The Rules of Jesus – Mall Mininster

Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, the Son can do nothing on his own, but only what he sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, the Son does likewise”. (John 5:19)¹

We are so used to operating according to the rules and values of this world that the Beatitudes may seem impossible. Truly believing and living according to what Jesus teaches in Matthew 5 will require trust and faith that God not only knows what He is talking about but that He knows best.

One of Jesus’ many valuable lessons in the Beatitudes is that the way the world works is not how the Kingdom of God works. The world preaches, “Blessed are the powerful and the loud,” but Jesus says, “Blessed are the meek and the humble.” People look for blessings and joy all over this world never realizing that everything here is perishable. “¹⁷And the world and its desire are passing away, but those who do the will of God live forever.” (1 John 2:17) [1]

Nothing on earth can reach the deep empty void in our hearts, yet we keep searching and trying to find happiness in different ways and places. Solomon, who had everything, comes to this simple conclusion, “¹¹Then I considered all that my hands had done and the toil I had spent in doing it, and again, all was vanity and a chasing after wind, and there was nothing to be gained under the sun.” (Ecclesiastes 2:11)

So, the word “Beatitude” means a state of supreme happiness or blessedness. The “Beatitudes” found in Matthew 5 (New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)) are a collection of statements from Jesus that show us how we can be “blessed” or “happy” in this life and the next. The Beatitudes are not words of advice. These are the words of life meant for all brothers and sisters in Christ, believers at all times, and in all places.

But, before we get into the Beatitudes, we need to understand some of the simple rules of Christianity that Jesus has put forward. Jesus has three main rules that he wants us to understand and live by. These are simple rules that go with us as we become Christians. Here, the “rules” talk of sin, but sin is there in every part of our lives. The rules of Jesus understand what we are living with and that we can make mistakes. Therefore, the rules live to inspire us to better ourselves in Jesus’ name. So, our sin is ours to understand and these rules help us to understand them.

Sin as outlined in the Bible – This is mostly in Deuteronomy and Leviticus, but there are other explanations in several sections of the Bible. In the New Testament, there are several sections as well that you may want to read. For example: in Acts, chapter 10, we see that there is someone in “Joppa … a certain Simon who is called Peter” (Acts 10: 5) and Peter has a vision of a sheet coming down to him while he is in Joppa.

¹¹He saw the heaven opened and something like a large sheet coming down, being lowered to the ground by its four corners. ¹² In it were all kinds of four-footed creatures and reptiles and birds of the air. ¹³ Then he heard a voice saying, “Get up, Peter; kill and eat.” ¹⁴ But Peter said, “By no means, Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is profane or unclean.” ¹⁵ The voice said to him again, a second time, “What God has made clean, you must not call profane.” ¹⁶ This happened three times, and the thing was suddenly taken up to heaven. (Acts 10:11-16)

Peter does what all Christians would do, but this is a vision from God, and so he thinks this through. What Peter may have forgotten is that Jesus talked about this in Matthew. We can see that Jesus told us that:

¹⁰Then he called the crowd to him and said to them, “Listen and understand: ¹¹it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but it is what comes out of the mouth that defiles.” (Matthew 15: 10-11)

So, Jesus talks a lot about the ways of heaven, and therefore, we must understand what the Bible tells us. Some of these ways are really rules, and we misunderstand what they mean.

Sin is what the Spirit has put on our hearts – this is our own sin. As we reach out to God, God reaches out to us, as well. In your midst of professing our love, we may have a sin that is relevant to us. Let me give you an example: if I want to go to the beach, I get dressed in my bathing suit, and then I go. But, if I want to take my wife, I need to ask her as well. If she decides to go, then she’ll get dressed and we will go together. But, which bathing suit will my wife wear? In the end, there are only two suits she could wear, a bikini or a one-piece suit. Now which would you choose? See this is where the sin occurs. If this were my wife, she would never wear a bikini. However, I know several women that would love to wear a bikini.

This is the sin that the Lord puts on our own hearts. I may want her to wear a bikini, but she won’t do this at all. If you look at the 10 Commandments and their relevance for today, you will see that this story asks her if “she would like her to wear a bikini”. If I ask her to do that, I am breaking a Commandment, and maybe many of them. Let’s look at the commandments here: “Covet” means to want something that belongs to someone else. A person who covets may be led to break all, or most, of the other commandments. Because she doesn’t want to wear a bikini, then, I am forcing her to do it.

The spirit works with each of us to understand who we are and what we are. With the spirit in our hearts then we can see our own sins, because of things that we’ve done in the past, that can still hurt us today.

Therefore, our own sin is something that is for us to deal with even though for others it is not a problem.

“Happy are those to whom the Lord imputes no iniquity, and in whose spirit, there is no deceit.” (Psalm 32:2)

What we know that can hurt our brothers and sisters – There are times when we do not see a sin, but our brothers and sisters do see the sin for themselves. An easy example of this is when Peter said about food offered to idols. In First Corinthians 8 we read about food sacrificed to idols; Paul tells us that:

⁷It is not everyone, however, who has this knowledge. Since some have become so accustomed to idols until now, they still think of the food they eat as food offered to an idol; and their conscience, being weak, is defiled. ⁸“Food will not bring us close to God.” We are no worse off if we do not eat, and no better off if we do. ⁹But take care that this liberty of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak. ¹⁰For if others see you, who possess knowledge, eating in the temple of an idol, might they not, since their conscience is weak, be encouraged to the point of eating food sacrificed to idols? ¹¹So by your knowledge those weak believers for whom Christ died are destroyed. ¹²But when you thus sin against members of your family, and wound their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ. ¹³Therefore, if food is a cause of their falling, I will never eat meat, so that I may not cause one of them to fall.

Paul is telling us that if there is a person that cannot understand why we cannot eat the meat offered to an idol, then we should not eat it. But understand what this is saying to us, let’s look at a few examples:

When you’re driving your car, and the stop light turns red, what should you do? Why do you go through the red light? Is your time more important? Does anybody else’s time really matter? Are they less than yours? Why can you not do what is right for others?

When people are grabbing items in a grocery store, and they are heavy for that person, can you help? You could help them grab the things they need. If it’s too heavy, perhaps you too could grab it together: for example, a container of water is very heavy for an older person. Maybe you could help them, or maybe you could work with them.

If you’re sitting in church, listening to the sermon, why do you have your phone on your lap? Why are you texting somebody else who’s not in church? Why are you texting anybody? Shouldn’t you rather be listening to the sermon or paying attention to the hymn is being sung?

Paul is telling us that when there’s a sin, we might be part of that sin, so be sure that what you do is not going to hurt a brother or sister in your church. This is a sin of misconception.

Now that we have looked at sin, our own and others as well, we should look at the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20: 1-21). The Ten Commandments are the basic rule of God, are we know that he quoted these rules to several people within the Bible.

These rules are simple. They’re not, in any way, elongated. These are the simple basic rules that God wants us to obey as we move forward. With this said, let’s look at the Ten Commandments:

¹ Then God spoke all these words,

²“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; ³you shall have no other gods before (besides) me.

⁴“You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above or that is on the earth beneath or that is in the water under the earth. ⁵You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, punishing children for the iniquity of parents to the third and the fourth generation of those who reject me ⁶but showing steadfast love to the thousandth(s) generation of those who love me and keep my commandments.

⁷“You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not acquit anyone who misuses his name.

⁸“Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy. ⁹Six days you shall labor and do all your work. ¹⁰But the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall not do any work—you, your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the alien resident in your towns. ¹¹For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but rested the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and consecrated it.

¹²“Honor your father and your mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.

¹³“You shall not murder.

¹⁴“You shall not commit adultery.

¹⁵“You shall not steal.

¹⁶“You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

¹⁷“You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, male or female slave, ox, donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”
(Exodus 20: 1-21)

As we read the Ten Commandments, we see that God wanted us to not have other gods around us. But, what about money? What about power? What about our influence on other people’s lives? Are these ours and not gods? Do we treat these things as our own or as somebody else’s power within us? This is our sin! This is a sin that we may have, and others may not. This is why God is, shall we say “jealous”, because he wants to keep us for himself and not have to share us with other powers and an inability for us to think like he does. God’s quest here is for us to stay with him, and not to be ruled by our surroundings and our culture.

Paul talks about “idols” in our discussion above, and we can see how “idols” make individuals make interesting errors. However, we may not have idols in our lives today, but we may make it to a point where we can even find a “cross” as an idol. This is where we must understand our sin, as opposed to the sin of others, as we look deeply into God’s perfect will. Here, in his perfect will, God would tell us what is a sin and what is not.

As you look at the last two Commandments, you can see that God, and Jesus, are really talking about our “neighbors”. All of the other Commandments are for us to do as an individual, not as a group of people. However, the Commandments are not just about ourselves, they are also about our “neighbor”. Your “neighbor” is not just the person next-door, but a person that you should care for considerably. Your neighbor is anybody that Jesus points at. Everybody is your neighbor. So as Jesus says, love your neighbor, and in all things, with your neighbor, help grow the world in God’s light.

These rules really help us understand how and why we sin, but the Beatitudes really help us understand God’s world and what we can do to encourage it in our own lives.

Let’s look at the Beatitudes in Matthew chapter five:

³“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
⁴“Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.”
⁵“Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.”
⁶“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be
    filled.”
⁷“Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.”
⁸“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.”
⁹“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.”
¹⁰“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the
    kingdom of heaven.”
¹¹“Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds
     of evil against you falsely on my account. ¹² Rejoice and be glad, for your
   reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets
     who were before you.”

(Matthew 5: 3-12)

At first glance, it can be hard to see how these paradoxes work together. How does poverty make you rich? How does mourning connect with joy? How do the misery and pain of persecution result in gladness? However, this is what Jesus thinks and, here in this text, we will see how to understand them.

Matthew 5: 3

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

Our first beatitude is the first lesson Matthew wishes to give us from what he learned from Jesus. This may have been Jesus’ most common theme or what Matthew felt was the most important saying of Jesus. From this short saying, we get our first glimpse into the mind and heart of Jesus. Here, the Greek word ‘pneumati’ is ‘poor’, but in our modern thinking, we would look at this and think of economics or social status. Economically or socially poor is not the meaning of ‘pneumati’.^[2]

The word pneumati, the word used by Matthew, means destitute. A person with literally nothing. They were knocked down to their knees, kicked, destitute, absolutely nothing, kind of nothing. (Get the picture?)

Scholars believe that the actual Hebrew word that Jesus probably used was ‘oni’, a word that evolved over the centuries to a very full but not easily translated meaning. The following are the definitions in chronological order:

Poor – as we see the word today, economics and social stigma,
Because poor – as in an explanation of an action of one losing things or status,
Because having no influence, and therefore downtrodden and oppressed by others,
Because having no earthly resources whatsoever, and therefore put their whole trust (hope) in God.

For an example, we look at:

Psalm 34:6 “This poor man called, and the LORD heard him; he saved him out of all his troubles.” Here again the word ‘oni’ is used.
- Psalm 9:18 we see ‘oniim’ taking on the feeling of humility as well as poor. “But God will never forget the needy (poor); the hope of the afflicted will never perish.”
- Other examples, are Psalm 35:10, Psalm 68:10, Psalm 72:4

We see that the intent of the word is to convey not only that person is ‘poor’, or destitute with absolutely nothing, but that they also have taken on an attitude of giving all hope to God for any opportunity in their life. Now you need to think about the words! Even though we have a good understanding of the ‘oni’, is that what Jesus would want, and therefore would say? Did Jesus want us to be destitute? Did he want us to live in squalor so we would give ourselves to God? NO. So, we know that the destitute part of the definition must be reflective of our own condition spiritually.

The reflective process, the study of ourselves through the meanings of the words of Jesus, will be very important as we study the Beatitudes.

Therefore, we understand that to be ‘oni’ we must consider our own helplessness, or hopeless condition, in that we cannot achieve salvation because we are sinners and so steeped in sin that we can’t help ourselves. We are spiritual ‘oni’ even if we live in good times. As an aside, people who often have riches think of themselves as poor, because they have no joy. Their work and worry weigh them down and keep them from joy. Sometimes it is their profession or their way of living life that holds them back from experiencing the love and joy that is there in these blessings. As in the hymn Amazing Grace, “I was blind and now I see. I was lost, but now am found.” (Hymn 378 – Amazing Grace)

With that said, we can expand the understanding of our text to:

Blessed are they who have realized their own utter hopelessness and who have put their whole trust and hope in God.

When we look at this expanded text, we immediately see two things:

In this state of blessedness, we would gladly detach from all things, giving up our imperfect joy of material things and wealth or happenstance, and
In this state of blessedness, we fully and wholly connect with God so completely as to see and feel God’s love in our hearts at all times.

Here we have the essence of Christ’s teaching on this topic. But what is Jesus’ goal for us? What does He wish for each of us to attain? (Think about it.) To become and remain a citizen of Heaven. Does He not repeat this again and again? He wants those that hear Him to strive for the goal of His teaching. To give everything over to God and to be in the perfect joy of grace.

So, using the understanding we have of Greek and Hebrew as well as our understanding of Jesus’ teachings, we can expand our understanding of the words of this Beatitude to mean:

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

Becomes …

Oh, the blissfulness of those who have realized their own utter hopelessness and who have put their whole hope and trust in God, for then alone can we render to God that perfect obedience that will grant us citizenship in the Kingdom of Heaven!

This is the style and manner I can see Christ using with His disciples. A simple saying at first that is easy to remember, with key words that when unpacked, give the listener a true glimpse of the Good News.

Matthew 5: 4

“Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.”

Jesus starts the second of His beatitudes with what seems a less complicated proclamation, but this is not as simple as it seems.

Here the word for ‘to mourn’ in Greek is ‘peinOntes’. This is the strongest word that the ancient Greek language had for mourning. This word describes the type of mourning that cannot be hidden and the type that, even after years of healing, still brings a tear to the eye. This is the mourning of a desperately loved one, a mourning of true and deep anguish. This type of anguish can show us many things: the true love/kindness of God and from those we call friends as well as the full and true despotism we can find ourselves under as we walk through this life.

Here, we see that we can re-interpret the text as:

“Blessed are those who mourn as they mourn for true love, for they will be
comforted.”

The Arabs (Saudi Arabians) have an interesting proverb – “All sunshine makes a desert.” We see from this wisdom that pain is a key way for people to know that they are alive and that pain is a tool of God’s teaching. It is through pain that we often discover the very nature of ourselves, of our pathway, and of our own thinking. Pain and suffering teach us many things.

But what are we to mourn? Why are we to feel pain? Is it for ourselves? Are we to be steeped in our own self-pity? No, of course not. Using the reflective process of learning we know that Jesus taught us that we are to understand ourselves, our sinful ways, and the care of others. If we are to mourn then we should mourn for our sin and for the sins of the world. This is not a pity party of self-indulgence, but rather the mourning for our hopeless condition and the condition of others.

If we take that teaching of pain and look at it through the lens of Jesus, then another way to read this beatitude is:

“Blessed are those who are desperately sorry for the sorrow and the suffering of
the world.”

This wording brings into light the lessons that Jesus teaches us about caring and loving our neighbor. His teaching of ‘turning the other cheek’ fits perfectly with this thinking. That we should care so much for the joy of our neighbors, that we weep for their sorrow and suffering, never turning against them to cause them more suffering, but offering them another side, another cheek, for them to completely express their frustration and thereby start their healing.

Another key teaching that we see in Jesus is that of repentance. Repentance by definition is:

“Deep sorrow, compunction, or contrition for a past sin, wrongdoing, or regret for
any past action.”

From these words, we quickly see that the two themes of anguish for suffering, and repentance have a common theme of sorrow. We see that this is the same sight that we saw before, but rather than turned outward we see that it is turned inward. We understand that our own repentance is born of the anguish we see within our own life as we face the desperate concerns of our life not being given to Christ.

Therefore, we see that the Christians are blessed to see themselves through Christ, and like the hymnist writes “that Christ has regarded my helpless estate and hath shed his own blood for my soul.”
(Hymn 377 – It Is Well with My Soul)

Christianity starts with a sense of sin and the anguish caused thereby, then turns and looks to the world and sees the same recurring themes of sin and anguish. The joy, of course, is the fact that Jesus has considered our sin as paid and to gain salvation we need only have faith. Therefore, this beatitude can be written this way:

Oh, the blissfulness of those whose heart is broken for their sin, for the sins of the world, and for the world’s suffering, for out of this sorrow they will find comfort in the joy of God!

Matthew 5: 5

“Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.”

The key word in this, the third beatitude, is ‘meek’. In modern-day the word meek conjures up visions of spinelessness, weakness, and insignificance. Jesus never stood for any of those qualities. Although we might think of Jesus as gentle, He was never weak or spineless in His approach. Quite the opposite is true; Jesus is bold in His approach. People in power often discard ‘meekness’. So, why should the ‘meek’ get anything, if Jesus wants us to be bold in the Lord, why would the ‘meek’ inherit the earth?

Here we see that historically the word ‘meek’ has changed dramatically. This is not a good translation anymore, but because this is what we have known for generations as the beatitudes, the Bible translators continue to use the words provided by the King James version. “Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.”

In ancient Greek, ‘praeis’ is meekness[3] and Aristotle used the term meekness in a very different way than we understand the term today. Aristotle often used two opposing words that were extreme opposites and then argued that virtue was found in the middle[4]. Aristotle argues that praise, or meekness, is the virtue of anger. A well-tempered, unprovoked evenness of character. In Paul’s letter to the Galatians, Paul writes (chapter 5):

²² But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. ²⁴ Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. ²⁵ Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. ²⁶ Let us not become conceited, provoking, and envying each other.

From Paul, we see the reference to the joyful evenness of spirit that Christians should look to achieve. This does not mean that there is no passion[5], but that there is a controlled and gentle quality. Therefore, we can look into the translation, using Paul’s wisdom for more meaning, and then write,

Blessed are those who are angry at the right time and never at the wrong time.

Anger is not a trait that Jesus teaches us to have. He also had ‘anger’ (For example in the temple driving out the money changers.), but we must ask ourselves what part of anger would Jesus want us to have. If we look at anger and other emotions as our lesser nature, then being ‘angry at the right time’ means opposing that which is wrong and championing that which is right. I would not want people to walk away thinking that outward anger is a teaching from Jesus. So, let’s rewrite this text to mean what we know:

Blessed are those who have every instinct, every impulse, and every passion under control.

When we think of ‘meekly’ controlling ourselves, we should also think of how we listen. If we are to inherit the earth through our ability to mirror the character of Jesus and control ourselves, then we must also be able to learn to hear and see what is really going on around us, but not project our own wants and desires on those situations. So, in order to achieve this balance in character and we see that praeis, our meekness, is well-temperateness and humility. Again, we turn back to our Christian teachings. We know that humility is a word we associate with meekness, but again we do not use humility in its ‘weakness’ form[6], instead, we reflect on what Paul tells us above (Galatians 5:22–26). For it is ‘humility’ that opens the ears to hear, the mind to understand, and the soul to let God move within us^[7]. Again, let us review our translation of this beatitude:

Blessed is the one who has the humility to know their own ignorance, their own weakness, their own desires, and is able to gain control over their every instinct, every impulse, and every passion.

We read many warnings in the Bible about the lack of meekness. For example, in Paul’s letter to the Romans, 13: 13

¹³ Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. (Also: Galatians 5:21, 1 Timothy 3:3).

Perhaps Titus gives us the best example in Chapter 1, verse 7 –

“Since an overseer manages God’s household, he must be blameless—not overbearing, not quick-tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not pursuing dishonest gain.”

Here we see humble, meek, and honest. Not wimpy! With these in mind as teachings that all have Jesus as their root, let us then return to the beatitude at hand. We know that meekness is the self-control of anger, but it is also more than that. It is humility and an understanding of the world around us and a willingness to understand that world through Christ’s teachings a state of self where we understand ourselves and are able to control our actions and our thinking to God’s purpose. Therefore, we write:

Oh, the blissfulness of the one who is controlled in their emotions, who has every instinct, every impulse, and every passion under their thought, for they are the God-controlled who have the humility to release their own desires and their own weakness and therefore they shall enjoy all of the earth!

Matthew 5: 6

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.”

Let’s just jump right into this one. Our review will be quicker than the last few. Can any of us say that we really understand what it is to be hungry or thirsty? Have we ever really experienced what it is to be hungry? Clearly, I have not. We live in the wealthiest part of the world, in the most historically wealthy land of all times. Our land is of wealth, our economically poor are of wealth and only ‘poor’ by comparison. Our culture is abounding in opportunity and hope. This is not to say that we have no poor, for unfortunately we do. It is to say that there are many other places in the world that are far poorer and with far less hope.

And here we sit trying to understand ‘hunger’. But it is another hunger that we may be able to understand. That is the hunger of ‘wanting’^[8]. We know people that are full of ‘want’ and ‘drive’ and ‘motivation’ as we use these words in our corporate culture of one-ups-man-ship. That too is a ‘hunger’. The desperate need to be first, to be better, to be the only one on the top of the pinnacle, be it within the realm of a vocation, recreation/sports, personal relationships, or other parts of one’s life. That want is sometimes called lust or greed. We see this in our world all the time. This is a self-motivating drive toward ever-growing wealth, regardless if it is money, possessions, knowledge, or power. Yes, ‘want’ we can understand.

This beatitude describes a driving need. An unquenchable desire, but not lust or greed, is for righteousness, or justice, as Matthew wrote. The word Matthew uses is ‘dikaiosunEn’ which means justice or ‘just actions’ – thereby translated as righteousness. This is a consistent translation of how we today use the word justice, so we should be very satisfied with the meaning of the word.

However, when we look at the grammar (which is far more complex than English) we see that Matthew uses an anomalous Greek grammar^[9]. Here we see that the grammar tells us that Matthew is not only describing a driving hunger but one that also engulfs everything.

Can you think of examples of a thirst for righteousness that you have heard of? Let us think back to David. He was a driven man and yet a man of righteousness. His thirst was for his Lord^[10]. God was all in and through David, and he had dreams; big dreams. He wanted to build his Lord a house. A big house! Did he get there? No. No, David never got to build The Temple because God told him “No”. But there was a thirst in David that would not ever be quenched. It followed him and haunted him as only hunger or thirst can do.

Our Lord wants us to ‘Want’ for the right things. To be driven by that ‘want’. To be driven for the ‘need’ of our God and righteousness. With this in mind, we can look at our text and add the following thoughts:

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for their whole and complete righteousness

With this understanding, we see that it is the person, not God, who needs to do the wanting and it is the beatitudes that display the joy of God as a state of exuberance. Therefore, we finish by understanding the text in the following words:

Oh, the blissfulness for those who have a driving wants for total righteousness as someone who is starving, for that person will be filled to the point of satisfaction!

Jesus teaches us that if we want righteousness for ourselves and for our world, and are willing to work for it unendingly, then we will be granted that righteousness to the point of being fully satisfied.

Matthew 5: 7

Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.

This saying as it is translated is very powerful in its own right. It already says most of what Jesus probably intended to say. This is one of the core themes that run through the New Testament.

It has been said that people ask for mercy for a variety of reasons and that Jesus’ teaching is one of universal mercy. I do so completely agree with this that I cannot express it in terms of this text. We could read this beatitude as a call for charitable acts, as a call for love, or as a call for caregiving for the people of the world. There are countless ways we can hear the voice of our Christ calling for us to provide mercy to the world. We should understand that it is only through mercy that we can have salvation, that we can see the glory and it is only through mercy that God gave us Jesus in the first place.

Historically, we have seen teachings of this beatitude focus on the affliction of judgment, but as it has been pointed out, Jesus may have been talking about other topics as well. In Greek here, this wording does not help us to discern what mercy Matthew or Jesus was specifically speaking of. We do know that mercy comes as a result of deep abiding care and that we believe Jesus had people in mind to receive that mercy. We have seen merciful thinking in all of the beatitudes. Judgment, however, is a topic not discussed and only potentially discussed here. In chapter 7 Matthew gives us the lessons of Jesus thinking on judgment. Assuming that Jesus really cares that we are careful with our tendency to judge and the self-destruction that can occur from these tendencies, it would make sense that judgment is part of the core of His lesson, so let us first look at our role of the judge in life, and of being judged. However, in the end, we will see that mercy is a state of understanding and not an act of judgment. So, although we will first speak of judgment, mercy is far larger than what might come to mind at first.

As Jesus did, let us take on the issues of justice. Jesus tells us in Matthew 7:1-2 to be very careful with judgment.

¹“Do not judge, or you too will be judged. ² For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”

I am not sure Jesus could be any clearer than He is here. In these verses Jesus is teaching the converse of this beatitude; instead of the blissfulness of living in God’s will, we see the scorn of living outside of God’s will, and His teaching is a warning for all who judge.
Like the teaching of Jesus, there are many passages that deal with judgment in the Bible, so let’s look at some of these: In James 2:12-13 we see that James is dealing with both judging and being judged.

“¹² Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom,
¹³ because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment.”

Here, James helps us by linking both the judgment and merciful acts of Christian living. Mercy is not just to be given to the righteous, but also to the wicked, so that they might learn and move from the darkness into the light.
Let’s look at another good example; a story of judgment: Matthew 18:21-35. Do you remember the parable of the Unmerciful Servant? Here a man has borrowed a very large sum of money and cannot repay it. He, the borrower, begs for mercy and it is granted. But, when that same borrower is approached by his own debtor, he, demands payment in full. When the debtor is unable to make payment, he mistreats the man. The merciful lender hears of this wrongful deed and puts the full burden of the debt back in force and horribly punishes the man and his family because he had no mercy.

Matthew 18:21-35:

“²¹ Then Peter came and said to him, ‘Lord, if another member of the church sins against me, how often should I forgive? As many as seven times?’ ²² Jesus said to him, ‘Not seven times, but, I tell you, seventy-seven times.

²³‘For this reason the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves. ²⁴ When he began the reckoning, one who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him; ²⁵and, as he could not pay, his lord ordered him to be sold, together with his wife and children and all his possessions, and payment to be made. ²⁶ So the slave fell on his knees before him, saying, “Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.” ²⁷ And out of pity for him, the lord of that slave released him and forgave him the debt. ²⁸ But that same slave, as he went out, came upon one of his fellow-slaves who owed him a hundred denarii; and seizing him by the throat, he said, “Pay what you owe.” ²⁹ Then his fellow-slave fell down and pleaded with him, “Have patience with me, and I will pay you.” ³⁰ But he refused; then he went and threw him into prison until he should pay the debt. ³¹ When his fellow-slaves saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their lord all that had taken place. ³² Then his lord summoned him and said to him, “You wicked slave! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. ³³ Should you not have had mercy on your fellow-slave, as I had mercy on you?” ³⁴ And in anger his lord handed him over to be tortured until he should pay his entire debt. ³⁵ So my heavenly Father will also do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother or sister from your heart.’

The concept of one person being both judged and judged within the span of one’s life is a very real lesson for us all. Regardless of who we are, we are always both. As James teaches us we should judge as if we were being judged and that is part of the lesson of the parable that Jesus tells us.
With that in mind, we could review the text of the beatitude as:

Blessed are those who judge carefully and with compassion,

Now let us consider mercy outside of judgment. How is it that we can take on an attitude of merciful thinking? Again, we find ourselves reflectively looking at the teachings of Christ. Here we see that, again, humility is a key ingredient as we have seen before. Humility allows us to put aside our selfish desires and have compassion and therefore, mercy. Again, we must look at the Greek word used here in this beatitude; it is ‘eleEmones’, and we have translated it as merciful. However, the word has no equivalent in our language. The intent of the word is to completely understand another person. The English word empathy is probably the closest word we have, but it falls a little bit short. Empathy is defined as:

the intellectual identification with or vicarious experiencing of the feelings, thoughts, or attitudes of another.

This is close, however, the meaning of ‘eleEmones’ is not an “intellectual identification”, but rather a very fundamental emotional attachment that is so complete that we are able to see what they see, feel what they feel, and think what they think. How sad it is that we, our language, and our culture, have no real definition for this type of intimacy or emotional closeness that spans the senses.

Let us think about the understanding then of the word eleEmones. If we are to so completely ‘feel’ for another person, then we have to be fully willing to open ourselves and be completely vulnerable to that other person. So completely vulnerable that we are not only willing but working to understand them and their feelings intimately. To the point where we know so much about them that we ourselves can fully think as they do. When we are this close to someone, we see that forgiveness and acceptance are really about understanding. Understanding not of ‘them’ and ‘us’, but rather as ‘we’. Understanding how and why it is that we struggle. Here we come, again, to the foundation of Christianity and the power to see with our own eyes: deep understanding, forgiveness, and acceptance.

Now, let us think of not only having Christian intimacy with one person but rather with all people. The joy of knowing one’s self and others in a truly open emotional experience with acceptance and forgiveness where forgiveness is hardly necessary because we already think as one people, not as a set of persons. The blissful state of being all of one like mind (as Paul would say)^[11].

This willingness to understand others at a deep and foundational level is the use of eleEmones and core to the acts and teachings of our Christ Jesus. With this in mind, let us then return to the beatitude and write it this way:

Oh, the blissfulness of the one who opens themselves to fully understand others, to get inside them, to see with their eyes, think their thoughts, feel with their feelings, for as we who do this, we will find mercy and compassion in our heart and receive that same bountiful grace from others while experiencing part of the bond of what God in Christ Jesus has done!

Matthew 5: 8

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

Here is perhaps the stumbling block of all people. This beatitude requires a tremendous amount of self-reflection and intercession. This may be the most difficult of all the lessons of Jesus. The Greek word used here by Matthew is ‘katharoi’ and there are several meanings. Luckily for us, they all make sense in the context of our Christian teaching. Let’s review:

Clean – clean as in washed and made fully and sparkling clean
Pure – like grain that has been thrashed and sifted to keep only the kernels and none of the chaff
Unadulterated – as a diamond, all one material with no imperfections or blemishes

We know that Jesus is not as interested in our personal cleanliness as He is in our thoughts and actions. This word katharoi, when looked at reflectively through Christ, is with clean hearts and unadulterated thoughts, that we have no guilt. Guilt causes people to hide and shy away from the light for fear of being exposed. Guilt weighs down and worries those who could be free and open, but they are closed and worried with misgivings and problems due to their actions born of impure thoughts. We see that guilt can start a spiral of worries and suspicions that drive people away from God and into the darkness. The ‘clean’ allows people to live in freedom with their minds and souls open to God and others, willing to give of themselves.

We can look at our beatitude with a bit more intent and write:

Blessed is the one who is always entirely clean and unadulterated in heart and mind for they shall see God.

This type of clean is the type of clean we think of when we say that we have “washed our robes in the blood of Jesus”. But Jesus did not want us just to be clean in person, action, or thought. To be this kind of clean we need to stop and think about our very deepest being, our desire, and our motivation.

Christ demands of we be clear in our thinking and honest in our motives.

Do we give our service from selfless acts or as a selfish self-display for our own self-interest?
Is the work we do in the church for Christ or for our own prestige?
Is our going to church an attempt to meet God or a social desire, perhaps a hope for pious respectability?

When we give large gifts do we have a superior feeling of grandeur as we plan our gift? Do we really want Christ, or protection from the world around us with no strings attached?

Do I write/teach this for Christ or for a superior feeling of self-interest? – This is a really tough question and one has so many mixed motivations that I can only say that I am human and that there are a myriad of motivations within me as I work through this text. I cannot say that I am purely Christ-focused for that would be a lie. But, as I work and as I learn, I strive to get closer to Christ and strive to focus on His perfect will. As I go, I can say that I begin to see the bliss that Jesus teaches. Far as I am from perfection, but seeking that truth, I sit at the feet of our Lord and Savior.

This beatitude is not an easy one. It may be, in fact, the most difficult for it requires us to purge ourselves of all other focuses than God. This is no small matter and one that takes tremendous effort, tremendous humility, and tremendous prayer. And, the sin of pride is there waiting for those who are not careful and prayerful in their attack of this beatitude. But then we think of Jesus and His love for us and the grace of our living God, knowing that we are not expected to reach perfection in this life, but that we must put forward an honest attempt to rid ourselves of impurities and be washed in the righteousness of Christ, then we see that there is a bliss of knowing our trinity that wraps and holds us in a fully self-satisfying gift of love, joy, and peace, so that the work we do to achieve this bliss is truly nothing in comparison to the grace we receive, even if it is the smallest amount of bliss. For even a drop of grace from God can displace an ocean of tears.

Purity of heart, mind, and motivation is the goal to strive for. Therefore, we can expand this beatitude as:

Oh, the bliss of the one whose heart, mind, and motives are working to purity and focused on the will of God as taught by Jesus, for they will see God!

Matthew 5: 9

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.

This beatitude is perhaps the most quarrelsome of the bunch. There are strong feelings on many sides of the issues that surround this beatitude. As a note, I will jump into this with what I see as the truth. If you wish to disagree, then I encourage you to make your thoughts known to me. I encourage communication. When looking at this beatitude we see immediately two things:

Peace:

The Greek word here is ‘eirEnE’ and the Hebrew word is ‘ShalOm’. The Greek word means peace as we would define it, but the Hebrew word is far more explicit. Sticking with the theme of what Jesus would say, let’s look at the word ‘ShalOm’. Many people have used this word in our modern context and it is usually used correctly in my experience.
The word ‘ShalOm’ really means “Everything that makes for a person’s/man’s highest good” (the Hebrew definition is masculine; I prefer to use the inclusive context as I have done throughout this text.)
This is not only the wishing of no ill (badness) or evil in another’s life, but rather the wishing of no ill and the hope for all things good. This is what is meant by ‘a person’s highest good’.

Peacemakers

Making peace is not a passive endeavor. This is often where controversy creeps into the conversation. Matthew wrote the word ‘eirEnopoioi’. This is an active word. People often confuse two different definitions of ‘peacemakers’:
1) that of the peace-maker, and
2) that of the peace-lover.
They can be very different at times. Remember that we have talked about Jesus teaching us of our own blessedness through strength of character and strength of action on all fronts. So, why would He be teaching us to be passive here?

The thought is that the blessings of peace are not attained by allowing problems to languish or fester, but rather the blessing are found in confronting issues and working at them as Jesus would; hand in hand, with honesty and integrity, even if the resolution is one that is born of struggle. Here again, people are quick to jump to conflict (war, fighting, interpersonal strife) to gain what they think of as peace. Remember that the beatitudes are not individual teachings, but each is a thesis that together forms the doctrine of Christ Jesus. Therefore, as we think of ‘struggle’ we should consider the context of ‘meekness’ and ‘purity’ and ‘mercy’ that we have studied. As we do this, we find that we are so utterly compelled to understand our opposition that they become very well known to us. That is not to say that there is no room for combative conflict, but if we are truly centered in the beatitudes, then the combative conflict would be the very last option we would consider, and only after considerable effort and struggle have been expended with non-combative methods. Peace through combative conflict is a one-sided peace and not what Jesus and the Beatitudes teach.

The second part of the beatitude says that peacemakers will be called children of God. The word used for ‘children’ is really Greek for “sons”, ‘huioi’. So, we see that the Greek says ‘they will be called children of God’. But, in Hebrew, we see an expression that helps us perhaps understand better how we see the translation of ‘son’ to ‘children’. Hebrew, as a language, is short on adjectives, and often when a Hebrew writer wishes to describe something they don’t use an adjective, but rather say “sons of” and then include an abstract noun. For example, Barnabas is called the “son of consolation” rather than “a consoling and comforting man”.

So, assuming that this Greek text is really a translation of a Hebrew saying, thus understanding that a Hebrew apostle wrote the Greek words taught to him in Aramaic, we could translate this to say:

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be doing a God-like work.

Historically this beatitude has been looked at in three ways:

Purely spiritually – thinking that the conflict within each of us is between good and evil, raging and battling until we make peace within ourselves so that we can give our full attention to God.
As a world focus – make the world a better place to live. Devoting themselves to working together with others to promote peace and ending conflict through peaceful means.
Also, there is also another meaning to the word ‘peace’. This is a rabbinical term meaning ‘establishing right relationships. This well could be what Jesus had in his mind when teaching these beatitudes.

If we look at ‘establishing the right relationships’ between people then we are again looking at the human side of all disagreement and conflict and this is very consistent with Jesus’ teaching. So, we can write:

Oh, the bliss of those who develop the right relationships between people for they are doing God-like work!

Matthew 5: 10

Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

To the modern-day Christian living in the Western world, this may be a somewhat odd statement, and yet it is true today. Let us first look at this beatitude in its historical context, then as a modern statement. The words suggest that persecution is born of righteousness. But righteousness is a good thing and why then would persecution be born of it? How then do we define what is righteousness? If righteousness is a state of being, like that of the bliss Jesus describes, then we look back to our teachings of Jesus to understand them in terms of our study of the Beatitudes. From Jesus’ teachings we see that a righteous person is one:

who realize their own utter helplessness and who have put their whole hope and trust in God,
whose heart is broken for their sins and for those of the worlds, and for the world’s suffering,
who are controlled by their emotions, who have every instinct, impulse, and passion under thought,
who long for total righteousness as someone who is starving,
whose heart, mind, and motives are absolutely pure and focused on the will of God, and
who develops the right relationships between people.

When a person does this and avoids the pride of self-conceit, they may sit in Christian bliss, but they will fall out of the norm of human behavior. Once out of the norm, they will be ridiculed for being too ‘Something’. It does not really matter why they are ridiculed, but the ridicule will come. In the words of John Wesley, the world will say, “Away with such people from the earth. They are made to reprove our thoughts. They are grievous to us even to behold. Their lives are not like other people‘s; their ways are of another fashion.^[12]”

The perfection of Christ is the ridicule of the world. And, Jesus tells us this right up front as He teaches us His doctrine. He holds nothing back. He is fully honest and tells us this as part of His teaching. Because this is a beatitude and a cornerstone of Jesus’ teaching, we must consider its teachings reflectively and ask ‘Why would He ask all this of us if He knows there will be pain in the offering?’ Does Jesus want us to suffer? No, not for our sake, but Yes for God’s sake. Jesus was fully focused on God and God is righteousness. There may come a time when, yes, righteousness will dictate that we choose to leave the norm and stand out for what is Christ’s will. This will bring persecution and we should be prepared.

One can look at this beatitude another way as well: Jesus, in general, does not want us to suffer and this is a key point. This is a teaching that the world is not a joyous place and does not have the same definition of bliss. These beatitudes are the way we meet God, but as we do so we must also consider our relationship with our world as well as with God. Our relationship with God is, of course, the more important, but if we cannot live in our world, then how are we to teach and spread the good news? Jesus wants us to be aware of our speech and actions in front of the world for they will bring persecution upon us as individuals as well as as the Church.

So, if we really work with the beatitudes in our personal thinking, in our way of life, as a humble people and focus on our Christ, then we will also be a person with little to hold us back from being the very best of what a friend and colleague should be. This is not inviting criticism. But if we act as prideful people, we will encounter far more criticism than we want.

Thus, we should be prepared to suffer for the sake of righteousness, but we must be sure that we are following the true intent of the Beatitudes and not inviting unrighteousness and suffering for false motives.

With this in mind, we can look into our text and write:

Blessed are those who are persecuted because of following the true teachings of Jesus and have found themselves in difficult positions, for their righteous suffering will bring them closer to God and the kingdom of heaven.

Historically Christians have been persecuted and have been slandered by others. The book of Acts recalls many of the issues that the Church had with the Hebrew world, Rome, and others. Historically Christians were put to death for their faith. Also, families have been torn apart due to faith and people have lost their jobs due to their professing of Christ.

Today, we still see the world calling Christians (us), ‘Jesus freaks’ and ‘holy rollers’. These terms are not well thought of in our culture, even though most people are in some way Christian-minded^[13]. There are too many people who use the teachings of God and Jesus for their own purposes, as will be the way of the world.

Misunderstanding breeds contempt and it is always easier to hurl a stone than to embrace an opposing person. We are blessed with knowing God and cursed for not being ‘like the others.’ Our history as a Church is one of following in the footsteps of the prophets that went before Jesus and in those footsteps, Jesus walked to Calvary. No, the path is not an easy one first, personally as we understand the meaning of what is expected of us by the beatitudes and then secondly the ridicule of the world around us as we start to achieve what Jesus has set out for us.

But the prize is the bliss of knowing God and Jesus our Christ on a personal level that is so encompassing that the brightness of the light and love, the joy in one’s heart and the grace received, is so great that it would split the sides of any vessel trying to hold it all. This prize is a spiritual out-pouring on such a grand scale that we will feel the wonder of God, the creator, in all parts of our lives regardless of our situation and condition.

With all of this in mind, we return to our text and write:

Oh, the bliss of following God and the joy of knowing Jesus even when we are persecuted because we are following the true teachings and have found ourselves or been forced into difficult positions, for our righteous suffering will bring us closer to God and the kingdom of heaven!

Matthew 5: 11-12

¹¹ “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. ¹² Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

Matthew finishes his introduction to the Sermon on the Mount with what looks like Jesus repeating the words of the last beatitude, but there is a very real distinction. In the last beatitude “Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness”, Jesus is focused on God, not himself. The bliss is that of knowing God. We often combine both God and Christ as one, and that is our Christian tradition. As Jesus taught His disciples, the focus is to be on God the Father. Here in this closing section, Jesus also tells His disciples that they should be proud of walking in the footsteps of the prophets and follow Him. They are not to be timid or weak or to be faint of heart, but rather rejoice and be glad is their reward in heaven.

We too should take on the same thought. We too should take on this same lesson and go into the world with joyous enthusiasm generated by the unending bliss from God and Christ. Joy is in the Spirit; our faith and focus will free us from the misery we see around us.

Oh, the bliss of following Christ! Oh, the joy Christ has in the one that has the understanding of how the wrongs of the world can twist broken people to evil for the torment of the blissful follower. Oh, the bliss of those following Christ when they join our Lord in perfection!

Let’s look at the beatitudes we have created:

Oh, the blissfulness of those who have realized their own utter hopelessness and who have put their whole hope and trust in God, for then alone can we render to God that perfect obedience that will grant us citizenship in the Kingdom of Heaven!

Oh, the blissfulness of those whose heart is broken for their sin, for the sins of the world, and for the world’s suffering, for out of this sorrow they will find comfort in the joy of God!

Oh, the blissfulness of the one who is controlled in their emotions, who have every instinct, every impulse, and every passion under their thought, for they are the God-controlled who have the humility to release their own desires and their own weakness and therefore they shall enjoy all of the earth!

Oh, the blissfulness for those who have a driving wants for total righteousness as someone who is starving, for that person will be filled to the point of satisfaction!

Oh, the blissfulness of the one who opens themselves to fully understand others, to get inside them, to see with their eyes, think their thoughts, feel with their feelings, for as we who do this, we will find mercy and compassion in our heart and receive that same bountiful grace from others while experiencing part of the bond of what God in Christ Jesus has done!

Oh, the bliss of the one whose heart, mind, and motives are working to purity and focused on the will of God as taught by Jesus, for they will see God!

Oh, the bliss of those who develop the right relationships between people for they are doing God-like work!

Oh, the bliss of following God and the joy of knowing Jesus even when we are persecuted because we are following the true teachings and have found ourselves or been forced into difficult positions, for our righteous suffering will bring us closer to God and the kingdom of heaven!

Oh, the bliss of following Christ! Oh, the joy Christ has in the one that has the understanding of how the wrongs of the world can twist broken people to evil for the torment of the blissful follower. Oh, the bliss of those following Christ when they join our Lord in perfection!

If we look at these beatitudes and we understand them, then we can get a good understanding of where Jesus wants us to go. But we also have rules about sin that we cannot ignore. If we look at the blissfulness of the beatitudes and we can understand where we’re supposed to live and if we can remember the rules that Jesus gave us, we should be all set.

This work was taken from:

            New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)
            New Revised Standard Version – Updated Edition (NRSVUE)
            John Wesley – Wesley’s Notes on the Bible (Biblegateway.com)
            C. S. Lewis’s, The Weight of Glory
            C. S. Lewis’s, Mere Christianity

[1] All of the biblical notes are provided through the New Revised Standard Version – Updated Edition. If you have any questions, please see mallminister.com to ask questions.

[2] The word used for economic or social status would be pehes. Pehes is a person who could, or can, work and earns a meager existence. It may not be much, but they have what they earn.

[3] Meekness is one of, and perhaps the greatest, Greek words of ethics, and the teaching of ethics was of paramount importance.

[4] Aristotle used a particular method called “the fixed method”, for his definition of virtues. He would start by using words from the Classical Greek language that were opposite in meaning. Not just a little opposite, but totally opposite in the extreme. Between, in the middle, of these two extremes, he would argue, that there existed virtue. For example, Aristotle uses orgilotes to describe the extreme enraged anger that can never be quelled and then uses aorgesia for the opposite meaning the extreme or excessive lack of anger.

[5] Prov 16:32 – “Better a patient person than a warrior, one with self-control than one who takes a city”.

[6] Num 12:3 – “Now Moses was a very humble man, more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth.”

[7] As I studied, I found a passage that I found truly insightful. It was spoken by the Roman teacher Quintilian about some of his contemporaries. “They would no doubt be excellent students if they were not already convinced of their own knowledge.” (I pray that we do not fall into this pit).

[8] Some people may wish to insert the word ‘desire’ into the place of ‘wanting’. My thought is that the word ‘desire’ in our modern language has too many sexual undertones. The word ‘wanting’ here is not sexual in nature but could include it. It is a general ‘wanting’ of all worldly positions, positions, and gratifications; including but not limited to sexual desire.

[9] Here we see that Matthew wrote in the accusative case. Greeks would normally speak of hunger in the genitive case, or as the Greeks would say, the partitive genitive case. In English, we would say ‘of the’ for this case. For example, if we were hungry for bread, we would say “I am hungry for bread.” it would be translated into Greek as “I am hungry for part of the bread.” However, Matthew uses the accusative case. So, when translating “I am hungry for the bread”, we get the meaning of “I am hungry for the entire bread.” This is a driving hunger that is not easily quelled.

[10] His Lord and his Lord’s Lord as we see it in Psalm 110.

[11] Understand that this blissful state can also lead one down a difficult path. The thought is to know someone so well that we know their thinking, not lose our own thinking, and never follow them down a poorly chosen path. We are our own person, even in this blissful state, but we are so in tune with those around us that we can understand them as clearly as the day.

[12] John Wesley – Wesley’s Notes on the Bible (Biblegateway.com)

[13] Most people in the US today believe in Christianity, or have a Christian background, even if they are not practicing.