All Saints (Observed): Gospel, Matthew 5:1-12                      

Matthew 5:1-12

What Christian has not been drawn and frankly challenged by Jesus' imitable “Sermon on the Mount”? Matthew chapters 5-7 encapsulate so much of Jesus’ instruction that we may return to it again and again without ever claiming “old hat.” I know I have referenced this in past years, but a wonderful insight shared with me a few years back just pulses through my thinking every time I read this sermon’s opening verses. 

We call this section “the Beatitudes” because each statement begins with “blessed are.” We are blessed to read these words, and for most of us we have always ventured to believe we are blessed as we obey them. And while that may be true, I no longer believe the Beatitudes are primarily “ a new law from a greater Moses.” No. The Beatitudes is a work of art. The entire sermon as well. And Jesus is its subject. Imagine the Lord Jesus sitting in an artist’s studio, artist at the ready with palette, brushes and paint all supplied. Then the work, the labor of love begins. One could just read these verses and come up with the beauty of what the artist will lay on his canvas. The Beatitudes are a portrait of Jesus. And we are made saints as light, color, and texture moves from portrait to person. You and I are “sainted” by our Savior.

Yes, the Jesus painted for us by dear Matthew is the real thing. And it is that very Jesus that makes us saints. The Beatitudes: not a “how to,” but a “who’s who.” God be praised!