Friends
Peace be with you.
One of the more popular shows on Netflex is called Cobra Kai. It picks up the story line originally begun in 1984 about a young man, named Daniel, who moves from New Jersey to Los Angeles to start a new life. However, he finds that he is getting picked on by a group of kids that are skilled in karate. He eventually discovers that his building manager, a man named Mr. Miyagi, is an expert sensei who can train him to become The Karate Kid. I think part of what attracts people to this movie and makes it stand the test of time, so to speak, is what happens when Daniel begins his training. It, at first, appears that he is just being slave labor for the building manager; painting his fence, sanding his floor, painting his house, and waxing his series of classic cars. At one point, when Daniel as at the peak of frustration at what appears to be the futility of these actions, he confronts Mr. Miyagi, played by the great Japanese-American actor Pat Morita who was, up until this point, largely known for his comedic roles. Mr. Miyagi responds by showing how each of these actions was actually strength and agility training to be able to block karate strikes. Mr. Miyagi punches and Daniel “waxes the floor” away the fist. Mr. Miyagi kicks and Daniel “paints the fence” his foot away from hitting his legs.
Five chapters into the first book of the New Testament, the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus introduces a similar concept in these Beatitudes. Each of these eight statements introduce a concept that we can begin to experience on this earth that will only be fully realized in the heavenly kingdom. They begin with the word Blessed, which is the Greek word Makarios. It is sometimes also translated “happy”, not in the sense of the emotion of happiness but in the idea the good life, or a fortunate situation. In other words, they’re really outlining what the ideal life would look like. It’s common in the Old Testament to have similar statements. In the Book of Psalms for instance, chapter 2 says that people who take refuge in the Lord are blessed. In chapter 1, those who delight in God’s law are blessed. In Chapter 84, those who trust in the Lord and fear the Lord are blessed. What makes Jesus’ Beatitudes different from most, if not all, Old Testament “blessed” statements is that you’d be right in questioning how any of them are truly the good life.
Who wants to live a life of spiritual poverty, for instance? Spiritual poverty is both an absence of material possessions and feeling utterly powerless to affect the situation around you. Who would want that? Or, who wakes up in the morning and sets the goal to mourn at some point? Mind you, I don’t mean watching a sad movie and having a good cry type of mourning. I mean waking up and feeling like there is a hole in your life because someone important isn’t there any more. I could go through each of these beatitudes and point out their futility but you get the point. On the one hand, it’s easy to look at each of these eight statements and say thanks but no thanks Jesus. I’ll just pray my prayers, eat my vitamins, and never go wrong, to quote the philosopher Hulk Hogan. And, certainly, there are some who look at these and say that they are really just excuses christians offer for being weak. I’ve heard someone say that, by putting the fulfillment off until heaven, we’re really just trying to console ourselves for being losers in this life.
They couldn’t be farther from the truth. One thing that is common about these beatitudes is that they remind us of our total dependence on God. The easiest example of happens when Jesus twice calls those who are persecuted as blessed. The first are those persecuted for the sake of righteousness who, like the poor, will inherit the kingdom. The second are persecuted for fidelity to Jesus. This isn’t a kind of wish fulfillment. It points to the real point of these beatitudes, things that don’t always make sense in this world but are really preparing us for an eternal life of utter dependence on God. Can we take the time to reflect on each of these beatitudes so that we can let them be that kind of heavenly preparation?
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