Blessed
/Where do you place yourself in order to hear the Sermon on the Mount? Jesus climbed mountain with his closest disciples, and sat down to teach. Do you stand with that inner circle, the apostles-in-training? Some came to learn by overhearing, eager to know the ways of God but not ready to raise the hand and ask the teacher. Are you with these? Some came for healing, and some for hope, and some for help with their poverty, and some came because that's where the crowd was heading. Are you among the outer rings, the fringe-followers of Jesus who know more about the mob than the Master? Wherever you stand, Jesus has a word for you. The word is "blessed." Makarioi in the Greek. It describes a place of wholeness, peace, and righteousness with God. It is a word for all of God's people.
Jesus is revealing how it will be when we put ourselves under the loving care and grace of God. We are brought together, from every circumstance and station of life, so that in the power of the Holy Spirit we might complete the blessing of God, and fulfill all righteousness. We are not alone in life's circumstances, we are part of the body of Christ and citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven. You will be there for the one who mourns, I will be there to sustain and defend the gentle and humble ones, and yet another will be there for you when you hunger and thirst for the righteousness of God. Together, we become the inheritors of what we can never do by ourselves. Together, we are blessed by God.