The Lord went up the mountain that he might bring the crowds with him to higher things. The crowds were unable to go up, however, and he was followed by the disciples to whom he spoke, not standing but sitting together. For they were unable to understand this brilliant man in his majesty. Many of the simple believers literally believed that he taught the Beatitudes and other things on the Mount of Olives, but this is not really true.^[1] From the events that went before and followed, the place in Galilee has been shown to be what we believe is either Mount Tabor or some other high mountain. After he finished speaking, the Evangelist says, Now when he had entered Capernaum.

From the low and humble to the high and exalted places, the Lord, ready to instruct his disciples, went up the mountain—specifically to the Mount of Olives—so that according to the very meaning of this word, he might present the gift of his divine mercy. The Lord went up the mountain that he might give the precepts of the heavenly commandments to his disciples, leaving the earthly and seeking the sublime things as though already placed on high. He went up that he might now give the divine gift of the long-promised blessing, according to what David had once declared: For indeed he who gave the law will give blessings.

If we ask what the mountain signifies, it is rightly understood to point toward the gospel’s higher righteousness. The precepts given to the Hebrews were lower. Yet, through his holy prophets and servants and in accordance with a most orderly arrangement of circumstance, the same God gave the lower precepts to a people to whom it was fitting to be bound by fear. Through his Son he gave the higher precepts to a people to whom it is fitting to be set free by love.

Wasn’t he able to teach right there where the people were? He went up on the mountain for two specific reasons. First, that he might fulfill the prophecy of Isaiah, who said, Go up to a high mountain, O Zion, herald of good tidings.^[1] Next, that he might show the mystery of love. For his ascent signifies the height of virtue. He therefore went up the mountain to show us that whoever teaches and whoever hears God’s way of justice must stand on the height of spiritual virtues. The one who teaches must himself be an example of his words, so he may teach more by his works than his words, as the apostle says to Timothy: Set the believers an example.^[2] The one who walks in the valley of earthly life, however, treads on obscure pathways and speaks high-flown words: He does not teach anyone but chastens himself. For no one can stand in the valley and speak from a mountain. Speak from where you take your stand. Take your stand from where you are speaking.

The church is called a mountain. It is pictured in Scripture as the mountain of God, a mighty mountain.^[1] Christ therefore went up the mountain to reveal there the mysteries of truth to his disciples. He showed that whoever wishes to learn the mysteries of truth ought to go up the mountain of the church—not to just any mountain, but to the mighty mountain. For there are mountains of heretics that are not mighty but swollen. On these mountains are revealed not the mysteries of truth but lies that fly in the face of the truth. That is why the Holy Spirit scolds those who go up such mountains when he says through the prophet: Why do you look with envy, O swollen mountains?^[2] Heretical assemblies are called swollen because their heart is swollen like fat.^[3]

And that he might more openly show the grace of the apostles and the author of this very great blessing, he added, They shall walk from strength to strength; God shall look down upon Zion.^[1] That is to say, the Son of God, who gave blessings to the apostles on Zion. On this mountain he also gave his apostles a blessing. He is the One who had once handed down the Mosaic law on Mt. Sinai, showing that he was the author of both laws. . . . When the law was first given on the mountain, the people were forbidden to draw close. But now, as the Lord was teaching on the mountain, no one is forbidden. Rather, all are invited that they may hear, because there is severity in the law and grace in the gospel. In the former case, terror is instilled in the unbelievers. In the latter case, a gift of blessings is poured out on the believers.

And for what reason is the clause added, He opened his mouth? To inform you that in his very silence he gave instruction, and not only when he spoke. At one time he taught by opening his mouth, while at another by the works that he did.^[1] But when you hear that he taught them, do not think of him as discussing matters with his disciples only, but rather with the entire group through his teaching to them. For since the crowd was just like any crowd always is, including as it did those who live on a very low level, he withdrew the group of his disciples and addressed his teaching to them, but in his conversation with them he also provided for the rest, who were at this point very far from being ready to hear his sayings on self-denial without being offended.

Although the Evangelist Luke explains in part the same Beatitudes, the Beatitudes in Matthew must be considered more complete. The former were spoken on a level plain, whereas the latter were expounded on a mountain. The former were low-key in nature, whereas the latter were well-rounded and more directly addressed to the apostles themselves. The reason for this difference we outlined earlier.^[1] Luke simply said you poor,^[2] whereas Matthew said you poor in spirit. One who is poor in spirit and humble of heart has a meek spirit and does not think great things of himself. On the other hand, one who imagines himself to be rich in spirit will imagine great things of himself. He is proud and does not fulfill the commandment of Christ that unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.^[3] Only one who has repented and become like a child is poor in spirit.

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. The Lord taught by way of example that the glory of human ambition must be left behind when he said, The Lord your God shall you adore and him only shall you serve.^[1] And when he announced through the prophets that he would choose a people humble and in awe of his words,^[2] he introduced the perfect Beatitude as humility of spirit. Therefore he defines those who are inspired as people aware that they are in possession of the heavenly kingdom. . . . Nothing belongs to anyone as being properly one’s own, but all have the same things by the gift of a single parent. They have been given the first things needed to come into life and have been supplied with the means to use them.

We know many poor people, indeed, who are not merely poor but blessed. For the necessity of poverty does not produce blessedness in each of us, but a devout trust sustained through poverty does. Some, having no worldly resources, continue to sin and remain without faith in God. Clearly we cannot call these people blessed. We must inquire just who are these blessed of whom the Lord says, Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Jesus means that those persons are truly blessed who, having spurned the riches and resources of the world to become rich in God, desire to be poor in the world. Indeed, such people seem to be poor in the sight of the world, but they are rich in God, needy in the world but wealthy in Christ.

This is what we read elsewhere: He shall save the humble in spirit.^[1] But do not imagine that poverty is bred by necessity. For he added in spirit so you would understand blessedness to be humility and not poverty. Blessed are the poor in spirit, who on account of the Holy Spirit are poor by willing freely to be so. Hence, concerning this type of poor, the Savior also speaks through Isaiah: The Lord has anointed me to preach good tidings to the poor.^[2]

What does it mean that theirs is the kingdom of heaven? Is not the kingdom fitted for those who practice virtue? Even as the road to hell is lined with all the vices, and especially pride, all the virtues lead toward the kingdom of heaven, and especially humility. For the root of all evil is pride, and the root of all good is humility.^[1] It is only fitting that one who exalts himself shall be humbled, and one who humbles himself shall be exalted.

The mourning discussed here does not concern the common natural law of the dead but rather their sins and vices. Thus Samuel grieved over Saul,^[1] and the Lord repented that he had made Saul king over Israel.^[2] Also Paul the apostle says that he wept and mourned over those who, after committing fornication and impure deeds, did not feel the need of repentance.^[3]

As with Jesus’ earlier teaching on the poor, here too he speaks of those who mourn. The blessed of whom he speaks are not those bereaving the death of a spouse or the loss of cherished servants. Rather, he is speaking of those blessed persons who . . . do not cease to mourn over the iniquity of the world or the offenses of sinners with a pious, duty-bound sentiment. To those who mourn righteously, therefore, they will receive, and not undeservedly, the consolation of eternal rejoicing promised by the Lord.

Those who mourn their own sins are indeed blessed, but blessed in a less wonderful way than those who mourn the sins of others. Those who mourn the sins of others are less likely to have sins of their own to mourn. These are the ones who should be called teachers. They are with the Lord on the mountain.

He calls blessed even those who mourn. Their sorrow is of a special kind. He did not designate them simply as sad but as intensely grieving. Therefore he did not say they that sorrow but they that mourn. This Beatitude is designed to draw believers toward a Christian disposition. Those who grieve for someone else—their child or wife or any other lost relation—have no fondness for gain or pleasure during the period of their sorrow. They do not aim at glory. They are not provoked by insults nor led captive by envy nor beset by any other passion. Their grief alone occupies the whole of their attention.

Those who mourn receive comfort when the pain of mourning ceases. Those who mourn over their own sins and have obtained forgiveness shall be comforted in this world. Those who mourn over the sins of others will be comforted in the future age to come. As long as they are in the world, not knowing the outcomes of God’s providence and not fully understanding those who have fallen under the sway of the devil’s influence, they mourn over all sinners, even those who without evil intention yet do evil. They see all sinners as buffeted by the devil. They clearly see that God’s own cannot perish and those who perish are not of God. No one can escape from the hands of God. Once their mourning has ended, however, they shall be comforted. Without further suffering, they shall rejoice in their blessedness.

The meek are those who are gentle, humble and unassuming, simple in faith and patient in the face of every affront. Imbued with the precepts of the gospel, they imitate the meekness of the Lord, who says, Learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart.^[1] Moses found the greatest favor with God because he was meek. It was written about him: And Moses was the meekest of all people on earth.^[2] Furthermore, we read in David’s psalm: Be mindful, O Lord, of David and his great meekness.^[3]

A gentle person neither provokes evil nor is provoked by evil. Charges of sin do not prevail against such persons insofar as they are not the cause of sin. The meek one is more content to endure an offense than to commit one. For unless one is unafraid of being offended, one cannot be without sin. For even as weeds are never lacking in a field, provokers are never lacking in the world. Therefore that person is truly gentle who, when he or she has been offended, neither does evil nor even thinks of doing it.

Tell me, what kind of earth is referred to here? Some say a figurative earth, but this is not what he is talking about.^[1] For nowhere in Scripture do we find any mention of an earth that is merely figurative. But what can this Beatitude mean? Jesus holds out a prize perceptible to the senses, even as Paul also does. For even when Moses had said, Honor your father and your mother, he added, For so shall you live long upon the earth.^[2] And Jesus himself says again to the thief, Today you shall be with me in paradise.^[3] Today! In this way he does not speak only of future blessings but also of present ones.

Inherit the earth, I believe, means the land promised in the psalm:^[1] Thou art my hope, my portion in the land of the living.^[2] It signifies the solidity and stability of a perpetual inheritance. The soul because of its good disposition is at rest as though in its own place, like a body on the earth, and is fed with its own food there, like a body from the earth. This is the peaceful life of the saints. The meek are those who submit to wickedness and do not resist evil but overcome evil with good.^[3] Let the haughty therefore quarrel and contend for earthly and temporal things. But blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the land. This is the land from which they cannot be expelled.

The psalmist wrote, I believe that I shall see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.^[1] But some say that as long as this land is in this corrupted state, it is the land of the dead, for it is subject to the worthless and empty. But once it has been liberated from the slavery of corruption to the freedom of the glory of God’s children, it becomes the land of the living, so that immortals inherit immortality. According to another commentator, it is a sort of heaven in which the saints are about to live; hence it is called the land of the living. As to our lower region, it is earth; but as to the heaven above, it is called the land of the living. Others say that our body is on earth and as long as it is subject to death, it is the land of the dead. When the body has been transformed, however, and made to conform with the body of Christ’s glory, it will dwell in the land of the living. Eternal beings will inherit it as an eternal land, and spiritual beings and saints as a spiritual and holy land.

But if I must utilize a bold explanation indeed, I think that perhaps it was through the word that is measured by virtue and justice that the Lord presents himself to the desire of the hearers. He was born as wisdom from God for us, and as justice and sanctification and redemption.^[1] He is the bread that comes down from heaven^[2] and living water,^[3] for which the great David himself thirsted. He said in one of his psalms, My soul has thirsted for you, even for the living God; when shall I come and appear before the face of God?^[4] . . . I shall behold your face in righteousness; I shall be satisfied in beholding your glory.^[5] This then, in my estimation, is the true virtue, the good unmingled with any lesser good, that is, God, the virtue that covers the heavens, as Habakkuk relates.^[6]

He taught that we must seek after righteousness with earnest desire, not with fainthearted energy. Indeed, he calls those persons blessed who in their search for righteousness virtually burn with passionate longing in their hunger and thirst. For if each one of us really hungers and thirsts for righteousness with eager desire, we can do nothing else but think and seek after righteousness. It is necessary that we eagerly desire that for which we hunger and thirst.

Note how drastically he expresses it. For Jesus does not say, Blessed are those who cling to righteousness, but Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness—not in a superficial way but pursuing it with their entire desire. By contrast, the most characteristic feature of covetousness is a strong desire with which we are not so hungry for food and drink as for more and more things. Jesus urged us to transfer this desire to a new object, freedom from covetousness.

When Luke mentions these blessed ones, he calls them simply those who hunger.^[1] But Matthew here defines them as those who willingly and from a longing for the good abstain from fleshly pleasures. Both of them speak in a similar way. Whoever longs for the righteousness of God has found what is truly desirable. But the yearning for righteousness is not satisfied by analogy to the appetite alone. For brotherhood in justice is desired not merely as food. That is only half the total picture. But now he has also represented this yearning as analogous to thirst for something to drink. By the passion of thirst he intends to indicate the heat and burning of intense longing. He says that such a person will be filled. But such fulfillment does not produce a turning away but rather an intensification of the desire.

To hunger and thirst for righteousness is to desire God’s own righteousness. People should hear and do God’s righteousness, not as though they hear or do it unwillingly but from their heart’s desire. Every good that is not done out of this sort of love for righteousness is not pleasing to God. Hence the Lord, through John, does not simply call everyone to drink, but only those who are thirsty, saying, If anyone thirst, let that one come to me and drink.^[1] Similarly it was not for nothing that he spoke of those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. Whoever hungers for righteousness wants to live actively according to God’s righteousness; this is proper for the person with a good heart. One who thirsts for righteousness wants to acquire the knowledge of God that one can gain only by studying the Scriptures. This is fitting for the person with an attentive heart. For they shall be satisfied. They are filled with the abundance of God’s reward. Greater are the rewards of God than even the most avid desires of the saints.

Rightly then the One who is the heavenly bread and the fountain of living waters promises in return to those who thus hunger and thirst the fullness of perpetual refreshment: Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. This indeed is that righteousness of faith that comes from God and Christ, of which the apostle says, The righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ in all and upon all who believe in him.^[1]

Then he designates the prize, again by analogy with things sensible, saying, for they shall be filled. Thus, because it is commonly thought that the rich are made wealthy through their own greed, Jesus says in effect: No, it is just the opposite. For it is righteousness that produces true wealth. Thus so long as you act righteously, you do not fear poverty or tremble at hunger. Rather those who extort are those who lose all, while one who is in love with righteousness possesses all other goods in safety. If those who do not covet enjoy such great abundance, how much more will they be ready to offer to others what they have.

By a great number of witnesses indeed, just as many in the Old Testament as the New, we are called by the Lord to show compassion. But as a shortcut to faith we deem enough and more than enough what the Lord himself in the passage at hand expresses with his own voice, saying, Blessed are the compassionate, for God will have compassion for them. The Lord of compassion says that the compassionate are blessed. No one can obtain God’s compassion unless that one is also compassionate. In another passage he said, Be compassionate, just as your Father who is in the heavens is compassionate.^[1]

Jesus speaks here not only of those who show mercy by giving worldly goods but also of those who demonstrate mercy in their actions. There are many ways to show mercy. The commandment is broad in its implications. What reward can people expect if they obey the commandment? They obtain mercy.

The reward at first glance appears to be an equal reimbursement, but actually the reward from God is much greater than human acts of goodness. For whereas we ourselves are showing mercy as human beings, we are obtaining mercy from the God of all. Human mercy and God’s mercy are not the same thing. As wide as the interval is between corrupted and perfect goodness, so far is human mercy distinguished from divine mercy.

Hear what follows: Blessed are the compassionate, for God will have compassion on them. Do this, and it will be done to you. Do it in regard to another that it might be done in regard to you. For you may overflow yet remain in need. You may overflow with temporal things but remain in need of eternal life. You hear the voice of a beggar, but before God you are yourself a beggar. Someone is begging from you, while you yourself are begging. As you treat your beggar, so will God treat his. You who are empty are being filled. Out of your fullness fill an empty person in need, so that your own emptiness may be again filled by the fullness of God.

The kind of compassion referred to here is not simply giving alms to the poor or orphan or widow. This kind of compassion is often found even among those who hardly know God. But that person is truly compassionate who shows compassion even to his own enemy and treats the enemy well. For it is written, Love your enemies, and treat well those who hate you.^[1] Remember that God too sends his rain and asks his sun to rise not only over the grateful but also over the ungrateful.^[2] So Jesus calls us to be compassionate, just as your Father is compassionate.^[3] Such a person is truly blessed, for if in fact he hasn’t sinned, which is difficult for us all, God’s grace helps him along in increasing his sense of justice. So he prays, Forgive me my debts, just as I too forgive my debtors.

Note that the reward is spiritual. Those he here calls pure are either those who have so fully filled their lives with goodness that they are practically unaware of evil within themselves, or he may be referring to those who live a moderate, simple life, or there is nothing that we need so much in order to behold God as a self-controlled life. In the same vein Paul wrote, Pursue peace with everyone and the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.^[1] He is here speaking of such sight as it is possible for one to have.^[2] For there are many who show mercy, who refuse to rob others and who are not covetous but who still may remain entangled in sins like fornication and licentiousness. Jesus adds these words to indicate that the former virtues do not suffice in and of themselves. Paul, writing to the Corinthians, bore witness concerning the Macedonians, who were rich not only in almsgiving but also in the rest of the virtues. For having spoken of the generous spirit they demonstrated toward their own possessions, Paul says, They gave themselves to the Lord and to us.^[3]

Mark well what follows. When the text says blessed are the pure in heart, it refers to those who have been made clean within, for they shall see God. To behold God is the end and purpose of all our loving activity. But it is the end by which we are to be perfected, not the end by which we come to nothing. Note that food is finished in a different way than a garment is finished. Food is finished when it is consumed in the eating. A garment is finished when it is completed in the weaving. Both are finished, but the former’s finish means destruction; the latter’s, perfection. Whatever we do, whatever good deeds we perform, whatever we strive to accomplish, whatever we laudably yearn for, whatever we blamelessly desire, we shall no longer be seeking any of those things when we reach the vision of God. Indeed, what would one search for when one has God before one’s eyes? Or what would satisfy one who would not be satisfied with God? Yes, we wish to see God. Who does not have this desire? We strive to see God. We are on fire with the desire of seeing God. But pay attention to the saying, Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God. Provide yourself with this means of seeing God. Let me speak concretely: Why would you, while your eyes are bleary, desire to see a sunrise? Let the eyes be sound, and that light will be full of joy. If your eyes are blind, that light itself will be a torment. Unless your heart is pure, you will not be permitted to see what cannot be seen unless the heart be pure.

The pure of heart are those who have gotten rid of sin’s filth, have cleansed themselves of all the pollution of the flesh and have pleased God through works of faith and justice. As David testifies in a psalm, Who will climb up the Lord’s mountain, or who will stand in his holy place? The one with innocent hands and a pure heart, who has not received his soul in vain.^[1] And David, rightly knowing that God can be seen only with a pure heart, prays as follows in the psalm, Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.^[2] So the Lord shows that it is pure-hearted people like this who are blessed. They are those who, living by faith in God with a pure mind and unstained conscience, will win the right to see the God of glory in the heavenly kingdom to come, no longer in a mirror and in riddles, but face to face, as the apostle has said.^[3]

He calls pure of heart here those who have acquired virtue in general. Showing the inadequacy of what he had said before, he adds for they shall see God. Why then is it said that no one has seen God at any time?^[1] We maintain that he is seen and understood by reason. Either we may see God through the holy Scriptures with the eyes of the understanding, or again, through the wisdom visible in the universe it is possible to see, in a conjectural sort of way, him who made it. God is seen in the same way that in objects made by human beings, the maker of a given work is, after a certain manner, seen by the intellect. But what is seen is not the nature of the artificer but only his or her artistic skill. So also, whoever sees God by looking at the creation gains an impression not of the essence but of the wisdom of the One who has made all things. Therefore the Lord tells the truth when proclaiming that God is seen by the pure in heart, while at the same time the Scripture does not lie when it asserts that God has not been seen nor can be seen.

Blessed are those with a pure heart, for they will see God. There are two ways of seeing God: in this age and in the age to come. In this age, as has been written, He who sees me sees my Father, too.^[1] For they have a pure heart who not only do no evil and intend no evil but who also always do and intend everything good. For it is possible now and then to do good but not to intend it. Those who do so may do good, but not on account of God. And God does not reward such good, for the good rewarded by God isn’t the one that is merely done but the one that is well done. Moreover, a person who does good on account of God no doubt also intends the good. So whoever acts entirely justly and intends so with his mind sees God, for justice is the likeness of God. For God is just. So, to the extent that anybody has torn himself from evils and done good things, to that extent he also sees God, either dimly or clearly, or slightly or to a greater degree, or partly or completely, or now and then or always, or in accordance with human possibility. In this very way, a person too who acts and intends in an evil way sees the devil, for every evil is the symbol of the devil. In that age, however, those pure in heart in this way will see God face to face, no longer in a mirror darkly,^[2] as is the case here.

The peacemakers are those who, standing apart from the stumbling block of disagreement and discord, guard the affection of fraternal love and the peace of the church under the unity of the universal faith. And the Lord in the Gospel particularly urges his disciples to guard this peace, saying, I give you my peace; I leave you my peace.^[1] David earlier testified that the Lord would give this peace to his church, saying, I will listen to what the Lord speaks in me, for he will pronounce his peace to his people and upon his holy ones and to those who turn to him.^[2]

There is in the inner person a kind of daily quarrel; a praiseworthy battle acts to keep what is better from being overcome by what is worse. The struggle is to keep desire from conquering the mind and to keep lust from conquering wisdom. This is the steadfast peace that you ought to develop in yourself, that what is better in you may be in charge of what is worse. The better part in you, moreover, is that part in which God’s image is found. This is called the mind, the intellect. There faith burns, there hope is strengthened, there charity is kindled.

The peacemaker is the one who demonstrates the harmony of the Scriptures, where others see only a contradiction: the Old with the New, the law with the prophets, Gospel with Gospel.^[1] Accordingly, having imitated the Son of God, he shall be called a son, having by his work grasped of the spirit of adoption.^[2]

Peace is the only begotten God, of whom the apostle says, For he himself is our peace. So people who cherish peace are children of peace. But some may be thought to be peacemakers who make peace with their enemies but remain heedless of evils within. They are never reconciled in heart with their own internal enemies, yet they are willing to make peace with others. They are parodies of peace rather than lovers of peace. For that peace is blessed which is set in the heart, not that which is set in words. Do you want to know who is truly a peacemaker? Hear the prophet, who says, Keep your tongue from evil, and let your lips not speak deceit. Do not let your tongue utter an evil expression.^[1]

Here he not only responds that they should not feud and become hateful to one another, but he is also looking for something else and something more, that we bring together others who are feuding. And again he promises a spiritual reward. What kind of reward is it? That they themselves shall be called sons of God. For in fact this was the crucial work of the Only Begotten: to bring together things divided and to reconcile the alienated.

Where there is no contention, there is perfect peace. And that is why the children of God are peacemakers, because nothing can finally stand against God. In this way the children possess a likeness to God the Father. And those who calm their passions and subject them to reason, to mind and spirit, and who keep their carnal lusts under control engender peace within themselves. Thereby they themselves become the kingdom of God. In this kingdom all things are so well ordered that everything in humanity that is common to us and to the beasts is spontaneously governed by that which is chief and preeminent in humanity, namely, the reasoning mind. This preeminent human faculty is itself subject to a still higher power, which is Truth itself, the only begotten Son of God.

Not without reason did the Lord previously mention hungering and thirsting for justice. He instructs us so to thirst in our desire for justice that for its sake we should despise the world’s persecutions, the punishments of the body and death itself. The martyrs above all are the epitome of those who for the righteousness of faith and the name of Christ endure persecution in this world. To them a great hope is promised, namely, the possession of the kingdom of heaven. The apostles were chief examples of this blessedness, and with them all the just people who for the sake of righteousness were afflicted with various persecutions. Due to their faith they have come into the heavenly realms.

For the sake of justice. This addition clearly distinguishes the martyr from the robber. For the robber too in return for evil deeds suffers at the law’s hand and doesn’t ask for a prize or garland but instead pays the due penalty. It is not the penalty as such but the basis for the penalty that makes the martyr. Let us first choose the right reason, and then let us endure the penalty without anxiety.

There were three crosses in a single place when Christ suffered: he himself was in the middle, and at his two sides were two robbers. Look at the penalty: it is similar for all three. Yet one of the robbers found paradise on the cross. The man in the middle, judging, condemns the proud man and receives the humble man. That piece of wood served as a judgment seat for Christ. He who judges, who is able to make the judgment correctly, says to the robber who confessed: Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.^[1] For the robber was humbling himself. Note what he had so simply said, Remember me, Lord, when you come to your kingdom.^[2] The implication: I know my evil deeds. May I continually be crucified until you come. And because everybody who lowers himself shall be lifted up, Christ immediately expressed his thought and showed his mercy.

We are not to suppose that this refers only to those who suffer persecution from alien nations for not worshiping idols. This refers also to those who are blessed for not abandoning the truth when they suffer persecution from heretics.^[1] They too suffer for the sake of righteousness. While the heathen nations deny Christ, the heretics deny Christ’s truth. Those who deny Christ’s truth deny Christ himself. For Christ is the truth. And so the heretics, who undertake persecution not on account of Christ but on account of Christ’s supposed truth, while they at first sight seem to be Christians, in fact are heathen in their mode of justice. If such people persecute you, you are blessed in the same way as John the Baptist was blessed under persecution. For John was killed neither because he was heathen nor because of heresy but on moral grounds, because he kept reproaching Herod for his adultery. In fact, all the prophets were killed by their own people, not by heathen kings. If, however, it is true that the prophets are martyrs, there is no doubt that a person who suffers something for God’s cause today, even if one suffers it at the hands of one’s own people, receives an eternal reward.

But to keep you from supposing that being slandered of itself makes people blessed, he has added two qualifications: first, that it happens for Christ’s sake, and second, that what is said be false. Do not expect to be blessed if you are being reviled for something evil, and what is being said is true.

He has just been speaking about enduring persecution. Now it is as if someone were asking God: God, what if we are not enduring persecution for your sake or for the sake of justice? What if we are facing the reproach and the evil talk of wicked people? You will be blessed, Jesus says, not only if you endure persecution but also if others utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Many people become our enemies because of our belief in God, but they do not persecute us openly. Maybe they do not have the power to persecute.^[1] Nevertheless they go all about and slander us and say deplorable things about us. The Scripture says, You will be blessed when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. So your reward does not end the moment you have given a glass of water compassionately. If somebody wrongs us, even with a single, slight word, your soul will not be lacking a reward.

Not only should we patiently endure all the horrible treacheries of the persecutors that can be contrived in a time of persecution for Christ’s name against the just, or the various reproaches that can be heaped upon us, or the punishments that can be applied to the body, but we should even welcome them with exultation because of the coming glory. For he says, Rejoice in that day and exult; I tell you this, because your reward is great in heaven. How glorious is the endurance of this persecution, the reward for which the Lord says is in heaven! And so, taking into account the reward of the proposed glory, we should be ready with devout faith for every endurance of suffering, so that we may be ready to be made partners in the prophets’ glory.

Look then at the reward again: for your reward is great in heaven. And don’t be discouraged if you don’t hear the kingdom of heaven granted with every single Beatitude. For even if Jesus names the rewards differently, he still puts all of them in the kingdom of heaven. For in fact he says, Those who mourn will be comforted, and those who show mercy will receive mercy, and those pure in heart will see God, and the peacemakers will be called sons of God. In all these things the blessed One does nothing but hint at the kingdom of heaven. For people who enjoy these things will certainly reach the kingdom of heaven. So do not suppose that the reward of the kingdom of heaven belongs only to the poor in spirit. It also belongs to those who hunger for justice, and to the meek and to all these blessed others without exception. For he set his blessing upon all these things to keep you from expecting something belonging to this material world. For if one wore a prize or garland for things that are to be dissolved together with the present life, things that flit away faster than a shadow, would that one be blessed?

Weigh earthly shame against heavenly glory, and see whether what you suffer on earth is not much lighter than what you expect in heaven. But perhaps you may say, Who can be joyful when reviled? Who can not only endure being reviled but rejoice in it with a great soul? The answer is, only one who does not delight in empty glory. One who desires what is in heaven does not fear reproaches on earth. He does not care about what people say about him but rather how God judges him. But one who rejoices in the praise of others and how much they praise him is saddened when he receives no praise. He feels sad at others’ reproaches. But a person who is not lifted up by others’ praise is not lowered by their reproach. Wherever any one seeks his own glory, just there he also fears reproach. A person who constantly seeks glory on earth constantly fears troubles on earth. But a person who seeks glory only with God fears no disturbance except for God’s judgment. A soldier endures the danger of war so long as he hopes for the spoils of victory. So how much more should you who are waiting for the reward of the heavenly kingdom have no fear of the world’s reproaches.

Salt is useful for so many purposes in human life! What need is there to speak about this? Now is the proper time to say why Jesus’ disciples are compared with salt. Salt preserves meats from decaying into stench and worms. It makes them edible for a longer period. They would not last through time and be found useful without salt. So also Christ’s disciples, standing in the way of the stench that comes from the sins of idolatry and fornication, support and hold together this whole earthly realm.

The salt of the earth, I suppose, seems at first like nothing special. So what did Jesus mean when he called the apostles the salt of the earth? We must look for the words’ appropriate meaning. Both the apostles’ task and the nature of salt itself will reveal this. The element of water and the element of fire are combined and united in salt. So ordinary salt, made for the use of the human race, imparts resistance to corruption to the meats on which it is sprinkled. And, of course, it is very apt to add the sensation of hidden flavor. Likewise the apostles are the preachers of surprising heavenly things and eternity. Like sowers, they sow immortality on all bodies on which their discourse has been sprinkled. They are perfected by the baptism of water and fire. So those who are to be salted with the power of gospel teaching have rightly been called the salt of the earth. They are right now being preserved to the end.

He calls salt the frame of mind that is filled with the apostolic word, which is full of understanding. When it has been sown in our souls, it allows the word of wisdom to dwell in us. It has been compared with salt because of salt’s good taste and delightfulness. For without salt neither bread nor fish is edible. So too without the apostles’ understanding and instruction, every soul is dull and unwholesome and unpleasant to God.

Jesus calls the faithful the salt of the earth. He warns them to persist in the strength of the power handed over to them. Otherwise, losing their own taste, they are unable to make anything else tasty. Deprived of salt’s taste, they are unable to make what is rotten edible. He warns them lest, cast forth from the church storerooms, they be trampled underfoot by the feet of passersby—the very feet of those they should have served with salt.

It is as a matter of absolute necessity that he commands all this. Why must you be salt? Jesus says in effect: You are accountable not only for your own life but also for that of the entire world. I am sending you not to one or two cities, nor to ten or twenty, nor even to one nation, as I sent the prophets. Rather, I am sending you to the entire earth, across the seas, to the whole world, to a world fallen into an evil state. For by saying, You are the salt of the earth, Jesus signifies that all human nature itself has lost its taste,^[1] having become rotten through sin. For this reason, you see, he requires from his disciples those character traits that are most necessary and useful for the benefit of all.

He shows that those who have been educated for the faith and in heavenly wisdom ought to remain faithful and steadfast and not lose their taste. If they forsake the faith and divine wisdom, they either plunge headlong into heresy or return to the folly of unbelievers. And so Jesus says, But if the salt loses its flavor, with what will it be seasoned? For people of this sort, made tasteless by the devil’s treachery and having lost the grace of faith, are good for nothing. Though they once might have seasoned nonbelievers still foreign to the faith with the word of divine preaching, they instead showed themselves useless. Judas Iscariot deteriorated into this sort of useless salt. After he had rejected divine wisdom, having changed from an apostle into an apostate, he not only did not help others. He became wretched and useless even to himself.

The Lord has already called his disciples the salt of the earth because they seasoned with divine wisdom the hearts of the human race which had been made tasteless by the devil. Now he also calls them the light of the world. For, illumined by his very own self who is the true and eternal light, they too become light within the darkness. For since he himself is the sun of righteousness, he rightly also calls his disciples light of the world. Through them, as if through shining rays, he poured the light of his knowledge on the entire world. For by showing the light of truth, the Lord’s disciples made the darkness of error flee from people’s hearts.

You are the light of the world—not of a single nation nor of twenty cities but of the entire inhabited earth. You are like a light for the mind, far better than any particular sunbeam. Similarly, you are spiritual salt. First you are salt. Then you are light. The metaphors of salt and light drive home the great benefit of these stinging words and the profit of this rigorous discipline, how it binds and does not permit us to become dissolute in our behavior.

He calls the flesh he has assumed a city. For as a city consists in a variety and multitude of inhabitants, so by virtue of his assumed body he contains in himself a certain union of the entire human race. Thus he becomes a city by our union in him, and we through union with his flesh are the community of the city. Therefore he cannot be hidden. Situated on God’s lofty height, he is held up to all in admiration of his good works as deserving of contemplation and understanding.

But a lamp is not to be lit and hidden under a bushel. For what benefit is derived from keeping light enclosed? Thus the lamp of Christ must not be hidden under a bushel. . . . Hung on the wood of the cross, it sheds everlasting light on all those who dwell in the church.

The person characterized by humility, gentleness, mercy and righteousness does not build a fence around good deeds. Rather, that one ensures that these good fountains overflow for the benefit of others. One who is pure in heart and a peacemaker, even when persecuted for the sake of truth, orders his way of life for the common good.

What is this city? It is the church of the holy people, of which the prophet says, Glorious things of you are spoken, city of our King.^[1] Moreover, all the faithful are its citizens, of whom the apostle says, You are fellow citizens with the saints and are part of God’s household.^[2]

This city has been set upon a mountain. The city refers to the apostles, the prophets and other teachers who have been instructed in Christ. For Christ is the mountain, of whom Daniel says, Look, the rock has been hewn without hands and has become a large mountain and has taken possession of the whole earth.^[1]

Now through another comparison he wants to show why Christ himself makes his saints manifest. He does not want them to be hidden: Neither do people light a lamp in order to put it under a bucket, but they do so to put it on a lampstand, so that it will give light to all the people in the house. Who are the lighters of this lamp? The Father and the Son. What is that lamp? The divine word, of which it has been said, Your word is a lamp for my feet and a light for my path.^[2] The lamp of the word sheds light so that the way might be manifest, that it might give light to those who are in the house, either the house of the church or of the world. What is this lampstand? The church, which bears the word of life. So Paul too speaks of those among whom you shine, like lightgivers in the world containing the word of life.^[3] So too every person in the church, possessing the word of God, is called a lampstand. But worldly people are more like bushel buckets, lacking both God and everything that is of God.

So, what does the Savior mean by the bucket under which some people put the lamp? Here by bucket he means vice, and by lamp, virtue. People who intend to perform some illicit act walk in darkness, avoiding, if possible, the light.

That person places the lamp under a bushel who obscures and conceals the light of good teaching with earthbound interests. Rather, one should place the truth up high on the lampstand. That indicates the light that shines as a result of bodily service, so that it is presented to believers through their embodied ministry. In this way our voices and tongues and other operations of the body are conveyed into good works by those who are learning.

Of course, the very words of the gospel are self-explanatory. While they feed the hearts of those who knock, they do not hinder the shouts of those who hunger. One must look deeply into the human heart to see in what direction it is turned and on what point its gaze is fixed. Suppose someone desires that his good work be seen by others. Suppose he regards his glory and profit according to the estimation of others and seeks to be elevated in the sight of others. By doing so he fulfills neither of the commands that the Lord has given in this text. For he has sought to practice his justice before the eyes of others, in order to be seen by them. Therefore his light has not caused others to give glory to the Father who is in heaven. He did not wish to have glory rendered to God but to himself. He did not love the will of God but sought advantage for himself. Of such the apostle says, For they all seek their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ.^[1] The saying Let your light so shine before others that they may see your good works is incomplete. He immediately adds the reason why this should be done: that they may give glory to your Father who is in heaven. This means that even though one is seen by others in doing good works, in one’s conscience one ought to have the simple intention of glorifying God. It is only for the sake of God’s glory that we should allow our good works to become known.

Even so let your light shine before others, in order that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven. That is to say, so shine and teach, not only that people may hear your words but also that they may see your good works. Let those you illumine by the light of your words be seasoned by the salt of your works. For the one who teaches and practices what he teaches, teaches truly. But one who does not practice what he teaches does not teach anyone but casts a bad light on himself. And it is better to practice and not to teach than to teach and not to practice. Because one who practices, though he may keep silent, corrects some people by his example. But one who teaches and does not practice not only corrects no one but even scandalizes many. For who is not tempted to sin when he sees the teachers of goodness committing sins? Therefore the Lord is magnified through those teachers who teach and practice. He is blasphemed through those who teach and do not practice.

The church leader should be equipped with all the virtues. He should be poor, so that he can chastise greed with a free voice. He should always be someone who sighs at inordinate pleasure, whether in himself or in others. He is ready to confront those who do not hesitate before they sin and those who do not feel sorry for having sinned after they sin. So let him sigh and lament. Let him show thereby that this world is difficult and dangerous for the faithful. He should be somebody who hungers and thirsts for justice, so that he might have the strength confidently to arouse by God’s Word those who are lazy in good works. He knows how to use the whip of rebuke, but more by his example than by his voice. He should be gentle. He rules the church more by mercy than by punishment. He desires more to be loved than feared. He should be merciful to others but severe with himself. He sets on the scales a heavy weight of justice for himself but for others a light weight. He should be pure of heart. He does not entangle himself in earthly affairs, but more so he does not even think of them.