Welcome back to Jesus’ Sermon On the Mount

He begins with the Beatitudes – not to be confused with "benedictions"
- they are more like a series of riddles
• he describes conditions in which people are already blessed
◦ already acceptable to God and discovering the abundant life
◦ but what he says sounds like the opposite of abundant life
• we would never tell a friend who is grieving, “You’re so blessed”
◦ and even in Jesus’ time and culture meekness was a deficit
- for this reason, we must pat attention to both lines of each Beatitude
• the first line is an incomplete picture
◦ something else comes after the situation Jesus identifies
◦ his “Blessed are” lines are explained in the “for they shall be” lines
• Jesus surprises us in order to enlighten us
◦ he reveals the contrast between worldly values and heavenly
◦ I admit, the most difficult place to practice the Beatitudes is in real life