I’ve been reading the Christian Bible, the New Testament, in a different translation. I like to do that. The new choices of words open my mind enabling deeper insights into meaning. These sentences are the first two “Beatitudes” or the opening words of the way Matthew presented what we call The Sermon on the Mount.
- You’re blessed when you’re at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more of God and his rule.
- Your blessed when you feel you’ve lost what is most dear to you. Only then can you be embraced by the one most dear to you.
Both of these speak to our condition. When we are too full of ourselves, too full of our competence, importance, possessions, people, then we have no room for God.
The presentation seems to prepare us for all the teaching that follows throughout Matthew chapters 5, 6, 7.
We should not have the hubris to dive in and just read those teachings as if we can easily pick up the meaning. We must begin, much like the 12-step program, by recognizing our limitations, by emptying our self-importance. Then we can appropriately approach what Jesus is trying to teach us.
Scholars, both professional and amateur, miss the next point which is the conclusion of of the sermon:
Whoever hears these words and does them…
Faith Venture 
Leave a Reply