A PRAYER TO START
This prayer from Psalm 119 as be re-phrased as a confession that the way of Jesus is indeed the way life is meant to be lived. Begin your time praying it 3xs…
Bless-ed, satisfyingly happy, am I because I have stayed the course, walking steadily on the road you revealed, Father, in Jesus. Bless-ed, how fortunate am I because I follow your directions, with all my heart seeking your ways. I will not go off on my own, but will walk straight along the road Jesus has set before me. You, Father, have prescribed the right way to live and you expect me to live it. Father, let my steps be steady on the course, keeping in step with Jesus who walks with me. In such a life there is no shame for my ways are your way. Thank you Father for speaking straight from your heart, for showing me a way with you. Let me continue to learn the patterns of your paths. I will do whatever you ask of me for I know you will never walk off and leave me. Amen.
DIVING INTO THE DETAILS
The “Beatitudes” in Matthew 5:3-12 reveal the upside-down nature of the kingdom of God. The same kingdom we are to turn towards as we walk away from, well, any other kingdom. After all, Jesus called the women and men of his day, as well as ours, to “Repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand”, or “is here” (4:17). And, that’s what “repent” means, to turn from going one way and to go another. Jesus’ proclamation then is an invitation to follow him on a different path, and this opening declaration is Jesus’ description of this new path he will be walking with you and I. In other words, Jesus is helping us get a glimpse of the road map we will be using to travel this kingdom life, so it would be good to pay attention!
The way of Jesus is a bit, different. We have acknowledge that several times! But it is not merely the actions and attitudes which Jesus gives honor to that are strikingly unanticipated. In fact, there are three things about Jesus’ understanding of the very path itself that are quite surprising too.
First, Jesus uses an amusing word to mark the course. At least it sounds funny to you and I as it rolls off our tongues. The word is “Blessed”. It is not a word commonly spoken, except perhaps by your loving grandmother. “Blessed” feels a tad silly to say, it also tends to connote the idea of invoking a “blessing” or a wish for something good to happen. Such as, “Please Lord, bless our travels,” or “Have a blessed day.” So, is Jesus invoking a blessing to the poor in spirit, the mournful, the meek and the like? Is he simply asking God to make things good for them? Which would sort of make sense when talking about a journey, a path, right? We start out at point A in one state—poor in spirit for example—and then we arrive at point B in an altered state—blessed. Is that what Jesus is saying?
Well, no. The word Matthew uses that we translate as “Blessed” in Hebrew is the word asir, and in the Greek is the word makarios. These words contain no hint of wishful thinking, as sincere as such thinking may be. Rather, they recognize an “existing state of happiness or good fortune” (Brown, 553). In other words, Jesus is not saying I hope the poor in spirit will be blessed, but the poor in spirit are already bless-ed. What? It sounds like Jesus is saying that at point A we are already in same state as point B. Does Jesus know how “paths” work?
I think he does! But that is what is so surprising about the way of Jesus. While it is true we experience a life of following him in the linear direction of time (day after day) which feels like we are going towards something; yet, because we are on the path with him we are already where we are going—even while getting there! Mind blowing I know. Super important, absolutely. And, not the only shocking thing about the path of faith.
If those following the path are already “bless-ed”, already in a state of happiness and good fortune with God, then the attitudes and actions are not sought out for the reward of happiness or kingdom life; for the reward is already their possession. Kenneth E. Bailey (68) was a scholar and professor of Middle Eastern New Testament studies and explains this astonishing twist much better than I can. He says,
As a group, the Beatitudes do not mean ‘Blessed are the people who do X because they will receive Y.’ The point is not exhortation for a certain type of behavior. Instead they should be read with the sense, ‘Look at the authentic spirituality and joy of these people who have or will be given X.’
Put in concrete terms we could say, ‘Bless-ed is the happy daughter of Mr. Jones because she will inherit the Jones’s farm.’ The women in question is already the happy daughter of Mr. Jones. She is not working to earn the farm. Everyone knows that key element in her happy and secure life is that she and the community around her know that the farm will one day be hers.
The first statement [Bless-ed is the happy daughter of Mr. Jones] affirms a happy state that already exists. The second statement [because she will inherit the Jones’s farm] affirms a future that allows her even now to live a happy life.
When we follow Bailey’s logic, the first beatitude “Bless-ed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven”, means that those who fear God, who seek God with a contrite and humble heart, already possess the kingdom! It is theirs now, even if the full possession of it (like Ms. Jones) will not be for some time and probably will come with some trouble (i.e. “persecuted” (5:10)). The road of kingdom life is not one in which we earn what we seek, rather we possess what we long for. Mind blowing I know. Super important, absolutely. And, not the final astounding thing about the path of faith.
The nature of the way of Jesus startles us, and in our startled state we often perceive that the path of faith is a new one. After all, it is quite different than we are used to. Yet, Jesus concludes his description of the path reminding us that his way is actually not new at all. Jesus says in verse 12,
Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
Jesus inserts himself and those who follow him into a long history of God saving, redeeming, and recreating. While Jesus certainly is the way forward, he did not appear out of nowhere. His path is no accident, no detour due to sin. His way has always been the way, even if we should need to rediscover it in habitual fashion.
Already where we are going, and in possession of that which we longingly seek as we walk upon a path that seems new but is not. Such is life with Jesus!
DEVELOPING DISCERNMENT
Because the path of kingdom life is so unintuitive for you and I, we need to learn to discern the layout, curves, dips, bends and bumps of the road less traveled. Don’t skip this part. Information is of little use in quickening a transformed life if we are undiscerning people. Take the time to thoughtfully answer these questions, and maybe use them as conversation starters in Gospel Community, at work or in your home. Doing so will pay dividends in the long run!
- If a friend where to ask you “What does it look like to follow Jesus?” what would you say to her?
- Would you start describing to him attitudes and actions? If so, which ones?
- Jesus starts his description with a statement of reality, already “bless-ed” are those along his path. How does Jesus’ starting point possibly change your starting point?
- Read the quotation from Bailey above one more time. How does his way of describing how the kingdom path differs from anticipate road of faith you have heard others speak about?
- How might the understanding, or misunderstanding, of behaviors and rewards in relation to the way of Jesus impact how your friends (perhaps you too) hear and respond to Jesus' invitation to repent?
- In what ways might describing the way of Jesus as “not working to earn the farm” because it is already possessed by those on the way help your co-worker or child understand the path or faith better?
- How have you been attempting to follow Jesus?
- In what ways are you trying to do things in order to gain things?
- Could you be described as one who is “already happy and secure” because you and your community know that what you long for is already yours? Why or why not?
As we begin to discern the way the path of Jesus differs from the course we often set, we will become ones who can “truth in love”. Ones who live out the truth we speak to each other and our neighbors.
A PRAYER TO CLOSE
Flannery O’Connor offers a prayer that we too need to offer as we follow the way of Jesus with sincerity and honesty; often asking for a “feeling” that this way—because it strikes us strangely—is indeed the way:
Perhaps the feeling I keep asking for, is something again selfish—something to help me to feel that everything with me is all right. And yet it seems only natural but maybe being thus natural is being thus selfish. My mind is a most insecure thing, not be depended on. It gives me scruples at one minute & leaves me lax the next. If I must know all these things thru the mind, dear Lord, please strengthen mine. Amen.