What's Going on in This Piece?

In this section, we’re exploring Jesus’s most famous collection of teachings in Matthew chapters 5-7. Jesus is announcing to the Kingdom of God that way of life that he’s inviting his followers to join only makes sense WITHIN the announcement that God’s Kingdom has arrived through Jesus.

This teaching focuses on those famous little poetic sayings at the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount called “The Beatitudes”. It makes reference to the types of people who are blessed, but what does that even mean? What would it mean for a Jewish prophet or rabbi to go around and announce that certain people are blessed? These are familiar words that can lose their power and sharpness from over-use, but we’ll explore more about these questions in this episode.