Happy Is the Man--Matthew 5:1-11 and Psalm 1

The promise was made, He of the right pedigree, the harbinger has announced His coming, God Himself has given His approval, and He's defeated His enemy under the toughest of circumstances.  The people are gathering around Him in expectation for healing, comfort and to hear what new teaching He's going give.

Jesus starts in a place that might make us scowl and wrinkle our foreheads a bit, even if we weren't there expecting Him to establish His kingdom.  It is a strange place to start, but it seems to reach back to Psalm 1

Psalm 1 New International Version (NIV)
​1 Blessed is the one
    who does not walk in step with the wicked
or stand in the way that sinners take
    or sit in the company of mockers,
2 but whose delight is in the law of the Lord,
    and who meditates on his law day and night.
3 That person is like a tree planted by streams of water,
    which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither--
    whatever they do prospers.
4 Not so the wicked!
    They are like chaff
    that the wind blows away.
5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
    nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.
6 For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous,
    but the way of the wicked leads to destruction.

​Matthew 5:1-11 New International Version (NIV)
​1 Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, 2 and he began to teach them.
He said:
3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit,
    for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 Blessed are those who mourn,
    for they will be comforted.
5 Blessed are the meek,
    for they will inherit the earth.
6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
    for they will be filled.
7 Blessed are the merciful,
    for they will be shown mercy.
8 Blessed are the pure in heart,
    for they will see God.
9 Blessed are the peacemakers,
    for they will be called children of God.
10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
    for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.

In both cases we find a description of a man who is in a right state of being and is therefore able to be blessed by God.  It can be argued that Psalm 1 actually is a Messianic Psalm as no human other than Jesus Himself can fit the description of the first three verses.  When we let Jesus live in and through us we too resemble Him and that is what the Beatitudes are all about.  We cannot do these things on our own, and it is not a list of commandments for us to try to do to earn favor and blessing from God.  It is a list of things that are antithetical to our human nature that show us that we need a new nature that only Christ can give us.  As we learn to let Christ live in and through us, we experience the blessings of God that are promised here in both Psalm 1 and Matthew 5:1-11.  "3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ." (Ephesians 1:3 NIV).

As we read through more of the Sermon on the Mount, realize like the people of the time that no one can possibly live up to these standards.  The bar was already too high with the Law, and Jesus raised it even higher so that it became obvious to everyone that they were a Law-breaker, even those who prided themselves on being more righteous than most.  Those who already honest about their state of being weren't really shocked to hear this...they already knew they had an insurmountable debt.  These people had been rejected by the pious and elitist civil and religious leaders of the time, but Jesus was ready to give grace, hope and compassion to them because they knew the only way forward was to ask God to forgive their sins.  There was no way that their balance sheet could ever balance by them doing enough good works.