The Beatitudes Page 9
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The multitude, which sat silently listening to Jesus as he expounded the Scriptures, pointing a new way of life, was made up of diverse sects and political parties. There were the Pharisees, the staunch nationalists whose ambition was to free the land from foreign rule and restore the Savidic kingdom. They were the men who relied on force to free their moral code with the pagans around them. As far as they were concerned, Judaism was like the sun, the center of the whole universe, and the rest of the races and peoples were nothing but wandering satellites that had left their orbits. There were also seated among the crowd some Sadducees, the intellectuals of those days, who believed that death was the end, and that racial traditions and religions were like a caravan's imprint on the desert sand, soon obliterated. They denied the resurrection of the body and life hereafter.
In the multitude also were some who were known as peacemakers. These peacemakers had surrendered themselves to God and entrusted everything to His divine care, always looking forward to the fulfillment of His promises and the coming of the Messiah, the savior of the world, the prince of peace, the great deliverer who would free their own evil ways which had been the cause of their downfall. But they had to pray and repent and seek forgiveness in order to find inner peace and freedom, peace of mind and soul. These pious and impartial men were 'wise as serpents and pure as doves.' These peacemakers were another segment of the small remnant who had kept the lamp of God burning and some of its light shining. They were what Jesus called, 'The light of the world and the salt of the earth.' They were so very gentle and non-resistant that their influence was felt by all about them, just as salt, by dissolving into food, savors it.
In the multitude also were some who were known as peacemakers. These peacemakers had surrendered themselves to God and entrusted everything to His divine care, always looking forward to the fulfillment of His promises and the coming of the Messiah, the savior of the world, the prince of peace, the great deliverer who would free their own evil ways which had been the cause of their downfall. But they had to pray and repent and seek forgiveness in order to find inner peace and freedom, peace of mind and soul. These pious and impartial men were 'wise as serpents and pure as doves.' These peacemakers were another segment of the small remnant who had kept the lamp of God burning and some of its light shining. They were what Jesus called, 'The light of the world and the salt of the earth.' They were so very gentle and non-resistant that their influence was felt by all about them, just as salt, by dissolving into food, savors it.