And then there are the pure in heart, the ones for whom nothing is good enough, not even themselves.
Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God. I love the rendering of this classic depiction. For me, it rings a personal note.
These are the perfectionists. They are a pain to everyone, themselves most of all. In religion they will certainly find errors in your doctrine, your practice, and probably your heart and your attitude. They may be even harder on themselves. They endlessly pick over their own motivations. They wanted Jesus to wash his hands even though they were not dirty and called him a glutton and a winebibber.
Not your average interpretation of "pure in heart," is it? You would imagine that have a pure heart would propel people into God's favor. But that is not and cannot be what Jesus speaks of. The pure in heart are listed with the poor, the persecuted, and the broken. They are broken. They suffer as much as any cripple or beggar, though it is a disability of the heart and mind that ails them. Again, we see a reason why these people would not feel blessed. Yet they are. When Jesus brings God's kingdom to them, they are blessed.
How miserable they are! And yet the kingdom is even open to them, and there at last they will find something that satisfies their pure heart. They will see God. And when they do they will find what they have been looking for, someone who is truly good enough.
How wonderful the Beatitudes suddenly appear when I see in them my own weaknesses. The most troubling and debilitating condition of my own heart lines up against the meek and the martyrs, and Jesus says to me, "You, too, are blessed when my kingdom comes to you."
I had always imagined that I had to become poor or destitute or persecuted or killed before I could finally feel God's blessing on my life. My life could always be "ok", but never perfect (again, see pure in heart). With this new look at the classic lines Jesus quipped, it becomes abundantly clear that I have access to the best life now. I am blessed now. God offers the perfect life, but he also offers an alternative to my perfectionist world view. He offers an eternal life view that far exceeds and outweighs the limits I used to place on life.
Willard continues through
1) the peacemakers
2) those persecuted for righteousness
3) those persecuted for Christ
before concluding his look at the Beatitudes.
Thus by proclaiming blessed those who in the human order are thought hopeless, and by pronouncing woes over those human beings regarded as well off, Jesus opens the kingdom of the heavens to everyone.
The kingdom of heaven is open to the priests and the pastors. It is open to the righteous and the pure. And it is open to you and to me. Jesus begins his entire ministry with this first proclamation. "Come to me you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." (Matthew 11:28) Not only that, he will turn you into a living heir of his kingdom.
Indeed, such transformation of status for the lowly, the humanly hopeless, as they experience the hand of God reaching into their situation, is possibly the most pervasive theme of the biblical writing. In general, many of those thought blessed or "first" in human terms are miserable or "last" in God's terms, and many of those regarded as "last" in human terms may well be blessed in God's terms as they rely on the kingdom of Jesus.
The truth of the Beatitudes lies herein. We should now feel fairly confident in the purpose of Jesus' ministry. He is proclaiming life changing truths, not bringing regulations and laws. He proposes a new social order instead of new social rules. Now that we know this, how now shall we then live? How do we respond to such revolutionary words?
We respond appropriately to the Beatitudes of Jesus by living as if this were so, as it concerns others and as it concerns ourselves.
That shall be the discussion of next week.
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