Matthew 5:1-12
The Beatitudes
1Now when he saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, 2and he began to teach them saying:
3"Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
5Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth.
6Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled.
7Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
8Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.
9Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called sons of God.
10Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11"Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
Beatitudes is from Latin and means happy, fortunate, and blissful...It is an interesting definition as one reads the entire Sermon on the Mount...Each of Jesus beatitudes has a condition and a result of that condition...To our desire for wealth, He says blessed are the poor in spirit...God created and everything is His...Jesus teaches us to be good stewards...Respecting everything around us, no matter what condition we are in, is what He teaches...He wants us to be content no matter what our status, especially our wealth status...Regardless, of how we feel or what are mood and attitude is...There is the kingdom of heaven, as a result for those who are poor in spirit...
Weeping and mourning does not seem like a blessing...Most of us would normally not think of ourselves blessed when we mourn...Most of us do not want to cry and mourn...For our desire is sometimes to be famous or honored...But Jesus says blessed are the meek...He tells us it is blessed to be hungry, when most of us want our favorite food every meal, if we can afford it and have access to that food...
We cannot reach our potential on earth...Jesus gives us His viewpoint about above, about heaven...We cannot come close to or reach our potential by desiring and focusing on being rich and having material things, or by focusing on our daily happiness, or by trying to be famous, or by not being merciful to others, or not loving our enemies, or when we persecute the righteousness...He mentions persecuted twice...He emphasizes persecution for the sake of God and His Son must not be forgotten...When we spread His word (or try to spread His word) and are persecuted for it, we know and must remember we are blessed for it...
C. S. Lewis says, from God in the Dock, if we look at this world as a place just to be happy, we will find it quite intolerable...But if we find earth as a place of training and correction it is tolerable...Jesus taught things very different than any other teacher on earth...Most teaches, politicians, and scientists say this is our universe and how we think it works...And this is the road you should take in life, for a better world, better for your health, to live longer, to be happier, how to better global warming, and how to better your country...But Jesus says I AM the Way, the Truth, and the Life...Follow Me, because I AM the Way, in fact, the only way...I will take you deeper, much deeper than the other ways you see...
He flips the things we want on earth upside down...There are much greater things than the desires we have on earth and gathering material things, while we are on earth...Jesus goes deeper and beyond the human condition...His result and the deep result of each condition is what He teaches...Jesus teaches us not to be enslaved by the things of this world...There is something else, there is more...The best things are to be found in spiritual things, the eternal things...He talks about about a place where there not only be happiness, but a place where happiness will divinely flourish...This place is heaven...Jesus knows only there through Him, we can reach our potential...
After reading the Sermon on the Mount and looking at the world and headlines, are we doing things right?...