in spirit [who come unto me], for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 5 [3 Nephi 12])

Many people read poor in spirit as simply meaning being humble.  While that is certainly part of it, I think the meaning runs deeper.  I believe poor in spirit refers to spiritual poverty.  The blessing is not in being spiritually impoverished, but in recognizing Jesus Christ as Savior and turning our lives over to His care - coming unto Him.  If we recognize our spiritual poverty, we sense our need for Jesus Christ.  Then, if we will put aside our pride and come unto Him, we take the first steps toward His kingdom.  It is then that we are blessed.

The first three steps of the Addiction Recovery Program and AA involve this very thing.  1) Our lives are out of control; in effect, we recognize our spiritual poverty.  2) We believe that Jesus can help us.  3) We turn our lives over to Him; in other words, we come unto Him.  That is the first step towards eventually inheriting a place in the kingdom of heaven and the first steps toward peace of mind in this life as well as the next.

Jesus also said:

Come unto me, all yea that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.  For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. (Matthew 11: 28-30)

I want to more fully come unto Him.  Do you?

Text © 2012 Gebara Education

 

Photo from Gospel Art Book, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.