When He sat on the mount in Matthew 5, there were probably some folks who thought it was time to oust Rome and bring in a new kingdom free from their oppressors — but that’s not what the kingdom was about. Today, while we have those who would tell you that Christianity is under attack and that we cannot rely on mercy, forgiveness, and empathy to demonstrate the love that Christ has for us — that we must fear reprisal and being undermined because we need to protect the glory of God — that’s not what this kingdom is about either.
Let us look at the beatitudes, and the sermon on the mount as a whole, and realize that it is only when we understand how little control we have, how little we bring to the table, and how desperately we need God — then and only then do we get to see what the Kingdom of God looks like, both in the temporal and eternal sense.
