Read through today’s recap and practice the exercise at the end:

Before we move into the next portion of the sermon on the mount let’s stop and consider what we’ve discovered:

• Jesus re-enacts the wandering of Israel in the wilderness, identifying himself as the true Israel (Mt 4:1-11).
• Jesus announces the arrival of God’s available Kingdom, the true “promised land.” That was his gospel (Mt 4:12-17).
• Jesus proves the reality of God’s new rule by demonstrating power over human brokenness, suffering, and disease (Mt 4:23-25).
• Jesus points out that the lowest of the world, and even the persecuted, can be considered “blessed” by this new access to God’s present Kingdom (Mt 5:1-12).
• Jesus says the people who are blessed by God’s present Kingdom constitute a new humanity, becoming the “salt and light” of the world (Mt 5:13-16).
• Jesus says this new humanity who are blessed by God’s presence and power will fulfill the law and exceed the righteousness of man’s most stringent efforts (Mt 5:17-20).

As we move into a part of Jesus’ sermon that describes the greatest set of ethics ever taught we will be tempted to think that Jesus is calling us to do our very best to live that way. But that, of course, is impossible and would require us to forget everything we’ve learned up to this point; namely, that the real gospel – the real “blessing” – is God Himself (Gen 15:1). The only way, then, to be the “salt and light” that Jesus describes is to be with God, living under his good rulership as our King.

So then, how are we to be with God?

Read and meditate again on the Beatitudes in Matt 5:1-12 and/or Isaiah 61 and do the following exercise:

• Today we’re going to experiment with reading our culture. There is a strong theme in these passages of the power of God coming to rescue and restore the broken and the hurting. Is our world crying out for that power? If so, how? Today, let’s begin to listen for that cry, particularly in the realm of the arts. Take the next 2 days to find a song, book, story, poem, movie, or piece of artwork that reminds you of The Beatitudes. Post it to the comments below.