for the new kingdom of justice which the prophets had spoken of. They were convinced that the new justice had to be a social justice, set up on the laws of love and grace. In God’s heart, justice and grace dwell so close to each other that both move the heart as though they were one.
Then Jesus came, and he disclosed the nature and practical consequences of this justice. He showed people that the justice of the future state must be completely different from the moralistic justice of the pious and holy, who felt that only they represented justice. He made it clear through his own nature and his words that God’s justice is a living, growing power which develops organically within us, a process that conforms to sacred laws of life.
Therefore Jesus could not simply give the people commands about moral conduct. He came to them quite differently. He discerned the nature of those who possessed his righteousness. He told them how they would appear to others: blessed, happy are those who have this nature, for they see God; to them belongs the kingdom of the future; they shall inherit the earth; they shall be comforted and satisfied; as those born of God, they shall obtain mercy.
Jesus himself radiated the unity of all the characteristics of this spirit of the future. It is impossible to take any one sentence out of its context and set it up as a law on its own. If anyone places nonviolence or purity of heart or any other moral or political demand by itself and uses this to set up something new, he is on the wrong track. Certainly it is not possible to take part in God’s kingdom without purity of heart, without vigorous work for peace; but unless the good tree is planted, the good fruit cannot be harvested. The change extends to all areas. It is a lost cause to try to follow Christ in only one sphere of life.
The Beatitudes cannot be taken apart. They portray the heart of the people of the kingdom – a heart whose veins cannot be dissected and pulled to pieces. Because of this the Beatitudes begin and end with the same promise of possessing the kingdom of heaven. Those who are blessed are characterized by their poverty and neediness, longing, hunger, and thirst. At the same time they possess wealth in love, energy for peace, and victory over all resistance. Their nature is purity and single-heartedness, in which they see God. These are people of inner vision, who see the essential. They bear the world’s suffering. They know that they are beggars in the face of the Spirit. Knowing they have no righteousness within themselves, they look to righteousness, and they hunger and thirst for the Spirit. Theirs is not the happiness of satiety; it is not the pleasure of gratified desire. A deeper happiness is disclosed here to eyes and hearts that are open. Only where people feel poor, empty, hungry, and thirsty will there be an openness to God and his riches.
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