The Beatitudes

 

Historians tell us that Martin Luther originally had a hard time trying to live up to the strict demands of the Old Testament to  the point of  literally "beating himself" at times. In time he came to the realization that salvation was not a matter of yielding to a set of written laws and that Jesus came to set us free from the “law.”  And so he entered his perspective on  the Bible by placing books he didn’t care for at the end.  We know Luther wasn’t the first or the last to try to “edit” the Bible.  I suppose if we're really being honest, Luther did on paper what we often do in fact, take issue what seems to run counter to the will of a loving God.  

Jesus opens the “Sermon on the Mount” with the beatitudes, which while not really instructions for living, are a declaration of God's love and grace being poured out through Jesus (Luke 6 17, 20-26). The Beatitudes are the very essence of Jesus’ message: that the kingdom of God is at hand.  If you wonder what the kingdom of God is about, look at the beatitudes.  It means blessings, peace and comfort for those who are disenfranchised and living on the edge of society.  Right from the start of this “sermon,” Jesus makes an elaborate statement about the grace that God gives to all people who will open their hearts to it.  

 Jewish religious leaders cited specific rules one must follow, while Jesus called his disciples to live from their heart.  That means it’s not just the egregious offense against humanity that is wrong but it's avoiding the behavior, mindset and internal provocation that leads to the offense. This mindful approach requires us to examine and know behavioral triggers that lead to uncontrolled actions and alter them before they are acted out. This becomes a transformative way of living in the mind of Christ. This spiritual transformation leads to a proactive way of living the beatitudes. 

In reality, Jesus didn’t make it easier to obey God’s commands, he made it harder.  He went back to the original intention, to inspire people to live in the mind of Christ with  innate justice, compassion, and mercy toward one another, not for fear of punishment or in order to gain some reward but because God’s grace had changed their hearts, and they could do no less. In other words, for Jesus, obeying God is not just a matter of what we do, it’s who we are. The Waking Dreamer, Alan Brehm, “Light for the World,” February 12, 2014