No, They Won’t
“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.” Matthew 5:8 NASB
See God – But, of course, לֹֽא־יִרְאַ֥נִי הָֽאָדָ֖ם וָחָֽי, “no man can see and live.” So what is Yeshua saying. Is it just theory? If we were but righteous enough (which, by the way, we aren’t), then we could see God. But, of course, לֹֽא־יִרְאַ֥נִי הָֽאָדָ֖ם וָחָֽי. This isn’t the only place in the Scriptures that expresses this contradiction. In fact, the rabbis struggled with this (as we saw in yesterday’s investigation). Heschel added one more twist:
“There is a contrary view, stated anonymously, that declares: ‘The Holy and Blessed One is at times seen and at times not seen; at times He listens and at times He does not listen; at times He is sought and at times he is not sought; at times He is to be found and at times He is not to be found; at times He is near and at times He is not near.’ This view finds support in the many contradictory scriptural verse we have already seen, which alternatively affirm and deny that human saw God (Exodus 33:11; 33:18; 24:10;24:17; Deuteronomy 4:12, 16).”[1]
Maybe Yeshua is expressing this contrary view. Or maybe he’s saying that in the ‘olam ha’ba we will see God, but not here in this realm. Maybe he’s a contrarian. I commented on this in my book, The Lucky Life. Some review of that study is needed. We have to begin with the Greek text of Matthew and then try to figure out what Hebrew idea Yeshua had in mind.
The Greek word that is translated “pure” in this verse is katharos. Our direct descendent in English is “catharsis.” In both Greek and English, the meaning is really “purged” or “cleansed.” It’s easy to see how it could be translated “pure” since that is the result of being cleansed or purged, but there is just the slightest shift in nuance. That shift makes a difference. If the word is “pure,” we immediately think of something that requires no alteration. It is perfect in itself. But “cleansed” immediately implies that it was once not acceptable and has now been altered. Suddenly, this Beatitude is on new ground. It is about an essential change in quality.
Let’s examine the background of this word katharos. There are two Greek words that are translated “pure.” One is katharos, the other is hagnos. The background of katharos is ritual cleansing. The background of hagnos is holiness (it comes from a word meaning “to stand in awe”). It is immediately apparent that Yeshua deliberately talks about purity in the sense of religious ritual, not about purity in the sense of holiness before God. Why would he do this?
One of the consistent messages of Yeshua was the need of the believer to understand that purity does not come from outer observance. Most of his conflicts with the Pharisees were about this point. But in this Beatitude, it appears that he is speaking precisely about ritual purity. He literally says, “Happy are the cleansed.” This is, of course, exactly what his listening audience would have expected.
Yeshua must have aroused the interest of the religious practitioners with this statement. He started out saying exactly what they wanted to hear. It’s all about being “clean.” The word is deliberate. Everyone in that audience knew exactly what he was saying when that word came from his mouth. Follow the rules – all of them – meticulously, stringently, continually. But suddenly the context changed. “Clean in the heart.” What rules were there for being clean in the heart? Suddenly it didn’t matter how many times you washed your hands, how many wordy invocations you recited or how many sacrifices you brought to the altar.
Even more incredible was that fact that Yeshua wasn’t saying that those rituals were going to be replaced by another set of rules. He was saying something far more unbelievable. He was saying that none of the rituals were good enough if they did not produce a clean heart. Of course they couldn’t make a heart clean. Nothing on earth could! It was the book of Job all over again: “Can a man be more pure than his Maker?”
The concept was not new. David told us who would stand in the holy place. Only the man “who has clean hands and a pure heart” has any hope of standing before God (Psalm 24:3-4). The Hebrew words that David uses have the following meanings: “clean hands” means “free of guilt” and “pure heart” means “exonerated of blame.” Who could ever make such a claim? Even the mighty prophet Isaiah was struck with fear in the presence of the holy God when he said, “Woe is me for I am a man of unclean lips.” The verdict is in. Every Jew knew the decision before the bailiff read it. The prophets only confirmed (Jeremiah 17:9) what had been true since Noah. Every man’s heart was evil (Genesis 6:5). No one could stand before the Almighty and claim to have a clean heart.
As if that weren’t bad enough, Yeshua went on to say that the ones who had no guilt and were free of blame in their hearts would see God. That must have put incredible fear in his audience. Even Moses had to shield his face. Seeing God was a recipe for annihilation. No one could see God and live. Two impossibilities in the same announcement.
A Beatitude is not a bestowal of favor. It is not a “blessing” that implies one party granting a favor to another party. A Beatitude is really a marcarism—an announcement of an existing state—a condition of happiness. Yeshua was not saying, “You are blessed because you have a clean heart and that gives you a ticket to see God.” He was saying, “You happy people who have clean hearts.” In other words, it is the clean heart that brings about happiness. And, by the way, this state of happiness also means you are going to see God.
Let’s look at that phrase “you shall see God.” The root verb is horáō. Here it is future tense, middle voice. This is an activity that has particular importance to the subject. It is not “you will see” but rather “you will see for yourself.” We have already noted that “seeing God” was considered a fearful thing. Since everyone is unworthy, standing face to face with absolute holiness meant certain destruction. In light of this fact, what could Yeshua possibly mean?
Most commentators regard this phrase as eschatological. They interpret it as an announcement about the eventual presentation before God in heaven. Purity of heart qualifies a person to be in God’s presence, a fact that will not come true until we finally leave this world behind. But there is another theme that flows from this metaphor. Yeshua repeats it over and over in his ministry. It is this: only the man whose life has been made righteous by God (pure in heart) has the eyes to see God’s hand in the world today. This is the same idea that is captured in the often-repeated proclamation, “He who has ears, let him hear.” In order to perceive the presence of God, one must be cleansed. If this is what Yeshua has in mind, simply stating it was evidence that the external ritual purity of the culture was completely inadequate. External purity could never prepare a man to stand before God nor would it allow men to observe the presence of God in his midst.
horáō helps us to understand this subtlety. There are several Greek verbs for observing. Greeks have been called “people of the eye.” Their approach to reality is primarily visual. But Greek influenced by Hebrew thought is not simply about recording what is visible. The Hebrew influence requires that what is seen is also understood. Yeshua is saying that the pure in heart rejoice because they truly see. The character of their inner spiritual eyes has been changed so that their perception discovers God in what they see. In this sense, seeing itself is paradoxical. It is entirely possible to “see” and not “see” at all. Only those who look with invisible eyes actually see – and what they see is the invisible God.[2]
Now we can compare Yeshua’s declaration with the alternative, anonymous view of the rabbis, and suddenly we discover that he is voicing something already familiar to that community. Not Ishmael’s view. Not Akiva’s view. But someone else, someone unnamed. But not outside the arena of Jewish thinking.
What have we discovered? First, that “seeing God” needs to be carefully rethought. And second, that Yeshua is well within the Jewish rabbinic community when he expresses his views. Once more we realize that the gospel of Matthew is thoroughly Jewish. Surprise, surprise!
Topical Index: Exodus 33:20, see God, Matthew 5:8
[1] Abraham Heschel, Heavenly Torah as Refracted through the Generations ((ed. and trans. by Gordon Tucker, Continuum International Publishing Group, New York, 2007), p. 311.
[2] Citations from The Lucky Life.
