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When Jesus started His earthly ministry, He sat down on the slope of a hill, and presented a radical new insight in spiritual and practical matters, known to the world as the "Sermon on the mount".
In his "sermon" Jesus is showing the spiritual nature and the visibility conditions of the Kingdom presence in the people of His favor in a number of astonishing statements.
These statements are known as the "Beatitudes", and still manage to stirr a great deal of humanity.
These statements do not pose a challenge for the saint to fulfill. That would be the old covenant commandments all over again.
On the contrary, they are a gift, Christ Himself to the compliant saint.
To view the enlarged pictures, click on the thumbnail images.
Blessed are the poor in spirit, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 5 : 3
Poverty.In His first statement Jesus goes straight to the core condition for entering/experiencing the Kingdom: Poverty, spiritual poverty!
John the Baptist already pointed to this vital element as the law of increase and decrease; "He must increase, but I must decrease".
(John 3 : 30)
Spiritual poverty is expressed here at the lower halve of the painting as a dull-gray, non pretentious color. It is meant to be the bowl, containing the flamboyant color and resurrection life of the promised Kingdom now, not future!
The recipient of this Kingdom-promise is most likely a person who has worked through a freeing repentance experience, resulting in a new glorious condition: a non pretentious spirit, an absence of self-importance,
and spiritually empty hands and pockets. Therefore, having loads of empty space available now, this regenerated saint is ready to receive the blessing of being filled with the elements of the Kingdom: the Resurrection Life, which is the Spirit of the living Christ, the only source of true Life!
Blessed are those who mourn, For they will be comforted. Matthew 5:4
Mourning.We believe that the mourning mentioned in this beatitude is meant as a gift, leading to a higher glorious level.
A misconception about the right type of mourning is a widespread understanding amongst church-goers, that mourning about a certain sin is proof of the presence of the Holy Spirit.
While this is partly true, there has to be another action added to that. Let me illustrate that view. A dear very close person, confessed to me just before her dying, that a certain sin had haunted her throughout her life, reminding her constantly of her human fragility.
Instead of allowing to be comforted and freed, she nurtured this hurt and it became a "religious" type of mourning, which at face value looks like a very acceptable "Christian" experience.
While mourning, she put up an impregnable fence, not allowing this wall to be breached in order to receive comfort.
The mourning meant here, is a deep felt sense of having missed the target after getting to know the Lord.
After the saint has been placed in Christ by Father, "But of Him (Father) you are in Christ Jesus". 1Corinthians 1:30, the saint tends to look back on his/her pre-conversion wasted life and time, and as a consequence feels absolutely shattered in his/her spirit, which is expressed as shattered pieces at the bottom of the painting.
The saint is likely to build a fence in self pity, but when leaving a gap he/she allowes the comforting Spirit of Christ to break through to show the saint its place in His redemptive work and therefore comforting the saint by resurrecting him/her in the image of Himself.
Blessed are the meek! For they shall inherit the earth. Matthew 5:5
Meekness.In our human world the quiet meek are near invisible amongst the often more noise-making fellow humans. The meek usually do as they are told and don't make a fuss about the trivial matters of life.
The "meek" attribute, as mentioned in the beatitudes, is in a different category though, and is not the usual human attribute, but a Spirit instilled gift of Christ.
In a nutshel, the meek have learned to see their fallen human state and the corresponding inabilities in the light of Christ who enables them through faith to be conquerers in Him.
They are like the little flower, out of sight in the lower-left corner, but in fact already owning the entire space, oblivious to the partying (temporarily) majority.
The meek in Christ already know the promises of the Kingdom as they experience the presence of Christ in their lives, and realize that everything is under His feet. He rules the earth and so do they with Him, being placed in Him and seated with Him in heaven, already sharing in the inheritance of the household of God. Yes, there is also a promise for the future: "every knee shall bow to Me, and every tongue shall confess to God". (Romans 14: 11)
The self assured feasting crowd will change in the blink of an eye from human nature ruled-beings into meek, open, worshipping people, experiencing the blinding greatness of Christ, similar to the "Damascus-road" experience of Paul.(Acts 9 : 3,4)
If that is not enough, think of the new heaven and earth populated by countless numbers of the meek, living their eternal lives in peace, enjoying being in the presence of the King. Ironically, this time the meek, while enjoying their inherited earth, will be the feasting crowd. Eternally!
Blessed are they who hunger and thirst after righteousness! For they shall be filled.
Matthew 5:6
Righteousness.
Hunger and thirst after righteousness is not a quality that our natural man possesses. Arriving at this "hunger and thirst" experience is the result of His healing work in the saint by giving him/her a new obedient spirit which is worthy of containing the Spirit of Christ. This process is generally known as "born again".
There is a progression from the state of "willingness" to the place of "yearning/thirsting for righteousness". This place is reached when the saint realizes that his old human nature has been buried in co-death with Christ, which effectively canceled his/her "self" factor. The saint is now able to walk without "me" and is now open for Christ to do His work through him/her. As the saint increasingly realizes the righteousness and the reality of Christ in his/her life, he/she is now totally focussed on maintaining this glorious walk with his Lord.
By the Spirit of Christ the saint is enabled to remain in that close place, resulting in a Christ-centered life.
The saint has now become the white vessel in the bottom/center of the painting, surrounded by a world emersing itself in darkness he/she does not belong to anymore.
The trusting saint is now being filled constantly with the awareness and colorful presence of Christ, and starts to understand what it means: "because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world"
The saint has now developed a spiritual knowledge of the importance of being filled with Christ, and starts to live a life in righteousness and total compliance towards the Lord.
Blessed are those who are merciful to others; God will be merciful to them! Matthew 5:7
Mercy.In order to show true mercy to others, one has to have had the experience of having received mercy themselves.
This is what scripture teaches in Matthew 9 : 13 : "But go and learn what this is, I will have mercy and not sacrifice. For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance".
Mercy and repentance are closely connected. Repentance is not just saying sorry or asking for forgiveness. It means abandoning the road well trodden, and go the other way, the narrow road.
This is the radical decision Jesus is after in order to see His granted mercy come to fruition in someones life.
When God pours out His unconditional mercy amongst people as shown in the painting, He reaches out in an unobtrusive way, inviting, offering the gift of repentance.
Once the saint has received this mercy gift and has now become "merciful" him/herself as a fruit of Christ's granted mercy in their personal life, he/she discovers that "mercy" is effectively Christ Himself desiring to be "passed on" to others who in turn get touched by Him/His mercy, thereby receiving the seeds of the Kingdom.
The mercy-reward the saint receives is the knowledge of being an active vessel of the Kingdom, and the assurance of being part of Christ and His mercy.
Click here to continue to "Inside the Beatitudes 02".
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