January 5, 2002

  • Sermon on the Mount -


    In my Bible study class there are four of us who take turns teaching.  This past Sunday was my turn.  We have predetermined material, but none of us like the author :P so we usually take the Bible text and write our own lessons.


    I was supposed to cover all the Beattitudes.  Not a chance.  I prepared material enough to cover four of them, hoped to make it through three, and only got through the first two. 


    I learned some things in my study that are still simmering in my brain.  So of course, I'm going to share them with you guys.  The "sermon on the mount" is the very first sermon that the gospels record Jesus preaching.  Now given everything else that the Bible has to say about Jesus' mission and ministry, what would you expect his first sermon to be about?  When I try to put myself in his position, I think maybe I'd want to talk about repentance, or righteousness, or faith, or a dozen heavy duty and imperative topics.  But what does he choose?


    He sits down, gets their attention, and says "makarios."  This is a fascinating word.  It doesn't translate well from Greek to English.  The King James people chose the word "blessed", some modern translators use the word "happy".  The word literally means "a permanent state of possessing the favor and fullness of God."


    Does this strike you as odd?  If it doesn't seem strange, I should point out that his next words "are the" make it very clear that the people he's referring to are already ... permanently ... possessed of the fullness of God.  If that thought doesn't make you uncomfortable then you've probably managed to escape the evangelical orientation of Christianity for the past 1800 years which is predicated on the idea that NOBODY is or can be "blessed" until they conform to certain creedal understandings.  But, you know, that isn't what Jesus said. 


    Hmmmmm?

Comments (11)

  • Very well thought out message ... I can always count on you to give me something to 'ponder'

  • interesting.

  • Very interesting reading, hope to read more. Thanks for stopping by my site. Stop by any time. :)

  • I wanted to stop by and invite you to come and March with me...

  • Makes a lot of sense to me, but it wouldn't have a few years ago. Last year our group spent several months on the prophets and I found the verse that brought it all together for me, Micah 6:8. Now I kind of look at it as the Creator tried and tried and tried to get this across to us without success - so he came down to live it. This is just an extension of what he was living. Sometimes the words just get in the way.

    On the dental surgery, my bug was out most of the day BUT the next day made up for it in energy. Fly if you have some nice layovers or a short flight - longer than that and they will be miserable sitting (and so will you!).

  • Very interesting!!!!!!!!!!!  I have felt that complete peace in being of the lord at all times..........  It was only a short period in my life but it was wonderful

  • Interesting, intelligent, inspiring.  Thanks for sharing it.

    God Bless - Dale

  • I've been watching the transformation as the Lord works in you to make you a truly gifted teacher.  ... and you've got something all the other teachers really need; a husband that provides rich material, if not deep insight.

  • This would suggest an inherent state of Grace, as opposed to an inherent state of baseness or sinfulness?  Interesting...

    Something you may also want to bear in mind is that Jesus' native tongue was Aramaic.  Just as there are intriguing translations from the Greek to English, there is likely something that got lost between the Aramaic Jesus would've preached in & the Greek in which the preachings were later recorded...

    Good for you, for getting out & doing your own research!!

  • mmm
    permanent state of fullllnesssssss

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