the
attitudes
W
Jesus’ Manifesto Of His Kingdom
We should ask ourselves, are
we good disciples of Jesus?
Matthew 5 sets out what should
be our attitude. Jesus’ increasing
popularity had the crowds flock to
Him, in recognition of His anointing.
No microphones or amplifiers
necessitated inventiveness. So,
to accommodate the crowds
He climbed a hill and sat above
them, so that they could all hear
him, a natural amphitheatre.
Typical of the Rabbis then, He sat
down to teach and the disciples
surrounded Him. He taught
what we call The Beatitudes, a
revolutionary teaching that flipped
the script on Jewish traditions up
to that point. Beatitude means
blessed, the word blessed is more
than just happiness or blissfulness
but a deeper, really deep joy in
your soul; a spiritual well-being
that surpasses all wisdom and
understanding; a foretaste of
heaven that can only be achieved
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by being right with God. The
opposite to being blessed is living
in misery.
Should the disciples have felt any
importance because they were
chosen especially by Jesus, they
were about to get a shock! We
need to bear in mind that the
Gospel of Matthew was written
for a Jewish audience, steeped
in Hebrew traditions and rituals.
Matthew emphasises that Jesus
is the Christ or Messiah, they had
been expecting; who was foretold
of in the Old Testament, their own
Hebrew Scriptures but as we can
see they had missed it. Humankind
had missed it in the Garden of Eden,
man took the fruit in disobedience
to God, exchanging the truth for
a lie. They thought they would be
as all-knowing as God and ended
up cursed. Jesus shows a way of
blessing that removes the curse
of sin without any effort on man’s
July - September 2017
part.
The 10 commandments were all
“Thou shalt nots,” the rules the Jews
had been expected to live by but
couldn’t quite achieve in entirety
and neither could we. Thankfully,
Jesus provided another way,
not based on performance but
based on who we become; a new
transformed man; with a new
heart. How different and radical is
this? Jesus offers us a way of life that
not only promises eternity in the
Kingdom of Heaven but a settled
peace in the midst of daily trials
and tribulations. He teaches about
humility, compassion and brotherly
love that transforms our lives to
be more like Him. The beatitudes
depict the ideal Christian disciple
and their rewards both present and
future, a lifelong transformation in
our Christian journey.
Let’s look at them in more detail...