Jesus Remembered: Christianity in the Making, vol. 1

THE MISSION OF JESUS 512.4
(present) age and the age to come', where only in the latter can one enjoy 'eternal
life' (Mark 10.30/Luke 18.30) and angelic existence (Luke 20.34-36). 154
c. Eschatological Reversal
As many have observed, a persistent theme in the Jesus tradition is that of eschatological
reversal. One of its most striking expressions appears in the collection
of beatitudes. It cannot but be significant that both Matthew and Luke seem to
have followed the compilers of the tradition in Q in putting the beatitudes at the
head of the first collection of Jesus' teaching (the Sermon on Mount/Sermon on
Plain, Matt. 5.3-12/Luke 6.20-23). As elsewhere in the Jesus tradition we see evidence
of concern to group together like material, no doubt initially by teachers
responsible for telling and being consulted about the tradition. Neither interest is
shared by Thomas.
Matt. 5.3-6, 11-12
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.
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.
Luke 6.20-23
20 Blessed are the poor,
for yours is the kingdom
of God.
21 Blessed are you who are
hungry now,
for you will be filled.
Blessed are you who weep now,
for you will laugh.
22 Blessed are you when people
hate you, and when they exclude
you, revile you, and defame you
on account of the Son of Man.
23 Rejoice in that day and leap
for joy, for surely your reward is
great in heaven; for that is what
their ancestors did to the
prophets.
GTh 54, 69, 68
54 Blessed are the poor,
for yours is the kingdom
ofheaven.
69 Blessed are they who are
hungry, that the belly of him
who desires may be satisfied.
68 Blessed are you when you
are hated and persecuted, and no
place will be found where you
have been persecuted.
Here once more there can be little doubt that Jesus is remembered as one who
spoke in this form. In the retelling, the Evangelists have given the individual sayings
their own slant, and the sequence may have been extended with fresh
'blesseds' (Matt. 5.7-10) and parallel 'woes' (Luke 6.24-26), added in the spirit
154. Note also Mark 3.29/Matt. 12.32. Matthew takes over the phrase 'the end of the
age' from apocalyptic language (Matt. 13.39, 40, 49; 24.3; 28.20); see above, nn. 94-99.
Dalman had already observed that if the ideas of 'this age' and 'the future age' were at all used
by Jesus they 'were not of importance in His vocabulary' {Words of Jesus 148).
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