Sermon on the Mount: The Pronouncement of Blessing (Mt. 5:2)

      Jesus opens the Sermon on the Mount with  series of Beatitudes- each describing the kind of person who is blessed in the Kingdom of God.  Each Beatitude has three parts:  1)The Pronouncement of Blessing, 2) The Condition or Character of the Recipient, and 3) the reward that awaits them.  Each Beatitude features a surprising reversal.  Culture taught that the rich and powerful were influential because they were given the blessing of God.  Jesus reverses that narrative:  Those who are blessed, with eternal happiness and joy, are the poor, the meek, the humble.

     We might be excited to be blessed by a famous person- we might get an autograph or a picture to show our friends.  But the famous person doesn't know us, who we are or what we need.  We might be blessed by a rich person, but riches falter.  And who knows whether the riches given would actually be good for us?  The rich man may not have that kind of knowledge.  We could be blessed by a close friend or relative.  They might have the advantage of knowing us intimately and knowing what we need.  They would be glad to bless us if they only had the power and authority to make the blessing a reality.

     The Sermon on the Mount offers us something more.  In Jesus, we have someone who knows us better than we know ourselves.  He cares for us in ways we may never fully understand (watch Christ as He sets His face like a flint for the cross).  He cares, He is willing,  and He has the power and authority to make the blessing happen.  What would you be willing to do in order to assure the blessing of Jesus?

     We are not responsible for great achievement in order to win the blessing of Jesus.  His blessing is not out of reach.  It can be bought with a measure of humility.  Trading pride and self-sufficiency for meekness, learning to hunger and thirst for what is in line with Christ's character, are what is needed.  We must empty ourselves of our own sufficiency so that we may receive the blessing of Christ.  The pronouncement of Blessing is matchless grace.  The Kingdom of God is being offered to us.  Don't settle for anything less.