The Blessed
Series – The Posture of Beatitude
The Beatitudes – a set of teachings from Jesus of Nazareth during His famed, and appropriately named ‘sermon on the mount’. Why do we call it the ‘sermon on the mount’? I’m glad you asked! You see, Jesus taught this series of teachings on the side of a mountain…that’s it, that’s the revelation…
The aim is to encourage us to do further study, whilst giving us principles that are ready to be lived by.
Moving on – this series of teachings that have blessed generations, came out of that particular sermon. The aim in this short series of essays is to dive in to the beatitudes in such a way that we stroke the curiosity of every reader. The aim is to encourage us to do further study, whilst giving us principles that are ready to be lived by.
There is no better place to start than with a closer look at what ‘beatitude’ actually means. It’s meaning amounts to ‘supreme blessedness,’ and is used in a couple of ways; The orthodox church uses it to title their patriarchs – ‘His beatitude’ – and the noun is also a term used for ones disposition. We are a people that should hold ourselves with a ‘posture of beatitude,’ and that posture comes for the teachings given to us by Jesus.
The question is, where does that get us? Well, to boil it down to the salt of the meaning, the word used for blessed in the greek simply means ‘to gain the favor of God,’ and who doesn’t want that? Our aim is to dive in to each beatitude and take out as much as we can from it, putting us in a posture that brings favor from the Lord. And what does that favor even look like? Well, lets take a look at some of our predecessors to find out:
Moses
His favor is evident in his unique relationship with God. Of course every relationship is unique when it comes to God and His children, but you’ll be hard pressed to find experiences that amount to Moses’. I leave the details of his life to you for further study, but what i want to hone in on the affection that God has for Moses. It is said that when Moses went to the Tabernacle to commune with God, his time possessed no ambiguity – it was a conversation as clear as the words on this page (or screen). He spoke to him as one speaks to a friend…
Abraham
Talk about blessed! This is a man that God found great delight in. Chosen to be the patriarch for ALL nations, we look to this man for an understanding of true faith. The levels of favor that he possessed with God are outlined in the 18th chapter of exodus, in which he talks him down from destroying a nation. The most impressive part is, God felt it important to share what he was going to do with Abraham; almost like you would a business partner – POWERFUL!
David
(he) had the posture when he did not know who he was…
David, like all of us, had great flaws; but through it all he was able to attain the favor of God. In some ways he is a great example of the posture of beatitude, AS A RESULT of his flaws…before we get to that i want it to be understood that before David ever became aware that he was picked for the next king of Israel, God knew he would be a man after his own heart. David had the posture when he did not know who he was…
…and that’s the key! It’s not the easiest thing in the world to talk about how merciful, and meek you are, to then turn around and actually be that person. In fact, those people usually are the most merciless and hard headed among us. It is not a posture that is meant to please other people, it is a posture that is meant to please God.
What we are embarking on here WILL get you favor with others, but only as a proxy of the favor that you gain with Jesus.
Daily Reading
Matthew 5:3-12; Exodus 33:11; 1Chronicles 29:28; 1 Samuel 13:14; Acts 13:22; Genesis 18:17-19; Psalm 84