#008
The Sermon on the Mount is one of the best-known passages in the Gospel, but it's not always correctly interpreted. First, it's addressed to the disciples who approached Jesus, not to the crowd.
Second, it's not a list of things you should do to be saved or become a disciple of Jesus. It's speaking of the characteristics of those who, in every age, submit to Jesus.
"Kingdom of heaven" means a kingdom that is not of earth, but of heaven, whose king was here, was rejected, and is now in heaven. When Jesus says "blessed are these or those," it's as if he were saying "happy are these or those" who are like that. What do you mean? Like that? Losers like that.
Yes, because if the king of the kingdom of heaven himself, Jesus, was a loser in this world, what do you expect his followers to be like? Then someone comes along and says:
"Hey, but I thought it was just the opposite, because I saw someone on TV saying that if you go to Jesus, your problems disappear, your business improves, you pay your debts, resolve marital problems, are healed of all illnesses, and even buy an imported car."
Well, anyone who goes to Jesus with that in mind is like someone who marries for convenience, you know how it is, gets ripped off. If you're looking to Jesus for anything other than forgiveness of your sins and salvation, you'd better think again. Or do you think God is stupid, that he doesn't see your intentions?
Look at who the blessed are here: the poor in spirit, those who mourn, the meek, those who have been wronged or are tired of injustice, the soft-hearted who feel sorry for others, those who promote peace, those persecuted for doing right or for their faith in Jesus...
See? All the opposite of the blessings of this world, where the self-sufficient, the laughing, the powerful, those who thrive on injustice, those who trample on others, who promote war, who persecute, and who, obviously, want to stay far away from the one who was the greatest loser in this world: Jesus, are blessed.
But God is calling losers to his kingdom, not champions. Prostitutes, thieves, the blind, the crippled—what kind of people do you think Jesus came to call? And after being saved from their sins by what Jesus did on the cross, and not by their own works, what do you think they have become? Those blessed according to God's understanding, not man's.
Do you want to be among them? Do you want to be blessed forever? Then believe in Jesus, not in a successful, magazine-cover Jesus, but in the crucified Jesus.