In order to understand this sentence1in LK 7.3 and MT 11.6 of Jesus, (but which could also have been written by Nietzsche) it is first necessary to detach oneself, at least for a moment, from the idea that Jesus was the God that Paul constructed from him, but to imagine him as one of the many Jewish Cynic wandering preachers that were common in his time. Then the term “Blessed” must be clarified. And finally, for this sentence, but also for the Beatitudes in Matthew, it must be tentatively assumed that they do not refer to an afterlife, but to the here and now.
Jesus was not an existentialist
Essential for the (French) existentialism is the assumption that you are not an animal but a half-god. You are not just there, like an animal, but you have the freedom to make of yourself anything you want. In this respect you are God. But you are thrown into the world without your will, so you are also creature, so only half-god.
The problem with being this demi-god of Sartre’s is that Sartre, like all socialists, is a moralist. So his atheism does not free him to simply do as he pleases. Rather, he must become a postchristian god who does what is good, thus limiting himself. Thus, the existentialist always necessarily has scissors in his head. He cannot trust that he has a good essence, for he must first construct it himself. A good existentialist must be careful not to act wrongly, not evil. He must also be skeptical. He could be wrong with his opinion. He thinks what he is doing is good. But maybe he just hasn’t thought enough? If others complain about him, take offense at him, then this is an indication that he should think again whether his appearance was really right.
Jesus was not an existentialist, but he saw himself, like every cynic, as a messenger of the God, or of the nature understood as divine. He did not worry that people might take offense at him. He knew that is not his problem, but the problem of the people who do not understand.
Imagine being Abraham and hearing your demon, your inner voice, commanding you to kill your much loved son. As an existentialist, you would have to reject that inner voice. Where would we end up if all fathers killed their sons? And every human being is equally worthy. No one may exalt himself above another, let alone kill him. “Where would I even get such an evil idea? Maybe I need to see a psychiatrist”, an existentialist Abraham would ask himself. But Abraham, like Jesus and like all cynics, felt like a messenger. So he informed his son that he had heard this inner voice. (This is parrhesia: daring to tell the truth about oneself). And his son reacts surprisingly: he also heard this inner voice that he should be sacrificed. And since he too is not an existentialist, but sees himself as a creature and messenger of God, he agrees to be sacrificed.
This strong will to might, both as the one exercising might (Abraham) and the one suffering the might (the Son) is impossible for an existentialist. Jesus was not an existentialist. He was a messenger. And he knew that his actions, however much they may contradict the ruling morality, are not only good for him, but for the whole world. For he is sent forth by the one God to be who he is. And he is cosmopolist (The Cynic Diogenes was the first to coin the term cosmopolist). He loves himself and the whole cosmos. Therefore, whoever does not take offense at him is on the right path.
What does it mean to be blessed here and in the Sermon on the Mount
In German, what in English called to be blessed, we call „Seligpreisung” since Luther’s translation of the Bible into German. „Selig sein,” like to be blessed, is actually not a bad translation for the Hebrew shalom, makarios in the Greek or felicitas in the Roman version of the Bible. Shalom means not only “peace” as mostly understood today, but to be desirelessly happy, makarios is synonymous with eudaimonia, actually being surrounded by good spirits and also felicitas means the same: fruitful, blessed, happy.
In order to let Jesus’ sentence here in Luke, as well as the Beatitudes in the Sermon on the Mount, have a more intensive effect on us and to understand them in depth, I suggest to use the everyday concept of happiness here. Who says or feels, for example, when he is freshly in love, that he feels blessed or „selig” or fruitful? “I’m so happy right now, you wouldn’t believe it” is what we would say to a friend about our current state. Very simple, very mundane Happiness. This is how simple and straightforward we want to understand the Cynic Jesus here.
From the hereafter to the here and now
Jesus said, “If your leaders say to you, ‘Look, the (Father’s) imperial rule is
in the sky,’ then the birds of the sky will precede you.
If they say to you, ‘It is
in the sea,’ then the fish will precede you.
Rather, the (Father’s) imperial rule
is inside you and outside you.
When you know yourselves, then you will be
known, and you will understand that you are children of the living Father.
But
if you do not know yourselves, then you live in poverty, and you are the
poverty.”
[Gospel of Thomas, 3.]
Here Jesus makes clear as only rarely that he is first and foremost a cynic and uses the Jewish faith as a vehicle to be understood. He does not promise you that you will be happy someday “in heaven” if you accept his teaching. But he says, don’t get upset immediately if I say things that seem wrong to you, don’t take offense at me, just listen to me, try to understand empathically, that will make you happy, here and now.
And as always: it is not about listening to Jesus only as a “patient” or even a spectator, but as a potential cynic, a follower, a “therapist”. You should learn to appear as confident and convinced of yourself as Jesus himself. When people feel offended by you, when they accuse you of talking nonsense or evil, you should not flinch fearfully, but be able to tell them verbally and nonverbally that it is a pity for them! if they cannot simply listen to you, that they are missing something so beautiful for them, that if they learn not to reject you, they will find their own happiness.
Now, before you perhaps read the Beatitudes again, a preliminary remark: The spiritually poor, this does not mean the uneducated or handicapped people, but it is a direct cynic reference to Socrates, as he rejected that he was particularly wise. The problem of the people he saw, is that they all believe that they are so wise. They actually already know everything. Socrates, on the other hand, is curious; he still wants to become wise by trying to understand others.
Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled.
Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called sons of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
Or you focus only on what is happening to you here and now.:
Yours is the kingdom of heaven
You are comforted
The earth is yours
You are filled
There is mercy around you
You now can see God
As you are a child ofGod
And the whole Kosmos is yours in your eternal life you have here and now.
When I first read Nietzsche in my youth, I was admittedly taken by him until I read one of his last texts: Ecce homo, a kind of autobiography. He was so full of self-praise in it that it could only be a sign of his soon to follow mental decay.
For example, he writes there:
I was told that it was impossible to put down a book of mine, – I even disturbed the night’s rest… There is by no means a more proud and at the same time more refined kind of books: – they reach here and there the highest that can be reached on earth…
What does Nietzsche call the highest that can be reached? He writes that his books “reach here and there the highest that can be reached on earth, the cynicism.
Today I no longer find this text arrogant, narcissistic or a sign of an approaching illness. On the contrary.
- 1in LK 7.3 and MT 11.6