St Matthew, Chapter 5, verse 4, The Beatitude: Blessed are the Meek.

Today we are still in Chapter 5, second paragraph, The Beatitudes.  Today's beatitude is:

      4 Blessed are the meek, for they shall possess the    
      earth.  

Again we find that we are blessed if we are meek.  What does it mean to be meek?  The dictionary describes meek as being humbly patient or submissive, as under provocation from others.  So, I am blessed if I am patient or submissive, and I will possess the earth.  These are the words of Christ, which are truth.  If I am to believe the Bible and its meanings, to get some understandings, that means that I must believe the words of Christ because he speaks the truth.  God does not lie.  God cannot tell a lie but only speaks the truth.  God is the father of all truth, just as Satan is the father of all lies.  So how does this truth apply to me??


How does having possession of the earth help me??  Can I take my ownership and cash it in for the wealth of the world??  Will selling a portion of my possession buy me a new house or a new car or put money in the bank.  If I possess the earth, own it, what benefit is it to me??  One can look at the opposite meaning, what does it mean for the earth to possess me as opposed to my possessing the earth.


In our time, we are taught that to be successful, we must be aggressive.  We must go for what we know and what we want in life.  We must not give up but be positive about our goals and assert ourselves in what we do.  Our goals and desires drive our behavior, and our desires are fed by what we see on TV, read in magazines, and hear from the society in which we live.  There are all sorts of things out there that will make us happy, if we only had them.  A new car, sharp clothes, and money to burn, will bring us popularity with our friends and success with the opposite sex.  This drives us to possess what we think will make us happy.  And our drive is being reinforced by what is being fed to us by the commercialism of this day.  Are we possessed by the earth??  Does the earth and what abounds in it have control over us, telling us who we are, how we feel, what value we place upon ourselves.  Are our emotions compelled by our passions?? 


We feel anger by what does not meet our expectations.  We know sadness by what we have been hurt.  We are let down by the obstacles that we face in attempting to reach our goals that would make us happy.  Our anger boils within us stealthily seeking a way to escape upon any opportunity that presents itself.  We grow up thinking that we are wild and our emotions should express that sense of wildness.  So we end up doing things that express this sense of wildness, far beyond the norms that are part of what we have been given by our parents.  We experiment with relationships that we know are unproductive.  We allow ourselves to experience behaviors that are detrimental to our health and well being, using drugs and drinking, having sex for the sake of pleasure, stealing, and using foul language to express the anger and frustration that is within us.  The earth has possessed us, it has taken hold of us,  as opposed to our having possession of it.


Meekiness is defined in biblical terms as, the virtue that moderates the passion of anger by keeping it within the limits required by natural and supernatural prudence.  So in order to keep anger out of our lives we practice meekness.  In order to not let the earth possess us, but to own the earth, we must practice meekness. 


One would think that being submissive is being a coward, not standing up for what was right.  God gives us his words and commandments not as harsh law, to beat us over our heads if we transgress them.  Instead he gives these words of wisdom so that we do not fall, so that we do not cause harm to ourselves, so that we can understand his love for us.  Like a father knows that fire will burn, and a fall from a high place will cause injury, or that eating a poisonous substance will cause harm, he protects his children from these things so that they do not harm themselves.  He loves his children.  So does our heavenly father loves us and wants to protect us.  He gives us commandments to keep us from harm because he knows what will cause us injury and what will destroy us.  Meekness keeps the door to anger closed.  It allows us to enjoy the beauty of this world, while not having the things of this world take possession of our minds, bodies and our souls.  Instead we posses the world. 

St Matthew, Chapter 5, versess 1 - 3, The Beatitude: Blessed are the Poor in Spirit.

There are two paragraphs today:  (Sermon on the mount), and  (The beatitudes).

This chapter starts off with the teachings of Christ.  Many people have heard of the beatitudes either in church or in daily life.  Our parents, grandparents, teachers, pastors, deacons and most everyone have quoted them to us.  What do they mean?

   3.   Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom 
      of heaven.

I know what poor means.  The dictionary defines poor as:  having little or no money, goods, or other means of support.  Many people all over the world are poor in the flesh and in the world.  So what does it mean to be poor in spirit?  Does it mean to be lacking in some way in the spirit??  Does it mean that the spirit is deficient in some way, not having the means to support itself.  Or does it mean a spiritual state of being as if you have no money, or goods or other means of support.  What purpose does that serve?  If I desire physically, to be wealthy, but have a spiritual state that says that I am poor, I am a hypocrite? 

Most people today want to have fame and fortune and riches, and fine cars and a big house, and to be popular.  I mean, those are the values that we grow up with.  Those are the values that are ingrained in us, from day one, in the society that we live in.  Even those people that live in undeveloped or underdeveloped countries want to have the riches and fame that are available in the developed countries.  So what does this mean?


Blessed are the poor in spirit, theirs is the kingdom of heaven.  So if I maintain a spirit of poverty, I will obtain the kingdom of heaven, is that it???  So if I think and act as though I am poor, I will be blessed??  How am I blessed??  What am I blessed with??  What does it mean to be blessed??  The definition means, divinely or supremely favored or fortunate.  So If I have a poor in spirit, spiritual being, I will be blessed with the kingdom of heaven!! 


Why would I want to be spiritually poor??  Is having the kingdom of heaven so much greater as to out way the value of not having a poor in spirit being??   Can it be that the kingdom of heaven is far greater in value than anything that I can imagine.  Can it be that the kingdom of heaven has a far greater value than gold or silver, fame or fortune, or fine cars, or a big house or lust, or being beautiful, or having a fine body, or having a beautiful wife and beautiful kids, or any of the things that this world has to offer??  What value can I place on the ownership of heaven??  Here, Christ says, in his first teachings to us, that ownership of the kingdom of heaven is theirs who are not possessed with a spirit of riches, but to those who are poor in spirit, and they are divinely and supremely favored or fortunate.






   

St Matthew, Chapter 4, verses: 12 - 25, Christ calls the disciples and begins His ministry of preaching.

There are three paragraphs today:  (Jesus in Capharnaum), (The first disciples called), and

Christ has finished his training in the desert.  He sparred with the devil, did a TKO and now begins his ministry of preaching.  This first paragraph reminds us of how the scriptures are being fulfilled through Christ as he goes about his ministry.  It has been spoken through Isaias the prophet that a great light would shine in Zebulon and Nephthalim for those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death.  Jesus begins preaching repentance so that those who would, could find the kingdom of heaven, for it was at hand.  It was not far away but at their fingertips where it could be reached by the hand that sought it.  Is the kingdom of heaven at hand today??  Can we find it if we sought it today??  Is it at hand??

Christ calls his first disciples.  He called Peter and Andrew, James and John.  Just like that, they left all and followed him.  If Jesus called you today would you leave all and follow.  Would you drop work, and ambitions, and prestige, and fame, and friends, and family and goals, and wife and relationships, and A--L--L, and follow!!!  

I think about, say, Warren Buffet, or Donald Trump, or Bill Clinton, or Bill Gates.  If they appeared in our lives and called us to follow them would we??  Where would they lead us??  What would be our reward??  What is it that would compel us to leave behind all and follow.  Could it be because of their fame and fortune that we would follow.  Christ had none of these things.  He had just begun to preach.  No one knew of what he was about to accomplish.  No one knew of the miracles he would perform.  No one knew him.  Yet there must have been something about him that compelled obedience.  There must have been something about him that so filled the first disciples that their entire being overflowed with a desire to follow.   

It is amazing the efficiency of the scriptures.  Words are not wasted on those who might have been called.  Words are not wasted on those who hesitated, those who doubted, those who did not have the desire, those who were filled with procrastination.  Words are only spoken of those who were called and who followed without hesitation.  They dropped everything and followed.  Christ would make them fishers of men.
 He began his mission by preaching in all of their synagogues.  Preaching and healing the sick, the lame, the possessed; curing the lunatics, the paralytics, and the suffering; healing the diseased, the tormented.  He cured them all.  He did not half cure them, or partially cure them, or give them hope of being cured.  He cured them A--L--L!!! 

Imagine what amazement and awe this must have caused in that time.  Imagine the talk that these miracles generated.  Words must have spread like wildfire.  People from as far away as Alaska came to see him and be cured.  Everyone was talking about him and his miracles.  He created  such an uproar throughout the entire territory that everyone with any problems were being drawn to him for help.   And this makes me wonder about the life  force that was in him which must have shown through in his physical presence.  What must it have been like, to be around Jesus or in his  presence???  Blessed are those who knew him.

 We worship rock stars, and awe at presidents, and marvel at industry giants, and TV personalities.  They had personalities back in those days, rulers, and men of great wealth, and great solders, and priests of great stature, men of great wisdom, philosophers, and scholars, etc.  And they had their fame and influence.  But Jesus commanded the crowds and throngs of the lowly and suffering, of the lame and sick, of the rejected.  He did not have the influence of the rich and famous.  

If you are a person having never read the New Testament Bible, how would you imagine Jesus.  How would you see him??  How would you feel about him having read about all of the miracles that he performed??  Would he find a place of love and awe in your heart??  If you were able to see these miracles yourself, what would you think??  What would you believe??  Our emotions and beliefs are so moved by all of what is happening in our world today.  Would this be just another fleeting info bite that is here today and gone tomorrow.  Or would this be something that would remain with you forever.  Would your heart be touched so much so that your life would be changed??   Or would your reason  and   intellect take over the feelings of your heart and bring you back to the rationalization of the world??  We do not have these miracles today.  Yet, one has to question.  The Bible is God's true word brought to man.  Can we believe this truth today??