Zehring - The one minute beatitude a brief review of jesus beatitudes

Smashwords Edition

Copyright 2015 John Zehring

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Matthew 5:1-12 (NRSV)

When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain;and after he sat down, his disciples came to him. Then he began tospeak, and taught them, saying:

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 forrighteousness,

for they will be filled.

Blessed are the merciful,

for they will receive mercy.

Blessed are the pure in heart,

for they will see God.

Blessed are the peacemakers,

for they will be called children of God.

Blessed are those who are persecuted forrighteousness' sake,

for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are you when people revile you and persecuteyou and

utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on myaccount. Rejoice and be glad,

for your reward is great in heaven, for in the sameway

they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

The Beatitudes, which are sometimes described asbeautiful attitudes, are found at the beginning of one ofthe most important collections of Jesus teachings: The Sermon onthe Mount, found in Matthew 5, 6, and 7.

Consider what occurred just before: We are at thebeginning of Jesus public ministry. In the previous chapter, Jesusemerged from thirty years of silence, had been baptized, had beentempted in the wilderness, and then the first thing he did was torecruit his twelve disciples. He invited them to followme. The scriptures do not record him telling them anythingabout what he believed, what he stood for, or where he was heading.All we know is that they dropped their nets on the pier, left theirboats and followed him. Something very special must have happenedin his invitation. Perhaps it was in his eyes or on his face, butsomething about him attracted these men who worked with their handsto follow him even though at this point they knew very little abouthim.

Now, beginning in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesusbegins their orientation. This is Introduction to Discipleship.Christianity 101. Basic Training. This is the beginning summary ofhis ministry, teaching, and leading women and men to God. This ishis first teaching to the twelve to whom he is entrusting thefuture of his work. What he starts with is: The Beatitudes.

The Beatitudes are the nine verse which begin withthe words Blessed are Blessed. The Greek word ismakarios which means "fortunate, well off, orhappy."

One translation of the bible actually used the wordhappy instead: How happy are the humble-minded, forthe kingdom of Heaven is theirs! (J. B. Phillips). Weapplaud efforts to bring ancient language into our contemporaryunderstanding, but happy does not seem to have the samedepth or richness as blessed. People who say they feelblessed are people who feel fortunate, grateful or happy. They knowthey are blessed BY GOD, which makes this different than theemotion of happiness. Anyone can experience an emotion ofhappiness, but only people of faith can know they are blessed byGod.

The Beatitudes are not commandments. They are notrules or advice. Rather than demand followers engage in specificactions, Jesus simply and brilliantly commended those who docalling them blessed. As the Sermon on the Mount begins withblessed are, it initially appears to be a lovelydescription of people who are trying to be faithful to God. Butthen, the teachings morph into a form of extreme Christianity asJesus begins to make plain his intent that followers put God firstin their lives. Jesus emphasizes the word first in the nextchapter when he encourages his disciples to Strive first forthe kingdom of God and his righteousness. To be a follower, hemakes clear, is more than an avocation, interest or activity. It isfirst and central in the life of one who believes.

It is likely that the Sermon on the Mount is not asingle sermon but a collection of Jesus teachings to hisdisciples. One key reason to consider this is because the Sermon onthe Mount contains too much to think about at one time. It is toorich a mixture for one sitting. Jesus, a master teacher, would notseek to overwhelm his new and inexperienced pupils with more thanthey could handle at one sitting. The Beatitudes represent thefirst thing that Jesus taught. And so, the goal of this eBook is tohelp you consider an explanation of each one briefly. Volumes couldbe written about each, but there is also value to having a briefexplanation to orient yourself. The One MinuteBeatitude might take a minute or so to briefly review eachBeatitude. Together, they are too rich a mixture to handle at onetime, but as you reflect upon them individually and as a whole, youbegin to see a pattern to Jesus message. The pattern of these, hisfirst teachings, fires the shot across the bow that much will beasked of those who choose to follow the way of God. However, eachaction on Gods behalf will be accompanied by a blessing.

The word bless, blessed,blessings are churchy words. You could not make it through aworship service without hearing those words. I am indebted tosinger Elton John for taking this word out of the church andputting it back into contemporary usage with his hit songYoull be blessed. He sings:

Hey you, you're a child in my head

You have not walked yet

Your first words have yet to be said

But I swear you'll be blessed.

And you, you'll be blessed

You'll have the best

I promise you that

I'll pick a star from the sky

Pull your name from a hat

I promise you that

I promise you that

Promise you that

You'll be blessed.

(Music by Elton John, lyrics by Bernie Taupin)

In the Beatitudes, Jesus is telling his disciplesYoull be blessed. Some of those teachings might make youwonder how you could be blessed under the circumstances hedescribes like being persecuted. Some may feel counter-intuitive,like when you were taught to turn into the direction of your carsliding on ice. So let us explore Jesus Beatitudes. As youconsider them and allow them to stir around in your soul, may yoube blessed.

John Zehring

It does not say poor, although Lukes versiondoes. I think Matthews version is more accurate. Sometimes peoplewho are poor feel blessed, even more so than those who are notpoor. But it is not consistent with the rest of Jesus teachings tothink he believed poverty was a good thing. Jesus would never havecalled blessed a condition where people live in slums, donot have enough to eat or where health deteriorates. Christians, inservice to God, aim to remove that kind of poverty from Godschildren.

This says poor in spirit. The first thing thatmight pop into the mind is why does it not say RICH in spirit? Thatwould appear to make sense. You would think that a person of faithwho has cultivated a deep, seasoned walk with God and a maturity ofspirit would be rich in spirit and thereby blessed. But Jesus chosethe opposite word.