beatitudes

Just a little tid bit from yesterday's readings especially the gospel of Matthew 5:1-12.

Here we encounter the beginning of the Sermon of the Mount. The Sermon of the mount is the most famous homily given by Jesus. It spans three chapters of Matthew's gospel from 5 trhough 7. IT fact in these chapters all Jesus does is talk.

If you had a red letter bible, a bible that highlights the words of JEsus in red, then these pages would bleed red. There is a whole lot of talking going on. More importantly, there is a lot of listening go on, on the part of the disciples.

Jesus preaches for three chapters straight. The gospel of Matthew contains 28 chapters. For three chapters Jesus talks, the remainder of the book in about Jesus in action. So he talks a little and does a lot.

This is the paradigm for our life: a few words and lot of action. Most of get in trouble when we focus on talking and not enough on action.

now we get the Sermon itself. The sermon is the magna charta of Christian excellence, a recipe for holiness, the blue print for our lives. We should spend some time reading the Sermon of the Mount. In it we find those familiar passages: you are the salt of the earth, light of the world, turn the other cheek, take the wood out of your own eye, seek the kingdom and every thing will be added unto to you, knock and the door wil be open. These are just a few of the sound bites you encounter in these three chapters.

Now for the sermon.
Just a few things to notice.

First the gospel tells us that Jesus sees the crowd and goes up the mountain, sits down then his disciples come to him and he teaches them.

Jesus sees the crowd. There a lot of people who come to him from all over. He is being hemmed in and crushed by the number and mass of the crowd.

Jesus goes up the mountain after seeing the crowd being aware of this scene that lays open before him.

Going up the mountain in the biblical record is important. Going up the mountain always signifies drawing closer to God, a sign of communion with God, a sign of prayer.

Moses goes up the mountain and receives the ten commandments; Elijah goes up the mountain and hears the voice of God. JEsus goes up the mountain then opens his mouth and gives us the beatitudes. Jesus prays before he teaches and what he teaches is not his own opinion but the gift of the father to us.

Then Jesus sits down. Sitting is important as well. In Jesus' time the rabbis would sit in order to teach. The disciples would come to them after they sat down. Here Jesus is sitting as sign of his teaching office and authority. Notice that Jesus doesn't sit on a chair made by human hands but on a mountain, made by the hand of God. Already the gospel writer is trying to tell us just how important this Jesus is.

After Jesus sits, his disciples come to him. There is a crowd around him but only his disciples come to him. There is something important here as well.

One in order to be a disciple, one must remove themselves from the crowd. As a disciple we cannot be just another face in the crowd. We must separate ourselves from everyone else. Jesus calls out of the crowd in order to teach us. Notice the disciples sat down that is they allowed themselves to be taught. One of the greatest gifts we can give Jesus is the opportunity for him to teach us, mold us, form us. We have to sit long enough to be taught.

What about the crowd. Where did they go? Why did they not sit down along with the others.
Think about it for a moment. The crowd mentality is one that looks for a immediate reward or a quick fix. They are not necessarily invested for the lang haul.

The crowd came because they wanted Jesus to do something fantastic. They wanted to see him cure the blind, make the leper whole, make the lame to walk, cast out demons and if not walk on water a least jump from the mountain. They did not want a lecture; they did not want to be talked to or even talked at. No! That takes time and energy.

No the crowd wanted a quick fix but JEsus was offering something for the long haul.
They wanted to see what Jesus could do not so much interested in who he was.

They wanted an immediate reward and Jesus was offering a way of life.

This is the essential reality of the beatitudes.

They are not immediate nor are they quick but they do provide a blue print for long term profitability in the kingdom of God.

They only make sense in this light. As a disciple you have follow Jesus for who he is not for what he can immediately give.

Besides look at the beatitudes.
Blessed are the poor in spirit: blessed are those who are beaten to their knees.
Blessed are the meek: blessed are those passed over or pushed around.
Blessed are those who mourn; blessed are those who have tear stained cheeks.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness: blessed are those who are not satisfied with what they can get or earn or obtain .
Blessed are the pure of heart: the undivided and focused and zeroed in on God alone; those who are ridiculed and laughed at as freaks.
Blessed are the peacemakers though they receive violence.
Blessed are those who are persecuted: blessed are those who are being chased and hounded by the authorities.

These things only make sense if we are in it for Jesus and him alone.
This is the path of beatitude.

Ultimately our reward for all we do is Him and nothing less for there is nothing more.