What does Jesus Christ mean when he starts his pinnacle sermon with "Blessed"? I feel confident that if we delve into what he means, we'll find ourselves more challenged than complacent, more focused on him than on comforts.
I'm excited to start the new year with the Bible Project as they go slowly through the Sermon on the Mount. As I listened to the first episode with my kids, Cassia asked me the very best starting question: What does Jesus mean when he says "Blessed"?
Rather than answering her directly, I asked her to quote Psalm 1, which she has fully memorized:
Blessed is the (wo)man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the mockers; but (her) delight is in the law of the Lord, and on His law (s)he meditates both day and night. (S)he shall be like a tree planted by the streams of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf shall not wither. Not so the wicked! They are like chaff that the wind blows away. Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the seat of the righteous. For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the ungodly shall perish. - (Feminine nouns added to make it personal to her rather than impersonal since this verse clearly applies to both sexes.)
Psalm 1 provides the best picture of what it means to be blessed: a tree planted by the streams of water, bearing fruit in the correct season, whose leaf never withers.
This is similar to the flourishing tree in Revelation 22:
And he showed me a river of the water of life, clear as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb, in the middle of its street. On either side of the river was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. There will no longer be any curse, and the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and His bond-servants will serve Him; they will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads. And there will no longer be any night; and they will not have need of the light of a lamp nor the light of the sun, because the Lord God will illuminate them; and they will reign forever and ever.
Here, the tree is getting its life from the river coming from the throne of God, which is clearly where we get our life as well. Here, the tree yields twelve different kinds of fruit and its leaves heal the nations.
This is what it means to be blessed of God. Not a faux blessing promoted by some prosperity nonsense. Being blessed of God is living deeply rooted in Christ's life and the fruit that comes directly from His presence.
The promised results of living this blessed life are given by Christ in the Sermon on the Mount:
the kingdom of heaven will be ours
we will be comforted
we will inherit the earth
we will be filled
we will be shown mercy
we will see God
we will be called children of God
our reward in heaven will be great
In this new year, if you're like me, looking for roots to go deeper into the life-giving waters that come from the throne of God, fruit that glorifies God, and leaves that provide healing to others, then we must implement the growth habits God says lead to this blessed life.
These good habits are outlined in both the Sermon on the Mount and Psalm 1 and are well worth our attention:
walking in the counsel of the godly, not the ungodly
avoiding the well-worn paths of sin and, instead, sticking to the paths of the righteous who have gone before us
soberly pursuing the principles and the person of Truth, rather than patterning our speech after the mockers, sarcastic, and foolish
delighting in both the laws of the Lord and the one who fulfills them
In Colossians 3, Paul adds to these habits the wonderful instructions of what to crucify and what to clothe ourselves as new creations in Christ. Things like dying to self, sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires, greed (or covetousness, which is idolatry), anger, rage, malice, slander, lying, and filthy (or abusive) language. These would be the well-worn paths of sin and ungodly—steer clear!
Then, instead, Paul tells us that, we, as God's chosen people, should put on compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, thankfulness, patience, forgiving all, loving all, and at peace with all while giving glory to God the Father. These would be the paths lighted by the Holy Spirit.
Now that we have died in Christ, let's spend 2024 reaching for the abundant life of being hidden with Christ in God.
Grace provides abundantly.