- Episode AI notes
- The concept of “blessing” in the Sermon on the Mount is rooted in the Hebrew Bible, where it is understood as the manifestation of abundance, safety, and security from God.
- There are two Hebrew words for blessing: ‘Baruch,’ which refers to blessings from God, and ‘Ashre,’ which is used to teach others about the good life by pointing out someone in a blessed state.
- While ‘Baruch’ is a prayer for God’s blessing and conveys a sense of abundance and security, ‘Ashre’ is aimed at persuading the listener to see a certain way of life as the ideal state.
- In the beatitudes, Jesus identifies situations as markers of someone who is ‘Baruch,’ chosen to receive his message in the kingdom of God, rather than praying for the community as ‘Ashre’ does.
- The beatitudes reveal the great reversal and upside-down nature of God’s kingdom, where the poor, sick, and powerless are considered privileged and fortunate, challenging traditional value systems.
- To understand the logic and purpose of Jesus’ sayings in the beatitudes, it is essential to believe in the total reversal and bring the kingdom of God as it is in heaven.
The nine sayings in the beatitudes serve as a commentary on the current reality, emphasizing the surprises and transformative work of the great reversal in God’s kingdom. Time 0:00:00
Blessing Comes from God Blessing is the manifestation of abundance, safety, and security from God. In the Hebrew Bible, God is the source of blessing. Humans can pronounce blessing on each other, but it is a prayer for God to bless or an exclamation of His blessing. When someone is in a blessed state, they are considered ‘Baruch blessed’ as it comes from God. ‘Ashre,’ on the other hand, is used when one person points out a blessed individual to teach their friend about the good life.
Tim Mackie
Refers to the concrete manifestations of abundance, safety, and security that come as a gift from God. So God is the source of all blessing. That’s what Genesis 1 is about. He blessed the creation and he blessed the humans. God blessed the creatures saying, be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth. God blesses the humans, be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth and have exercise responsibility over it. And then he gives them the super sweet hookup spot. Yeah. Those are way better than skateboard park. And that’s called God’s blessing. So, blessing comes from God in the Hebrew Bible. Okay. Humans don’t have the power to create a state of blessedness in each other’s lives. That’s not how you think of it. Humans can pronounce blessing on each other, but when they do that, what they’re doing is praying for God to bless you. Yeah, or exclaiming that God has done it. That’s right. So blessing comes from God. And when you see somebody in a state of abundance, security, you would call them baruch, blessed. You are blessed by God. But that’s not ashray. Ashray is what happens when two people are walking by somebody who’s in a blessed state, and one person wants to teach his other friend what the good life is, and he’ll point at the blessed Ones and say, man, that person’s Asherah.The Distinction Between ‘Ashre’ and ‘Baruch’ in the Context of Blessings The word ‘Ashre’ is aimed at persuading the listener to see a certain way of life as the blessed ideal state, while ‘Baruch’ is a word used to pray for God’s blessing on someone by wishing them safety, security, and abundance. ‘Ashre’ denotes a way of life that leads to flourishing and is associated with being fortunate, whereas ‘Baruch’ is about pronouncing God’s blessing and praying for the community. As Jesus gives the beatitudes, he is not praying for the community, but rather identifying situations as markers of being ‘Baruch’.
Tim Mackie
I’m in a state of blessedness. But when I want to convince you that a certain state of blessedness is actually the good life, I use the word asherah. It’s a wisdom word that’s aimed at persuading the listener to see that a certain way of life is the blessed ideal state. So in other words, when you call someone Asherah, you’re not pronouncing God’s blessing on them. You’re not saying a magic word that makes them enter a state of fruitfulness. But do you do that when you say Baruch? Yes. Oh, what? Really? Or at least you’re praying that God will bless them. If I say, may you be blessed by God, I’m praying that God will give you safety, security, and abundance. But if I say, asherah are you, asherah is that way of life that leads to that flourishing. They’re the fortunate ones. What’s unfortunate about the word blessed in the Sermon on the Mount is it makes it sound to the reader like Jesus is pronouncing God’s blessing.
Jon Collins
And so Jesus, as he gives these beatitudes, he is not praying for the I see. Community, these things. He’s identifying that, from my vantage point, this situation is a marker of someone who is Baruch.The Great Reversal of God’s Kingdom Jesus’s commentary highlights that the poor, sick, and powerless are chosen to receive his message, as they are considered the privileged and fortunate ones in God’s kingdom. The nine sayings represent reversals and apocalyptic revealings of the upside down nature of the kingdom, emphasizing the great reversal and the total reversal of value systems. Belief in the kingdom of God and its total reversal is essential to understand the logic of these sayings, which is the work they aim to accomplish.
Tim Mackie
It’s Jesus’s commentary on what is happening on the ground in the actual moment. He says the words. Yeah. Which is with a bunch of poor, impoverished, sick, powerless people. But they are the ones that he has chosen to receive first his message for Israel. Why did Jesus choose? Because they actually are the privileged ones. They’re the fortunate sons. Why? Because there’s a surprise coming. God’s got a surprise in store. It’s starting right now, and it will be fulfilled when heaven and earth unite. The game’s going to turn upside down. That’s the function of these nine sayings. They’re reversals. They’re apocalyptic revealings of the upside down or truly right side up nature of God’s kingdom and what it means to be a part of it.
Jon Collins
You have to believe in the great reversal for this to make any sense.
Tim Mackie
You have to believe Jesus saying, the kingdom of God has come near. The logic of these nine sayings depends on Jesus’ claim that he is bringing the kingdom of God as it is in heaven. And the kingdom of God brings total reversal of our value systems and our estimations of who are the fortunate ones. And that’s the work that these nine sayings are doing. Cool.
