As our Savior and Creator, Jesus is concerned with even more than our trust and our obedience, he has created us to flourish. But he has designed us to flourish in ways that are very different than what flourishing looks like on the surface. In fact, they're often the very opposite. In his most famous teaching Jesus pulls back the curtain and reveals that we've been seeing our entire world upside-down, and he gives us eyes to see what reality is truly like.
Application Questions:
1. How does your understanding of the Beatitudes change when you see them, not simply as "blessings" from God (though they are), but more fundamentally as proverbial wisdom statements about the nature of the flourishing life?
2. How would your life look different if you saw the poor as people the rich should seek to emulate instead of the rich as people the poor should seek to emulate?
3. How have you experienced mourning as a means of flourishing in your life?
4. What examples of persecution have you experienced or can you imagine experiencing that Jesus would point to as reasons for eternal rejoicing?
