REVERSED LIVING
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Opening Prayer
God, my Father, establish me in the truth of your Word. Help me to make it my mainstay in all I think and do.
Read MATTHEW 5:1—12
For additional translations of the passage, use this link to Bible Gateway.
Matthew
Matthew 5
1 Now when he saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him,
2 and he began to teach them saying:
3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
5 Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
7 Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.
10 Blessed 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.
12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
Reflect
Where do you find yourself most encouraged personally in the Beatitudes?
Now that his ministry has begun, great crowds swarm to Jesus. Matthew records the heart of Jesus’ teaching in this sermon. Could he have begun his teaching more controversially than with these nine claims? For people who view success in terms of achieving self-fulfillment, this is outrageous nonsense. We must, however, have the right understanding of the word ‘blessed.’ The popular translation, ‘happy,’ is misleading because happiness often depends on how we respond to life’s possibilities. No, blessed is a God word about something that only he can do for us. Blessedness is about receiving and working in God’s new possibilities. Wright suggests that it’s as if Jesus announces a new covenant by which upside-down living can occur.1 It’s all about how we enter into relationship with God. These are not impossible human aspirations, but divine possibilities—hard work, but possible with him!
The first beatitude helps to set the scene for the rest. We might expect: ‘Blessed are the rich in spirit’—people with spiritual depth who are prayerful and godly. ‘Poor in spirit’ sounds pathetically weak. Quite so! Jesus tells us that a kind of poverty is truly the key to real living in God’s purpose. In the Psalms, poverty means humility that cries out to God, like that of a hopeless spiritual beggar.2 It’s not about strutting through life full of self-confidence. Jesus says that God blesses those who recognize how much they must put their trust in him.
Spiritual beggars know their need of God and are open to the divine ways by which he comforts the mourning, blesses the meek, fills those longing for righteousness, shows mercy to the merciful, embraces the pure in heart and peacemakers, and promises to be with those who are persecuted. It’s a whole new way of receiving God’s help for his blessed, reversed way of living.
Apply
Let’s repeat the daily Eastern Orthodox prayer: ‘Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’
Closing prayer
Lord, challenge me with your call to a radical new way of living—life open to your many blessings.
1 Tom Wright, Matthew for Everyone (SPCK, 2004), 36, 37 2 Ps 34:6.
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