Who are the "pure in heart?"- Matthew 5:8

 

"Blessed are  

the pure in heart,

for they shall see God."

 

Matthew 5:8 

I've tried to reiterate each week the approach I am taking in looking at the beatitudes, but I'm not sure I've done a good job of explaining it. As I've said before, I'm not entirely sure this is the absolute correct approach, but in many ways, it makes more sense to me than other approaches. The idea for looking at the Beatitudes as facts of kingdom living rather than as what we are to do to get into the state of blessedness inside the kingdom comes from Dallas Willard's The Divine Conspiracy. I don't agree with all of what he says or teaches, but I appreciate his approach to looking at scripture at least in this book. (I am not too familiar with his other works.) Anyway, I thought it might be beneficial to use his words to try to explain this view of the Beatitudes a little better.

We have already indicated the key to understanding the Beatitudes. They serve to clarify Jesus' fundamental message: the free availability of God's rule and righteousness to all of humanity through reliance upon Jesus himself, the person now loose in the world among us. They do this simply by taking those who, from the human point of view, are regarded as most hopeless, most beyond all possibility of God's blessing or even interest, and exhibiting them as enjoying God's touch and abundant provision from the heavens.

This fact of God's care and provision proves to all that no human condition exludes blessedness, that God may come to any person with his care and deliverance. God does sometimes help those who cannot, or perhaps just do not, help themselves. (So much for another well-known generalization!) The religious system of his day left the multitudes out, but Jesus welcomed them all into his kingdom. Anyone could come as well as any other. They still can. That is the gospel of the Beatitudes (Willard, The Divine Conspiracy, p. 116).

 I would encourage you to look into the book a little more if anything I've said has peaked your curiosity.

I, do, however, disagree with Willard on his assessment of the "pure in heart."

Based on his assertion that Jesus is only looking at the "lowest of the low," Willard describes the pure in heart as the perfectionist who is never satisfied because nothing is ever good enough for them. They are hard on others and harder on themselves. But inside the kingdom, yes, even they will be blessed because one day, they will finally actually see and realize perfection because they will see God and therefore finally be satisfied.

While I agree with the truth of that principle, I have a hard time agreeing that Jesus is using the "pure in heart" in that negative sense. It seems to go against the desire for purity of heart that we are encouraged to have everywhere else in scripture (2 Sam. 22:27; Ps 18:26; 24:3-5; 73:1; Is 52:11; 2 Cor 11:2-3; Phil 1:10; 2:15; 1 Tim 1:5; 5:22; 2 Tim 2:22; Tit 2:5; 1 John 3:3). When talking about being pure, we are talking about being free from contamination. My understanding of "pure in heart" then is all about  being absolutely pure in our devotion to God. There is no desire in our heart that competes with the desire to know God. I think of Paul's words in Philippians 3: 7-11:

But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything as loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him,...

 The only possible way I could agree with Willards idea that Jesus is referring to the pure in heart in a negative sense would be more in line with someone who is pure in their own eyes. Proverbs 20:9 speaks to that when it says "Who can say, 'I have kept my heart pure. I am clean and without sin?'" But that context doesn't seem to fit naturally with Jesus' words.

So what could Jesus be saying then?

I believe it's very simple. The principle of the openness of the kingdom of heaven to all who will enter through Christ is still the same. Jesus has talked about those who are spiritually poor being able to be welcomed and blessed inside the kingdom, but at the other end of the spectrum, those, like Saul of Tarsus, who have tried their entire lives to serve God, but have failed- those who are "the pure in heart"-  they are ALSO beautifully and wonderfully welcomed and blessed inside the kingdom! And that which is their heart's greatest desire- to see God- will be given them!

To me, this is a message of comfort as much as anything else. What person who is seeking to follow God's will in their life but gets confused about the details does not get frustrated and impatient for God to show up in a more obvious way? What Christian who is pure in heart doesn't ask the question with Paul about which is better- to die and be with Christ or to live and serve him longer on the earth (Phil 1:22-24)? And to that person, Jesus says, "you can be blessed! You can rest assured that you will be given what you so earnestly desire. You  WILL one day see God!"

That's great news to me! What difference will it make in your life today?