Inspirational Verses from the Sermon on the Mount #1

You will find the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew ch.5 through to ch.7. There is a parallel passage in Luke's gospel - an account of a different location where a similar sermon was preached. Like many travelling preachers today, Jesus probably gve the same sermon in several locations; adding emphasis, changng stories slightly to suit a specific local audience.

The Beatitudes

There are nine of them at the start of the sermon - they are blessings, telling us how we are to be envied by others if these thing are true of us, and pointing out why we are so blessed if that is the case.

Each one would deserve a short sermon of their own - that is not the purpose of this posting though. All I want to do is give a broad overview to inspire you to dig deeper for yourself.

They turn the world upside down. We don't think of a person who is consumed by a quest for social justice for others as particularly 'blessed'. We avoid people who mourn and despise those who don't push themselves forward as being weak and ineffectual.

But Jesus sees the full story - not the side tainted with self-interest. And He tells it like it truly is. If you want to be true to yourself and experience life as it should be lived, you have to play to the rel rules - not the ones we're conditioned to expect from a self-seeking generation.

Technorati Tags:
inspirational bible verses