After choosing his disciples, Jesus begins to teach the crowd. The beatitudes.
How does one blog a paragraph or two on such a large topic? Whole books are written on the Beatitudes, what justice can be done in a few short comments? At times like this, it helps me to remember the purpose of my writing. This isn’t intended to be a comprehensive study guide for others to follow. This is simply what I was thinking one day when I read this passage…hopefully to one day be sought out by my children or grandchildren, who are curious about their dad or grandpa. If you receive anything from it, then praise the Lord who is the giver of all good things and all insight.
If you don’t get anything, I feel bad…and hope you now understand my motivation for writing in the first place.
When I look at the Beatitudes today I think about how we always break them into separate passages or sentences. Each time Jesus says “blessed are the….” we create a new sermon. But what if all the Beatitudes are describing one thing? What if this passage is like the fruit of the Spirit, where each attribute isn’t meant to be a separate “fruit” but part of the whole? After all, Jesus uses the “tree and it’s fruit” in this very passage, so there’s a good reason to tie the two of them together. If that’s the case, then Jesus is describing the person who is (or desires to be) exactly like himself. We spend time describing the fruit, Jesus is describing the tree.
He even says that the fully trained disciple will be like the teacher. The idea that we are supposed to be like Jesus leaps out at me lately.
We love our enemies, give without expecting return, seek peace and show compassion because that’s the sort of tree we are. I believe too many people are living frustrated Christian lives because they are continually trying to produce apples when the tree is a thorn bush. Pray for apples all you want, unless the tree changes you won’t ever get apples. “Anyone in Christ is a new creation” right? That’s a “tree” statement, not a fruit statement.
How does one go about changing in this way? Certainly God has a primary role in causing it to happen, but we also have a part to play:
1. Train your thoughts on healthy things. Read and study Scripture
2. Actively praise God when unhealthy thoughts or temptation come. The devil leaves when we praise Jesus.
3. Your heart will follow your thoughts, and your actions follow your heart. It takes time, but it will work because that’s the way God designed you. That’s why the Bible says “take every thought captive” and “whatever is pure, noble, etc. ..think about such things”.
Focus on becoming like Jesus, and don’t stress about the fruit. It will come to every good tree in due time.
Loving Jesus,
PR