Posts with the tag “evan-gear”

Matthew 5:4 — Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Why might we mourn?We may mourn for many things. We may sorrow over loss and difficulty in this life. We often shed tears because an opportunity is lost, or our team was defeated, or because the supper is cold. We cry over our own folly and the tarnished reputations that they earn. We are sad to lose esteem before men. From th...  Read More

 Bear with me as I draw out one last bit from the first of the beatitudes… Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. The poor have the reward of their poverty (such an odd thing to say, for it is gift not earnings) the kingdom of heaven now. There is, present tense, the kingdom. Another way to translate it would be, “of them is the kingdom of heaven.” That is, they are i...  Read More

Matthew 5:3 — Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven…Before moving on to a meditation on the second of the Beatitudes, I would like to lingerfor a moment longer on verse 3. This first pronouncement of blessing expects the presence of two realities in our world. Jesus speaks to us of poverty and kings. Clearly, he does so with assumption that we will have some sort of ex...  Read More

Matt. 5:3 — Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.The king, exalted high on the mountain, opens his mouth and, in judgment, speaks hisauthoritative word.What does he say?How does he speak to the gathered mass of humanity? In condemnation? No, but inbenediction. He, like the great high priest emerging from making atonement for thepeople of Israel, lifts his voice to pr...  Read More

Matt. 5:2 — And he opened his mouth and taught them…This verse and its context form a refrain in a children’s song that runs through my headas I read it. I can hear my children sing the words, “he went up on a moutaaa-iin, he satdown, and he opened his mouth…”The emphasis is on that last bit, he opened his mouth. It may seem like a little thing but itis profoundly important. Jesus does not merely ...  Read More

WEEK 1 - JUNE 30, 2022Matthew 5:1 — Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down,his disciples came to him.The beatitudes form the introduction to that portion of Matthew traditionally referred to as“The Sermon on the Mount.” It is called that because of this verse. Here we read of thesetting of the scene. This is the context of the whole of the sermon. Jesus seated upon amo...  Read More