Christ's Beatitudes

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Beatitude (06)

Beatitude (06)

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†. Matt 5:8 . . Blessed are the pure of heart, for they will see God.

"pure" can be defined as: (1) free from dirt, pollution, contamination, or
disease, (2) unadulterated, (3) unmixed with any other matter, (4) free from
dust, dirt, or taint; viz: clean, (5) spotless, stainless, (6) containing nothing
that does not properly belong, (7) free from moral fault or guilt, etc.

This is yet another beatitude that wasn't new with Christ. He took it from the
Old Testament.

†. Ps 24:3-5 . .Who may ascend into the hill of The Lord? And who may
stand in His holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart . . . he
shall receive a blessing from The Lord.

NOTE: The beatitudes are often thought to be Christian teachings; but such
is not the case. No; they are Judaism thru and thru.

The "heart" spoken of isn't the organic muscle tissue housed within the
human thorax whose task is to circulate blood throughout the body. No, not
even close. What we're talking about here isn't an organ; it's man's center,
his basic nature; viz: that which constitutes the very core of his being.

The item to note is that it isn't a pure mind that's blessed; nor pure thoughts
that are blessed; but rather, a pure heart.

Humanity's heart is the root source of the wicked thoughts that go through
the human mind. For example; the act of adultery begins not in the mind,
rather; in the heart.

†. Matt 5:28-29 . . But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust
for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

There's a host of other evils that originate in the heart.

†. Matt 15:17-19 . . But the things that come out of the mouth come from
the heart, and these make a man impure. For out of the heart come evil
thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony,
slander.

An impure heart is one of the seven things that God despises.

†. Prv 6:16-18 . .These six things Yhvh hates; yes, seven are an
abomination to Him . . . a heart that devises wicked schemes.

No man can rectify an impure heart because no man can even fathom his
own heart's impurity to begin with.

†. Jer 17:9 . .The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked;
who can know it?

Humanity's heart may be a complete mystery to humans; but to God; it's an
open book.

†. Jer 17:10 . . I, the Lord, search all hearts and examine secret motives.

†. 1Cor 4:5 . . He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and expose
the motives of men's hearts.

†. Rev 2:23 . . I am He who searches the minds and hearts.

We're all pretty good at bee-essing each other, but nobody is going to bee
ess God. Former President Harold Truman once said: the buck stops here.
God says: the bee-ess stops here-- with me.

A shipyard foreman I worked with years ago in San Diego once remarked
that hell won't be so bad because he'll have lots of friends down there. No he
won't. When God peels off the bee-ess and reveals people's true colors; my
foreman won't have even one friend left anywhere, much less in hell.

Q: Doesn't the sacrament of reconciliation make one's heart suitable for the
so-called Beatific Vision?

A: The sacrament of reconciliation remits one's deeds; but does nothing to
reconstruct the impure heart that's responsible for those deeds; which is
why one trip to confession is never enough. You'll be back because your
heart is impure; and according to 1John 1:8-10, reconciliation wasn't set up
to remedy its condition.

Q: Then how is anybody supposed to attain to the Beatific Vision?

A: By undergoing the supernatural birth about which Christ spoke at John
3:3-8. In other words: the human heart is so badly deteriorated that it can
be neither renovated nor restored-- it has to be replaced with a heart that's
patterned after God's. And this isn't optional, no; it's a must.

†. John 3:6-7 . . That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is
born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, "You must be
born again."

†. 2Pet 1:3-4 . . His divine power has given us everything we need for life
and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory
and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious
promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and
escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.

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Beatitude (07)

Beatitude (07)

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†. Matt 5:9 . . Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of
God.

The koiné Greek word for "peacemakers" is eirenopoios (i-ray-nop-oy-os') an
ambiguous word that can indicate people who effect peace, and also people
who are peaceable in nature. Precisely which is meant in Matt 5:9 is difficult
to tell since there's only two places in the entire New Testament where
eirenopoios appears-- here and in the passage below :

†. Mark 9:50 . . Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can you make it
salty again? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with each other.

An unrelated passage may shed some light on the correct application of
eirenopoios in Matt 5:9 and Mark 9:50.

†. Col 4:6 . . Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that
ye may know how ye ought to answer every man.

In other words; speech seasoned with salt indicates a civil tongue in one's
head-- a tongue that goes easy on people's nerves rather than a tongue that
deliberately grates, stirs the pot, chafes, antagonizes, denigrates,
humiliates, demoralizes, ridicules, injures, provokes, demeans, discourages,
and tears people down and makes them feel bad about themselves.

There are some people in this world who are simply implacable. They're
indignant over everything, For them rivalry, conflict, revenge, retaliation,
quarrelling, and grudging are a way of life: every disagreement is an act of
war-- their egos are fragile; they're defensive, they're reactive, and easily
insulted.

They thrive on criticism, carping, finding fault and pointing out mistakes,
tattling, bickering, retorts, rejoinders, recriminations, endless debate, telling
other people off, and giving people a piece of their mind. And some of them
are bullies, meddlers, domineering, imperious, and rumor mongers. And
they foster ill will and disharmony by starting a conversation with "you
should hear what so-and-so said about you".

Those kinds of people are definitely not of the peaceable genre so they won't
be given a room of their own in God's home; nor a place around His table.

You know, some people don't know it but the Bible's God not only has His
standards; but He also has some very strong feelings about the kinds of
people with whom He prefers to allow within His inner circle. Do you reserve
the right to pick your own friends? Well; so does God; and He definitely does
not enjoy being with people who are always ready to fight at the drop of a
hat over every perceived injustice, and every trivial little thing that annoys
them.

Below are qualities that easily qualify as peaceable.

Cordial stresses warmth and heartiness

Affable implies easy approachability and readiness to respond pleasantly to
conversation or requests or proposals

Genial stresses cheerfulness and even joviality

Sociable suggests a genuine liking for the companionship of others

Generous is characterized by a noble or forbearing spirit; viz :
magnanimous, kindly, and liberal in giving

Charitable means full of love for, and goodwill toward, others; viz :
benevolent, tolerant, and lenient.

Altruistic means unselfish regard for, or devotion to, the welfare of others;
viz : a desire to be of service to others for no other reason than it just feels
good to do so.

Tactful indicates a keen sense of what to do, or say, in order to maintain
good relations with others in order to resolve and/or avoid unnecessary
conflict.

The seventh beatitude alone easily disqualifies a good many people from
deserving to be honored as sons of God.

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Beatitude (08)

Beatitude (08)

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†. Matt 5:10 . . Blessed are those persecuted because of righteousness, for
theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

The koiné Greek word for "persecute" is dioko (dee-o'-ko) which means: to
pursue; viz: to hound.

The kind of persecution particular to that beatitude is malicious in that it's
akin to making it one's mission in life to aggressively oppose, stalk, harass,
grieve, chafe, criticize, nit pick, find fault, attack, contradict, pester, and/or
annoy somebody.

This kind of persecution is spiteful, and actually goes out of its way to vex its
target and ruin their day, get them upset and/or prevent them from having
any success or making any progress.

This isn't necessarily religious persecution. It's the kind of grief everyone has
to expect if and/or whenever they stand up for what's right.

†. 1John 3:11-12 . . For this is the message that you heard from the
beginning, that we should love one another, not as Cain who was of the
wicked one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because
his works were evil and his brother's righteous.

Cain didn't attack his kid brother for believing in God; no, Cain believed in
God too. Nor was their disagreement related to a denominational dispute;
e.g. Protestant vs. Catholic; nor related to an ideology conflict; e.g. Muslim
vs. Christian.

If the rub wasn't religion then what was it? Answer: Resentment. Abel was
a good man, respected by God; while Cain was neither, and he knew it too
as simple as that.

Resentment sometimes contains the element of irate indignation which you'll
hear in someone's voice when they protest: You think you're better than
me? Does anyone doubt that bad people resent being made to feel less than
others? Nobody enjoys being made to feel less than others; but that's the
natural outcome when good men stand up for what's right.

According to the Lord, people who stand up for what's right are the kind of
people one can expect to see in the kingdom of God. They don't give in to
peer pressure, nor conform to the norm. Hence in the kingdom they will be
popular, but down here on this earth-- the earth that I know? --no; they are
not popular; nor do they fit in particularly well.

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Beatitude (09)

Beatitude (09)

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†. Matt 5:11-12 . . Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you
and utter every kind of evil against you (falsely) because of me. Rejoice and
be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven. Thus they persecuted the
prophets who were before you.

The kind of abuse that Christ spoke of is actually a gift.

†. Phil 1:29-30 . . For to you it has been granted for Christ's sake, not only
to believe in him, but also to suffer for his sake, experiencing the same
conflict which you saw in me, and now hear to be in me.

There is a curious passage in the book of Revelation that goes like this:

†. Rev 21:8 . . But for the cowardly . . . their part will be in the lake that
burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.

The cowardly are people who avoid any hint of either alliance with, or
allegiance to, Christ because they don't want to be branded with the social
stigma, and/or endure the indignity, that comes with being one of his
followers. I think that in this day and age it's actually increasingly harder to
come out as a Christian standing for Christ-honoring Christian values than it
is LGBT.

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[Psalmist]

The cowardly are people who avoid any hint of either alliance with, or
allegiance to, Christ because they don't want to be branded with the social
stigma, and/or endure the indignity, that comes with being one of his
followers. I think that in this day and age it's actually increasingly harder to
come out as a Christian standing for Christ-honoring Christian values than it
is LGBT.

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I was reminded of...
Matthew 26:69-72
Now Peter sat outside in the courtyard. And a servant girl came to him, saying, "You also were with Jesus of Galilee." 70 But he denied it before them all, saying, "I do not know what you are saying." 71 And when he had gone out to the gateway, another girl saw him and said to those who were there, "This fellow also was with Jesus of Nazareth." 72 But again he denied with an oath, "I do not know the Man!" ​