The Protesting Beatitudes

When Jesus saw the crowds,

he went up the mountain;

and after he sat down,

his disciples came to him.

Then he began to speak, and taught them.

(from Matthew 5:1-12 )

It was customary for some Elementary school teachers to post a list of classroom rules at the beginning of the school year.

These rules set a code to live by so learning could take place and acceptable behavior defined.

When Moses met God on Mt. Saini, God gave him a set of rules, the Ten Commandments, to take to the people as a code of conduct.

The Commandments are a set of instructions on how to worship God and ethical behaviors

basic to Judaism and Christianity.

The first four concern relating to God and the remaining six are how God's people are to relate to each other.

When Jesus taught the disciples what is now known as the beatitudes, they were, first of all declarations of God’s grace.

When he sat down with the disciples, the beatitudes he spoke were not a list of "Thou Shall" nots, but a description of a series of contrasts between reality and Jesus' coming kingdom.

For example: when Jesus says, “Blessed are the meek”, in our world the meek don’t get the land, they get left holding the worthless beads. 

In the coming kingdom, God's eye is on them and they will inherit the earth.

This, says Jesus, is the way things are in the coming Kingdom.

Those meek do not have to do anything to attain the blessing of inheriting the earth, they have already been blessed. 

As we grow in God’s kingdom, we hope to become more like those named as blessed.

Think about it: How are the Beatitudes an act of protest against the current order of any time and place?