The Narrow Path (Week 2): A New Way of Understanding Blessedness

For many of us, we have a vision of the good life that is a vast contrast to the picture Jesus paints in his sermon on the mount. As Jesus begins his teachings, he goes up on the mountain, recalling a vision for people of the stories of Moses, showing that Jesus is the new Moses. Jesus begins his teaching, however, not exactly how we would expect.  Jesus doesn’t just tell people what to do, rather, he helps them understand what blessing, or a blessed life, actually is. It’s clear that the characteristics that are going to mark the blessed life are the words Jesus uses; poor, mourn, meek, hunger, mercy, purity, peace, persecuted. These words don’t paint a picture of blessedness as defined by success-ism, rather, they help us see our own brokenness, which allows us to live from a place of compassion rather than selfishness. Jesus starts by addressing our hearts before our actions.