Skip to content
priorities in Christian life
The Main Thing

The Main Thing

  • About
  • Faith Blog
  • Faith Hope and Love and Contact

The Beatitudes Are An Amazing Picture

Jim June 28, 2020 Theology

Beatitudes are an amazing picture
Plaque of the Beatitudes at the Church of the Beatitudes

The Beatitudes are an amazing picture of the kingdom of God that needs another look.

Let me list the picture.

Blessed are:

  • The poor in spirit
  • Those who mourn
  • The meek
  • Those who hunger and thirst for righteousness
  • The merciful
  • The pure in heart
  • The peacemakers
  • Those who are persecuted

If you gave a portrait artist 8 aspects of what someone looked like, they could give you a pretty good picture of that person.

Here Jesus gives us 8 invisible aspects of a proper Christian.  I sense this is a person who I would like to meet. Would you? Would you admire such a person? What’s more, this person appears to be a friend of the weak and down trodden. They are strong in the softest of ways.  Jesus meant this for all of us, really? Jesus does not here seem to be speaking of a subset of Christians. His goal is never to chain us down, but rarther to set us free. So what does he have here?

Deeper water is that Jesus announces woes for people who are the opposite of this in Luke 6:24-26.

These Beatitudes Are an Amazing Picture, Can We See?

What would such a community look like? Could it reach the lost? Yes, I think it could change the world. Jesus just wants to make us be that awkward way? Or is this what the kingdom of Heaven is like? Is this our future? Paul the Apostle was not like this. Was he? Barnabas may have been, but was that by personality? Should Paul apologize for not being like Barnabas?  So is Jesus simply saying these people who the world does not often value are actually blessed in the kingdom of Heaven? See also A Guide to Gaining Humility.

Perhaps many of us do not want to be like that person. I see that person as not me. I know that my kids need me to open my heart and be more meek, merciful, etc. Furthermore, especially we men all need to consider this picture more closely. We do not need to become women. We need to be strong and have a gentleness that can warm the world.

I see that this person that Jesus described must caste their hope on the Kingdom of God as the only power that can save them and their loved ones. We all need to knwo dependence in God more. It is our future.

May God help us all to seek these things in our heart and in our lives when they fit with what God has for us at that time.

 

facebookShare on Facebook
TwitterTweet
FollowFollow us
Great Vision Needs Great LeadershipPREV
How Does God Work in COVID-19? How Can We?NEXT

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary

Recent Posts

  • Care for the Alien Among You
  • What About Life in the Spirit?
  • God is Bigger Since 1277AD
  • God Is Not Our Grandfather-He is More
  • New Life Already Began

Recent Comments

  • Jim on Chinese Church Faith Report
  • Anonymous on Chinese Church Faith Report
  • Brenda Hanson on Started a Blog for God and Did Not Pray
  • Carling S Labitoria on A Lesson Learned From My Great Grandfather
  • Donata on Faith Without Religion – Who Started That?

Archives

  • March 2023
  • February 2023
  • January 2023
  • December 2022
  • November 2022
  • October 2022
  • September 2022
  • August 2022
  • July 2022
  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019

Categories

  • About Me
  • Church Work
  • Culture/Sociology Issues
  • Family Issues
  • outside input
  • Theology
  • Uncategorized

Meta

  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.org

Created with Taproot