The you will Beatitudes

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.

Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Have you ever met someone who said something like this? "I don't have a problem with the teachings of Jesus, I just don't go in for all this talk about him being the Son of God, sin, the Atonement and the Resurrection." Often, when someone talks about "Jesus's teachings" or "the ethical teachings of Jesus", they're referring to The Sermon on the Mount. This approach couldn't be further from the truth. The key to reading The Sermon on the Mount is to recognize that Jesus is speaking to his disciples. These teachings are not for the world, but for those who have experienced the miracle of the new birth. The world may listen in (and even approve), but to accept Jesus's teachings without accepting Jesus is to be like the "foolish man who built his house on the sand". Another way to put it would be: trying to live out the ethical teachings of Jesus without the Holy Spirit's power is a recipe for disaster -- "and great was the fall of it" -- as the old King James language says.

The Sermon on the Mount isn't a kinder, gentler version of the Law. No! It's a devastating fulfillment of the Mosaic Law. I can imagine conscientious followers of the law listening to Jesus with growing dismay as he continues to up the ante. Over and over he says, "you have heard it said...BUT I SAY". No wonder the crowds went away "astonished"! Disconnecting the teachings of Jesus from the Atonement and Resurrection of the Son of God is a really bad idea.

The Sermon begins with a series of gracious announcements by our Lord, better known as The Beatitudes. Or as you may been taught in Sunday School "the Be Attitudes". These are not moral imperatives, they're Jesus describing what his disciples will look like. You will be poor in spirit, you will mourn, you will be meek, you will yearn for righteousness, you will be merciful, you will be pure in heart, you will be peacemakers, and you will be persecuted because of me. And you will be blessed! If our lives don't resemble the picture Jesus paints, and if our heart's desire is not to more and more look like this, then we should seriously wonder if we truly are his disciple.

It's really neat to see how much of the New Testament is basically an exposition of these nine short statements of Jesus. Jesus is the fulfillment of the Law and our only hope of not being eternally crushed under it's weight. The beloved disciple John wrote:

Beloved, I am writing you no new commandment, but an old commandment that you had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word that you have heard. At the same time, it is a new commandment that I am writing to you, which is true in him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining. 1 John 2:7-8

That my friends, is about as good a description of Christian life (being born again) as you'll find in the Bible -- "the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining."

Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!